FAQs
Who is the team behind Noble Mouse?
Noble Mouse Leatherworks consists of Alexander Davis and Annick Marion, a husband/wife duo.
Alexander Davis is a self taught leatherworker who specializes in Celtic and Nordic art styles. He began leatherworking in 2017 and hasn't looked back. He is the face you'll see at markets too.
Annick Marion is the assistant and does much of the behind-the-scenes work. She assists with parts of the leathercrafting process, fulfils orders, manages the website, and more.
Is it all handmade?
Yes! Everything that I create is a one-of-a-kind, handmade item created in my little workshop. When I first started this business, I made it one of my guiding principles that I wanted to keep everything handmade and human-involved no matter what happened. To this day I have stuck to that; the only piece of powered equipment in my workshop is an old drill press that I use for slicking leather edges. Everything else in my workshop is done with human power!
As time goes on and the business changes, I know I will be hard-pressed to get more powered equipment and use more energetic resources. Even if things do go that way though, I will continue to demand that human beings create every single item that goes through my workshop without exception.
Where do you source your leather?
For all of my vegetable-tanned leathers, I go through the North American leather trade (mainly Tandy Leather), however this is only a small portion of the leather that I use. For everything else, I stick to purchasing local supplies from people in my area who are getting rid of their own stockpiles of leather. I am blessed to live in a part of the world where people have been able to hunt for generations and where people have been creating leather goods for many years. Over the years, a lot of people get rid of their supplies and materials and that is where I come in! I have collected a large amount of deerskin, moose hide, and other materials from those getting rid of it, or recycling material from dumps and reuse centers.
In the case of chrome-tanned leather, I never purchase it. I am totally against the chrome-tanning industry and it’s environmental impact. The most I will do is occasionally pay for a latigo or combination-tanned item from a Canadian company called OA Leather Supply in Saskatchewan. Apart from that, any chrome-tanned leather I use is a recycled item saved from the garbage dump.
Do you take custom orders?
I do! I love to take peoples ideas and turn them into fantastic works of functional art. I can verily make whatever you can imagine as long as it’s made of leather! You can find the Custom Order Form here on our website, where you can provide all the details about what you would like made. You can also find lots of reviews for on our Etsy shop to see some of the custom work I have created.
Where do you get the inspiration for your designs?
All of my inspiration comes from ancient history. Long before I got into leatherworking, I was a student of history and loved to read books and watch documentaries on the ancient world. As anyone who takes a cursory look at my items can tell, I am particularly smitten with ancient Viking and Celtic art; in particular the knotwork of the middle ages. That being said, I take my inspiration from a number of different ancient cultures, from the Mayans of Central America, to the Scythians of the Eurasian Steppe and the empires of ancient China. I love to blend not only the artworks of ancient cultures, but also the bag and wallet designs themselves with modern utility and function. My goal is not to create LARP or cosplay items, but to create functional modern items that are a continuation of ancient traditions.
Where did the mouse come from?
Our fantastic logo came even before we had the name Noble Mouse Leatherworks! Apart from being a leatherworker, I am also a writer of stories and the Noble Mouse on our logo is a character that I created! Her name is Utvar, a proud warrior mouse, who symbolizes the courage it takes to go up against the deadliest of foes. It’s easy to take on a snake when your a big strong human, but it takes a lot more courage to face a snake when you're a mouse. Courage against the odds is what we embody at the Noble Mouse and Utvar is our mascot.
Where are you located?
Currently, we are located in beautiful Lanark County, Ontario, Canada. Our workshop operates out of our residence, but in the future we plan on having a freestanding workshop which will be open for visits by appointment. Stay tuned!