I’d never even heard of a tacketing journal until I saw this one at the White Rock Farmers Market. “In the eighteen century, monks would tie these on their belt to carry their journal with them,” said Jo Yearsley of Cottage Book Arts.

Unwrapped, the journal looks like this. Used pages could be easily removed at any time, and new ones tacked in.

This was actually my second visit to the Farmers Market—the week before, I had bought a loaf of Artisan bread, a bag of dried cranberries sweetened with pineapple juice, fresh cherries, and a perfect peach—but Jo wasn’t at the Market that weekend, so I was glad I came back and had a chance to meet her.

She had many different journals, cards, beautiful papers from Italy, Japan, and other countries, kits with instructions and supplies to make your own hand-made journal.

Some of her samples and books for sale were almost like origami, one had pages that folded out accordian-style.

The other journal I got at Jo’s booth is a beautiful hand-stitched journal. Unlike the tacketing journal, this journal lies perfectly flat. The writing pages are Mohawk Superfine paper and the two envelopes at the back (for small keepsakes) are made with delicate-looking Japanese paper.

As you can see, this journal is quite the opposite of  Wreck This Journal so I will quite likely use it more as a keepsake  than as a regular journal.

At her “cottage” in Surrey, B.C., Jo also offers classes in book-binding, journal-making, and other book arts. I’m going to keep that in mind for future, but for now I’m very happy with my two new journals.

Writing/Reflection Prompt: What is your current–or favourite—journal?

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