Artisans Leather Cardholder Kit Review

Reviewed by New_Mama

As a busy working mother but also someone who enjoys creative activities, I was interested to put my hand to something I never had before- leather craft. I was allocated the leather cardholder set from Artisans and sent the tan brown kit. The item also comes in cream or red leather and can be personalised with gold or silver embossed lettering for an additional cost.

The item arrived packaged neatly into a smart card box, with an instructions manual and all the necessary leather pieces and tools required (except a pair of scissors required to cut the threat as instructed). I was impressed to see that each kit comes with the choice of 4 coloured threads to allow you to further individualise your item. On first glance, this seemed far above the standard of postal craft boxes that I have come across before, appealing to the more high end crafter. The kit says to allow 4-5 hours of ‘quality time’ to complete the kit and I found it most enjoyable breaking this up to complete different sections over several evenings.

The instructions are detailed and clearly provided in a step by step format complete with corresponding pictures. At first I found the new technique of securing the threaded needle a little tricky however once achieved this prevented the needle from ever unthreading itself – clever! I then found myself enjoying the methodical nature of the saddle stitch, a stitch which I had never heard of before but was easy to grasp from the straightforward instructions. The company aims to ‘promote good mental health and mindfulness’ and I think this is fair to say. As an activity it seemed to require sufficient concentration to help you switch off from the day without being unnecessarily effortful or complicated. Indeed the full activity itself is fairly simple and mainly involved stitching the 4 leather pieces together. Additional steps such as ‘burnishing the edges’ at the start and end are added to allow you to feel that you have created more of the item. Having the pieces pre cut however isn’t necessarily a disadvantage as without the required tools I doubt this would have been as easy and certainly reduced the overall look of the item. The pieces are cleverly designed with holes premade so even the stitching through leather is easier than you might expect. I was impressed at how well the pieces did line up and function well together to create an overall effective and stylish cardholder.

Throughout the instruction manual were ‘did you know’ facts which I thought was a nice touch and added to the learning experience. Once you have completed the cardholder (and I have to say I was pleased with my handy work!) a ‘surprise make’ is found at the end. This ingenious idea of using the piece of leather given to hold all the threads, to create a keyring was very clever and I certainly felt keen to give this ago. Overall the kit allowed you to create something a bit different from your usual crafts in a realistic amount of time, and for me reignited my love of creativity and making time to indulge this amongst a hectic working week.

The artisans life website features the full product range including glasses cases, passport holders and desk tidy’s. Items are priced at £15 (key ring) to £69 (premium glasses case) where each item comes in a range of 2 to 5 colours. Free shipping is available on orders over £15 and currently a 20% discount is given when you sign up to their newsletter. On sale for £55, the cardholder kit isn’t cheap but I guess that given the cost of leather, and comparing this to the cost of workshops it does provide an alternative option for those interested in trying new crafts or just wanting something to focus on and provide me time. You also do get what you pay for and for me the little details, such as choice of multiple coloured threads provided within each pack, and the secret surprise additional item at the end, were important and added to the value of the item. I would certainly consider sending these items as a gift or treating myself to another in the future.

I would give this product a rating of 4 out of 5.

Rating: 4/5

RRP: £55

This product can be purchased from the brand’s own website here.