Steampunk Journals at Awaken Journaling

Company Spotlight

Awaken Journaling Etsy banner

In the first of my Company Spotlight features, who better to kick off this new feature than a company that makes Steampunk Journals? Awaken Journaling deal with hand-made journals that they sell on their Etsy shop.

Awaken Journaling Light Blue Leather Fairytale journal

We’re a husband and wife team who live in Corvallis, OR. I made my first few cloth-bound journals as gifts and after the success of them, I moved on to using leather and high quality paper. My husband joined in soon after and we decided to open an Etsy shop in 2009, under the name Awaken Journaling.

Awaken Journaling Clockwork Journal

At the time I was studying for an undergraduate degree in biology, and he was an archeology student, but we both enjoyed journal making as a creative outlet. The biggest inspiration comes from finding our supplies. It’s a journey in itself. We use a lot of different materials on journals, from clock parts to seashells to stone slabs to antique hardware. We will go to yard sales, antique shops, rock shops, thrift shops, even the beach – any time we are traveling somewhere, we’ll stop in small shops the the side of the road – you never know when you will find inspiration! More often than not it’s just an old or broken trinket that finds new life on the cover of a journal. One of our favorite materials to use are antique skeleton keys. They bring a sense of the past and a timeless feel when paired with leather. Skeleton keys are really what brought us to steampunk and have inspired a lot of the journal we’ve created.

Awaken Journaling Red Leather Cameo journal

Sometimes we’ll find bits of leather hide are naturally rough and ragged. Not wanting to let those go to waste, we’ve designed journals so that the rough edge would be on the front. Because they aren’t as neat as the others in the shop, we’ve called them “Apocalypse Journal”. Creating the apocalypse-style journals is a great way to recycle materials that might otherwise be overlooked, and a lot of them have a unique feel that people appreciate.