The Settler handmade leather notebook in Ochre, made in Lobethal South Australia

The Settler

Brumby / A6
$115.00
$115.00 $0.00
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The Settler handmade leather notebook in Ochre, made in Lobethal South Australia
  • The Settler handmade leather notebook in Ochre, made in Lobethal South Australia
  • The Settler
  • The Settler
  • The Settler
  • The Settler
  • The Settler
  • The Settler
The Settler

Rustic Wren · Traveller's Range

The Settler.

A refillable leather journal. One wrap of leather, four elastics, nothing more. The simplest in the range.

Some things don't need to be complicated.

Leather ColourBrumby
Size
Embossing, included free
JMB
Your initials or a name, pressed into the leather at the studio. Up to 5 letters · Goudy Old Style · Upper or lowercase.
How embossing works ↓
$115.00
$115.00 $0.00

Includes 3 × 60 page lined inserts.

Complete the system with our leather Companion →A leather insert with card sleeves and a zip pocket -- sits inside your notebook.

or pay in 4 with Afterpay
About this notebook
Simple by design.

Pick it up. The leather has a weight to it that stops you. Full-grain, cut from Australian hides -- the surface is exactly as it came off the animal. No sanding, no correction. Run your thumb across it and you can feel the grain. You will smell it before you open the first page.

That is not incidental. That is the leather telling you what it is.

The Settler is a single wrap of leather with four spine elastics and a centre closure. Nothing more. There is a reason it is where the range begins -- not because it is the simplest, but because it is the most honest. Everything you see is everything it is.

Jess's family have worked the Adelaide Hills for seven generations. The first of them put down roots and built from what the land gave them. The Settler carries that same logic. No decoration, no ceremony. A cover that earns its place over years of use.

The leather will soften into whoever carries it. The patina it develops will be entirely theirs -- shaped by their hands, their bag, their daily rhythm. Every mark belongs to the person who made it.

Add initials and they are pressed into the leather using a traditional hot embossing machine -- a method unchanged since the 1880s. No foil, no ink. Just heat and pressure. That is what makes it a gift rather than a purchase. That is what makes it irreplaceable.

01
THE MOST HONEST NOTEBOOK WE MAKE
Single wrap. Four elastics. Centre closure. No feature has been added for the sake of it. Every element is here because it earns its place. Simplicity this considered is harder to make than complexity.
02
NOTHING HIDDEN, NOTHING ADDED
The grain is visible. The variation is real. You are not looking at a corrected or sanded surface -- you are looking at exactly what came from the hide, exactly as it grew. No two covers are identical. That is not a flaw in the making. That is the making.
03
FOR THE PERSON WHO BUYS ONE GOOD THING AND KEEPS IT
Not three cheap ones that get replaced. One right one that stays. The Settler will still be on their desk in twenty years and look better for every year of it.
04
THE LAST THING THAT HAPPENS
After the cutting and the stitching, one step remains. The notebook goes under the press and comes out carrying someone's initials. It is the final act of the making, and the moment it stops being ours and becomes yours.
What's in this notebook
Everything it needs. Nothing it doesn't.
→ Single wrap cover with centre closure
→ Four spine elastics hold 4 inserts comfortably -- add more as you go
→ Full-grain Australian leather
→ Cut and stitched by hand in Lobethal SA
→ 3 x 60 page lined inserts included
→ Refillable for life
→ Free embossing up to 5 letters, Goudy Old Style, upper or lowercase
Sizing guide
Find the size that fits your life.

All three sizes use the same leather cover and insert system. The only difference is how much page you have and where it lives during the day.

A6
105 x 148mm
Jacket pocket or small bagQuick notes, daily carryCompact and lightweightGood for those who write short
A5Most popular
148 x 210mm
Fits any bag or backpackWorks on a desk or your lapDesk, meeting, kitchen benchSize Jess carries every day
A4
210 x 297mm
Full page spread for notesDesk first, document bagRoom for diagrams and planningFor those who write at length

Not sure? A5 is the right choice for most people -- it moves between desk, bag, and meeting without thinking about it.

Make it yours
A method unchanged since the 1880s.

Initials pressed into the front panel using a traditional hot embossing machine. No foil, no ink. Just heat, pressure, and time. The impression settles into the leather and stays there for the life of the notebook.

Included with every order at no extra cost.

Font: Goudy Old Style · Upper or lowercase
Placement: front panel, bottom right
Up to 5 letters · Enter your text in the buy box above
The foundation. The one that gets handed down.
$115

Includes 3 x 60 page lined inserts.
Free embossing. Refillable for life.

Add The Settler

Let customers speak for us

from 185 reviews
Absolute perfection

My landscape Journal is absolute perfection! It is piece of art that accompanies me every day to my workplace and a beautiful talking point as it’s so unique and absolutely stunning to be behold. This is my third landscape journal. I have another in the A5 size and Jess was kind enough to make one in a B6 size for me.
Jess’s work and her passion for that is nothing short of spectacular.
I fear I’m going to end up with a collection of landscape journals as I’ve just purchased another! Each one is so unique and tells its own story that I just fall in love with them!

Sylvia Amoedo
The Landscape Series
Love

A beautifully made notebook. The pocket on the front is perfect. Fits a pen, card and large enough for a phone. I replaced one notebook with a diary. The companion is great to organise receipts and cards and those little bits you need for a time before you find a home for them. I’m so organised. I open it in the morning and evening and can set my intentions and know my day. It’s soft and flexible. The colour is fantastic and well matched. Just love. Xx

Joanne Parker
The Wren
Snug & Quality

I love the make of the The Scribe. It’s snug and the right size. Holds everything together and the colour is gorgeous.

Ayushi Mukherji
The Scribe: Colourway series.
Love everything about it

I love the look, I love the smell, I love the feel. It’s impossible not to feel the care that Jess puts into her craft. The stitching and the embossing are beautiful.

Kathy Mcdougall
The Curator
Most amazing quality

I bought 4 landscape series journals and I’m so impressed with the quality of these books. I intend to keep them as “libraries” for myself and my ADHD kids to keep track of everything we’ve learnt when we hyperfixate on a new hobby. I wanted books that were unique and would last lifetimes and I know these will! Couldn’t be more impressed, worth every cent!

Amy Knight
The Landscape Series
Best Notebook Ever!

I love this notebook. I bought the Signature Curator’s Bundle in the Saltbush with a Butterscotch Companion. It is just the most gorgeous bundle. I love that I can keep it forever because I can change out the refillable notebooks inside. I use it with two or three small refillables and then a larger notebook for my journal. I love that the more I use it the lovelier the leather will become and I love that I have supported an Australian small business. Now I’m saving up for the Gatherer’s Tote. 😊

Amanda Harwood
The Curator's Companion
Stunning journal

I got the A5 curator in rustic whisky and it’s the most beautiful thing to hold in my hands. I’ll definitely be coming back for an A6 version of this. Jess did an amazing job and answered all my pre purchase questions too. Definitely worth the money and worth supporting this Aussie business.

Jess C
The Curator
The Settler

I've been admiring these for some time and thought I'd start off with the Settler (just in case I didn't quite use it as much as I had hoped). I saw this one as more the entry level. Well, I love it, I use mine everyday. I have one book as a grocery list, I added a separate book customised to capture recipes, and just a random thoughts type notepad. I wish you had the option of selecting lined or dot grid. The leather is so soft and exactly how I imagined it would feel like. I bought this in Brumby and had my name embedded into it. I couldn't be happier with this. Thank you for making such gorgeous products and they are true to what is on your website. Delivery was ok, not the fastest and certainly not the slowest. I suppose it is what I expected for something that is customised (if that makes sense). If these have been catching your eye, I highly recommend adding to cart and buying. Who knows over time I might just get another one. I have been eying off the brush rolls, could see that being used for so many different purposes from make up brushes, pencils, using it to carry my favourite knives in when taking them to get sharpened etc.

Chele
The Settler
Joy!!

I was so excited when I found Rustic Wren and the companion bundles, Jess was incredibly helpful as I was unsure between a couple of the covers and colour options. As a lover of all things stationery was so excited when she arrived and was as spectacular as I had hoped. Love how it all is beautifully held together and I can have multiple journals on the go and all in the same place. I chose to have my personalised with my name, which is a lovely treat. Thanks Jess

Marika
The Curator's Companion
In love with my Curator

I love everything about my Curator. I love the smell, the feel and the look. I have 4 notebooks in it and there’s room for more. I use it everyday and it’s a joy to use. Such a gorgeous product!

Kerry Apps
The Curator

Love these refills for my curators companion notebook! I change my refills for different things that I am doing for the day or weeks. I get so many compliments on how versatile my notebook is and how beautiful the make is on it. Jess is incredibly gifted.

Cathy
Notebook Refills – Kraft, Lined (3 Pack)
Impressed

Love the new ‘companion’. Thank you very much.

Tim Beer
The Wren
Beautiful!

I love it! Jess has done a wonderful job of making this. I bought the Wren with Companion. I love spending time with the notebooks & cart it around with me everywhere. The embossing of my initials was very neatly & attractively done. Very pleased with the purchase. Well worth it!

Rebecca Weyman-Berrett
The Wren
Stunningly Amazing

Absolutely love my notebook and companion

Karen Knight
The Wren

Stunning and such a pleasure to use daily! Absolute to notch craftsmanship perfect B6 size

Sylvia
The Wren

Others in the range

The Scribe.
The Scribe.
Direct, no ceremony. Trifold with a clean wrap closure, no strap. You're working the moment it's open.
From $160
The Wren.
The Wren.
Everything the range builds toward. Curator build plus a raw edge front pocket. The one Jess makes for herself.
From $195
The Settler's Companion.
The Settler's Companion.
The Settler and The Companion together. The whole system, ready to use.
$265 · saves $25
A note from Jess
The Settler is the one I hand to people who tell me they just want a good notebook. A single wrap of full-grain leather, four elastics, a centre closure -- nothing that doesn't earn its place. Some people move on to the more structured covers later. Plenty never do, and I understand why.
-- Jess, Lobethal