Philosophy

Sojourner artists, Luke and Christine Thompson, create leather journal and sketchbook covers that make use of ?cinceledo,? a dying Argentine art-form. While preserving this craft, we have also expand it to include many more historical styles, creating an original, entirely new form of leatherwork.

Each leather cover is entirely unique: no two covers are identical in either style or production. In addition, each cover is of premium quality, with hours of labor poured into every design. The end goal: classic, heirloom quality products.

As artists, our work is modeled after a “small is beautiful” philosophy–we stress the importance of ecologically responsible and psychologically healthy work where the focus is on the art. We also pride ourselves on transparency. We don’t want our customers distracted by jingles or branding images. Instead, we want them to have at hand the real information on the quality and history of the product to make intelligent, informed purchases.

There are four main steps in producing a Sojourner journal: First, our leather is purchased and cut. Leather is purchased as cow sides from Tandy Leather Factory. We are currently looking for a free-range leather distributor, but until then Tandy provides us with our quality leather. The sides are then cut into appropriate sizes. Any excess leather is used for inventing new designs; there is absolutely no wasted leather.

The leather is then pounded using leather stamps. Over 75 percent of our stamps were hand carved in Argentina, each completely original. Besides these, we use a handful of machine-cut U.S. stamps. We’re constantly acquiring new stamps from all over the globe. Next, the leather is dyed using a combination of dyes and stains from Eco Flo, an environmentally friendly brand, as well as Fiebings, a trusted leather company. Finally, the leather is sewn into its final state and finished.