I love wood, silk, wool, cotton, linen, leather, and other natural products, and will choose long-lasting natural products over plastic or synthetic wherever possible. I also love pens and paper, notebooks, journals and inks.
A number of years ago I found that shares a similar range of interests, making gorgeous, well designed leather and wood products for writing and journalling. It is Galen Leather Co. This is a company with a beautiful, though sad story, that was started 2012. You can read the story here as it is their's to tell.
I have bought a number of products from Galen Leather over the years, for my own use and as gifts, and I really enjoy all of them. Shown here are the ones I use the most.
The large tan one is a 'Leather Zippered Leuchtturm1917 B5 & Extra Large Moleskine Folio'. The large black one is a 'Leather Zippered A5 Leuchtturm1917 Notebook Folio'. The smaller black case is a Leather Zippered 3 Slots Pen Case and the small tan one is an 'EDC Wallet' (Every Day Carry).
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| Galan Leather: Zippered folios in B5 and A5, 3-pen holder and EDC wallet. |
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Galan Leather B5 Zippered folio
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I use the B5 zippered folio for my sketchbooks, which are the B5 Perfect Sketchbooks (available from EtchrLab.com) and they fit in perfectly. I can put the various tools I am sketching with in the slots within the folio and keep everything together. The 4-pen holder can be removed if desired. I can work seated (as I usually do) with this on my lap, my water on the ground next to me, and my watercolour palette in my hand.
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Galen Leather 3-slot pen holder
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I use the 3 slot pen case for my three main sketching pens. These are three Pilot Custom Heritage 92 pens, each with an F nib. One is inked in De Atramentis Document ink in Brown, one in Urban Grey and one with a dark grey. It will hold another one or two pens loosely if necessary, and still zip up. There is also space for business cards and a slim notebook or sketchbook if desired. I tend to use these pens for sketching, though they are also gorgeous for writing, and keep them with me in my handbag.
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Galen Leather EDC
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The EDC Wallet perfectly fits my tiny handmade brass palette along with some business cards and a couple of brushes, though it could be used for a pocket knife, key ring, notebook or many other purposes. I believe the tiny Kaweco Sport fountain pen also fits in the pen slot. This also lives with me as part of my portable studio.
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| Galan Leather Zippered Folio A5 |
My first Galen Leather purchase was the A5 zippered folio for my annual Leuchtturm1917 diary that I draw up a year or two in advance. (I shared a little about that
here.) My diary contains my life as I don't do a digital diary so having it protected with the various pens I use keep together was terrific. I am using a slightly larger PaperBlanks diary this year, just for a change, but I miss having everything together - my portable office - so will enjoy returning to the A4 sized dotted Leuchtturm diary in 2026! Tin the meantime, this folio has been temporarily repurposed to hold my French notebook, where I record the lessons daily using a fountain pen and various Pigma Micron pens. (I'll be posting about these shortly too!)
Galen Leather have their own gorgeous range of Tomoe River paper 'Everyday Blank
Notebooks' and Leather Blank Notebooks, along with many other useful brands in a range of sizes. I love the 400 page Tomoe River books as they are a joy to write in with a fountain pen. The notebook shown is the A4 Everyday Blank notebook. The paper takes fountain pen beautifully and though only 52gms, there is very little show through.
The Galen Leather website is excellent, and has terrific photos of all the many products. It's fun to have a look and see if there is something that you have always thought would be useful but no one had made it!
These are not inexpensive, but we don't expect handmade objects to be cheap. I have bought some items when on sale, but generally I have chosen to buy items that I know I will use daily, and that will last and be a joy to use. I have shared them here as perhaps you will also find something to treasure. (Please note that as always this is not a paid promotion and all opinions are entirely my own.)
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