Just like your skin can tell a story, like the scar on my wrist from when I thought I could give my viking boyfriend a piggyback ride, a cow's hide is also marked with these stories.

The giants in the leather industry consider these "imperfect" pieces unusable, and they are often discarded.
But I find immense beauty in the imperfections.

Have you seen any of the markings below on your leather products?

A marking like this can be a result of an injury or surgery. I personally think scars are beautiful!
In this example, you can even see the staples running along the scar.

Interesting Fact: Statistics indicate that approximately only 5% of all rawhides are free of damage. 

Hot branding has been used over many years to mark cattle. However, these markings are showing up less and less as ranchers use alternative marking techniques.

Interesting Fact: Ranchers are now using ear tagging to mark their cattle. It is less painful, safer, and can be easily replaced.

MY FAVORITE!
You gotta love the "fat wrinkles" aka stretch marks! Or are they neck wrinkles?
Markings like these are super common in leather. They're my most favorite, because we can all relate to a few wrinkles!