This is a large leather handbound journal that has handmade paper and a leather tie closure. I created it as a custom order recently for a new customer. Here is what she wrote once she received it:
I just got it, and it is absolutely beautiful!!! The colors are right on - perfect! Thank you so very much. You have an amazing talent, and as a person who is very picky about her journals, I'm so very glad I found you :)
“If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished?” ― Rumi
I was asked to create this journal intuitively. I kept getting the image of a partial tree and a subtle spiral. In the midst of creating it, the guy I was creating it for told me that it was going to be his mirror journal--a place for him to reflect on his strong responses to others and what those responses were showing him about himself. The partial tree signifies that we may only see part of a the picture until we take time to sit and be quiet with what is happening. Also, trees symbolize reaching to me--reaching upward for help and higher expression and reaching down and inward towards centering and rooting. The spiral represents the path we are on and how we keep encountering the same lessons, but from a different perspective because we are further along the path when they come back around. I hope this journal assists him well as he continues this work.
A graduation gift from a mother to her daughter who just received her PhD...
This is a Custom Large Refillable Journal created from reclaimed leather and a very special closure. It closes with a button made from one of the customer's Jacob sheep horns. She is a shepherdess to that breed and wanted to include a piece of her in the book. It turned out so lovely, and she even sent me a couple extra to use, which was very cool of her.
Here is what she had to say about it: "A great job on this custom made journal! Melissa used one of my sheep horn buttons for part of the closure. Such a nice touch to what will be a daily used item. Highly recommend this shop! THANK YOU!!!"
SOWING LIGHTNING
Seize
Bolts of lightning from the sky
And plant them in fields of life.
They will grow like tender sprouts of fire.
Charge somber thoughts
With unexpected flash,
You, my lightning in the soil!”
― Visar Zhiti
This design was a custom sketchbook that a couple wanted to gift their friend with. The recipient loves purple, and Lady Gaga (hence, the lightning), and has peace, love, and equality tattooed on herself. While it was a delight to create, I couldn't shake how large these lightning bolts were. They definitely felt electric! It began these ongoing thoughts regarding electricity and charge and shock. All of these can be quite helpful in waking someone up....like REALLY waking someone up...on a deep, deep level. I am grateful for these moments, the ones where I'm forced to see truth and deal with reality. When I allow it, it urges me back to my center where I am ultimately wanting to live from anyway.
This is a custom turkey feather journal created from reclaimed leather, handmade paper, and turkey feathers. Turkey Medicine is particularly significant for me so creating this journal definitely felt like a sacred task.
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
-Berthold Auerbach
These are a couple of custom leather journals that I made for a lady and her friend. It was fun to work with her to get the colors and details exactly like she wanted. What isn't shown is a letter to her friend on the first page of the journal that she was giving to her friend. Here is here response:
"They are here, they are here! My journals are absolutely gorgeous! You do amazing work, Melissa! Thank you so much... they are worth every penny! When I met you at your first show, I knew then, that you would have great success. Congratulations to you and the wonderful artist you have become. Thanks again-- I'm sure I will have future orders!"
This was a fun one to create! One of my neighbors, who is also an artist, had me create this rugged, manly journal for her husband for their 1st year wedding anniversary. She had just found out that he kept notes throughout the day in a little notebook of things that he wanted to remember to share with her. She surprised him with this gorgeous, earthy journal. Here is what she had to say:
"Thank you, Melissa, for making this gorgeous journal for Ron for our first anniversary! Now he has a place to write down all those things he wants to remember to tell me. And he recently acquired tiny little journals that his grandfather and father kept. So this turned out to be perfect!"
This custom rugged leather bird journal was created in collaboration with a customer who asked simply for a large, earthy journal that had a flying bird on it. She left the details up to me, and this was what came of it. I loved these colors together, and it reminded me of this poigenet Rumi quote:
“God turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites
so that you will have two wings to fly, not one.” ― Rumi
Dance is the manifestation of the soul. –Isadora Duncan
This is a custom journal that my previous ballet professor is gifting to another dance professor.
How much fun is that!!
“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.”
― Rumi
This is a custom-made labyrinth journal that is refillable. It is made from remnant leather, has a handbound journal inside, and hand-stitching on the front.
"Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls." -Jeremiah 6:15
This handmade, leather journal has a compass stitched to the cover. The cover is from scrap leather and the inside pages are 100% recycled, archival, and blank. This was commissioned as a thank you gift. It is intended to be used as a travel journal and as a haven for the recipient's thoughts and reflections.