A Verbose Anniversary Gift

I am no stranger to texting leather objects. Actually I find great satisfaction in creating things that come from the hearts and minds of our customers. I feel privileged to be given such a task. My customer provide me with a list of 60 or so words, places, names and dates that conveys their special memories of particular times in their lives.

Each belt is handcut from premium tooling "Live Oak" cowhide - the best leather you can buy. Once we have choosen the hide we hand cut it to size. We take great care in measuring, centering, stamping and finally finishing (dying) the leather. It must be perfect to our standards - no short cuts, no flaws, or it doesn't leave our hands.

Leather Made Nice - Custom 1.5 inch Memory Belt

The belt above was finished in our unique blend of brown dyes. The buyer decided she wanted a nickel plated buckle on this custom piece. It was an anniversary gift for her husband.

Happy 5th Anniversary, Sara and Brad!!

The text that buyers choose always intrigue me. As the words are stamped out I get a sense of the life these people enjoyed together and what was important to them. It reads like a novel as their life unfolds. What a wonderful keepsake!! The lady that ordered this one plans on having one made for her father. It will read the names of all the children and grandchildren. Again, what a wonderful reminder of the joys in one's life.

Happy 4th Anniversary to you and your husband, Camille @-}--

The last belt pictured was my first request. It came from a lovely young lady by the name of Ashlyn. She has been preparing for her wedding day and this is a gift for her husband-to-be. I have a bit of history with her. She has visited our site a few times and I feel rather akin to her. She has submitted some quite unique and refreshing ideas which have brought fruition to us. So this was a very special creation that I wanted to be perfect for her. For a young person she has the wisdom and insight of an old soul.

Our good wishes and love go to her and her husband-to-be on their marriage and life together!!!

Ashlyn and Justin - March 14, 2009 @-}--

Other text possibilities: historical anniversaries, favorite groups, favorite novel or books read, comic books, sports teams or personalities, sayings, concerts attended..., the possibilities are endless. If you have an idea that you would like to pass by us send us and email or visit our shop.

Smiles, Anne ^i^ & John

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!!!