Update on our Leather Yourself post!

After my post a couple weeks ago about choice handmade leather goods, Teppei of Teranishi Handcrafted kindly offered to monogram my iPhone case for me if I mailed it back to him. I happily sent my little case in it's original handmade rolltop dust bag on its 3000 mile cross-country journey back to Vashon, WA., knowing that Teppei would certainly do a better monogramming job than I ever could. He posted a photo of the case on Instagram when he received it, and I was relieved to see it made it there safely.

It's less than a week later, and I just got my case back. He was kind enough to clean the leather up for me and freshen my edges (I drop my phone a lot...), as well as doing a stand-up job putting my initials on the belt loop.

Hand numbered from the first run!

Folks, this is why one must shop small. If you buy a phone case from the Apple store, are you going to be able to directly contact the person who made the case and talk to them about it? I'm thinking not. When you shop small, you have the opportunity to establish a meaningful relationship centered on pride, and quality, and accountable craftsmanship. One day, maybe I'll give this case to my grandkid and he or she will see my initials on the back and think that it's really special, the same way I do with anything that's ever been passed down to me.

Once again, you can purchase these cases directly from Teranishi Handcrafted or Trove General Store.

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