“Leatherwork became the creative path I never saw coming.”

- TINA STOY

A Happy Accident That Became a Full-Time Life

Tina’s journey into leatherwork started almost by accident. While traveling abroad, she took a couple of workshops just to try something creative — and it lit a spark she didn’t see coming. When she got home, she bought a few basic tools, made her first leather journal, and a friend bought it immediately. That tiny moment kicked off what would eventually become her full-time life as the maker behind Akasha Leather in Salt Lake City, UT.

Working with leather uncovered a creative side Tina didn’t realize she’d been missing. She loves the challenge of learning new techniques, refining her skills, and figuring things out on the table as she builds. Many of her pieces start as ideas she’s thought about for weeks, but the real design comes alive in the moment — adjusting details, testing hardware, solving little problems, and letting the piece tell her where it wants to go.

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“Akasha is my space to create without limits — a place where curiosity, growth, and craftsmanship all meet.”

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Her brand name, Akasha, comes from the Sanskrit word for ether — the idea of being limitless, open, and full of possibility. It’s exactly how Tina approaches her craft. And yes… she still gets asked if she’s from Alaska.

As a one-woman business, Tina does everything herself: stitching, designing, photographing, packing orders, running the website, applying for markets, and meeting customers face-to-face at events around Utah. She loves that handmade leather goods take time, last for years, and only get better with age. Her work is also deeply inspired by the outdoors and travel. Raised in Vermont and rooted in Utah since 2007, she pulls ideas from mountain trails, desert trips, international adventures, and the practical needs of staying organized on the road.

Every piece she makes uses vegetable-tanned leather from generational tanneries in Italy who prioritize sustainability — materials she feels proud to work with and even prouder to share. And for anyone curious about learning leathercraft themselves, Tina teaches hands-on workshops that give beginners a fun place to start.

Want to see more of Tina’s work?

Check out akashaleather.com or follow her on Instagram at @akashaleather.