Leathersmith Designs

Leathersmith Designs Inc. is a Canadian family owned and operated business founded by Jamie Hartling in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada. Jamie has been making and selling leather goods since 1975. 
==History==
Since childhood, selling handmade goods to the public has been of intrest to Jamie Hartling, this may have been fueled by family outings to craft shows throughout his childhood. Being gifted a leather working kit for Christmas at the age of 12, Jamie would become turn leather working into a hobby. The following summer , with the support of his parents, he spent participating in craft shows and making leather goods. From that point onward, traveling across the Maritimes to sell his handmade leather goods at craft shows, would become a family affair.
Expanding from belts he went on to making purses and briefcases, items he would come to sell to the staff of his Jr. High School. During this time, he also took leatherworking courses, such as one offered by Dartmouth Continuing Education. Once in High school Jamie would secure a contract with the Halifax International Airport to sell his goods in a booth on the weekends. At this point he would also come to befriend a local shoe repairman by the name of George Rapanakis. As the owner of George's Shoe Repair, Rapanakis would show Jamie the craft he had come to hone. Despite never getting into shoe repair himself, Jamie learned many applicable skills of the trade from Rapanakis that he was able to transfer to his own craft of leatherworking. 
After receiving a Bachelor of Commerce from Saint Mary's University in 1985, Jamie stated that he found more joy in the part-time leather business he had been running since junior high school than in this minimum wage job in his field of commerce, during a conversation with a minister at his church, who had asked him about his passions. After the inquiry as to if he would ever consider making it a full time venture, Jamie began to seriously consider the move. From there, with his commerce background, Jamie took steps that would change his part-time leather working bussiness into a full-time venture, creating the business we know as Leathersmith Designs today.
Jamie is noted for saying that the first five years of full time leather work were the hardest, as he realized he would have to take steps to make things more efficient. Investing in specialized training and equipment that would allow him to grow as a business in the late 20th century. His wife Gail Hartling officially became partner when Leathersmith Designs changed from a sole proprietorship to incorporated in 1996. Gail developed the first website for the business which changed the business model from in person to online, making it easy to sell their handmade leather goods across the country, and internationally, without the need to travel for craft shows. This would allow Leathersmith Designs to exist solely as a local shop with an online store. With the increased interest in leatherworking and as accessibility to the internet continued to grow, Leathersmith Designs expanded their inventory to include supplies, becoming a distributor of leather craft supplies themselves.
==Products and Services==
Leathersmith Designs has become a staple of leather goods in the community of Halifax over the last 4 decades. Making belts for customers as well as keytags for corporate entities, with the majority of keytags used by car dealerships in the area originating from Jamie's shop.Nova Scotia Legislature, Assembly Debates, Monday, April 3rd, 2023. p.5507 
Leathersmith Designs also services people in the Halifax Regional Municipality with selective repairs such as belt alterations.
Leathersmith Designs makes and sells custom leather items made to order, these items are made to the specification of the customer and then embossed and dyed accordingly. These leather goods include; belts, dog collars, guitar straps, dog leashes, wristbands, knife cases, rifle slings, drumstick bags, cellular cases, coin purses, drink coasters, bookmarks, key tags, wallets, money belts, cases, bracelets, pouches, sling tags, and promotional products such as corporate logo embossing.
They also sell leathercraft supplies such as leather hides, rivets, snaps, leather, dyes, belt buckles, lace, thread, grommets, thread, eyelets, and leather working tools.
==Appearances==
Jamie has appeared on Breakfast Television twice, once on May 26, 1994 and again on October 18th, 1999. Leathersmith Designs was also featured in 2023 in episode 11 of the 3rd season of Eastlink Community TV's documentary series Handcrafted.
Category:Companies established in 1975
Category:Manufacturing
Category:Companies based in Nova Scotia