The Thrill of Going Global

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, one of my favorite things about reaching customers via the web is the international scope of my clientele. Every time I ship to a country for the first time, I place a pin on an imagined map; the map is getting new pins all the time, and I just love that! 
Never thought this would happen, though...

Recently my daughter and her dashing husband spent a week in Italy. One day, while waiting for a bus on the streets of Rome, they spotted a woman wearing one of my signature Floral Vine cuffs. This lovely lady, a fellow tourist from Canada, graciously allowed them to take this picture of her pointing at her cuff.
So, from Michigan to Canada and on to stylin' it on the streets of Rome at exactly the right moment to be spotted by my vacationing loved ones...
I feel a teeny bit giggly at the wonderful serendipity involved ;-)

This cuff, my most popular design to date, is available in my Etsy shop. Each is made individually, so every one is a unique piece, a bit different in flow and character from all of its international counterparts!

And thanks so much to this lovely Canadian adventurer, who didn't share her name. I appreciate your sense of style and that big smile!

Revisiting an Old Friend

I moved this summer, as you may know. It was perhaps my most discombobulating move ever, probably due to the fact I had lived 12 years in my last house, longer than anyplace in my entire adulthood.
That is enough time to accumulate a lot of stuff and more than enough time to lose track of much of it!
So, as you might guess, one very cool part of the process was the opportunity to rediscover a few lost treasures.
There is one such find that I feel compelled to share here...

Berrien Thorn was a friend of mine. A wonderful man - artist, poet, activist and one of the best musicians I have ever known. He had a wonderful collection of folk instruments from throughout the world and could play them all! (My personal favorite was a banjo made of an old tobacco tin - as "folksy" as it gets, I think!)
Berrien had a rich personal history, including a fair stretch of time in his youth working with migrant farm workers. The people and lessons of that experience never left him.
From those years came this wonderful collection of musings, gifted to me some years ago with an admonition to share the words and support the cause. And so, in honor of a man and his vision, I share with you (in his own words, copyrighted in 1988**) ...

1. I am a newspaper for the illiterate. I bring the whispered word. I sing them their own stories as they were told to me. Set to a tune the word goes round, and when they recognize a camp they nod and grin, elbow the others into the know: "Hey, that's the hole where I got beat up last year!"
2. The men are worn and beat and want to kick back. They're slugging beers and playing poker for money. The atmosphere is a juke joint in Alabama. The music is a touch of home - easy as a handshake. The women gather at the other end of the cookhouse and sing "About My Jesus". The music is a church; voices rise in their simplicity against the darkness.
3. The people here are always tired. Some old black man sits in the corner wiping the saliva from his white stubble with a stray hand. Three shirts on him, two ratty jackets and an overcoat, worn out boots sizes too big. Twenty years of cheap wine and potato dust can coat the eyes.
4. Brutal work stooping to pull potatoes from the earth is the bottom of this odd context. Going upright into the trees for fruit is the top.
5. The camp is a cluster of tiny shacks made of cinderblock and tin. One of them is the cook-house; this is where I sing. The cookhouse has a large room with picnic tables, an old juke box, bare bulbs burning, and a small wire-meshed window through which the overpriced food they purchase from the crew boss is passed.
6. These little places are closed societies. When I was a kid the old man I picked with taught me everything, from the basics of negotiating pay, techniques of travel and work, to the songs he would play me on his banjo at night. Boredom was a preserver. Certainly the telling of stories was integral to surviving any evening's isolation without electricity. This is only the life of prisoners, migrants and family farmers. These are definitely on my list of endangered species, as am I.
7. Some of these people come from Haiti. Crowded into tiny boats they floated toward the mysterious promise of America. They are possessed of pure primitive undertones. The non-Haitians are rural folk from Alabama and Georgia. A few of the men don't want their pictures taken; they are working these fields because this is one of the few jobs left where you don't need a social security number.
8. When I improvise on my flute for the Haitians they look at each other and nod, saying the Creole words for 'bird spirit'. They know that the voice that was singing through the tube of the flute was not my person, but a spirit voice that sang through and empty self, my ego temporarily suspended, my shell possessed by a lesser god. They recognize that voice; in the form of improvisational music, such as jazz, which is a black idiom, this does not feel so far from the truth of a moment when the musician has reached a trancelike state and 'lets loose.'
9. They are totally at the mercy of the environment, often miles from the nearest town, in hostile white redneck areas. You would think twice about quitting a job and walking away into this limbo.
10. God is bread. Red patent leather shoes. A dental trailer that visits the camps is worth its weight in God.

Berrien left this world too soon, having passed just a half-century among us. He left a wonderful legacy of music, friendship and more: his will provided for a foundation that granted Art scholarships to migrant farmworkers that survived for years after his death.


**all art in this post and these field notes are the work and legacy of Berrien Fragos Thorn and are reprinted and shared here in his honor and to further his life's work.

Please, Take it Off!

A brief discussion of leather care is probably overdue.
This has been brought to my attention lately by several people expressing fondness for their leather wristbands or necklaces with words to the effect that they, "Never take it off!"
They sleep, eat, bathe and live with their favorite accessory 24/7.
Lovely sentiment, bad idea.
Wear it a lot. Wear it most of the time. But please, when you bathe, shower, swim or sauna, take it off!
Most soaps are drying to leather, as is chlorine or salt.
Heat bakes.
Repeated soaking, especially with warm or hot water, will remove many of the tanning chemicals that keep your leather from becoming brittle. This leads to a breakdown of the grain (which can destroy the appearance of a fine leather accessory) and hastens the weakening and death of that favorite item.
With a small amount of proper care, leather goods can and should last for many years.
Methods of care and cleaning are determined by the type of leather.
Smooth-grained vegetable-tanned cowhide is what most people think of when they think of belt leather. This is the type of leather that's used for tooled items; we'll cover that today and save suede and deerhide for another post.
Cleaning: This is not something you'll normally need to do with belts or wristbands - the patina that comes with age is generally considered desirable.
However, should you encounter a mud-bog or other serious dirt issue, or for smooth-grain footwear, a conditioning cleaner such as saddle soap or Lexol PH is strongly recommended. Apply as directed with a soft cloth and tepid water, rinsing thoroughly. A soft brush, such as a toothbrush, can be used for stubborn dirt. You should wash the entire surface - spot cleaning can lead to just that; spots!
Allow the item to dry completely in an airy location away from heat sources or direct sun.
Of course, there are some types of stains that will permanently mar your leather; no amount of cleaning will remove grease or ink, for example. Try to avoid staining your leather with those things!
Conditioning/Protecting: This should be done occasionally, particularly after cleaning or for items that get a lot of wear, such as an everyday belt or favorite wristband. My first rule for this is shoe polish is for shoes!! Do not use it on belts, wristbands, purses or wallets - you will not be pleased with the results! My second rule is leave the back alone! No conditioners or sealants should be applied to the backside of full-grain cowhide - leather needs to breathe!
There are many great leather conditioners on the market.
Some, such as Neatsfoot oil, are for oiled leathers only. If you use it on waxed leather you'll get blotching and clouding. Some, such as paste-type or beeswax finishes, are for waxed leather only. If used on oiled leather, the same nastiness will ensue.
Unsure if your item is oiled or waxed?
Happily, there are products out there that will work with either. Lexol conditioner is an oil-based product that will penetrate wax; Leather Balm is a wax-based product that will emulsify with oil. It should be noted that some conditioners may permanently darken light-colored leather, so it's a good idea to test a small hidden area when using any product for the first time.
Once the product has been selected, apply with a soft cloth according to the instructions. After allowing ample penetration time, wipe off any excess and buff with a soft shoe brush or lint-free cloth.
Do not buy into the myth that you need to place the item near a heat source to open the pores so the conditioner can soak in: I've heard this many times, and it is bunk! Remember, heat is bad for leather!
A good conditioner will offer a fair amount of protection against the elements. If you feel the need for a more waterproof finish, there are many excellent silicone spray treatments available anywhere that sells camping supplies. Check the label carefully to see if it is for full-grain or suede (some work for both) and use accordingly, with lots of ventilation!
If you clean your leather when necessary and condition it occasionally, I promise you can love wearing it most of the time for years to come!

A Friend, His Treasures and Something Weird

**from 2020 - As I tidy up my blog & delete obsolete posts, I am so heart-warmed to come across this gem from more than a decade ago. My friend Dennis, aka Griz, passed on a few years back. I miss him still and will miss him forever - one of the truly excellent humans I have been blessed to know. So, though this post is outdated and the photographic Q was answered long ago, I will leave this up in honor of this departed mountain-man.**

(from 2009)
On a recent autumn afternoon I took my camera and journeyed out to the backwoods home of a dear friend.
Called Griz by all who know him, he is a man of many talents and wonderful collections. His basement, which is cleverly disguised as a cluttered mess, holds an array of marvels and oddities. This first picture gives a small notion of the initial visual impact of this treasure trove; I call your attention particularly to the unremarkable blue tub in the lower right - it will figure largely in my story as it takes a turn for the weird.

Griz is first and foremost a knapper. He chips magnificent blades and arrowheads out of stones and bits of colored glass. Some he sets into knife handles, many he sells loose to artisans who use them in their own work.
He also makes drums for the Powwow community; everything from small hand-held drums to the large drums used in the center of the circle. All of his drums are made with wood he harvests and skins he tans. There really isn't much that this self-sufficient man cannot do without any assistance from factories or manufacturers.
One of my favorite pictures from that day is this shot of Griz showing off his two-meter wooden feather. He tells a captivating story of watching a lightning bolt strike a tree and splinter it into rubble, leaving behind this incredible work of nature's art. It's one of the few things in his basement that will never be for sale.
So many treasures - too many to show in this post...
He has a penchant for beads and has a fabulous collection of glass chevron beads, both contemporary and antique.
He has a vintage Fender Bass guitar and yes, he can play it!
But in my title I promised you something weird, and here it comes...
When i first began snapping pictures I did not realize that I had my digital camera set to Landscape. Not the right setting for indoor pictures and I shot a few pictures before I realized my mistake and changed to a more appropriate indoor setting.
I didn't think much of it until I got home and downloaded the pictures to my computer.
Remember that blue tub? That perfectly opaque blue tub?
Well, look at this shot... I could not believe what I seemed to be seeing - it seemed I could see through to the contents, though that is surely impossible. Unwilling to believe what my eyes were telling me, I called Griz and asked him what was in that tub. That question confused him and I had to explain why I wanted to know. "A couple of folded blankets," was his answer.
Well holy crap! That certainly seems to be what I am seeing. Griz even made the trip to my house to see for himself and he was as amazed as I was/am.
So, to sum it up in question form, indoor pictures taken on the landscape setting allow the camera to see through heavy opaque plastic? I don't know, but my eyes certainly tell me that, as impossible as it seems, that is somehow exactly what has happened.
Of course, if any of you have a logical explanation, both Griz and I would love to hear it!

Words Worth Contemplating

The following quote was attached to an email I received from a customer.
It is a quote that should be shared.

"I do not see a delegation for the Four Footed. I see no seat for the Eagles. We forget and we consider ourselves superior. But we are after all a mere part of Creation. And we must consider to understand where we are. And we stand somewhere between the mountain and the Ant. Somewhere and only there as part and parcel of the Creation."
Chief Oren Lyons, Oneida
in an address to the Non-Governmental Organizations of the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, 1977

Setting Snaps Can Make You Cuss

Snap placement is one of those necessary chores many leather-crafters have come to dread. Bent posts, misaligned caps, squished parts - the list of ways a snap can go wrong is extensive.
I've received a few requests to do a tutorial video on snap-setting, so I did one with my methods for the two most-used snaps in leather-crafting, the heavy-duty Line 24 snaps and the lighter-duty Segma snaps.
At 3 1/2 minutes, the download was too big for the Blogger system, but I've posted it to YouTube. Here's the link -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_N6ieWtuMa8
Here is a summary of what it covers:
Part of the difficulty arises from the tools that many of us use.
The mallet-driven setters are economical but often not worth the savings, particularly when setting the Line 24 snaps.
If you set a lot of these snaps, or wish you could, I strongly recommend an investment in a snap-setting tool. There are a few on the market, but my favorite is the Pres-n-Snap.
Insanely, this tool is not available through the normal Leather-Crafting suppliers. You can, however, find it online if you do a search with the name spelled as above or through upholstery-tool outlets. Mine came with the parts for setting snaps and grommets for about $150.00. It works well with the Tandy Line 24 snaps and, in my opinion, was worth every penny.
For the Segma snaps, the drive-tools are adequate. They can be tricky nonetheless. My two main bits of advice are:
1) Focus your attention on the tool rather than the mallet, the project or your hand. Keeping this tool aligned vertically is critical.
2) Do not over-set the snap. Two or three firm strikes of the mallet should be sufficient. Over-setting will ruin the snap.
I hope this information is helpful!