i hope everyone's having a happy holiday. for those that have sent emails, i've been away visiting family, so i'll be getting the last 2 weeks of emails answered in the next few days! in other news, premium belts are back in stock! they're in the store, all cut and ready to be sized/shipped. as usual, please be careful measuring and remember to put your size in the notes section of checkout!

finals are finally over, belts are almost ready, and i just bought myself a buzz rickson sweatshirt for christmas. hope everyone's enjoying the holidays. here's a piece i just finished up, should have more updates tuesday!

here's a sneak peak of 2 pieces i'll be putting out soon. they're a slim, one pocket wallet and a card holder. more to come in the near future...

the last week and  a half have been super busy! lots of school, some good food and family, traveling...I've had no time to do much of anything leather wise. I have a few people left on the custom list, if you're reading this hold tight! i've got my final projects due for school this week, then over the weekend i'll get back started. i've been sketching and finishing up the designs for the winter release too, and belts should be in any day now. 

This probably seems very random, but I'd like to thank everyone for all of the emails and nice words I've received in the last few days. It's very encouraging, I love that everyone enjoys the work I'm showing and I'm really happy everyone is excited for seeing the new line! 

here's a few updates for everyone: 

Belt's are on their way~ The hide's in the mail, then it's cutting and assembling and I'll get them in the store asap. They'll be custom sized, as usual, in black and natural. 

I've been working on designing my first line, which is going to be released hopefully around the first of the year, possibly in stages. So far I've got a couple slim card holders being refined and 2 wallets in sketch form. I'll post more as I get things done, I'd like to do 2 card holders, 2 wallets and 2 midlengths if I can, probably 10 each. 

I'm almost done with custom orders. Only about 8 or 9 left, which should take probably 3 more weeks because of my school work (which sucks right now, I'm so busy). 

Here's a couple projects from this week, and hope everyone stateside has a lovely Thanksgiving.

Another long week, more wallets as usual. I've got a big internship interview this week, so it's going to be pretty busy, but I'll try as always to update with more jobs if I can. 

Also, I got a hide for Premium Belts! So once it comes in, I'll have more posted in the store. 

I've got a couple odds and ends for sale, both of these wallets:

they're $65 each, send an email if you're interested

This week was super busy as usual. I've been working really hard to get everyone their orders as quick as possible, I think I've filled 7 orders since the last update (this weekend was super busy!)

Here's one wallet that was a bit different, I distressed some dyed detailing to get a layered, almost weathered look. I'm looking forward to experimenting with this after the holidays, I think january is going to be a month of designing/experimenting for me and Corter as a business. 

hmm...I also got a few records in, A sealed copy of Eudora and finally, after a few years, a decent copy of Something To Write Home About (I'm a huge getup kids fan).



Later this week I should have a couple more wallets to update with, and as usual every piece I do will be up on my flickr (there's a link on the right hand side). Hope everyone enjoys their veterans day in the states, we've got it off from school so I'll be doing a couple pieces tomorrow.

News and Updates:

With the holiday season quickly approaching, and me having no back stock, I've decided to stop taking custom orders starting this week. I have about a 6 week wait right now for custom stuff, so I'm going to try to get every job done and get a new run of wallets up for sale in the store by the first of the year. I just hate having to make people wait for basic snap wallets!

Premium belts will be restocked in 2-3 weeks.

Also, Corter Leather's one year anniversary is coming up! It seems like just last week I was buying my first awl and length of lace. Now we're all types of busy with wonderful, creative customers! I'd like to do something special for this, feel free to send in suggestions.

Last, I just want to remind everyone of age in the States to get out there and Vote tomorrow. We all know it's probably the most important election we'll see in our lifetime, and as a senior in college with the job market looking like that of the early 70's, I urge everyone to do a bit of reading and think with your brains, not with all of the propaganda that's going around right now. We don't want to have to start hiding our degrees to get part time jobs like my parents did when they graduated. 

On to some leatherwork. This week I made a couple really fun pieces, including this mid:

I also had a couple snap wallets, this being one that came out rather nicely. My stitching is pretty much dead on now, so I've been super excited on my new work:

Lastly, I just wanted to post this picture. This was my halloween... the tooth fairy let loose, and Tiger came over since his knee's still too bad to play. I hope everyone else had as great a night as we did. 

     This weekend was really wonderful, going home is always nice especially when there's good weather. I shot a couple pictures but I have to scan them in, so maybe tomorrow I'll get those up. 

     In leather news, I'm running a bit behind. School work, as always, was killer this weekend so I didnt get anything done. However, I have 2 wallets halfway right now, which i should be able to finish tomorrow provided the weather holds and I can make it downtown to get zippers. One of them is a mid with a really cool concho/stud closure, I'm excited to post it. 

     Heres a piece from last week. It's got a center snap, which is new to me but I ended up really liking it in the end. I'm getting my edges better and better every day, which I'm psyched on. 

Oh! Two new bands worth checking out for everyone.

 One's a band called Bridge and Tunnel, you can go to their MySpace page here. 

The second is called Good Old War, it's a new project from  a few guys from Days Away. I can't tell you how much I like this record, it's the perfect blend of 70's folk and indie/emo/pop punk melody, without any crazy world instruments a lot of bands throw in just because. If Fleet Foxes are a log cabin with a roaring fire, toasty wool socks and an irish sweater, Good Old War is the first day of spring where shorts and bare feet feel comfortable. Seriously, check them out. Their MySpace is here. 

that's it for tonight, gnite everyone

This week is crazy! I've got an essay due tomorrow, a rough draft of my packaging due Thursday, and on top of that I've scheduled 5 orders to be filled by Monday...this is going to be rough. I did get my new bike in the mail yesterday, I'm going to save photos of that until I get it built the way I like it. 

Heres a couple pictures of the newest projects. The first is a 6" midlength wallet with the most intricate interior I've ever done. It's a one piece wallet, which means the interior and shell are sewn together around the outside. There are 12 cardholders, a full horizontal bill slot, 2 receipt slots and a full change pouch too! I used calf belly fo

r the inside so it's not super thick, honestly it's no thicker 

than my wallet. 

next is a set, it's a cardholder with bill slot, key loop and phone holder for a Sony-Erikson phone. The interiors are all lined with natural leather, so the contrast looks really nice. I got to be pretty free with this, so it was fun! 

     I think I fall in love with autumn every year. Maybe it's because, living in the city, we don't get the traditional autumnal experience that I did growing up in a town of 6,000. Instead of watching the leaves fall, or picking apples, I'm usually worried about the wet leaves in the road and completely destroying myself when I try to stop on my bike.  I also worry that my landlord will take my grill, because I'm pretty sure he did last year around this time and I quite like grilling, even in the cold. 

     However this year I've taken some time to actually enjoy the season, which is arguably my favorite. This weekend, we carved some pumpkins:

I'm also going to be going home this weekend, to touch base and hopefully hit the end of the peak foliage. We're far enough south (home is in Connecticut) that there should be some good color left. 

Lots of wallet updates tomorrow!

So! Welcome to the Corter Leather blog, I'm going to try to keep this updated as much as possible with news and orders, probably some random stuff and fashion stuff also. 

I've got a giant midterm tomorrow, and what do I do tonight? Finish up a few orders. Sometimes I prioritize the wrong things I guess...seems to work out in the end though. I made all these this weekend (6 orders in 4 days!) and I'm pretty sure they're all going out tomorrow.