ClayB

That holster looks pretty nice to me! Herman Oak does have a minimum, but they have dealers throughout the US, Canada, Australia, and Japan. From the dealers, you should be able to buy whatever you need, although maybe at a higher price than from them direct. If you go to thier website, click on the "distrubutors " button on the left side of the screen, and it'll show you where you can get Herman Oak leather.

I dont think it's bad form to ask. I really hope it's not bad form to ask, becasue I do it! But if you do, make sure to thank them and let them know it's appreciated, and also give credit to them for the pattern when you use it. If you did ask and they didn't want to share a pattern for whatever reason, I think you need to respect that too. I do think it's in bad form when people ask for a pattern someone else has done, say in a book. When they say,"I really like that pattern, but I don't want to pay for the book, could you make a copy of it for me?"

Thanks Jim and Johanna for posting this demo. You both did a great job. Jim's feathers are pretty amazing, but then everything he carves is. It's great to hear that so many people showed up to watch too.

Hi Crystal, I think this turned out great! The carving is really nice. I'm impressed that complecated patterns dont intimidate you. The accident with the color ended up being a good thing. Wish my accidents would turn out that way. I still think you are nuts for even trying 12 spi, but it sure looks good. The pearls and brads are a great touch too. It's gonna be a great present!

Hope you have a really great day!!!

Bree, I dont think you did anything wrong by posting that link here. Verlane was a friend of mine. She was a really special lady with a passion for leather work, and for teaching. She shared a lot of the knowledge she had gatherer over the years on public lists, and also privately with a many people. In the last few years of her life, she was spending a lot of time putting together as much of this information as she could on her computer. I kidded with her that she needed to publish the "Encyclopedia Verlanica" because it would take several volumns to hold all the information she has stored in her head. She told me she hoped to make the information available in some form, but didn't know the best way. She said publishing a book was very costly, and she was considering something like a CD, DVD or download. Her problem with this was keeping it from being copied and just passed on. That makes me think that she possibly had intentions of selling the collection of information. Every PDF page I ever saw from her did contain her copyright. If Verlane was still with us, I have no doubt she would have allowed some of her material to be posted on LW. How much? I don't think anyone can answer that. I agree with both Johanna and Kate. We need to respect Verlane's memory and her family's wishes concerning this material. It is thier property now and up to them what they wish to do with it. If they give the ok, I'm sure Johanna and Leatherworker.net will do whatever she can to help pass on her knowledge. Her website is still up in the internet, Verlane.com

Ok, here's the final pictures. From the cover of the kit. The front flap buckstitched on. Inside the front flap, cell phone pocket, zippered coin pocket, credit card pockets, zippered bill pocket. ID holders, checkbook pocket, more credit card pockets, pen holder Center zippered pocket for all the other stuff The curly vines weren't nearly as difficult to do as the leaves, I actually kind of thought they were fun. I was really happy with the patterns and how the carving turned out. What's even better is that Stacy is really happy with it. Now in a week or two I'll try and get started on the next one.

Thanks Crystal, Caroline, and Spider. I finished up carving and coloring the back side panel and sewed it on to the purse. Since I didn't like the big holes or the stitching, or the part of the flap that covered part of the tooling, we came up with a different way of attaching it. I am not completly happy with it this way either, but Stacy likes it a lot better than the way I did the front. SO, I have ripped out the stitching on the front and am doing it over with the buckstitching. I went to Tandy's website hoping they'd have pictures of the inside, but they don't so I'll try and see if I can get some for you Crystal.

Hi Tina, That looks really great!! The pattern reminds me a lot of something I have been working on There is always so much to look at in your patterns. So many things that I like. Love the lettering and how it resembles the vines on the pattern. Love the double border on the name side and how it crosses over itself in the bottom corner. Love the subtle coloring. The open areas in the background are a neat effect. And the lacing is AWESOME! Another really great piece.

Thanks all of you for looking, and for your comments. Hilly and Tina, I understand about the snow, but even so, if it wants to head anywhere but here, I aint gonna try and stop it. We got pretty lucky here, most of our moisture came before the temperature dropped. We only ended up with about 3 inches. The central part of the state got closer to a foot, and I heard that Deadwood, SD got around 47 inches. One of the things Stacy liked about this purse kit was the way it was set up. Lots of pockets. Place for checkbook, cell phone, credit cards, coins, bills etc. I dont like the construction part of things like this very much, so making the inside of a purse like this is pretty much out of the question for me. The kit insides are pretty nicely made. Also, for a kit, the carving leather seems to be pretty nice. It takes carving pretty nice. The background tool is a pebbler from Hidecrafter. It was one of the first tools I got from their Pro line and I have been fairly happy with it. It doesn't have the crispness that one from Bob would have, but it's not bad. I just used the small size one. Seems like it makes a better impression than the larger one, but it is more difficult to keep the background even with the smaller tool. One thing I like about it is that it seems to be easier to make a smooth looking background with it than a regular checkered background. Keeping the vines even is something that I could have done better (or at least tried to). I also messed up the border inside the S. It's not even at all. The thing that might not show up is how small this pattern is. The carving area is only about 3 inches by 6 inches and some of those little leaves are REALLY little! I'm working on the back side pattern right now. If possible, it's even more challenging than the front. I wonder if it was Tina's way of saying "keep asking for more buddy and see what you're gonna get!". Seriously though, I wish I could draw half as neat a patterns as she does.

My wife likes to change purses every couple months and it seems like she is always coming home with a new purse from Wal Mart or some other place. Nothing fancy, just likes something different. Last summer when we were in a Tandy store, she saw a kit purse with lots of pockets she liked. It's really simple to make, just sew on 2 panels, once they are carved. I wanted the carving to be something more personalized than the patterns that came with the kit, so I turned to Tina for some help. She drew up a couple different patterns just for this project for me. THANKS TINA! This pattern seemed to be really challenging for me to carve. The leaves were almost too small for my smallest tools, but the use of a tiny pro petal tool from Jeff Mosby worked great, and gave them the depth that kind of makes them pop. For the color on the final flap, I went with a Sheridan finish, oil, neat lac, followed by tan antique. Then I painted the center of the S with angelus black acrylic paint. There are quite a few mistakes in the carving, but Stacy is really happy with it. There are also a lot of things I dont care for about the kit purse, like the round holes, the big clunky thread, the way the black flap overlaps the carving, and how paper thin the black leather is, but it'll have to do until I get the "made from scratch" purse figured out that's next on my list. I still have to carve the back panel for this purse. Just got another pattern from Tina for that, and since most of ND is closed today, I will have some time to work on it.

I had the same issue with the email. I sent it again with the one you posted. What a generous offer from these folks. I hope they get a good response. Johanna has been pestering me for a long time to check them out, guess I'll finally do it. Thanks for making it so easy.

Hi Johann, It must be quite an experience to be able to learn from Rene like that. It's great that there are more classes planned. I'd like to invite you to add the schedule of these classes to the calendar here on Leatherworker if you'd like. Maybe there are other people in your part of the world that would be able to attend.

Check out the gift shop on Paul Burnett's website. It should give you all kinds of ideas.

Brandon, Someone told me that too awhile ago. So, how about seeing if your friend would post the pictures here on LW? I know I'd love to see them. I'm not sure who is working on the site, but next time I see Dave or Cheryl, I'll ask them if they read the email they get from the site.

Darryl, Here's a link that has some pictures of Chester Hape's work, including a saddle with his style of Sheridan roses. They're not really a traditional style rose, but I really like the look. I agree with Bruce, anything goes if you like it. Al Gould carves oak leaves and acorns with acanthus leaves, seemed really weird to me the first time I saw it, but it works for him. And the Sheridan carving with the skulls is about as far out there as you can get, but I thought it was a great idea. Bob Beard has a rose belt on his site that has a his "signiture" scrolls on it.

Robb Barr's family is working on a website in memory of one of leather's masters. It's not finsihed yet, not too many pictures up, but it's a start. They told me once they would love to be able to share stories about Robb from people that knew him, or took classes from him. If you have a story to share, please contact them. They are also interested in pictures of his work that they might not have copies of. I think this is a great way to remember someone who helped take leather carving to a whole new dimension. Check out the site (in progress) at robb-barr.com

Thanks Tom and Johnny for playing. Tom, your checkbook cover turned out really nice. I like it that you experimented with different background tools. I did that too and think I finally did the inside of the eyes with a smooth pear shader to mush it down without so much texture. There are so many different ways to do these things and it's fun to see what everyone decides to try. The color on yours turned out nice too. Johnny, I really like the idea of combining both patterns. The floral really seems to compliment the skulls, how weird is that???? I like the way you had the vines enter and exit the skulls, really ties it together.

Tom, It looks pretty good. The thing that stands out the most to me is the "fluff" at the bottom of the feather. It's pretty thick. I'd try and make those a lot thinner if you can. If you skive that part of the leather down real thin, then make the individual cuts with a scalpel or x-acto knife, it might be easier. On the second picture (the horizontal one) the quill isn't real even at the bottom. The notches in the main part of the feather, looks like you cut out V's. I just make a slice along the veins, not cutting anything out. Not sure how you are going to finish this, but my next step is to put on an acrylic sealer and when that is still wet, you can twist and turn parts of the feather to shape it. I like mine to look pretty ragged, but that's just me.

Bert, I'm gonna owe Riley for the mommy comment for a long time!! Since we know Kathy is only 29, that makes me what, about 10?

I really liked Mad Maxx, but I'd have to say this isn't my favorite of your masks ( that one is hanging on my wall). Even so, I think you did a great job on it, lots of creativity and detail. I hope someone appreciates all you put into it and pays you well for it.

Have you seen the acid washed hair on calf hides that Tandy is selling? It's pretty wild stuff. The hair has been burned off in places by the acid, left on in others and it comes in fun colors like purple and blue. I don't see it on their website, but if you want, I can take a picture of the one I have and post it here. Someday I am going to make a purse out of it for my wife. Here's a link to a purse made out of this leather for sale on Etsy

Hey Brent, You done good! Thanks for playing.

Gonna try and add my pictures from the class one more time. Somebody got a hold of my camera, dang I look old! Rick hard at work Don working on his project Kathy and Rick Don and Ernie Rick getting some personal attention from the teacher kathy's mountain scene carved Kathy's picture Rick's finished picture Bert's finished picture Don's finished picture Ernie's finished picture Either this class really wore Don out or somebody needs to check his oxygen tank quick! Bert's picture when it's not being a portal to the twilight zone Bert working on getting a blister Cant forget a picture of the teacher