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What follows is a brief presentation of a number of covers I've either made or modified recently. They share two characteristics: (1) they provide some way of attaching a pen and (2) they're set up to handle more than one size of refill. Perhaps someone crafting their own customized cover will find an idea here useful. The first three covers described were each made from a single piece of leather cut to the size A5. (I was able to order the leather in this size through Amazon; I didn't have to alter the size at all.) An A5 piece is suitable to make a cover that can hold 3-4 "pocket size" (3.5"x5.5" or 90x140 mm) notebooks. All three of these covers have holes spaced to accommodate elastics that will hold "pocket", B7 ("passport") or A7 booklets. The brown and green cover sports a single column of four elastic loops on the front cover to hold one pen. I've found that this arrangement of four loops is adaptable to a range of different pen sizes. Here you can see a B7, and A7 and a "pocket size" booklet all installed at the same time. There are two braided closure elastics, one emerging from the spine and the other from the back cover. Use both to close the cover tightly and securely. On the inside I've installed elastics to accommodate all three supported booklet sizes though I've omitted the A7 elastic from the middle position. The column of four pen loops are all parts of a single elastic which is tied to form a loop on the inside of the cover. The grey and blue cover sports two columns of pen loops on the front cover. It is otherwise quite similar to the previous design. Both columns of pen loops are formed from a single elastic. I've added two bookmark strings which differ both in color and in number of terminating knots to make them distinguishable by sight and touch. The dark brown and orange cover has only a single closure elastic, which emerges from the spine where you'll also find a single column of pen loops. One of the elastics inside the cover holds a craft folder in B7 size which hosts a Leuchtturm 1917 adhesive pen loop. (This was my earliest ploy to add a pen loop to covers that don't otherwise provide them.) The top and bottom pair of pen loops are each provided by a separate elastic which are tied to look like an "X" on the inside of the cover. Here, as before, only the right and left notebook elastics will take A7. This "light brown and staples" cover is made of two flimsy pieces of upholstery leather, some card-stock, glue and staples. The card stock is in three pieces between the leather layers: back cover, spine, front cover, which gives the cover its boxy shape. I've adhered a pen loop to a piece of card stock cut in the shape of a "pocket size" booklet. I've finished the edges with staples since I can't sew. I used a pair of pliers to press them flat. The cover provides 5 elastics for "pocket size" booklets. The four sets of elastics for B7 and A7 are offset so that they run between the previous 5 elastics. The brown floral cover is one of my oldest covers. It is intended for B7 booklets. It originally provided only a single elastic, which was thick and very tight. I've replaced that and added two pairs of holes and run new elastic such that the cover will accommodate four booklets. I recently added a single column of pen loops to the outside of the front cover. The lack of a clip on the Karas Vector meant it didn't see much as I'd have liked. The pen loops hold the pen perfectly and so it now sees regular use. What is now the back over the cover was originally the front, but had become rather worn over the years. The elastic I've used for the pen loops is thick enough that it does not slide freely through the holes in the cover so once the loops are set to accommodate a particular pen, they will stay that way. There is slack enough on the inside of the cover to adjust the loops to accommodate an oversized pen if need be. The heavily modified Passport Size Traveler's Journal in olive has a double closure elastic and two sets of pen loops. The brass clasp a the top of the spine is a fiddly hindrance when using the pen loops on the spine. I may remove it. I have modified the cover to accommodate B7 and A7 booklets on three sets of elastics. The modified Passport Size Traveler's Journal in dark blue is my oldest traveler's journal. Attaching the pen horizontally above the back cover is convenient when carrying the notebook in a pocket. It has a pair of braided closure elastics. I've added holes to accommodate three B7 booklets. The pen loop is another adhesive one Leuchtturm 1917.

The Paper Plane – Endless Explorer – Refillable Leather Journal I’ve been enjoying this little corner of the web for some time now, mainly focusing on inks and pens. But these are more or less useless without the humble paper or notebook that will let you capture your thoughts. So here comes the “Paper Plane”, where I review some of the paper and notebooks that I’ve enjoyed using over the years. Today’s guest is the Endless Explorer, a refillable leather journal in the style of the well-known Traveler’s Journal. This journal is produced by Endless Stationery, a company that clearly states its focus on simplicity, aesthetics and service. With this Refillable Leather Journal they really succeed on all fronts, as will become clear during this review. The camel-brown Leather Journal comes packaged in a nice sturdy box. Within the box is a “thank you” leaflet, the leather cover itself and one Storyboard notebook refill. With the cover you also receive an attractive and very functional pen-loop. Nice packaging and aesthetically pleasing. I also appreciate the Explorer’s dimensions – at 5.1” x 7.5” it is almost A5-sized, and a much more practical size than the more rectangular Traveler’s Journal. The Leather Cover is almost brand-free – the back shows a small embossed “Endless” logo, and that’s it. The Explorer can comfortably hold from 1 to 3 Storyboard notebooks. For the first notebook, you use an elastic band that also serves to close the cover. An additional two elastic bands (orange and red) wrap around the leather cover, each capable of holding an extra Storyboard refill. I personally prefer to use the Explorer with 3 notebook inserts: one is used as a bullet journal, one for meeting notes, and one for mindmapping. This setup serves me well. The leather cover is designed to age quickly and gracefully – gathering patina and scratches. My notebook cover is brand-new and has already collected some scratches. This will give it a worn and well-used look, which is totally intentional, and fits the travel-journal style. For refills, the Explorer uses large Storyboard notebooks – which are either lined or dot-grid. The dimensions are close to an A5 size, and these notebooks fit perfectly within the leather cover. I got me dot-grid versions of these refills – the grid is fairly light and unobtrusive. The best part of the Storyboard notebooks is undoubtedly their paper. Just as with the Endless Recorder notebooks, the Storyboard refills use 68 gsm Tomoe River paper, which is extremely fountain-pen friendly. For a work-journal I much prefer this heavier paper over the more flimsy 52 gsm version. This 68 gsm Tomoe River paper is fountain pen heaven! Some show-through is present, but never disturbing. And to get any bleed-through, you have to try very hard, almost pouring ink on the page. I got some bleed-trough with Noodler’s ink wetly applied with a glass dip pen. When writing with normal fountain pens in any nib sizes, it’s perfectly ok to use both sides of the page. This paper can handle basically anything you throw at it. Superb ! Conclusion If you like minimalist notebooks, the Endless Explorer Refillable Leather Journal is definitely worth looking at. The concept is similar to the well-known Traveler’s Journal, but with a more sensible 5.1” x 7.5” width-height ratio, that is close to A5. And the paper used by the Storyboard refills is simply sublime! The price is also very reasonable: 49 EUR for the Refillable Leather Cover, and 8.50 EUR for the 64-page Storyboard refills (taxes included). I love my Endless Recorder notebooks, but they have now met their replacement. This Explorer will from now on serve as my daily capture tool.

I am a former Filofax user and learned about the Midori / traveler's journals recently. I wanted to find a way to make use of my Filofax so I transformed my personal size filofax into a traveler's journal by removing the rings / metal spine with a hacksaw. For illustration purposes, I found the green binder picture online, (it's not mine) and I bent the metal spine up like the picture shows, but not quite as far. I bent it up just enough to get a hacksaw blade between the leather and the rivets and I literally sawed through the rivets on the inside of the book. After removing the rings and metal spine, I used a leather hole punch to make 3 holes to each the top and bottom of the leather spine, giving me 4 elastic strands inside. It holds inserts I modified from May Designs and these inserts measure 7.25 x 5 inches. I used a rotary cutter to trim from the bottom and top of the notebooks, then reinforced the stitching of the books so they wouldn't come unsewn. I angled the corners of the notebooks to fit inside the curved corners of the Filofax. I am really happy with it and am loving that I can still use the Filofax to satisfy my TJ obsession! Thanks for looking!