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. And if your email blocks addresses not in your address book, please be sure to add this address in order to continue receiving these emails!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 
The Hard News First
 
    Don't worry, I'm not going out of business or stealing your money! The Renaissance Faire Season has again begun for me, and I am busier than ever! With the slight unintentional downsizing of my available staff and new greater projects that have come in since the first of the year, I've just not been able to keep my head above water it seems. Sadly that means that a number of you that are reading this still have orders with me that are past due. Don't panic though, I will get your orders done! But in order for me to try to clear the decks here and get through the faire season I am announcing that as of this writing I am not taking any new orders until July 1, 2007. I know, it's kind of like shooting yourself in the foot; certainly not good business practice, but I simply must do something to clear the way ahead a while so that I can get the stuff out to those of you that have already paid and are anxiously awaiting something from me! If you would still like to try to order something contact me and let me see if I have it in stock. If I do have something in stock then I will be able to fill your need. If not, it will be considered a new order. Beware though that my stock has been seriously depleted of late. Those of you that have already written or phoned about placing orders will still be contacted, but please be patient with me and bear in mind that I may even decline some of your orders based on time issues. Right now I may even decline rush orders, even though that means rush charges and more money for me. It's not about the money though; it's about time. I will consider each inquiry on a case by case basis. I really hate to do this but I don't want to be a liar to anyone! Already I am seriously late on a couple of orders, and it stresses me out to no end!
 
Truly the Year of the Pirates!
 
    Lets face it, with "Pirates of the Caribbean - At Worlds End" in the theatres, the faires are over run with pirates again this year! Since nearly the first of the year (Jan 2, actually), many people have been ordering nice pirate belts and baldrics from me; with the first order being Disney itself for their stage and street shows in Orlando Florida, and it's been an uphill battle from there. I just can't keep up with belt, baldric, and flintlock holster orders! I've not yet even been able to develop my own take on a leather tricorn hat! And to top that off I also was contacted by two different films for costume and prop work. One is "The Legend of the Red Reaper" in which I did costume work for the lead and some supporting actresses, and the other is "National Treasure II" in which I did some prop work. Keep up to date with those films as I get info sent to at http://www.leatherlore.com/awards.htm. I've been described as having a "good problem".
 
Faire Schedule
 
    I just finished with Mayfaire, and in three days I head off to Port Washington for their Pirate Festival. I'm busting butt around here trying to fill orders as best I can. My trick right now is to make duplicates of what's ordered in order to keep getting stuff in the mail as well as produce faire stock. After Port Washington I have a weekend off and plan to get some serious amount of crafting done! For details on any of my faires and festivals visit my show schedule page at http://www..leatherlore.com/show.htm.
 
Gas Prices are taking their toll on all of us
 
    Here we go again, more gas price hikes! Jeez, don't those oil companies have enough already? High prices and record profits. Seems to me that people should be looking into this more. Enough soap box for me, sorry. Sadly, that fact has again required us to slightly raise our prices. For the first time ever our shipping rates have also climbed a little as a trickle down from the Post Office. 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. But I've been on that rant before; I won't repeat it here. It was in the last newsletter!
 
Updates:
 
    In our past newsletters we announced that we bought our first booth at the Michigan Renaissance Festival, but this year I can announce that it's been paid off! It is really nice to have an actual building instead of a tent! 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:

Thanks for your continued interest in Heavy Leather Lore!

 
Chip Lorimer
Heavy Leather Lore
P. O. Box 4
Bellevue MI 49021
517.541.0428
www.leatherlore.com
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. And if your email blocks addresses not in your address book, please be sure to add this address in order to continue receiving these emails!