Table of contents for February 2023 in Illume

As I read through this month’s editorials, it seemed like there was a recurring theme. It goes a little something like this: A guy or gal gets into leatherwork, sometimes unexpectedly. They find they really enjoy the work and the community, then end up owning their own successful leather business. Earlier this month, in a conversation with my 18-year-old college girl, I was lamenting about the many things I was dealing with at the current moment. Our conversation went back and forth, then out of the blue she proceeded to tell me how sometimes life takes you down paths that you would never choose for yourself, and sometimes the experiences you have on those paths are really hard, but looking back, we wouldn’t change them because they mold us into…

Hosted by Bowman Harness in Millersburg, Ohio The meeting was called to order at 11:00AM by Chairman Reuben Byler who thanked everyone for coming. Special thanks were given to the Bowmans for their hospitality and hosting the gathering, and to the school for serving the delicious meal. We had a good crowd and saw some new faces, which were all welcome to join us. “Thanks to Alan Burkholder for doing the sewing machine seminar. Allen had worked for Weaver Leather for over 30 years and is now starting out on his own still fixing sewing machines. Thanks to Noah Miller & Wayne Chupp for doing the hame and collar fitting demo. They did a great job.” The first harness gathering was held in 1970. It was held at J.H.Bowman &…

The kid’s a fighter.” That’s how former ShopTalk! owner and writer Dan Preston described 37-year-old Jeff Ballard back in 2004, when Jeff first opened Thoroughbred Leather, Inc., based in Louisville, Kentucky. Jeff was facing stiff competition from more experienced leather purveyors and the ShopTalk! article was a welcome surprise. “The article compared us to the top leather brand in the US,” Jeff recalls. “When people read the article, they thought, ‘Maybe we should give Thoroughbred a try.’ It was a real boost to the company.” With a little help from ShopTalk!, Jeff Ballard and Thoroughbred Leather took off like a racehorse. For almost two decades, Jeff Ballard has been providing leather workers with superior leather made from American cattle and processed to exacting standards of excellence. “I have got two…

LYNN ASCRIZZI  Lynn Ascrizzi is a freelance writer, artist, poet and home gardener who lives in a home that she and her husband, Joe, built in the woods in Freedom, Maine. In the past five years, she has written extensively for ShopTalk! Early on, she taught art and English in public schools and was senior editor, illustrator and art director for Farmstead, a national magazine for small farming and home gardening. Later, she was lifestyle editor, feature writer and syndicated columnist for Central Maine Newspapers. Her poems have been published in several journals and in two anthologies by Down East Books: “Take Heart: Poems From Maine,” (2013) and “Take Heart: More Poems From Maine,” (2016). DAVID SPIEGEL David Spiegel is Partner and Managing Director of Leather Machine Co., LLC. NICK…

Michael Magnus is an advertising professional who supports the growth of the leather industry through his marketing agency, Magnus Opus. Among his client partnerships are Silver Creek Leather Co., manufacturers of Realeather® Crafts and Lace, and Jim Linnell's Elktracks Studio. Learn more at www.magnusopus.com or reach out at michael@magnusopus.com. When Hurricane Harvey hit Houston in 2017, our then four-year-old daughter told us, “I want to give away my pictures to help the little babies whose houses got hurt.” A sweet sentiment, we shared her story online and she quickly raised $600 in two days. Thus started her philanthropy, Pictures Helping People.* Now 10, Caragh continues to do a few fundraisers each year, having raised over $9,000 for different charities since she first started. Her artistic preferences and selling practices have…

WANTED  NEW SUBSCRIBERS WANTED. Now is the time to renew and see what you have been missing! Give us a call at (435) 565-6052, e-mail: savannah@burns1876.com or visit www.shoptalk-magazine.com. GREAT OPPORTUNITY. Burns 1876 is now hiring saddlemakers, bootmakers, silversmiths, hat makers, and leather craftsman/woman in their manufacturing facilities in Salina, Utah. In-house training provided. Email rochelle@burns1876.com for an application. FOR SALE BOX STITICHING SEWING MACHINES - 5 Brothers and 4 Singers with different size options available. All with stands. Two Brother machines just reconditioned. Manuals available. Contact 641-722-3052. CONCHOS, BUTTONS & Snaps of Sterling, Brass, & coin. Custom Wild Rag Slides & more. Hank Clark, Argent Express, conchosmith.com or 209-402-4430 Classified ad rates are $26.50 for the first 20 words and $.65 cents for each additional word. Words (or groups…

Gruppo Dani scores Ecovadis Gold rating for 2022  Gruppo Dani’s green approach to tanning has once more earned the tannery the Ecovadis Gold rating for 2022. For the past four years, Dani has been awarded the gold medal, placing it in the top 5% of companies evaluated by Ecovadis. Ecovadis is a multi-stakeholder company that “aims to improve companies’ ESG practices by leveraging the influence of global supply chains. Thanks to a collaborative platform, it allows companies to monitor the sustainability performance of their suppliers as well.” The company assesses how various leather producers integrate sustainability/CSR principles into their business models and management systems based on 21 indicators in four areas: environment, human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. For 2022, Dani scored 70 out of 100 on Ecovadis’ assessment, earning…

Monty and Lanette White, married for 15 years, are co-owners of their family business, Rockin Diamonds Leather. Gifted artisans, they also have a talent for working well together, which many couples might like to emulate. “We both tool,” Lanette, 42, said referring to their carved designs, one of the many processes used in their creative leatherwork. “Half the items are tooled by Monty and half by me. We work in tandem with just about everything we do. We both have our own strengths and can lean on each other when needed.” She does most of the drawing and contacting customers; he constructs a lot of items from scratch. “He will make leather purses, backpacks, knife sheaths and the inside sections of wallets, where the cards go,” she said. The majority…