tireytv

Hi Whinewine, it's very nice to meet you and I'm glad to see that it works for you. Again, it's my two cents and we all different takes on things. No, i don't mean 'crap' either. What I do mean is that there are tons of products that are sub-standard and I see that as a distraction. You're also using Etsy in a very good way which I mentioned in my post, which is to use it as a spring board into your own sites where you can explain more about yourself. All the best, Jeff

Thanks Pete. I'll get some rolling this weekend. King's X - I'm sure you have heard this before but your image of the Notre Dame bag is just awesome.

This is my first question on the board. I have the Al Stolhman books that cover construction of cases. I have volume 1 and 2 - amazing books My question is that I'm constructing a simple travel case for m portable DVD player. The case will be about 7 by 10 inches. I don't want to line the case with leather because I don't want to spend too much on the lining and since it's to hold electronics, I was thinking some kind of felt or fabric lining would work nicely. Can I use a felt lining? If not, what's should I use? How do I prepare the edge of the case after the lining has been glued in? thank you, Jeff

Websites are essential. I'm not a fan of etsy however. I see you have an etsy site in your profile link so I mean no disrespect, but for me, etsy is too 'crafty' and it commoditizes your skills and product and its all too easy for the shopper to compare you with others on the site. Custom products should never sell on price. I'm not even saying it can't work for you or others here. But for me, what you make is original and customers want to buy it for that very reason. I would build a site to sell yourself, your integrity, and your products in that order. If you put up lots of content, get links, and work hard you should get prospects coming into the site. I agree too with the advice that shopping carts are not a priority. Converting traffic to phone calls and simple paypal checkouts is where to start. Here's a couple links I found doing quick searches, I don't know who any of these vendors are. But my point is this: This is a story I can believe in, recommend, repeat buy, and do business with: http://www.leathersm...ds-supplier.htm this is not because the product is marketed as just that - a product. If I want a product, I'll go to Sears. That leatheworker is probably here on the board so I'm not trying to bash anyone. My point is not about quality but about marketing and how I think custom products should be presented. http://www.etsy.com/...cat1_gallery_10 One thing I do like about etsy is using it to leverage their traffic and shift it elsehwere, like this smart marketer here: http://www.etsy.com/...esCustomLeather See the facebook and twitter links. That's smart move where you can leverage a community. - my 2 cents. Jeff Jeff

wow you Mods are awesome here - thanks for the triple Ambassador welcome here Alex and I'll get started with my questions and photos. What is the best board to ask very general beginner level questions? Jeff

Thank you jbird and nice to meet you. Jeff

Hi Doc, Thank you for the welcome reply and I'm glad I joined the discussions here. jeff

Hello All, Jeff Tirey here out of Ohio. I have been lurking around here for about a six months and I have to say this is a very polite and and friendly community. I discovered the craft and art of leatherworking only this past summer and I for me, I see so many advantages in this craft over woodworking which I have done off and on for 20 years. For one thing, while a head knife is sharp and must be used correctly, leatherworking presents fewer physical risks to my digits and eyes compared to woodworking. I'm a very safe person and have never been hurt operating tables saws, planers and jointers. These machines require a lot of focus to be safe. Even so, we have all had a board kickback here and there or we take a riskier cut from time to time when we don't have a helper around to help support an odd size board or project. Furthermore, leatherworking is also relatively quite so long as I'm not stamping. It takes less space too. So I'm cycling out of woodworking and into leatherworking since it fits so well for late night/weekend enthusiasts like myself. My initial goal is to make a few really nice holsters. I'm doing the Karate-Kid method of learning right now. (Remember wax-on-wax-off) In other words, I'm spending my time learning micro-components of leather craft on extremely small projects and scrap leather so that I can figure out how to do things like stitch, dye, edge, stamp, swivel knife skills, etc. Along the way I have discovered the Sheridan Style of carving and for me I think it's insanely beautiful. So that is a goal too but I can't say how far off it is because I find it still very difficult to do the most basic swivel knife cuts with elegance - but I know it's all practice. I'll begin asking some questions here so that I can learn and when I'm ready I'll start posting photos of my own beautiful disasters so that I can get constructive criticism. thank you. Jeff