Cool! Intresting stuff. I’m not a huge fan of leather but good to know that there is someone out there thats still trying to use all things.

Left by Flutterby on August 4th, 2007

Unfortunately, these are items that are anyone can buy from a wholesaler in Asia (probably Thailand) and while they may be ‘handmade’ and ‘recycled by-products’ they are not handmade or recycled by the two women, as their website makes us believe. All they are doing is ordering and reselling…Do a quick Google search for stingray leather accessories or pendants or bangles and you’ll find several wholesale sites, with the exact same items and pictures, that anyone can purchase these items to resell.

Left by ann on September 15th, 2007

If this is something you believe to be true, it should be reported to Etsy.

I’m sure that there are plenty of Asian wholesalers making very similar work, but to me there still seems to be the possibility that they could be handmaking jewelry that has a very similar style, out of similar materials. I’m not entirely discounting either possibility. Also, the fact that they do custom orders, including custom dyes, seems to lend credibility to their claims.

Left by MissMalaprop on September 16th, 2007

Hello there,
This is Karen, from UNEARTHED.
I would like to rectify something.
We DO indeed craft all of our items BY HAND, in our small Los Angeles workspace.
We DO NOT purchase these items from Asia and resell.
We are not resellers,nor have we EVER been, and being acused of being a reseller without having seen our work is pretty harsh. But we will take that as a compliment…we have spent MONTHS fine tuning our line, and we work incredibly hard on each piece we make,(and have the scrapes, cuts, and broken fingernails to prove it!). Our pieces are INDEED crafted by me and my sister ONLY. And obviously we do not personally recycle the leather, and we don’t personally tan the leathers, but we don’t claim to. That would be absurd!
But I think in a way, it’s really flattering that some people find it hard to believe that our items are actually made by little old us:)

Again, we are NOT resellers. We DO do custom dyeing and work from custom patterns our clients provide us as well.
(I also think our clients who have requested complicated custom orders might beg to differ as well!)

And truly, any handmade item most assuredly has a mass produced counterpart ou there somewhere, It’s just a fact. But what makes Etsy and all the artists and craftspeople selling there so wonderful is that we are choosing to swim against the tide, and create and offer something that was made with LOVE, and the human touch.

Handmade CAN be perfect. Handmade CAN be classy and professional.

And to MissMalaprop, thank you once again for featuring us, we love the blog and appreciate it tremendously!

Left by Karen on September 20th, 2007

Thanks for speaking up Karen!

I know that many craft fairs and venues like Etsy often have issues with resellers sneaking in work handmade by someone else in another country, so I can see how it is a valid concern. I’m very glad that you’re not one of those resellers though!

Left by MissMalaprop on September 21st, 2007