When Steve Morton and I were last at Van Der Spek in Puttershoek, I spotted this beauty in the workshop. It is a Codex cover made for a Hobonichi Weeks planner and was a return, so I was allowed to keep it. I have no idea why it was returned because as soon as I saw it I fell in love. The colour and design are just perfect.
This Codex is made of thick, flexible Janet Leather in the original tan brown colour. It has no stiffener, a full length back wallet pocket, a pen loop, three slip pockets, plenty of credit card pockets, and gold hardware. You can find this design in the Van Der Spek web shop here. They also do a version for the Weeks Mega here. You can, also if you wish, design your own custom cover.
I really love the way this feels in my hands. It feels so nice that you just don’t want to let it go! From experience, this leather marks easily but also patinas beautifully so I cannot wait to see how it ages.
I have been wanting to try the ever more popular Hobonichi Weeks format so I was thrilled to be able to test it out. I would not have if I had not serendipitously come into possession of a Codex Weeks cover.
I bought a Doraemon Hobonichi April-start Weeks. I am not sure how it is going to work as it is smaller and slimmer than I am used to. I have used the A5, A6 and 5-year version, but never the Weeks. I would probably have chosen a Mega cover if I had a cover for it, but am very happy with the Weeks. It is so nice and easy to carry it.
The Weeks fits perfectly into the cover. Perfectly. It is light and compact, and there are plenty of paper and notepages. I love the crisp crinkliness of Tomoe River paper and also that so many pages fit into such a small book.
I am going to use this for a travel journal for our trips on the bike. Each year we keep a record of how far we travel and where, and we have a list of places we want to see, so this will be perfect.
I have even used a sticker or two, which is very unlike me. I have two Doraemon pencil boards marking my pages, old Hobonichi stencils in the side pockets, and small notes about beauty products I would like to use in other little nooks and crannies.
A stunning piece.