I Remember.

When I was a little girl I would look up to my dad with big eyes. He was my hero.

What I remember most was the quiet talks I had with him alone. He was a different person then. He was attentive and caring the way I always wanted him to be.

I remember the day I took my police entrance exams. It was the turning point in my life and he was there when I got home. He asked me a battery of questions that made me realize that he really cared. Being one of seven children it was a rarity to spend quality time with my dad. He showed a side of himself that I had never seen before. It was then that I knew he really loved me.

It has been 24 years since I last spoke to my dad. He left this world in 1985. There isn't a day that I don't think about him.

The other day I was working on an order. It was a "Daddy - The first man I loved" key fob and as I worked quietly my youngest daughter, Renee came over to me and whispered in my ear. "Mommy, can you make one of those for me so I can give it to daddy?" She lowered her change purse on the table and dumped out a pile of coins.

Daddy - The First Man I Loved

Back side of key fob

I looked at her with different eyes. I saw me in her. John was her daddy and hero and she wanted to give him something special. She wanted me to make him the very thing I have been making for so many others. My heart was a flutter. How sweet I thought. I had missed the obvious when it was standing right beside me all the time.

She whispered that it was our secret and that daddy wasn't to know. She had heard me read some of the comments I'd received from buyers and she wanted her daddy's to be special just like them. I gave her money back to her and promised that I would make the most special one for him and it would be the only one in the world. *pinkie swear* So I did.

I would like to wish all our great dad's out there a wonderful father's day.

From our home to yours!!




Anne and family ^i^

WE HAVE OUR FIRST WINNER!!

Yes, we have our first winner of our monthly "Treasure Hunt" giveaway.

This morning I changed the price on one of our listed items to 20 cents. (I could not be lowered any further unfortunately)

At 11:39 a.m. Michael Wu became our first winner by purchasing this item.

Distressed Leather Wristband W/ Black Leather Braiding -Unisex

It will be sent to him free of charge - shipping included.

Congratulations Michael!!

Thank you again to all that participated in this giveaway and I look forward to our next hunt in June. _\00/

Anne and John

The Stud In Me \00/_

Like every mom, I try to encourage my children to succeed. Not in a bad way but a supportive way. My son, Chris, has an artistic eye. He can sit down and make something out of anything - even a remnant piece of leather that I have discarded.

Last year, for a lark, I gave him a piece of leather because he wanted to try his hand at leather work like his dad and I. I figured why not..., he usually wears what he makes anyway.

The wristband below is what he came up with. I have to tell you though, working with pyramid studs is tricky..., they are slippery suckers that pop right out of your hand just as your about to set it in. Well, *proudly* he mastered it quite nicely - and some, showing up his ole mom. :P

It wasn't until recently did Chris make another one, the first one he kept for himself. If you get the chance show your love to an up-and-coming young artist and view his shop.

Studded Leather Wristband from CKSignature.etsy.com

Good ole mom tried her hand at something new too. I aspire to be unique in my designs. I don't want to be usual - I want to be superb! This was my attempt to be stylish without overworking the design. This is a wristband I made. I offset the diamond clusters - which was a "B" to do *pat on back* while keeping the clusters aligned. It can be viewed it in my shop. :)

CLASSIC ROCK Pyramid studded wristband

I've always wanted to design studded earring too. For about a month now I have been awake at nights tossing idea around in my head. Maybe if I just slept I might have dreamt up something sooner. This pair of earrings are my most recent creation... I am so proud of them... It is quite a challenge to line up the pyramids and center them on a small piece of slippery leather... GAWH!!! but with perseverance I did it. \00/_

DIVA Pyramid - Diamond Studded and Leather Earrings.

This was my first attempt at designing pyramid studded earrings. I am so pleased with them.

Now that I have accomplished this I have a ton of ideas bouncing around in my head. I am hoping to have more designs in our shop soon.

Pyramid Studded Linear Earring and Leather.

Thanks for dropping by!!

Have a Happy Easter everyone!!

Anne ^i^

Luther's Legacy

About a month ago I received an email from a woman by the name Danni. She wanted to know if I could make her a custom key ring similar to the ones she had seen in our Etsy shop. She was having it made for her husband in memory of his beloved pet and recently deceased dog, Luther. I was touched by this and agreed. Her request was not a unique one, as I have made many of them before but this was to be my first as a keepsake in memory of a dog.

These are samples of our personalized, handstamped keychains

from our shop As I read further on, I realized that she wanted me to make two personalized key chains out of an existing dog collar that was previously worn by Luther. I had no idea at the time what the collar looked like nor if I could emboss it with the dogs name on it. You see, the leather was finished and worn for some time. Danni left the desicion up to me, regardless. But as I am sure other leather workers will attest - once leather has been dyed and finished with a protective coat it is unlikely that other impressions stamped into the leather will be able to leave permanently embossed markings.

I had forgotten about our conversation until the day I received a package in the mail. It contained the dog collar below. As I held it in my hands and caressed the extremely weathered and worn leather, fond memories of my dog, Friday, came to mind. I felt a sense of duty to Danni and her husband to deliver to them the best possible reconstructed item I could using this wonderful old dog collar.

John and I both examined it closely. It had years of grim built up on it from dirt and water. I had to strip it down, clean, and condition the leather to the base so I would be able to attempt the undertaking of embossing lettering.

It came out beautifully. I had enough of the collar left to make a personalized wristband as well.

A few nights later, I lay awake imagining how it would come out. Like every thing we do I handled it as if it were my own.

I had to wait patiently for the treatment to dry fully before John could add the new dye. The leather sucked up the first application of dye like a dry sponge. It took several coats of dye and two applications of "super sheen" to bring it to a rich luster. John and I were thrilled with the results.

This has to be one of my most rewarding and memorable moments in this business. For someone to part with and entrust us with this cherished article made me feel quite honored. If you have such an article that you would like us to give life to visit us at our website or Etsy shop. We would love to chat with you and possible deliver to you the same results as we did to Danni and her husband.

"Luther"

Anne ^i^

For Your Eyes Only

It has been quite a ride for John and I since we joined the Etsy "handcrafters" community. We never imagined in our wildest dreams how well we would do. During the Christmas rush and again in the days approaching Valentine's Day orders came steadily. I lay awake at night processing the orders in my head...., sigh!!! Both John and I are perfectionists so if something doesn't look right...., back to the drawing board we go. There are so many talented artisan's out there coming up with some brilliant ideas that it keeps us on my toes. We are constantly striving for our "A" game and aspire to do better with each new item we create. That alone is a task in itself..., whew, I'm tired already. :)

My biggest hurdled, as of late, was finding a way to make leather jewelry more appealing to men. And I don't mean adding more spikes, rivets or studs to a thick piece of leather. I mean a piece of jewelry that a man would like to wear - something classy, something sexy.

I racked my brain searching for a unique concept. Our personalized word bands seemed to be working for us so I started there. Most of our buyers are woman and bought according to a woman's perspective. I know my husband isn't too fond of wearing wordy wristbands expressing sentiments of love but he and my son do like the more masculine, dark brown or black rugged look of our personalized leather key chains that we made over Christmas. They were very successful and we were quite pleased, however I now wanted create something more, something better. As they say, if you put it out there the universe will deliver.

Well the universe delivered!!

On January 21st a fellow Etsyian, Laura of Lovely Lolli convo'd me and asked if could create a wristband that her husband would wear. She claimed he was a manly man. She drew my attention to one of our personalized wristbands listed on my site. A dark brown word wristband with high lighted text and contrasting tan topstitching along the edges. Laura advised me that her husband wouldn't wear a wristband with sentimental words on it. Was there a way I could stamp text on the inside of the band.., was that possible? She wanted the text inscribed on the inside and hidden from his buddies attention. I thought about it for a minute and accepted the challenge. What a brilliant idea she had. Of course!!!

I tossed the idea around with John and he agreed it was doable.

I made the first one for Laura (pictured below) and sent her a picture of it. She loved it!!! Thoughts become things and I had my classy new product. From a simple idea came the secret message wristband, or as I like to call it "For your eyes only" leather wristband for men.

Now us ladies came pour out our hearts to our men and they can wear a stylin' piece of jewelry without being heckled by there buddies. A win win situation ;=)

Happy Valentine's Day!!!