Bob Blea | C and B Leather: Custom Hand Made Leather Goods

Thankful For My Customers and My Craft

Thanksgiving is upon us and I have much to be thankful for. I have been able to make many cool and unique leather items this year for very appreciative customers. I’m very thankful for people that value my work and allow me to make one of a kind works of functional art!

A custom leatherwork notebook with floral carving. — My World Leather Debut entry, a custom made leather notebook cover.

I’m thankful that carving and making in leather has become a business that I can succeed in. So many people have come to me over the years to make items for special occasions in their lives, be it weddings, special gifts or just unique items they couldn’t find. I’m thankful that this work has allowed me to express the creative fire within me and I’m grateful for the endless sources of inspiration that surround me – nature, people, music, etc. I’m thankful for these inspirations and their ability to keep my work fresh.

I’m thankful for leathercraft!

I’m also thankful for the journey of creating art itself – the messiness, the breakthroughs, the moments of frustration and the ultimate satisfaction of bringing an idea to life and creating something special and unique for my customers. Most of all I’m deeply grateful for the people who connect with my work, who appreciate my efforts, and who support my artistic journey through purchases, encouragement, and kind words. Their engagement validates my passion. And this goes beyond my customers. I’m grateful to my family, friends and mentors for their encouragement. They’ve helped me navigate the ups and downs of this creative business and kept me going when things got tough.

I’m grateful for the wonderful year I’ve had making these unique items and I’m looking forward to many more making all sorts of new and unique items for people. If you are looking for your own unique leather item, contact me to get the process started. I’m eagerly looking forward to my next projects!

About Leather Thickness

Leather Construction, Leather History

Leather is an ancient material, perhaps one of the first materials that mankind learned to make. As such it has a rich history and as a trade working with leather goes back to our oldest civilizations. And as you would guess leather craft has some pretty unusual terms for the tools and techniques involved.

One of the odd terms we use involves how to measure the thickness of leather. In modern times and most of the world we use a very straightforward measurement in millimeters or fractions of an inch. In many places though a more archaic measurement is still used, ounces.

Stamping a design in leather — Stamping a basket weave design into leather.

Measuring thickness in ounces is tied to a standard of weight for leather. The weight of any given leather used to be defined by how much the leather weighed for a piece that was 12 inches square. For example, if a square foot of the leather weighed 8 ounces, that would be referred to as 8 oz. leather. This is a thickness that is very commonly used in carved leather belts and it corresponds to about 1/8 inch or 3 mm in thickness. While much of the world has moved on to metric measurements in the US ounces is still the standard unit of thickness for leather.

When talking about leather in ounces the conversion factor is one ounce equals 1/64 of an inch or 0.4 mm.

There is an older and more interesting term for measuring leather: irons. This is an old term that derives from the English shoe making industry. Cobblers (workers who made shoes in pre-industrial times) used the term iron to measure leather thickness and one iron was equivalent to 1/48 of an inch. It is believed that the ‘irons’ probably referred to an iron plate that was stacked up against the leather to measure the thickness. Since shoes are rarely hand made these days the term irons has been relegated to the history books and you would find few leather workers that would be familiar with it.

Christmas Custom Leatherwork Orders Close Soon

Leather Carving

Fall is here again and the leaves are turning, and that means Christmas isn’t that far off. It also means it is time to get your orders in for custom leatherwork and still have them guaranteed in time for Christmas!

Christmas orders take time to make and there aren’t many slots available in my order books. If you ware looking for a custom leatherwork item to be that special gift for this Christmas now is the time to contact me. There is a deadline of Nov 8th to place an order in time for delivery by Christmas. After that date I can’t guarantee delivery in time for Christmas, but I will do everything I can to complete an item in time to ship for Christmas.

As a maker of fine leather belts, wallets, notebooks and handbags, I always strive for being unique and of the highest quality for every item I make. Each of my items are made by hand by myself, Bob Blea, maker and leather artist. Any gifts I make for you will be unique and the highest quality possible or your money back.

Everyone wants a unique Christmas gift to give their loved ones. If your gift ideas include a custom leatherwork creation, it’s not too late to place an order with me and have your idea become a reality. But be sure to place your order soon! Time is running out and it can take several weeks to make some items. Quality takes time! That’s why it’s important to contact me as soon as possible. I would be thrilled to make a custom leather wallet, leather notebook, belt or handbag for you or your loved one.

Northwest Style floral vine design on a custom leather belt. — Custom Leather Belt with Vine Design

And as another option, please check out my shop for items I currently have in stock. There may be something there that is completed and ready to ship that will make the perfect gift.

Don’t delay! Get your Christmas custom leatherwork order in today!

Happy National Leathercraft Day!

Leather Carving, Leather Construction, Leather Stamping

Did you know that August 15th is National Leathercraft Day? It is a celebration founded in 2018 by Tandy Leather to celebrate the rich history, artistry, and skills of leathercrafting.

Stamping a basket stamp design on a leather wallet. — Stamping a basket weave design into leather.

So how to celebrate this day that is so important to what I do? For starters if you have a Tandy Leather store near you, try stoping in to find a cool kit to build, discover some really cool leather, or discover the rich world of leather crafting if your just getting started. They also have a large sale going on this weekend to promote Leathercraft Day. There are also on line leather suppliers like Springfield Leather that are having massive sales for National Leathercraft Day to promote this day dedicated to the leather craft.

Also, check out the resources section of my website for tutorials and tips on leather crafting. You can also follow me on social media (on Instagram @bobbleacandbleather or on Facebook @C and B Leather) to see more tips, techniques or just to follow my work. I’m also open to any questions you may have.

Creating in leather can be a very rewarding hobby or even a side business. Making leather and creating things out of leather is probably one of the oldest skills known to man but despite that fact crafting items in leather is still as important today as it has ever been. Leather is also an up cycled material. Cow hides are a byproduct of the meat industry and if they were not made into leather they would end up as a waste product in a landfill. So by creating in leather you are putting an age old product to good use, and you just might be making a work of art.

If there is anything I can craft for you from leather contact me and we can come up with a way to make your vision a reality!

Leatherworking Resources

Leather Carving, Leather Stamping

If you are a leather worker or want to be a leather worker, this is just a reminder that I have some tutorials on leather carving and leather stamping on my website. Just go to the Resources section and look for the tutorials there. They are written to provide an overview to a beginner of the process steps I go through for carving floral elements in leather.

Hand tooling a flower in leather. — Process of carving a flower in leather.

I also have leatherwork tutorials on stamping basket weave designs. These focus on the basket stamp but the techniques apply to other types of geometric stamps. I do want to create a tutorial on geometric stamping at some point so stay tuned for that.

Let me know about any other sort of leatherwork tutorials you would like to see here. I’m also working on developing a YouTube channel that will have leatherwork tutorials and tips for the leather worker at all ranges of skill levels. If there is something you would like to see or know more about how I do it, drop me a note in the comments about what you are interested in or let me know your questions. I’ll answer it in the comments if I can and it may just be something you will see in a future tutorial or video here on this site!

Leatherwork Tutorials

Leatherwork involves a lot of diverse skills and there are many different ways you can follow your interests. Maybe tooling and carving leather isn’t your thing. Maybe you enjoy designing and assembling hand bags our of exotic leather more and don’t care about carving and tooling. Maybe your interest is in leather restoration. Whatever you area of interest is in let me know what you would like to see and if I have knowledge or information to share on it I will. I learned because other leatherworkers were willing to share their knowledge and now I want to pay that forward and share what I know to help others.

Custom Leather work is busier than ever!

Life of a Maker

Hi all and Happy First Day of Summer! It’s been a busy first half of the year here in the shop and its hard to believe so much of 2024 has already gone by!

Carved leather money clip wallet with Celtic knot design — Money clip with Celtic knot design

I want to thank all our fantastic customers for the business this year! I’ve been able to make many cool custom leather work projects so far this year, recreating old wallets, making notebooks and belts. And there are some really cool projects coming soon like a recreation of a customer’s favorite handbag that has now worn out. A chef’s knife roll. Some really cool wallets. There are so many cool things that I am very thankful for the opportunity to make, plus some projects I am doing just to expand my own skills and products. I’m particularly excited about some projects that will go beyond the traditional western style floral designs I typically make. I’m looking to expand into different styles of artwork so I hope you will be seeing some different artwork appearing on these pages and on my social media accounts.

If you are interested in having some custom leather work made for you, just let me know here. I would be happy to talk to you about what you need and what you envision, and I love making your vision into a real leather item that will last you for years to come.

A Little Competition…In Custom Leatherwork

Creativity, Leather Carving

If you don’t push yourself you won’t grow.

It’s true of any skill, job or art form. Whether you want to grow in your job, a sport or in art, if you don’t push yourself to reach new heights, learn a new skill or refine what you do, you will just be stuck in the same place. Stagnant.

That is why I enter the World Leather Debut show in Sheridan, WY. I have no illusions that I can actually win at this competition. It is filled with the art work from some of the best leather workers in the world. Not just the US but exceptional artists from Japan, China and Europe. Their skills and styles are diverse and they bring a full lifetime of pursuit of their art to this show. For people like me that make artwork in leather, this show is the pinnacle of our art.

Custom Leatherwork

Whenever I am making custom leatherwork I am always trying to do my best. Each item is made uniquely for that particular customer and I try to make each item as special and exceptional as possible. But making something like this notebook for a competition that includes some of the best craftsmen and women in the world definitely pushes you to another level. It also makes you look more critically at your work. You examine and put more thought into each detail. You know how high the bar is and you think about how you can improve each step so you can get closer to that bar.

Back cover of a leather notebook cover with floral caring design and geometric stamping — Rear panel of my World Leather Debut notebook.

So while this notebook didn’t win any awards, I know it is some of my best work. And I believe I will carry the lessons and insights learned in making it into each custom leatherwork piece I do in the next year, so that next year my work will have leveled up just a little bit and I will be that much closer to that high bar.

If you are interested in a custom leather notebook or journal similar to this one, contact me and I will be happy to make something like this for you.

Custom Leather Notebooks

Life of a Maker

While going through some of my old pictures on my computer I ran across images of this notebook I made twelve years ago. I had forgotten I had even made a notebook like this.

Hand Carved Leather Notebook with oak leaf designs in the corners. — Custom Leather Notebook With Oak Leaf Designs

This was a custom leather notebook made to order. I really like oak leaf carvings and I don’t get to make them as often as I should. Oak leaves are traditionally a symbol of strength and they used to be very common decorations for stone buildings, furniture and yes leather carving.

I’ve made many different carvings using oak leaves, from wallets to notebooks, but one thing I’ve never made is an oak leaf carved belt. If you’re out there reading this and that sounds like a cool idea to you, contact me and let me know. I would be happy to make someone a oak leaf belt and would probably give you a discount to do it too just because I think it would be a cool project.

Custom Leather Notebooks

Custom leather notebooks used to be my speciality and it’s what I started out making for people. My very first custom orders were for custom leather notebooks like the on shown above. These notebooks were almost always laced around the edges like the one shown here because at the time I didn’t know how to hand sew leather. But I also liked the look and I still make some projects like this. Most of the notebooks had western floral designs on them but every once in a while I would get to make a Celtic knot or oak leaf design like this one.

Close up of oak leaf carving on leather.

If you have a need for a custom leather notebook, leather journal or wedding guest book, please let me know. I’m always happy to make leather notebooks and journals for people. Let me know what ideas you have for your design and I will do everything I can to make your idea come to life.

Celebrating Quality Full Grain Leather on World Leather Day!

Life of a Maker

April 26th is know as World Leather Day, a day to celebrate the quality, beauty and versatility of full grain leather. Leather can be a sound choice as a more sustainable up cycled product that is more environmentally friendly than some alternatives like plastics.

Leather is one of the oldest products that man has made and it’s still very useful to this day. From clothing to boots to wallets, full grain leather still has many key uses in modern society. It is a versatile and durable product that outperforms and outlasts many modern materials like plastics or synthetic fibers. By replacing plastics and other synthetic polymer based fibers leather can help keep micro-plastics out of the environment and the food chain. Also full grain quality leather can be repaired to extend it’s lifetime or it can be recycled or up cycled into other products, further reducing it’s environmental impact.

All leather is actually a byproduct of the meat industry. Leather starts off as an animal hide that would be discarded in a landfill if it wasn’t converted to a useful product. While the tanning process does produce waste chemicals the industry has made great strides on minimizing their waste and treating their contaminated water runoff to mitigate environmental impacts. The tanning industry has made great strides in reducing their carbon and environmental footprint in recent years.

Full Grain Leather’s Impact

Whether it’s a leather garment, a leather boot or a carved leather notebook like the one shown above, the environmental impact that genuine full grain leather can have on the world should not be dismissed. There is still a wide variety of uses for leather in our modern world and it’s a material that should be embraced. Here on World Leather Day we celebrate this most versatile of materials and how it continues to improve and enhance our daily lives.

Custom Leather Belts

Life of a Maker

I was at my local library yesterday and ran across a book called “Art of the Buckle” by Jim Arndt and Mary Emmerling. It’s a pictorial book depicting various kinds of custom and handmade belt buckles. Many are silver with mounted stones like turquoise.

This book caught my eye because of the silver and turquoise work but also when I opened it I ended up in a section of hand engraved silver work for Ranger belt sets. The artistry was definitely eye catching and in ways it was inspiring too. It definitely made me want to build a Ranger style belt for myself!

Custom leather belts have long been a part of the customer leather work we do here at C and B Leather. I’ve made floral carved belts, geometric stamped designs and even belts with tooled mountain scenes. Since my early days, making belts for customers has been a part of my work. Looking at a book like this is inspiring because I look at the various buckle designs and wonder ‘what kind of belt would I make to match this buckle’? The artwork on these buckles can definitely make me think about leather art designs for custom belts that I never would have thought of before.

If you are interested in a custom belt contact us to get the process started. We take your measurements and make a belt specifically for you. You can also choose from our existing floral or geometric designs or present us with your design ideas and we’ll do our best to make them come to life. For more information about what goes into making custom leather belts check out this blog post for more details.

If you are interested in getting a copy of this book you can get in on Amazon here. Please note I am also an Amazon Associate and I earn commissions on qualifying purchases.