ClayB

Hey Tom, This is really nice. It's fun watching people make all these different variations of the bracelet. I'm glad the topic came up and inspired a few people. When I saw the first one a few years ago that Anne had made, I had to give them a try, and have made a lot of them for family and friends. Now seeing what everyone else is doing, I think I might have to make a few more using some of the different ideas all of you have come up with.

I'm not all that interested in fish, but that is REALLY nice!!!

I think if you take the time to figure out how to adjust the boss properly, you will probably like it. If you are easily frustrated with mechanical things that dont just work, you probably wont like it. I havent taken the time to learn how to make mine work cuz I just dont need it that much, but I have had a lot of offers from people that really like theirs to help me figure it out.

One more vote for the Pro series from Hide Crafter. The next step up from them would probably be Barry King. His are a little less expensive than some of the other custom makers.

Hey Karl, You're doing great with the feathers. Each one will get better. I like the feathers to look ragged and rough like some of the ones you posted. Painting gets better with practice, so keep at it. I need to make some more, seems like every time I have a few, someone wants one. I really like Robb's videos. He makes his projects look so easy. Cant wait to see how they turn out for you.

Hey Ray, that looks just like the one I have been working on. Not as easy as I figured it was going to be. I'm starting to lean the way whtdove is thinking. We have an abundance of cats around here. Hmmmmm..........

Hi Cindy and welcome to the forum. It's nice when new people jump right in with questions and share pictures too. I think your horse looks really good. You've got a lot of detail and the color looks nice too. Looking forward to seeing more of your work.

Good job Mike. I haven't had time to try it out yet, but I had the exact same ideas Clay M did. Maybe that's why our mamas gave us the same name? As for revealing the method, I don't know it yet. Peter didn't tell me just like Al didn't tell him. I'd like to leave it that way, make us all figure it out for ourselves, if we can.

It would be fun to go to Australia impersonating Peter, but no, it was him that was there. He just asked me to pass on the challenge. I am not sure how the rings are made, but I have an idea I am going to try and see if it works. If it does, I'll post a picture. I hope nobody gives away the secret though. I think it would be more fun to let people figure it out on their own.

You can only edit your posts for a set amount of time, after that amount of time, it can only be done by a moderator. Just contact one of the moderators and they should be able to help you out.

I was thinking about you today when I heard about the tornados in KS. I'm really glad you are ok!

Hi Karl, You did pretty good for your first feather. They can be a lot of fun to make once you get going on them. For ideas on coloring them, you can check out Paul Burnett's website Paintingcow.com and go to the gift shop. He does all kinds of different feathers and his coloring is about as good as it gets. I think he also sells packets with practice feathers and instructions on how to color them, and different leaves too.

Hi Caroline, I think you achieved your goal, that really is taking it to the next level! I like the 3-D effect a lot. The leaves really go well together with the different layers, and the coloring is great. Nice job! Clay

Thanks for sharing some of how you go about developing your patterns. Someday I'd like to see a thread here on the different ways people go about doing that. Maybe even some step by steps, hint, hint

I like it too! You did a really nice job on this bag. Isn't it fun to go to workshops like that and learn from the masters? Thanks for sharing your pictures. Clay

If I remember right, in Robb's videos, he said to mix it to the consistency of peanut butter. In Jan's classes, he says to mix it to the consistency of peanut butter (Peter Pan, I think) It depends on where you are using it. For putty on the back of an embossed project, it can be thicker. If you are using it on the front of a project to cover the scar from cutting areas loose, it needs to be thinner.

I forced him in there at gun point! I know, I know already, bears aren't supposed to be inside trees and buffalo aren't supposed to have feathers. I took the bear back out of the tree, and he is just sitting around waiting for a better idea for a matt. But I like my buffalo with feathers, so I aint changing that one.

Well, however you did it, it sure worked out nice. I really admire people that can create patterns like that. I really like the way it all intertwines togeather. You also did a really nice job of carving it. I think there is a lot of difference in carving leather. Some leather can take repeated wettings and drying out in between without to many ill effects. Other leather when let to dry and rewet seems to swell and erase previous carving, turns to mush, turns hard as a board, etc, etc. On a lot of the pictures I carve, especially the embossed ones, my leather dries out between steps because it has too. On a flat picture, or something like a seat on skirting, the old method of casing (soaking completely and letting it sweat in a bag for awhile) is probably going to give the best results, and covering parts of the seat with plastic is going to keep the parts you aren't working on at the time from drying out. When I cant finish at one time (which is almost always) I cover the piece with plastic and if it's going to be a long time before i get back to it, stick it in the fridge. I also spray water on the piece I am working on as it dries out, from the back if it's not glued to something, or from the front. That has worked best for me. I will be interested in hearing what other do to solve your problem.

Hey Richard, Hope you have a really great day!! You should talk to Kathy and see if she can teach you the secret to staying 29

Anne is right, I use a lot of it. Mixed with rubber cement to a consistency of peanut butter or bread dough, it works really good to fill in the cavity created when you do embossed carvings in the style of Robb Barr or Jan Schoonover. Bob Beard uses it to raise the scroll areas on some of his really neat floral carvings. There are some demo's here on the forum that I have done the explain the process. I also use the putty to create bark texture on trees, another thing I learned from Jan Schoonover. Here are some photos of how I used it to create a bark effect. The first picture shows the putty mixed up in a plastic container. You have to be careful what you mix it in because rubber cement eats some things, like cheap plastic cups. In this picture, I am starting to spread the putty mixture out on a piece of cardboard. I want it to look something like a hole in a hollow log, so I pinched it up to form a ridge around the hole. The rest of the putty is spread fairly heavy, maybe 3/8ths of an inch thick. You want to be able to create ridges to simulate bark. The putty is now spread out, ready to create the ridges Now take some kind of tool and draw/scratch in the ridges to make it look like bark. I used a screw driver but you could use a modeling tool, a tooth pick, or whatever works. Here you can see the bark beginning to take shape. It can be rough or smooth depending on the look you are going for As it starts to dry, it may shrink and leave gaps, or you might have scratched too deep and taken away all the bark. No big deal, just smear some more putty over these areas. You might want to add more rubber cement to the mixture at this point to make it thinner. Keep working the putty until you get it to look like you want it too. Bark is all different so there really isn't a specific way it has to look. This is how my bark turned out.

We had a siamese cat once that I would really liked to have taken a shot at! OOPS, did I say that out loud? Nice job on the checkbook Karl!

July 11-13 Jim Linnell will be conducting a workshop at the Tandy Leather Factory store in Anchorage, Alaska. You will be creating a life size eagle feather with a 3-dimensional eagle head embossed in the middle. See picture below. Participants will learn the extreme embossing techniques, feather creating techniques and a short course in painting with acrylics. All of this over the course of 3 days. Participants will take home a finished piece of 3-dimensional leather art that is ready for mounting and framing. Those wishing to take this workshop need to bring their tools and be prepared to pay a class fee of $0.00!! Yes, this workshop is FREE! This is going to be fun. For more information and to sign up, leather workers need to contact the store. Tandy Leather #167 ANCHORAGE Toll Free: 800-575-4222 Manager: Charity Edwards 2217 E Tudor Rd, Suite 10 Anchorage, AK 99507 anchorage@tandyleather.com 907-562-0609 fax: 907-562-0433

Hey Grammyak, I think you should bring the baby yak in the house. The pig needs someone to play with!! By the way, I think I see a family resemblance, the baby yak has black hair, and it is REALLY short too, all it needs is a pair of glasses and a silly hat!!