How to make a rustic leather travel journal

A simple, easy to watch video of me making a simple, stylish yet absolutely gorgeous leather journal. No bells. no whistles, just me in the workshop.
This leather journal is made from full grain oak bark bridle shoulder. The colour is Dark Stain and the leather came from J & FJ Baker (Devon), the only tannery in western Europe still making leather using the traditional oak bark tanning methods. Go look them up.
Videography (as always) by my great friend James over at prowlingtigerm...

[@TheAanstekerbenzine]

It's relaxing to watch a master at work.😍

[@TraditionalTimes]

Thanks :)

[@michaels2208]

Really nice. I'm somewhat a leather worker, about a year. This was really nice to watch all the little things. I get mixed up and miss stuff sometimes. Thanks for it.

[@TraditionalTimes]

Michael... You are most welcome... and ditto... For every project I have a work flow / step guide detailing the steps in order... when I don't use this I invariably glue the internal retainers on before I stitch on the external retainer strap... which makes stitching on the strap somewhat of a challenge without having to take it all apart... can highly recommend a notebook for this... :)

[@dh-rx7uw]

NOW, THAT WAS GREAT !!!! LOVED IT!

[@TraditionalTimes]

Thanks :)

[@TheRyaninHD]

Marvellous work Andy, pleasant video indeed

[@TraditionalTimes]

Thanks :)

[@blackhunk2265]

Beautiful. Thank you. I have just bought 2pair of leather shoes and 1 sandle. Please let me know how to keep Leather shoes and sandles in same new condition? What to apply?

[@TraditionalTimes]

Thank you for the compliment. It's difficult to answer your question about the shoes. Best advice is to follow the manufacturers instructions for cleaning and maintenance. That being said I have one rule for leather. "Never apply anything to leather that you wouldn't put on your own skin".

[@scottishwifie14]

What’s the stuff you use around the edge please

[@TraditionalTimes]

@scottishwifie14 It's Fiebings Edge Kote (black). Burnishes nicely just stains skin for weeks if you get it on your hands. 😀

[@s7Films]

What’s the purpose of scuffing the edges with the back of a razor before dyeing/ burnishing?

[@TraditionalTimes]

Previous step was to apply a heavy coat of wax to both sides of the material. Edge coat is nasty stuff and I always seem to get it everywhere. I have found that putting a heavy coat of wax on before I burnish, I run less risk of staining the leather where I don't want too. Scrapping the edge before burnishing, I am removing the wax that might have spilled over. Then I apply the edge coat and burnish. If any gets onto the front or back, then simply wipe off asap. Always comes up a treat that way. Not my idea. Something I saw someone else doing as part of a demonstration once.

[@s7Films]

@@TraditionalTimes Aahhh I see, that’s brilliant! Definitely something I’m going to try!

[@s7Films]

@@TraditionalTimes what wax are you using here? I’ve been experimenting with new finishing coat/ protection techniques

[@TraditionalTimes]

Nothing special... usually J & E Sedgwick Co Original Leather Wax... and that's it... no tan coat or anything... I get it through Abbey England... :)

[@TraditionalTimes]

Oh... and lots of elbow grease of course...

[@Epic_DaVinci]

Very nice video. However as someone who is considering taking up leathercraft as a hobby, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to find videos like this where the craftsman is actually telling the viewers what is going on, explaining the reasoning behind choices and techniques, most are just instrumental yet silent videos. Would you consider a tutorial style or at least narration on your next leathercraft video? I'm sure a newbie like me could learn a lot from it.

[@TraditionalTimes]

Daniel. First up thanks for the compliment. Always appreciated. Can recommend the hobby as something that you can do anywhere you have a small table and a bit of space to cut your leather. As to the tutorial type of video have you checked out Ian Atkinson and his channel Leodis Leather... He has an absolutely fantastic collection of tutorial videos... I have been a subscriber for years... he also sells plans and kits as well as giving advice on tools etc... if youve not found him yet... go take a look... he already does a much better job than I ever could... :)

[@Epic_DaVinci]

@@TraditionalTimes I have not seen that channel you mentioned, i will check him out thank you. I look forward to your future videos too.