Letters from Lucy : Happy New Year

Hi Everyone,
Happy New Year to you all, it’s hard to believe we are already one month into 2023! I hope you all had a nice festive period and managed to have some time to rest and reflect. I’ve had an incredibly busy couple of months not just with my leatherwork but at my other job too. Perhaps it’s something that we don’t talk about that much, but I know so many saddlers and leatherworkers who are juggling other jobs alongside their leatherwork. I find it really challenging to find a good work-life balance because I end up taking time off from one job to put more work into the other!

Normally I would get some downtime in January to recover from the Christmas rush (there’s usually a bit of a lull with work and so I can finally get onto some of the jobs on my “rainy day list”). Unfortunately, and fortunately, this month has actually been unseasonably busy. I had assumed with the cost-of-living crisis, that it would be a quieter January than ever, but perhaps it has led more people to consider repairing their items instead of replacing them. I also think that after all the chaos of the past few years, people are determined to crack on and do the things they’ve been dreaming about so the requests for interesting bespoke items are flying in too!

As well as all that, I’ve been busy working on a couple of entries for the National Saddlery Competition. Fingers crossed I actually get my entries finished in time, it looks like I’ll be pulling a couple of all nighters. Although it costs me a huge amount of time and stress, I can’t pass on the fantastic opportunity to get some feedback on my work from some of the best saddlers in the world. I look forward to sharing my entries with you next month!
Bye for now,
Lucy