ClayB

The Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal announces it's first ever special contest to be held at the 15th Annual Rocky Mountain Leather Trade Show. The contest will be a Roper Saddle in honor of master saddle maker Don King, 1998 Al Stohlman Award Winner. (see article in Nov/Dec 2007 issue of Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal, page 44) There will be 3 divisions in the contest. Beginner Division: Rough out or smooth-out, no carving necessary. 1st place $500 2nd place $250 3rd place $100 Open Division:Pattern:Geometric or basket stamping- Surface area 30% or more of saddle's surface (further information provided in registration packet) First place $1500 Second Place "reserve champion" winnings to be announced Open Advanced Division: Pattern Sheridan style floral 100% of saddles surface area except the saddle seat (further information provided in registration packet) 1st place $3000 Second Place "reserve champion" winnings to be announced All divisions: Saddle tree: Roper Tree for a full-size roper saddle Silver permitted but not judged One maker per saddle entry One catagory per contestant Saddle must not have been entered in any previous show and must have been made since April 1st 2006 Entry fee:Beginner $50, Intermediate $75, Advanced $100 Shipping fees: Information forthcoming in registration packet Registration: Please contact the LeatherCrafters and Saddlers Journal at 222 Blackburn Street, Rhinelander, WI 54501-3777. Call toll free 888 289 6409 email Journal 3 hand picked, seasoned master saddle makers will serve as judges. Judges are not eligible to enter. Prizes consist of a combination of cash and prizes totaling the value shown above in each catagory. Cash and prizes will be awarded at the Saturday evening banquet May 17th, 2008. Contestants need not be present to win.

I have never experienced what you are describing, and I wouldn't be very happy with it either. If it isn't something you got a really great deal on out of a bargain bin, I'd take it back and complain.

I was recently informed that all Tandy Leather Factory stores are having an earlybird sale on Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) and Saturday. It will be from 7:00 am to 9:00 am each day and everyone will get 40% off of retail prices during those hours, *except leather and machinery items. After 9:00 am there will be lots of sale specials and discounted items varying from store to store. This is going to be one of our biggest sales events ever. Might be a good time to stock up on a few things before the Christmas rush.

Hello Friends in Leather, Our guild is offering a chance to own a classic leather carving by Al Stohlman, or an early one by Joey Smith, and even another by Christine Stanley. Not limited to our members, these fundraiser tickets are available to other Leathercrafters, Artisans, or Saddlemakers whom have any interest in these Leather Art pieces. If you own or manage a Leather Supply store, and willing to offer them to your customers, please let us send you some tickets! If you are involved in a Leather Guild or Leather Mailing list, help us spread the word. If your a past member, help your old friends at The Leathercraft Guild out, Buy a ticket or two! We appreiciate any help promoting our 2007 L/G ticket drawing. If you have questions after looking at the flier and request form, please ask! Keep on Toolin' Robert Ambriz L / G President Member of IILG, LAGC and RVLG 2007Drawing.pdf 2007Ticket.pdf 2007Ticket.pdf 2007Drawing.pdf

Regis, If the judges dont feel there is any entry worthy of a ribbon, they don't have to award one. I think the reason given was that if awards had to be given in every catagory, work that wasn't high quality would be awarded by default. Advancement from open to advanced and advanced to masters is based on awards one in the previous catagory.If awards were given just because you were the only entry in that catagory, you could advance even if your work wasn't up to the standard of the others in the catagory. That's how it was explained to me and I agree with it.

I know exactly how you feel Alex. With a full time job, family, household stuff, neighbors and friends that want help with cattle or putting up a garage etc., it's hard to have any left to do leatherwork. I try and take a least one weekend day for myself to do some leatherwork. I tend to get more done in the winter with shorter days to work outside and colder temps. And I spend some time each morning and evening here on the forum trying to keep up. My leather work is for my own benefit, it helps me keep my sanity although I think it may be a losing battle these days.

I'd like to say CONGRATULATIONS to Vera Goldberg for her Best of Show-Most Unique in the Fort Worth show!!! Considering the competition there, that is quite an honor. Clay

There might be a slight chance that he would have something common like certain bevelers on hand. Otherwise you are gonna have to wait in line, but I agree, it's worth the wait. Give Bob a call, he is fun to talk to and he'll let you know how long it will take.

I haven't heard anything about the catalog lately and their website hasn't been updated since March. There was an announcement in the Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal that said they were bought by HideCo.LLC, an investment group led by Greg Sartor, owner of Silver Creek Leather Company, and comprised of industry professionals who have a long standing relationship with HideCrafter's owner, George Hurst. It goes on to say that the members of HideCo are individuals who have companies that currently supply key components to Hide Crafter Leather as well as other distributors and manufacturers. It sounds like the retail store will remain at it's current location in Fort Worth with Ron Stuhlman continuing as manager. George Hurst will stay on as Creative Director to develop tools, kits, patterns, and instructional DVD's. If you have any questions, give them a call. Maybe your catalog request got misplaced somewhere while all this was going on. They have always been really good to deal with and I really hope they can continue on with what George started.

I am not sure if Allen Cope is a member here or not, but he gave me permission to post links to the pictures he took at the show in Fort Worth. There are four different albums with some pretty good pictures in them. Thanks Allen for sharing your pictures with us (just in case you are here) Guild displays http://members.cox.net/cope4/Guild%20Displays/index.html ILoLG 2007 http://members.cox.net/acope/acope/index.html Tandy Museum http://members.cox.net/ke5jba/TLF%20Museum/index.html Competition room http://members.cox.net/bettyboop8/Competit...Room/index.html

Dale, I tried a scalpel too like you said. I bought a bunch of scalpel blades off ebay and wonder if they are really that good of quality? I usually strop them before using them and change them a lot, and they just didn't seem all that sharp. I also used matches to try burning off the fuzzies. It worked fairly well on the leaves, and gave them a little color, even though the whole project was not colored. I also tried an idea Kathy gave me of rubbing the edges with Skidmore's leather cream and that laid the fuzzies down pretty good but not like if I could have burnished them somehow. I am wondering if a different kind of thin leather like kangaroo or goat would work better for the things I want to cut out? Thanks for the suggestions. Clay

I dont try to sell any of my leatherwork, but considering how much time certain projects take, I think you are pricing your work fairly. If I could sell checkbook covers for your price though, I wouldn't even consider making a belt for $100.

Thank you Luke, I worked on that picture on and off over a couple months. I am not sure how many hours it took because I kind of figured out each step as I went along. Some things worked the first time, some I had to do over a few times to find something that I liked. I would guess that if I tried to do it again, it would take 25-30 hours, maybe? The things that took the most time was trying to get rid of all the fuzzies on the edges on the tree branches once they were cut out, and also cutting out all the leaf clusters. The leaves were stamped with a Craftool foliage stamp and them cut out with filigree chisels and glued onto the branches. I'd sure be open to any suggestions on how to smooth out edges on little odd shaped pieces like that.

It's really nice to get such nice comments on these pieces from people who's work I also admire, and from people who's friendship I really value. Thank you all very much. One of these days I think I will have to do another oak leaf picture similar to the the one I showed here. I'll try and take some pictures to show what I did. It really wasn't all that difficult. Not sure if I could show all the steps in the elk project and make it make sense. There was quite a bit of trial and error in that one. Thanks again to each of you for your comments, every one of them is appreciated a lot. Clay

My friend Dave stopped by this afternoon when I wasn't home and dropped off some stuff he picked up in Fort Worth at the show. One things is a brochure from Buckanear Design. It has website address, www.buckanear-design.com and you really should check it out. This lady Ute Jaeckel does some really cool stuff. A couple things I really liked were the Last Laugh tank bib, and the 2 AM 28 C motorcycle seat. The site is all in German so I couldn't read anything, but it sure is fun looking at the pictures. Clay

I've got two of Bob Beard's blades in Tandy swivel knives and they work fine. Not as fun as Bob's swivel knives, but maybe someday I'll have one of those too.

Hey Bert, hope you have a really great day today! Are you sure you got the year right? I didn't realize how young you were That's as close to singing as you are gonna get from me.

WOW! That's really nice Gary. I like the pattern a lot and you did a great job with it. Clay

I know what you are going through. It really sucks when color doesn't work like you expect it to. Deglazer will take off any acrylic finish that you have put on, or I should say it has for me. It doesn't take off spirit (alcohol) based dyes. It also does some weird things to leather, so I would use it only as a last resort but I don't know of anything else that will work. If I was you, I would take a scrap and apply the same finish you did to the piece that is messed up. Then try deglazer on the scrap and see what happens. If you are happy with the results on the scrap, then try it on the other piece. Good luck!!!

Kevin, Isn't that cool? Not sure who did that or how, but this is how I would proceed. The tree would be carved as a normal carving, then stretched from the back side to give it the shape. Then you take either a scalpel, or a pro petal tool and slice into the part where the opening is. I would pack the back side where you created a cavity when stretching with leather dust/rubber cement mixture. Once that was dry, re tool the front and add details. I am not sure if they carved the bunny on the same piece of leather (if they did, that took some talent) or if it was carved on a seperate piece and slid into the opening. One of the great things about going to the shows (or attending thorugh a great set of pictures) is seeing all the things other people come up with.

Hi Randy, Congrats to both you and Riley. Can you tell us which pictures your projects were in? Thanks for letting me know who won the world competition. I pretty much figured when I was filling out my entry form that I could have just wrote the check out to Peter, even though I had no idea what he was entering. Any idea who took second and third? Seems like that Sheridan style clock should have done well. Clay

I was going to check the directions too. It seems like the All in One would have a sealer in it, thus the name. Once the leather has been sealed, the next application probably is going to just sit on top and not soak in at all.

Hi Marlon, I am glad you had a good time at the show. Thanks for the nice comments on my work. Thing is, I would never have gotten to the point I am at with my carving if it were not for people that I have met at shows like that one. All the people you meet at these shows, from beginner to master are really nice people, and willing to share whatever they can. It's easy to get intimidated when you look at the things Robb Barr did, or Peter Main, Paul Burnett, and so many others are doing. But once you get past the "Wow, I could never do anything like that" and study how they do things, ask them questions, take their classes, read their books, you will improve a LOT! Bruce Johnson mentions doing things "outside his comfort zone". I think that's important too if you want to improve. You have to try new things. If it doesn't turn out the first time, it's not a failure, it's a learning experience. Going to shows like this has been a great way to make new friends, and get inspiration and encouragment. Sounds like this one was no different.