This mail was sent to you because you were a customer, made
an inquiry, or are a personal friend of mine. It is not the intention of
Leather Lore to bug you with junk mail, so if you would rather not receive
any more specials or updates and be removed from my mailing list, please
notify me at leatherlore@earthlink.net
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Thanks for your continued interest in Heavy Leather Lore!
and
Hello from Chip and Jesse of Leather Lore!
The Renaissance Faire season is just around the corner
for us, and we're eager to get back into the field!
New Email address!
Those of you using the old address
please add this new one for Business Use. I've split my address book and
created a new business only email account. My old personal
address will still work, but excessive spamming has caused me to lock it
down to only accept email from people in my personal address book only.
This means that customers such as yourself will not get through to that
address, as I don't customarily keep your address in my personal book. I
do now keep customers addresses in a separate book, which is what I use
for emailing my newsletters. If you like to be removed from my mailing
list, please contact me with your request!
Those of you that are personal friends
of mine, I have you booth in my personal address book as well as my
mailing list address book. If you would like, you can now be
removed from my mailing list, without me actually loosing you from my
personal list.
New Business Address: leatherlore@earthlink.net
Old Business (and current personal) Address: clorimer1@earthlink.net
The Year of the Pirates!
Lets face it, with "Pirates of the Caribbean -
Dead Man's Chest" coming out in July, the faires are going to be
over run with pirates this year! Knowing that many of you pirates are in
need of special items, we are working overtime to meet that need! We are
right now adding new items, such as baldrics and bandoliers, pirate
belts, flintlock holsters, fake powder apostles, and other accessories
for your bandoliers and belts. Time permitting, I may even have some
leather tricorner hats! And, I'm teaming up with a seamstress friend to
bring you some real leather pirate long coats and waistcoats! Check my
pirate page at least weekly as we are adding these things as we get them
done! www.leatherlore.com/pirate.htm
Gas Prices are taking their toll on all of us
Sadly, that fact among other things has finally
required us to raise our prices. New prices will go into effect on May
the 1st, 2006, so if you're looking to order something for the
upcoming season, please do it before then!
Compared to other leather crafters though, we still
have better prices on most of our items, for we do not subscribe to the typical
vendor mentality that you need to markup your prices by 300, 400, or even
500%, as we've seen most vendors do. I'm not lying, and I'm not throwing
you a sales pitch. It's the truth. I have a spreadsheet that I made myself
that calculates my material expenses and time value, and suggests a
retail price based on my past experiences in the retail world. And it even
gives allowance for travel expenses to the many faires I participate in.
We're getting our margin, and without over inflating our prices.
In fact, I often make my prices on many items lower
than my spreadsheet suggests, because it just feels too high to me. Just
ask Jesse!
Believe me, renaissance faire merchants typically do
not follow the retail guidelines of a 50% markup. Those of you that know
me and my work, and have seen me in field and compared prices know what
I'm talking about! Many, many times, I've been told that my prices are
lower and more reasonable than everyone else!
Loss of some faires
Sadly this year, three faires have closed their doors
for this year. The first to go was the Western Michigan Renaissance
Festival in Ludington Michigan, which ran around the July 4th weekend.
They cited internal problems from the Jaycees, who was their host. This
one is probably gone for good.
Second on the list is the Shiabruck Faire in Owosso
Michigan, citing scheduling problems. As of this writing there are rumors
that it may yet happen, but dates are in the air, and nothing official
has been announced as of this writing.
Thirdly, I've just been informed that the Baycrafters
Fayre near Cleveland Ohio is cancelled. Internal issues apparently are to
blame. However, the man in charge is looking for a new location, and it
may be back for 2007!
Up to date information can be found on the website
here: www.leatherlore.com/show.htm
New and updated Faires!
Silverleaf Renaissance Faire lost it's home early this
year, but has a new 30 year lease in a new location - Kimball Pines Park
in Battle Creek Michigan! It's a beautiful location, and they've expanded
now to five weekends! Silverleaf runs in July and the first weekend of
August.
Derbyshire is a new faire in Muskegon Michigan, and
promises to be well organized and a lot of fun in it's first year!
Derbyshire happens in June.
Up to date information can be found on the website
here: www.leatherlore.com/show.htm
Updates:
Once again we were called upon to outfit the musical
"Pilgrim". We have no photos from that yet, but I will post them
as soon as I can! You may remember that last year we outfitted the musical
"Aida"! Well, we just received photos from that, and you can now
see them here: www.leatherlore.com/images/aida/aida.htm
In our past newsletters we announced that we
bought our first booth at the Michigan Renaissance Festival! It was
really nice to have an actual building for a change! Many friends came by
to see the new place, and to some it even became known as the "fifth
pub of Michigan"! Pictures here: www.leatherlore.com/images/mrf/mrf.htm
Some new and regular features on the website include:
- New Pirate Gear! www.leatherlore.com/pirate.htm
- Photo Album! Updated now with links to nearly all of the photos in the site - around 10,000! www.leatherlore.com/album.htm
- What's up with the different names - Heavy Leather and Leather Lore? www.leatherlore.com/heavy-leather.htm
- Gallery of Friends! We've compiled pictures of all our friends! www.leatherlore.com/friends.htm
- The truth about ring belts: www.leatherlore.com/ringbelt.htm
- Updated the "Parade of Leather Clad Women", now with 443 photos: www.leatherlore.com/parade.htm
- New outfits for women: AMAZONS! www.leatherlore.com/amazon.htm
- New armor for men; Pauldrons!: www.leatherlore.com/armor.htm
- Of course, let's not forget Women's Armor: www.leatherlore.com/armor-w.htm
- Also new awards and honors, and stuff from our past! www.leatherlore.com/about.htm, and http://www.leatherlore.com/awards.htm
Again we have some new items, including new styles
of armor, bodices, mugs, bottells, and pirate items! So be
sure to visit www.LeatherLore.com and
have a look around!
Thanks for your continued interest in Heavy Leather Lore!
and
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This mail was sent to you because you were a customer, made an inquiry, or are a personal friend of mine. It is not the intention of Leather Lore to bug you with junk mail, so if you would rather not receive any more specials or updates and be removed from my mailing list, please notify me at leatherlore@earthlink.net
This mail was sent to you because you were a customer, made an inquiry, or are a personal friend of mine. It is not the intention of Leather Lore to bug you with junk mail, so if you would rather not receive any more specials or updates and be removed from my mailing list, please notify me at leatherlore@earthlink.net