Handmade notebooks, Japanese silk and sourcing materials - an interview with Maria Le Van

In this episode we interview Maria Van Le of LeVan Books. 

Maria makes her own beautiful notebooks - of which Helen has purchased a few. They are exquisite, hand made and use some top notch material.

In this episode:

• Helen talks about her 6 ink pens - and decides she needs more (or not).
• Maria talks about her passion for glass ink pens, water colour painting and using her own books
• Maria explains how she started making books for her daughter and her friends, before making them for other people
• Maria is self taught and a perfectionist - always ensuring her books meet her own high standards - therefore delighting the customer
• Maria mentions Shepherds book binding (bookbinding.co.uk) - a cool store where she gets many of her materials from.
• Rob realises Shepherds is not too far from his office….credit card ready
• Maria explains how long books take to make and how precise she needs to be
• We discuss GSM paper thickness and their different uses. 
• Maria also shares the 5 things she would take to a desert island
• Maria also shares why she set up the Etsy store and how you can get your own custom notebook

Useful Links

You can find Maria on Etsy at LeVan Books - https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LeVanBooks?ref=usf_2020

Fancy having a go at making your own notebook? Here’s a kit (affiliate link).