Nacogdoches & the surrounding East Texas communities

Made by hand.
Made one at a time.

Cut. Tooled. Colored. Stitched. Finished by hand.

Have something in mind?

Dark antiqued leather wallet cover fully carved with wild roses and foliage, edged with red stitching, resting on a striped wooden bowl in warm sunlight — Wild-rose carving, antiqued dark, red-thread stitch

Close detail of a beaded necklace with a small carved stone bear pendant, turquoise chips and red jasper on black beads — Carved stone bear, turquoise & jasper

No. 01 — Tooled Leather

The carving comes first.

Every mark on these pieces was put there by hand — swivel knife, stamps, and a maul. Look close. That's the point.

Large hand-tooled leather panel of a winged skull wearing a top hat, surrounded by a stamped diamond lattice border, in rich saddle brown — Winged skull & top hat — carved and stamped panel, one piece of leather

Florals, figures, lettering, basketweave — drawn on, cut in, and backgrounded until the design stands up off the leather.

Every feather, every tooth, every diamond in the border was struck by hand.

No. 02 — Wallets & Everyday Carry

Outside and in.

The carving is what you show people. The inside is what you live with — laced card slots, fabric lining, and stitching that runs the whole way around.

Outside of a floral-carved long wallet with a tooled letter E monogram at its center, red stitched border, warm cognac leather — Outside — carved florals around a monogram

Open interior of a handmade leather wallet showing laced card slots, a red plaid fabric-lined pocket, and red stitching along every edge — Inside — laced slots, plaid lining, red thread

No. 03 — Belts, Cases & Painted Pieces

Built to be used.

Belts stamped end to end. Snap cases tooled with crosses, roses, and maple leaves — or painted with a star or a bull for whoever's carrying them.

Six handmade leather snap cases: tooled cross, carved black florals, climbing roses, maple leaves, a black case painted with a blue star reading Cowboys, and one painted with a red white and blue bull reading H-Town — Six cases, six directions — tooled, carved, painted

Coiled black leather belt stamped with a repeating basketweave pattern, a plain brown belt coiled behind it in the sun — Basketweave-stamped belt, dyed black

Small leather sleeve hand-painted with a cartoon character in a purple hat, stitched in teal thread, standing on a wooden plate — Hand-painted, teal-stitched sleeve

No. 04 — Stone & Bead

Leather isn't the only material on the bench.

Turquoise, jasper, labradorite, heishi shell, hammered metal — strung by hand into necklaces, bracelets, and sets.

Three necklaces, photographed on the same carved panel.

Necklace of bright turquoise cylinder beads and matte black rounds draped over a hand-tooled leather panel of a winged skull in a top hat — Turquoise & matte black

Necklace of long gray marbled stone beads ending in a hammered metal disc pendant, laid across the tooled skull panel — Gray stone & hammered disc

Necklace of warm sand-colored heishi beads with a cluster of chunky turquoise at the bottom, resting on the tooled leather panel — Heishi shell & chunk turquoise

Two bracelets on dark grained wood: one of green and red dragon blood jasper rectangles, one of gray labradorite ovals with faceted metal spacers — Dragon blood jasper & labradorite

Matched set laid out in a wooden bowl: a long necklace of turquoise, jasper and black beads with a carved stone bear pendant, and two matching earrings — Necklace & earring set, carved bear pendants

Three stone bead bracelets arranged in a wooden bowl — smoky labradorite ovals, dark rounds with purple accents, and mixed jasper rounds with metal spacers — Three bracelets, natural stone

Undyed natural leather mid-carving: a circular design of a dragon and tiger curled around a yin-yang, with two koi fish carved below, before any color has been applied — On the bench — dragon & tiger, before the dye

No. 05 — The Craft

This is what leather looks like before it becomes anything.

Every piece starts pale and blank. The design is drawn, cut with a swivel knife, then stamped and shaded until it stands up off the surface. Color, paint, and stitching come last.

Cut — pattern and blade
Tool — knife, stamps, maul
Color — dye, antique, paint
Stitch — thread, by hand

No two come out the same. That's not a flaw in the process — it is the process.

Custom Work

Some pieces start with a pattern.
Yours might start with a name, a sketch, or an idea.

A monogram. A team. A cross, a rose, a skull in a top hat. If you've been looking for something and can't find it anywhere, that's usually where a custom piece begins.

The Maker

Allen

One person, one bench, in the Nacogdoches area of East Texas. No production line, no inventory shelf — leather and stone, worked by hand, one piece at a time.

Everything on this page was made that way.

Made by hand.Made one at a time.