Lightweight, mid-quality
Many leather journals weigh quite a bit; this one is quite light, which means it actually will be good to take along in a backpack or carryon.<br />The paper quality is nice. It’s not smooth enough for a nib pen, but it looks good for gel pens and possibly even watercolor. Certainly it will be fine for sketching and colored pencil.<br />The cover isn’t great. For one thing, the front design is busy and ugly. I hate it. The back is much better. And the design of the string was clearly not thought out well, as using the string warps and damages the edges of the leather cover. My journal arrived with deep grooves already in the edge.<br />The price as stated at this time is $60.00. As a Vine reviewer, I did not pay that price, but I honestly don’t think many people would. For $60.00, one would expect a higher-end product than this; a better cover and a better closure would be expected for that price.  This journal is a nice, mid-quality book. I think people would consider buying it if it were priced somewhere in the $30.00-$40.00 range.<br />I noticed that other reviewers speak of a “seed card” or other included literature with the journal. I received nothing of the kind, although the journal did come in a rather ugly box which was too big for the book itself. The box seems wasteful to me; a paper wrapper would’ve protected the book as well and with less waste.<br />Overall, it’s quite a nice little book with an ugly cover.
Rating: 4 stars