Etsy Spotlight: Made Of Leather

If you use Etsy regularly (as in, have a registered account with the site and have favorite items or shops) then you know that it will suggest other things to look at based on what you like.

Well, down in my feed somewhere I discovered a lovely shop out of Europe: MadeOfLeather, owned by Iliana.

She has some gorgeous leather items that would be perfect for costuming (whether LARP or otherwise), as well as charming journals, photo albums, etc.

I mean, check out some of the archery collections she's made:

The White Bear

Turquoise Dragons

And I've always been a sucker for a beautiful journal:

Listing here.

Listing here.

But the design that really caught my eye was this one:

Listing here.

For those that might not know, my LARP character calls herself Feather, in order to leave behind the shame and bad luck associated with her real name.  In fact, most of Shadowmoor knows her only as Feather, and couldn't pronounce or spell her actual name.  

(Even the plot team writes out my tags with the name Feather...I write "RealName"/Feather on all of my plot paperwork.  Shows how much people read, amiright?)

Anyway, I saw that feather design and fell in love.  My character has taken to wearing a bracelet/cuff on her left wrist to cover up her wedding tattoo (no, not because I want to cheat on my husband's character Honu) but because the Sharpie I used to write the tattoo ended up smearing all over my yellow tunic during my kitchen shift.  

(Also, there was one time that slavers or bounty hunters or something came through Shadowmoor looking for Sampan with tattoos.  I didn't need to get caught up in that madness.)

I saw some of the smaller things, such as bracelets and barrettes, and also that Iliana took custom requests.  The note on her shop stated that she was behind in some of her custom orders at the time due to some health problems, so I merely sent an inquiry about a leather cuff order, expressing my desire that she not stress about a time frame; I was merely curious.

Iliana was so gracious and upbeat about the whole process; I sent her the feather design I was thinking of:

Without the words.

Iliana replied, asking about my preference as to the placement, and I settled on:

With a snap closure.

Well, I got a message last week that the bracelet was done!  Check it out!

It's perfect!

I love it so much, and it was a great price, plus Iliana was amazing to work with.  I am definitely going to contact her again, perhaps with a custom request for a bracelet for my husband.  He's a huge Assassin's Creed fan and would totally rock a cuff with their seal on it.

Plus, it's a help to him, since he can wrap this for Christmas (or post-Christmas)!  Win/win!

If you get the chance, check out Iliana's shop, just to admire the great work she does!