ClayB

That is a REALLY fun design and the colors work so well with it.

Hey Suze, You done good!!! I think it looks really nice. Hope you get started on another project really soon.

Hi Kiwi, Your painting skills are amazing! The shadows on the sails and the ship are really great. So, the added details you mentioned, the sails, ropes, ladders, are they added after the carving? I went to your site and saw the picture where you add the real hair to the horse mane, or the crown of real thorns. I think we're not seeing a lot of the really cool details in your pictures. Next time you do one of these, I hope you take a lot more pictures so we can really see all that you put into your art. You do some really cool stuff!

I'm not very good at drawing patterns, but I can tell you what I'd try to do. See if you can make the leaf at the bottom come off the stemwork on the left side of the bottom flower. Center that leaf at the bottom and get rid of the stuff that is coming in out of the corners. Then at the top, between the two flowers, I'd add something to finish off the vine so it doesn't look like you just chopped it off. There are some guys on here that are great at Sheridan carving and coming up with patterns. I hope they'll jump in here and give you some ideas.

Hi Caroline, It's always fun to see your new projects. First thing I saw was the heart shaped cut out for the face ( I really like the picture of it on the face form) My wife said it looked like butterfly wings to her. So I was thinking something like "the heart of a butterfly". But Hilly's name fits really well too. I can't wait to see what kinds of things you come up with after your week of classes at Dimensions in Leather!

Hi Ken, Hope you have a great birthday, and a great year!

That's amazing Troy! Like Hilly said, you've got great detail in your carving. I'd like to see close ups of the individual scenes if you have them. I checked out your website and your profile to figure out where you've been hiding. You have sure done quite a variety of different things and it looks like you do them all very well. You've really only been at this a few years??? I'd have guessed you'd been doing it forever by the way this piece turned out.

Bob Klenda offers chap patterns on his website

Do you know what kind of stamping/carving you are wanting to do yet? The tools you will need will be different depending on if you are interested in traditional floral carving, Sheridan style floral carving, figure carving, or basketweave/geometric stamping. Let us know what direction you are leaning in, and we should be able to help you out with some ideas.

You might want to check out Dimensions in Leather. It's a big leather conference that is held every other year. This year it will be from July 19 through July 26 in Brisbane. Cherly McIntyre is in charge of this event and she also teaches leather to a lot of groups in Australia. You might want to get in touch with her and see if she is ever teaching in your area. You can send her an email here

Sure Kate, try and talk your way out of it now I'm used to abuse, look what I have to put up with from Kathy!!!! Really, no offense was taken (from you, from Kathy, well.......) It's kind of funny how nothing seems to mean what you think anymore. We have a friend that comes here hunting every fall. He's a farmer and in the winter he measures grain bins for the government. So, he tells everyone he's a bin climber. Google bin climber and see what you come up with. So go ahead and call me whatever you want, and I'll assume you mean it affectionately Thanks Tom and Paul too. I think maybe I should have birthdays more often, I feel so special And if I had them twice a year for a few years, I might even catch up with Kathy!!

For just starting tooling, I think you're doing great. I really like the looks of this. Why make another seat that looks just like all the rest? If you have to carve a skull on it, is there anything wrong with adding a floral element? I'd really like to encourage you to do your own thing. And I really hope there is a group of bikers out there that will appreciate what you do and seek out something different.

Thank you all for the happy wishes and kind words, and even for some of the not so kind words You know I'm gonna get you back, right Kathy? But I'll take any one of your definitions of "pufter" over the one I got from Google. Kate, I think you and I need to have a little talk. I sure hope that word has a different definition in your dictionary Billy, I'm not slacking, I promise! I've been working on something different for quite a while now. I actually started it several years ago, and decided I better try and finish it before I get too old and forgetful. This project involves a lot of hair, but it isn't a picture, and required way to much thinking along with a lot of construction which isn't my favorite thing, and a couple re-do's. Hopefully I'll have it finished in a couple more weeks. Not a lot of packages Tina, but Stacy got me a really cool purple swivel knife!!!!! Thanks again all of you for helping make my birthday special!

I requested the free copy back when this was first posted, and got the free issue in about a week.

It almost looks like someone put new legs on this horse, made it more a piece of furniture than a useful tool. I think you are going to want to figure out how to put the arm and metal ratchet plate back on it for it to be very useful. I dont think holding the strap with your foot would be real effective as everytime you let off pressure a litttle, your piece of work would fall out. I have seen some newer stitching horses where people have attached something like a ratchet strap to the side of the horse to put pressure on the clamp. Maybe somebody here has one like that and can post a picture?

Just a reminder that Jim Linnell is going to be in England doing demos May 1st through the 3rd during the first anniversary of the store there. I hope some of you that over there get a chance to watch Jim do what he does so well. 2009_02_19UK_LinnellDemoAnnouncement_1_.pdf 2009_02_19UK_LinnellDemoAnnouncement_1_.pdf

Hi Pete, Looks like you're off to a great start. When I first saw embossed pictures, I knew that was something I wanted to try, but I didn't have a clue where to start. I had tried the plugs like Stohlman did, but really didn't like doing those. I had to take a class or two (or seven) before I felt comfortable with the other method. Robb's videos are a great way to learn new techniques, I am sure you'd learn something from them, but it looks like you're well on your way already.

Hi Ray, For your third attempt at something like this, you are doing really well. First off, the color is really pretty. It sure sets off the tooling. Your tooling is looking pretty good too. Nothing there that even more practice isn't going to make better. The way you used the thumbprint on the flower petals looks good. It fits the curves on the leaves well, and is nice and deep at the tip, then fades out. On some of the leaves, you can see the impression of the whole tool. You might want to try tilting the tool back a little so the front of the tool impression fades out like it does on the flower petals. The mule foot spacing just takes a lot of practice to get right, and even then it seems like it has a mind of it's own once in a while and your spacing will get off or the impression will tilt off to one side or the other. Your spacing isn't that bad, and it looks like you tried to fade them out as you went. The thing I see is that each impression shows the whole imprint of the tool. With this tool, try tilting the tool back a little as you make each following impression, so that by the time you get to the third or fourth one, you are just using the very tip of the tool. That way your impressions will fade away in size as well as depth. You're off to a great start, I hope we get to see more soon!

No fair teasing us like that. We're not bored yet, and we want to see the picture! Ok, the picture is there now, and that's really impressive!!!

Hi Pete, I mentioned the old doodle page that Al Stohlman did showing how he gave the illusion of snow. In this project, he made sure that where a snowflake was to go across the border of an animal or object, he ended his cut lines before the flake, and started again after it. He then beveled every individual snow flake so that it was raised above the surface of the leather. After all the dying was finished, he took a sharp knife and scuffed each spot where he wanted to put a snow flake. He said to make sure that you also put snow flakes on the edges of the bodies of animals, on edges of buildings, etc. If you skipped these area, it would make the scene appear unnatural. Then he took white cova dye and dabbed it on each of the scuffed areas. He said the process was very tedious but effective. Jim Linnell pointed me to the Pictorial Carving Finnesse book that Al put out in 1980. In this book, Al changed the way he added snow flakes to a picture. He made the flakes appear to stand out by using drops of white glue. When the glue dried, it left a raised spot on the leather which he then colored with white Cova paint. He said this way was a lot less time consuming and gave a better look. There are several pages of instruction on how do rain and snow scenes in the book. If you dont have this book, and it's companion Figure Carving Finesse, you really should consider them. Al gives detailed instructions for doing all kinds of different scenery and animals and shares all the tips he developed over the years. It's a neat story, and your attempt to capture it on leather turned out pretty good. I hope that you can add the snow flakes after all these years.

Hi Luke, If you can use kangaroo, you can try Jim Downey. From an old brochure I have from him, he carried red lace. Basic colors: Black, Brown, Tan, Natural, Brandy, Chocolate, Whiskey, Chestnut Colors: Burgandy, Red, Purple, Yellow, Navy, Royal, Green, Light Blue, Pink, Jade, Aqua White and foils: White, Silver, Bronze, Pewter, Gold The basic and the colors come in sizez 3/32, 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 in 54 yard spools, 5/16, 3/8 in 27 yard spools White and foils in sizes 3/32, 1/8, 3/16, 1/4 in 54 yard spools. Jim Downey Box 30 Skull Valley, AZ 86338 928 442 3638 928 925 3365 cell email

That's not a real easy question to answer, without seeing what you have done, or knowing a few more things like the thickness of the leather you are carving on. If you are working on really thin leather, you always have to be careful not to cut too deep or tool too deep. As for the antlers, I would probably still cut them with the swivel knife, but dont cut real deep into the leather. I wouldn't suggest carving the antlers with the scalpel. It would be harder to control the cuts as the blade is really sharp and thin. The blade tends to bend if you use too much pressure, and the thin cut it makes would be hard to follow with a beveler. If you bevel with a beveler, dont bevel too deep either, then add detail with a modeling spoon. Or, you can actually do all the beveling and detailing with just a modeling spoon. There are some places you can go online for lessons that might help you out. The first place is Paul Burnett's free lessons. There are lessons here that teach you about cutting with the swivel knife, beveling, moisture levels in the leather, modeling tool use, and more. While they aren't directed at carving the deer you are talking about, all the points covered in these lessons can be applied to your carving and will help you achive the depth and detail you are trying to get. Another place to check is Robert Beard's website. He's got a couple tutorials on there that will give you some idea how to bevel and matt to get more depth in your carving. And finally, there is a tutorial here on Leatherworker that I did on how I carve an elk. Hopefully some of these lessons can lead you in the right direction. If not, maybe you can post a picture of your carving, and if we see where you are having problems, we can try to give you some ideas on how to fix them.

Maybe you could learn to juggle...... with your feet I'm not a cat person, so that's a probably a better solution than my first few ideas (if the horse was the cat)

Paul Burnett has posted on EBAY for auction the original leather carving used on the cover of the Victorian Style Home Study Course. The item can be found in the ART category, Original by Artist, Sculpture & Carvings. The title of the item is Victorian Leather Carving by Paul Burnett. The Item number is 280312735927. Here is an opportunity to own a piece of Paul's work if that is something you might desire.

A stitching awl is sharpened on its edges so its like a four bladed knife allmost. Verlane DesGrange used to teach a lot about hand stitching. In one of her files on awls, she showed how an awl is supposed to be sharpened. Only two of the edges are sharp and actually cut the leather, the other two edges just push the leather out of the way so that a needle and thread can be pushed through the hole. (if Johanna reads this, and says it's ok, I'll attach Verlane's pdf file on awls here)