I’ve been in the market for a high quality wrist-style camera strap ever since I started vlogging regularly last year.  I’ve never been a fan of the nylon string one that comes with point and shoot cameras.  The one that came with my Canon Powershot Elph 330HS is not particularly durable, seeing that it’s basically a glorified string, and it can also be rather annoying since it’s not easily detachable (it ties on in a loop).  You’ll notice that silly string dangling in the corner of the frame in many of my vlogs on MHWL from last year.  I finally just took it off altogether  but I missed having the strap especially when I’m out and about filming on the go.  Not only does it make the camera easier to carry when I’m filming short clips in rapid succession, but it also prevents me from dropping it quite as often as I do, klutz that I am.  I decided I wanted a wrist strap with a clip on it made of a higher quality material, but did not have any luck searching camera and electronic shops.  I turned to Etsy finally in my search and found Mesa Dreams, a handcrafted leatherwork shop.  Bingo!

Shop owners Brandy and Djerek offer many styles of camera straps among other custom leather goods.  I was looking for something much thinner and lighter then what they had to offer and sent them a message to see if they could make something that suited my needs.  They wrote back right away, ensuring me that they could provide a thinner, lighter strap for me with custom detailing.  I knew it might be some time before the strap made its way to me after we discussed the details and I submitted payment as handmade, custom items can take weeks to produce and ship.  Imagine my surprise when the strap arrived just one week later!

I decided on a variation of the Custom Camera Leather Wrist Strap measuring 3/8″ wide using a lightweight leather in cowboy (the brown color).  Brandy stamped “Busy Bee-ing Jen” in the center with hand-tooled bees and swirls surrounding the letters.  She also added flowers and some yellow color accents to complete the look.  I am absolutely in love with the design!  The clip makes it super easy to use the strap when I want it and easily remove it when I do not.  Not only is the strap exactly what I was hoping for in terms of functionality and quality, it is too cute to boot!

I also have the strap in the standard 3/4″ width with the same logo and design theme to use as a detachable strap for my favorite Louis Vuitton Insolite wallets.  This is a great option for when I just want to grap my wallet and phone and pop in somewhere without lugging my entire bag with me.

Etsy is a wonderful place to explore handcrafted wares of all kinds.  I had a wonderul experience working with Brandy and Djerek of Mesa Dreams and would highly suggest a look around their Etsy shop even if just to see their amazing craftmanship.  Brandy and Djerek were very kind to extend a discount to my readers.  Use coupon code BusyBee for $5 off a purchase of $25 or more, good now through June 19, 2013.

*I am not affiliated with Mesa Dreams.  I purchased all items shown.  I am not receiving any kind of compensation for this review.  All opinions are my own.*