Welcome to the about section where you get to read about how I got started in all of this. 

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In 1986, I bought a horse. 

When you own a horse, one of the things you figure out fast is that stuff breaks.  Particularly the leather things.  I was headed for my Junior Year at Colton High school in Colton, CA. At the time I was looking at classes for the school year and noted that an advanced arts and crafts class was being offered at my school. This class included ceramics, plastic molding, jewelry making, wood work, and several other unusual types of art.  One of them was leather working.  As I was going to need to learn how to fix this stuff, I figured this might be a good class to take! 

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So I patiently waited for the Leather working segment to start.  Once started, I took to it like a duck in water! The teacher commented on how quickly I picked up on it.  I was anxious to continue on projects after that segment was over.  The teacher had told my parents I had a particular skill for leather tooling and directed us to Tandy Leather in San Bernardino to continue this skill.  I went there one afternoon and purchased a very basic tooling set consisting of a small rawhide mallet, and a handful of tools (cam, seeder, veiner, beveler, and a couple other basics.  All in one size).  I used a small broken piece of marble from my Grandmother and bought some leather belt blanks and away I went!  I made some belts for my male relatives for Christmas.  They fit and they loved them!  

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It was a bit far to go, but I did stop by as often as I could to take some classes on tooling with the gentlemen that ran the shop.  He was kind and patient and really put up with my crazy questions.  I even brought broken things in and he showed me how to fix them, or just recreate them.  He understood about working on a budget and showed me some good short cuts, how to re-finish cheap leather to make it nicer, etc.  I also learned a lot about making beaded bracelets and conchos from his elderly Indian friend who was a constant fixture in the store. 

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One of the neat things about doing leather tooling as a hobby is that when you do not have time, you can set it down until you can afford it.  I did just this somewhere in the late 90s. While I repaired things from time to time, for several years I did little to nothing with my tooling. At some point I traded off my tools for an air compressor for an airbrush.  In 2016, I had a large tack room and enough space that I was able to have a work bench.  At this point I had started repairing my tack and doing some small projects here and there.  Impressed, my Husband encouraged me to pick the hobby back up.  Friends started bringing me saddles to clean and check to make sure they were okay. I began purchasing tools and re-assembling the bits and pieces of my remaining tools I never got rid of and got them organized on my bench.

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At that point it was still a hobby.  But in 2017, my Mother and Step Father asked me to make some costume parts for their Roman Soldiers for their church Easter play.  We went up to Tandy and purchased a LOT of leather and hardware.  I created dozens of pieces including chest plates, arm guards, and shin guards.  They were so pleased with what I did for them that they purchased me a Tippmann Boss sewing machine - made to sew about an inch of leather! Right about that time a friend asked me to make her a tack set and it just sort of grew from there. 

It got busy enough that I had taken over the dining room in our home.  My shop was out in the tack barn and I didn't want to put my expensive machine out there!  Being a loving and understanding Husband, he decided that instead of me cramming into the tiny third bedroom (sewing room) that he'd give me the formal living room of our home.  At the time it was his man cave.  With a front door entrance and relatively cut off from the rest of the house, it was the ideal configuration I would need for a shop!  

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Over time, word got out. I easily have 4-6 saddles in my shop for anything from cleaning to major repairs at any time, an assortment of tack, saddle bags, motorcycle jackets and other things for repair. Plus I always have lots of projects going. 

I currently have set up space enough to work on pretty much anything I could dream up.  I even have a couple of apprentices who come over and help on various projects, as well as a few students that come by for lessons on leather carving and saddle cleaning.  

I clean saddles often enough that people come to me when looking for good saddles for sale and have even helped dozens of people sell their saddles for more than they originally listed them for! 

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We stay busy around here at Diamond J&A Leatherworks!