During quarantine, many people conscious of their ever-increasing screen-time have been turning to traditional hobbies such as journaling, with the Royal Mail, recently reporting one in five Brits ordering stationery in a bid to be more creative. For luxury stationery company, Bark & Rock sales for its high-end notepads and diaries have not waivered during lockdown.
The company has continued to handmake its books at its Surrey-based workshop with strict social-distancing measures in place. Bark & Rock will launch its new Walnut Burr notebook this month. The B5-sized edition is made from the burr of the Walnut tree, in a growth normally found in the root system offering wonderful wood grain patterns.
The walnut veneer is only extracted once the tree has passed its peak nut harvesting when the tree is cut down and replaced with a new one. This veneer is not cut from a log but rather sliced into very thin sheets around 0.6mm thick, so it is more sustainable.
Luke Gosling, Bark & Rock Director, comments: “We source the veneer from the UK and make all our books from hand. It takes our craftsman four days to make a book from start to finish. This wood is full of holes and knots, originally caused by insects and fugal attack, so it can be a challenge to work with. The final finish is worth it because no two books are the same due to the natural nature of the wood.”
Each made to order Walnut Burr B5 book can come with either journal, plain or lined FSC certified paper, and it lasts a lifetime with the choice to buy refill pages
