Guest Post: Custom-made hand-tooled leather planner

Thank you to Sharon for permission to use her post here on Philofaxy. 

Swoon. I'm obsessed with this new custom planner by JMR Custom Leather on Etsy. I sent 30mm Krause rings to him use in this beauty. Just LOOK

Beautifully braided stitching on the edges

Krause rings, and fits Franklin Covey compact sized inserts, elasticized pen loop

Front

Back

J.Mark Rhoades (he goes by Mark), the artist who made this allowed me to share some insight into his inspiration:

My craft is old school leather carving/tooling. The designs are actually hand carved and tooled into vegetable tanned saddle leather. Everything is done pretty much one at a time. Most leather products that people are familiar with from retail type stores are actually embossed/stamped with  hydraulic presses in mass production facilities. Mass produced embossing simply cannot achieve the depth, texture and detail of hand craftsmanship. My patterns are derivations of "Sheridan" style carving that was developed by master saddle makers in Wyoming.
I began tooling leather as a hobby a few years ago and made items for family and friends. Over time, I began selling a few custom order items. I am still employed as a full time college professor, so this limits the number of items that I can offer for sale. However, I hope to expand the business very soon and will be launching my own website Star Mountain Leather in May. -
J.Mark Rhoades

Thank you Sharon for permission to use your post, the organiser certainly looks lovely I hope James gets lots of orders from our readers. 

If you have any questions about these wonderful products please leave them below and we will do our best to get Sharon or James to answer them for you.