We are partners Enan and Nadja,
with our six-year-old daughter Kahlila and four rescued dogs
(Pita, Chapatti, Pumpkin and Hopia).
We handcraft our journals in our home
in Metro Manila, in the Philippines.
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All our pieces are made by hand.
The paper and leather are hand-cut,
hand-sewn and hand-stamped.
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"Journals have always possessed a certain mystique, their blank pages holding promise, begging to be filled with personal ephemera. (Nadja) Castillo understands this, and it makes Alunsina’s products all the more special. 'It’s a product in and of itself, but those who buy the journals turn them into something more than a banal object or ‘a thing,’ she says. 'They bring it with them in their travels and write memorable anecdotes on them, they record their innermost thoughts on the pages, they beautify the pages with their artwork, they express their anger by dirtying up the pages. We just make the canvas. It’s the owners who make the journals uniquely theirs. And that’s very inspiring for us as makers.'"
Alunsina Handbound Books: Locally Made
by Hand and by Heart
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