Something a Bit New

I have been doing leather work for about a year now. I knew right from the get go that I wanted to come up with my own patterns and try and find my own style. At Tandy Leather where I buy my supplies they offer lots of pre drawn patterns. Most of them are more traditional designs that you might see on cowboy saddles or cowgirl purses. I totally admire this kind of traditional work but I haven't attempted any of it yet.

During a recent trip to Knoxville to visit family my mom and I popped into this cute store called The Village Tinker. It was all hand made items from local people in TN. There was work from one gentleman who did leather work. I wish I would have written down his name because it was amazing! I would have loved to be able to buy one of his purses. So intricately carved with flowers and really thick leather. That baby would last someone 5 lifetimes before it started to break down. Unfortunately I don't have 400 sitting around to buy it so I just sat there and held it for a moment. It inspired me to try a more traditional look.

I went home and got to carving and tooling. This is what I came up with.

I am really happy with it. It's different than anything I have done so far. It involved a lot more tooling than I usually do on a cuff. I also like the idea of sticking with two colors. I typically love color so this was a change for me.

Anyways, it was a fun little challenge. I am not sure if i will be selling it or not. I kind of want to keep it all for me. We shall see.