Creating with Leather!

 Hey Y'all!  Hope everyone is doing well.  First things first - prayers for the Hurricane Helene victims and prayers for those in the path of Hurricane Milton.  Such devastation in our Appalachian Region!  My heart goes out to all of those people - it could so very easily have been my home, had the storm not veered at the last minute.  God Bless each of you!

Today I received a wonderful goodie packet in the mail!  Somehow or another I won a kit while watching an Eileen Hull video on YouTube!!!  The kit is from ReaLeather and makes a leather pouch.  Y'all!  I cannot begin to describe just how GOOD that leather feels!  Or how GOOD that leather smells!  I have been on a mad search for the stencil holder part of my Stamp and Stencil Tool by Sizzix, and was drearily contemplating unloading the mess under my desk so that I could attempt to crawl up under there (actually my Grandmother used to say, "Up-N-Under") to see if that hateful mint green attachment had managed to sneak off under there, when the doorbell rang.  And Oh My Goodness, Santa Claus!  Much to my surprise, the UPS man was leaving a PACKAGE FOR ME!!!  So instead of springing to the window, I ran to the door, snatched up the package, danced a jig, and abandoned any idea of cleaning OR searching for the mint green attachment!

Never having worked with leather, I was a little nervous to begin with, but once I got started, it was basically painless.  ReaLeather had done literally ALL the hard work for me.  All the stitch holes had been punched out, as had the holes for the leather lace closure.  All I needed to do was to stitch up the sides and bottom of my bag, add the closure, and Bob's Your Uncle!  It was SO NEAT!  Oh - did I mention that it's soft and smells good?  LOL  If you want to watch a video of putting it together, hop on over to YouTube to JenniferatCreativeArtSpark and take a look - and while you are there, give subscribing a thought.  I sure would appreciate it!  Also, be sure to visit Eileen Hull (you can access her Etsy Shop from there too) and ReaLeather - they both have really great products.  

Speaking of really great, I got to meet Eileen during the February 2024 ScrappyShak Retreat in Helen, Georgia.  She is super nice, and so are the great folks at ScrappyShak.  Take a look at their online store - yes, they do ship and yes, the owner Melanie and her staff are super!  But Hey - if you are in the area, do stop by the brick and mortar store in Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia.  If you love paper arts, you are gonna love this store!

Here's my leather bag - I think that I'm going to make a little book from one of my Eileen Hull dies and gift it to my son in this bag.  But SHHHHHH!  Don't tell him!  I know for a fact he won't be reading this blog.  

Did I mention how soft the leather is, and how good it smells!?