Setup of A5 Wide Apple Pig Leather Art traveler’s notebook in 5mm vegetable tanned leather

This is an Apple Pig A5 Extra Wide 5mm vegetable tanned leather cover with superpockets, super pen loop and wallet insert. This design looks complicated but is pretty easy to order – you order the basic cover and then you can add separate options one by one. The super pocket is actually two pockets, one flip-out pocket constellation on each side. Superpockets include credit card holders, slip pockets, pen case, and secretarial pockets.

This is such a functional design and is exactly the same layout as my Cave Art A5, though a bit wider. I was thinking of another Cave Art cover because I love my first one so much, but Lin (hearing that I was looking for thick stiff leather) suggested I challenge myself and go for 5mm thick natural vegetable tan leather from Italy. And I am so happy I did.

This leather is thick, firm, and smooth as silk. It is a gorgeous golden toasty colour, and will darken with time. Lin sent me three different colours of elastic because I could not decide which one I liked best.

Lin is extremely innovative and what is very unusual is his use of zippers (heavy duty ones at that). Zippers actually add a whole new realm of possibility and versatility to a cover. He can also put pen holders and zippers on the front and back covers.

Find Lin’s shop here. I was one of his first customers so it was easy to get one of his covers. Now he opens his shop about once a month for a few hours. It may be harder to get one of his covers but they are still worth the wait. Probably even more so now because he has so many more options than when I bought mine.

Below is how I have set it up. I have worked out a system over the 9 months I have been using my Cave Art one in the same design.

• my Hobonichi stencils can go in the credit card pockets and/or secretarial pockets
• my floral Oliclips are clipped onto the secretarial pockets until I need them. I use them to keep and find my place once I have used more than a few pages in the booklets. I can then easily flip to the page I need.
• 4 lined and 3 grid custom notebooks from YellowPaperHouse on Etsy. I love all my insert booklets from this shop but these are my favourites so far. The ones I have been using in 2017 have been a custom mix of colours (mostly from the MELON range – Salmon, Pink, Goldenrod, Mint and Aqua)
• spare elastics, lead pointers and clips in the zippered pockets.
• rulers and longer stencils in the pencil holder.