I didn't discover leather carving till later in life, but I have embraced working with leather and have a passion for creating in leather and learning it's history.
I didn’t want all of February to get by without making a post. So today I want to take advantage of leap day to post about a very talented saddle maker and one of my main influences, Jesse Smith.
The video below was filed more than a decade ago but Jesse is still at work making saddles and other leather goods. Jesse is a master saddle maker who has made hundreds of saddles over his career and is responsible for training dozens and dozens of aspiring saddle makers over the years.
While I am not a saddle maker (I would love to make one someday though!) Jesse did teach me much of the basics of floral carving when I was starting out and I learned the style of floral carving I make, called the Northwest Style of floral carving, from him. I owe a lot of my style and success to Jesse.
Floral carving in leather.
This is an example of my own carving in the Northwest Style of floral carving.
In many ways saddle making is the pinnacle of leather work. It involves all the techniques for solid construction of a working leather item and must withstand the elements. It can incorporate the highest forms of leather art in the carvings and decorations that adorn the saddle. It also is an important piece of safety equipment as both the rider’s and the horse’s health and safety can depend on how well it functions. It really brings all the skills and techniques of leather work into one project.
Jesse has spent a lifetime developing his skills and knowledge, and he has always been happy to share that knowledge with others. He has been a teacher for many years and has influenced some of the best makers in our field. I am very thankful to have had him as a teacher and to call him a friend.
Just a quick reminder that our special offer on custom leather wallets will end this Saturday, Jan 27th at midnight. You can still get a 15% discount if you contact us before then and get your order in place, and we will guarantee to have the wallet finish in time for Valentine’s Day.
Blue leather clutch wallet.
You can order a customized leather wallet and get a discount on it too! Just contact us now to get the process started.
THERE ARE LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE in our order books for this event. Spots in promotions like this tend to fill up quickly so let us know as soon as you can what you would like to have made for the special someone in your life. And if you need any ideas be sure to visit our wallet page in our shop to check out some pre-made items we have in stock.
We can make you many different styles of clutch wallets, bifold wallets and other custom leather wallets. Talk to us today about the special artwork or personalization you would like for your loved one and we will do everything we can to make it happen!
Custom Leather Wallets 15% off!
Now through January 27th! Offer valid on new custom orders only. Preexisting custom orders and Etsy shop listing are excluded. Get your order in today by contacting us!
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. Are you looking for a unique Valentine’s Day gift?
A Valentine’s Day Custom Leather Wallets Special!
Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, and we have a special offer for the loved one in your life. Now through January 27th we are offering a special on Valentine’s Day custom leather wallets and billfolds made for your loved one. If you order a custom made leather wallet, bifold or money clip we’ll take 15% off the price and still make it in time for Valentine’s Day.
Clutch Wallet with silver ponchos.
A Handcrafted leather wallet, billfold wallet, clutch wallet or money clip can be an excellent gift that is custom made for your loved one with care and quality so it will last a lifetime. But making wallets like this doesn’t happen quickly. It takes time to design and construct a hand made leather wallet, so contact us as soon as possible to get the process started!
Please note that this Valentine’s Day Custom Leather Wallets promotion can fill up. After all there is only so much time in a day and only so much crafting our chief leather worker, Bob Blea, can do. So as a result THERE ARE LIMITED SPOTS AVAILABLE in our order books for this event. Spots in promotions like this tend to fill up quickly so let us know as soon as you can what you would like to have made for the special someone in your life. And if you need any ideas be sure to visit our wallet page in our shop to check out some pre-made items we have in stock.
We can make you many different styles of clutch wallets, bifold wallets and other custom leather wallets. Talk to us today about the special artwork or personalization you would like for your loved one and we will do everything we can to make it happen!
Custom Leather Wallets 15% off!
Now through January 27th! Offer valid on new custom orders only. Preexisting custom orders and Etsy shop listing are excluded. Get your order in today by contacting us!
Happy New Year! May everyone have a happy and prosperous 2024!
I would like to take this moment to thank all our customer’s for the year just passed. 2023 was a great year of new and different projects, and some requests for some pretty cool custom leather items. It was a joy to make all these things for each of you out there and I look forward to many more custom orders in the coming year.
Custom Leather Belt with Vine Design
Last year was a great year for orders for custom leather belts, custom leather wallets and even a few custom leather notebooks and journals. In addition my customers came up with some very unusual custom leather work items, like a leather business card holder and a special bifold wallet with a money clip attached to the back. All of these projects were fun challenges to make my customer’s ideas become a reality.
Money clip with Celtic knot design
Thank you for all your Custom Leather Work orders!
So thank you all for your custom orders this past year! It was a pleasure making all your ideas for custom leather items a reality! These challenges are what make this business such fun and a challenge. Each custom leather item is a chance to make something unique and long lasting for each customer. It’s a chance to make a functional work of art that will last a lifetime and be handed down to the next generation.
We’re still here working away furiously trying to finish up those last minute Christmas orders. It’s been a busy season and I’m very thankful for all your orders and the trust you put in me in bringing your custom leather requests to life. Making custom leather notebooks, wallets and belts is what I do and it’s been a joy to make all the things I have this holiday season!
Custom Leather Belt with Vine Design
It’s too late to order anything for Christmas this year but our order books are open for January and February 2024. Let us know if there is something you would like made for you and I will be happy to discuss this with you. Contact me here to get the process started today!
Fall had come to town and the saddle shop was busy with the mix of new orders and repairs that had built up over the summer of hard work. It was a busy time for Bill who worked as an apprentice in the shop. He did a lot of the repairs under the watchful eye of Frank, the head saddle maker.
Hand Stitching a Leather Wallet with a traditional saddle stitch.
This year seemed particularly busy, with lots of equipment coming for repairs and new orders and such. It was keeping Bill busy with work and some long hours. With the fall days rapidly getting shorter as October came to a close, Bill found himself working into the dark evenings more and more. But he didn’t mind. The extra work meant extra pay and Bill was a hard worker.
The first time it happened it had just gotten dark outside. Bill heard a noise from the back of the shop where the leather was stored. It sounded like someone was ringing a cowbell. At first Bill ignored it as he tried to stitch a new piece of leather to a well worn headstall. The cowbell kept clanging, enough so that it started getting on Bill’s nerves. He walked to the back storage area expecting that Frank or Toby would be pulling a prank on him. Toby was particularly known as the shop prankster.
But when Bill got back to the leather storage racks no one was there. And he couldn’t find a cowbell either. He walked around the shop and didn’t find anyone. He eventually found Frank and Toby out front of the shop talking to one of the neighboring business owners. Very strange…..
The next few days were quiet and uneventful. But then a couple of days before Halloween it happened again. This time it was later in the evening, and Bill was working late itaking apart an old saddle. Working late alone. He knew Frank, who was an early riser and liked to start his days early, had gone home about an hour ago. Toby had left about the same time.
While working to take off some of the old worn leather he heard it again. The cowbell. Just a ding – ding – ding. Then silence. Then he hear foot steps. No, more like a clopping sound that hooves make on a hard surface..
This time Bill didn’t hesitate. He hurried back to the storage area where he had heard the noise. This time he was going to catch whomever was pulling the prank.
No one was there.
Bill looked around confused. He was certain he had heard the bell and the banging. He looked though the shelves of leather, trying to see if there was a bell somewhere that he hadn’t noticed before. Maybe the wind was finding a way through the walls and ringing a bell, or something that could sound like a bell? Maybe something was banging against the wall?
In his searching Bill somehow caused one of the shelves to shift. From the top of the shelf a rolled up side of leather fell and almost hit Bill on the head. He wasn’t hurt but he didn’t know how he managed to knock it off. Not that it really could have hurt him. It startled him more than anything. He put the side back and went back to his workbench. Nothing more unusual happened that night.
The evenings were quiet in the shop until the night of Halloween. It was a quiet Halloween in the saddle shop and Bill was working late again. He didn’t have anywhere in particular to be that night so he didn’t mind working. Wile finishing up a project he heard it again. A cowbell.
It was coming from the leather storage area again, and this time heheard the clopping sound loudly too. In fact is sounded a lot like hooves. The bell was ringing loudly and it sounded like someone had let a bull loose in the storage room. An angry bull.
Before Bill could do anything to check what was going on, the lights in the shop went out. And then he heard what sounded like a bull charging towards him.
Frank found Bill the next morning when he came into work.
No one could figure out what had happened. Bill looked like he had been trampled. Like he had been caught in a stampede and run over by several cows. One appeared to have very statically placed a hoof right into his heart. Yet there was no evidence the body had been moved and nothing else in the shop had been bothered, except for a bunch of leather hides that had been knocked down in the storage room.
Fall is here and that means Christmas isn’t that far off. It also means there is not much time to get your orders in for custom leatherwork and still have them guaranteed in time for Christmas.
Cross Body Bag
Christmas custom leatherwork orders take time to make and there aren’t many slots left 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 Oct 30th to place an order in time for this 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.
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. 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, or handbag for you or your loved one.
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.
Every artist, no matter what your medium, will run into creative blocks that stop the flow of ideas and creative energy. Sometimes it is a brief feeling that causes you to hang up your tools or put away your brushes for the afternoon but sometimes it’s a feeling that can stifle you for days or weeks. That’s when you have to do something about it.
Don’t get me wrong. Every once in a while taking the afternoon off to enjoy being outside or doing some other fun (and usually unrelated) activity is a necessary break to keep us creative and sane. But if your feeling like your creative juices aren’t flowing and the feeling is hanging on, here are some ideas you can try to overcome the block, find your motivation and get back in the groove again.
Try taking a break
Sometimes it’s the pause that refreshes. Finding motivation sometimes involves a complete break to do something different and reset the brain. Try going outside for a walk or exercising. Changing your mental gears and doing some other activity you enjoy or that challenges you a different way might just be all the break you need to get your flow back on track. This is good when you just need a small break but if your creative block has been going on longer it will probably take more than this.ยจ
Set a goal
Often our motivation is blocked because the project at hand seems too big or it doesn’t excite us like other projects. I sometimes get this when working on leather projects that don’t involve a lot of artwork or carving, or if it’s a big new project working on something I’ve never made before. When this happens it helps to set small goals to make progress towards the overall completed project. It can be difficult to find motivation when a project seems overwhelming. By setting small goals that are easier to reach you can make progress is small steps. Those steps will help build your confidence and your motivation, all of which helps with finding motivation.
And if you find it difficult to reach your goals or keep on track, tell a friend about your goals. Telling someone whom you can trust can help you feel accountable, especially if they are someone that will remind you of your goals and keep pushing you to reach it.
Make a series of small goals
Small goals can act as manageable steps toward a bigger goal. Setting up small steps can create more manageable goals, and each small goal gets you closer to the overall large goal and builds your momentum towards completing the project and getting your motivation back.
Celebrate success!
As you reach each goal, celebrate your successes! Even small steps are an accomplishment towards completing your project and getting your creative momentum up and running again. Celebrating each positive step resets your feelings towards the project, turning what may seem like a chore into a feeling of accomplishment.
More to come!
Next time we’ll talk about some ways to find our motivation by releasing your creativity.
I recently read an article talking about the importance of labor and finding ways to express our creativity through what we make or build. It made me think about the importance of creativity and making for those of us that build, make or create items that are very personal and/or have an artistic touch to them. Many people have jobs where they make something. You can work in a factory where you build electronic devices or make a food product, but how many people get to work in a business where they make something extremely personal or something that takes fine craftsmanship?
Leather money clip with oak leaf carving designs.
While many people have daily jobs where they work in a factory and make something or a part of something, the jobs where people have true craftsman skills are much fewer and far between these days. For the most part, when things are made these days it’s in a mass production, factory oriented environment designed to efficiently make hundreds or thousands of a particular item. Often that item isn’t made to last a lifetime. It is functional but has a designed obsolescence and you will need to replace it in a few years. No thought is given to repairing it. If something goes wrong you replace it.
There used to be many crafts and trades that operated in a town and made products that were used locally by the people of the area. Those makers made the whole product from start to finish and they were judged on the quality and skill of that finished product. Their creativity came into play in the artistry or personalization they could build into the final product. Creativity and making went hand in hand. This was true if they were the local baker, a blacksmith, a shoe maker or someone from my industry, a leather worker. Just over a century ago, every town had someone who worked with leather and made harnesses or saddles for horses, because most work and transportation was done with horses. Someone who was skilled with leather was needed to build and maintain all that gear the horses needed.
Now those kind of skilled jobs are rare. You still find them in the construction trades (think carpenters and the like) but there aren’t that many jobs where an individual’s creativity and skill can be expressed in what they make. It’s something that is much rarer to find these days than it would have been a century ago. I feel lucky that I have my business as a way of expressing my artistic side and hand making items that are unique and often crafted for a specific individual.. It’s something that I feel very fortunate to be able to do, and it connects me to a time where a maker’s skill and craftsmanship were a badge of honor. I like to think it is still one today.
National Leathercraft Day was created in 2018 by Tandy Leather as a way of celebrating the art and craft of working with leather.
Hand Stitching a Leather Wallet with a traditional saddle stitch.
Leather has a long history going back to the stone age. Leather was probably one of the first materials mankind learned to work and take advantage of, and it’s been a major part of all our lives ever since. As time has moved along leather work has developed from being utilitarian to being an art form and form of expression.
Leathercraft is still a viable craft practiced by people all over the world. For some of us it is even a business and profession. But it’s also a hobby that is open to all ages and skill levels. 4H has classes for kids to start working with leather as do Boy and Girl Scouts. There are also leather supply stores like Tandy or Standing Bear’s Trading Post that have regular in person classes for people to try their hand at various skills. There are Leather Guilds across the US and the world dedicated to expanding the art form and that have regular classes or meetings with the purpose of educating people who are interested in the hobby. And of course there are many online resources like videos and tutorials, including several here on my site.
So today in honor of National Leathercraft Day I invite you to try out leathercraft for the first time or work on improving some skill. Maybe you would like to make yourself a belt. Maybe you want to make a sheath for a knife you have. Maybe you have always wanted to learn carving or stamping leather.. Give it a try! I have tutorials here on my site and Tandy Leather sells some of the best beginners books out there. There are tons of video resources by leather suppliers. Springfield Leather is not only a good source of supplies but they are one of the largest producers of online teaching videos. There are a lot of resources available to everyone these days and picking up the craft is easier now than ever.
For my own little contribution to National Leathercraft Day, I’ve got a free carving design for you. This is a corner floral design you can feel free to use however you would like.
Floral Corner Design
I’ve included a PDF version of the design here. You can download the JPEG image above or the PDF version by clicking the link below:
Use it however you like. And if I get enough requests I might even do my own carving tutorial video for that design. Enjoy the day and get to the bench and make something!
