JustKate

I like that a lot! Very clever way of making the chessmen.

If an image is too big to view in your screen, reduce it with [ctrl]-[-] repeatedly until it's down to a size you can view it in. To enlarge back to the original magnification, use [ctrl]-[0].

From what I've been able to tell from their product information, the Zeli Pro dyes are water-based, and I have found that anything water-based absorbs more slowly into leather, and requires more more dye application to get the color saturation you're used to getting with spirit-based dyes. I'm not sure why they would advise diluting it if the problem is not getting enough color... hmmm... Nevertheless, I will say, I've been ordering from Zelikovitz for years, and been happy with my experiences with them so far. They've got a nice assortment of hard-to-find fasteners and other hardware, and everything I've gotten from them has been "better" quality stuff, delivered very quickly.

I've done this with a rolling pin before with good results. Here's what I've found works: - choose a leaf species that is fairly thick; avoid ones that are thin and very soft, they won't make much of an impression, even with a press. - spray or paint the leaf on both sides with a thin coat or two of lacquer. - use good leather; I've gotten best results from W&C and Hermann Oak, because of how much more easily they burnish than the other leathers I've tried this with. - get the leather fairly wet, more wet than you would normally for tooling, then let it dry until the surface starts to return to it's normal color. - once the leaf dries good, lay it on the leather, and lay a sheet of thin, flexible polyethylene plastic over it. This is the same kind of sheet plastic used to make stencils. Note: I tried acrylic - aka plexiglas - and found that a stiffer plastic distributes the pressure from the rolling pin over the entire surface, and does not allow you to concentrate enough pressure where the rolling pin is. I got a much better leaf impression with a rolling pin using polyethylene than using the acrylic. - put as much weight on the rolling pin you possibly can. Press down as hard as you can on the rolling pin as you roll it over the leaf. Roll slowly and smoothly. I'll try to post some photos if I get a chance.

Thanks for that info, Bruce! I never discovered the lower roller was adjustable, too. I think I played with it on one occasion, and just didn't see much happening, so I decided to leave it alone. BTW, have you ever found a good source for replacement parts for these machines? Or would that be you? :-)

As you've noticed, the Landis 30 thickness adjustment has incremental stops. I've never understood why they didn't design it with more "resolution" - i.e., smaller increments between stops, because the range of adjustment to go between the thickest leather and the thinnest is a a very small portion of the range of adjustment the machine can do. (I shoulda become an engineer - ha!) However, the roller height is infinitely adjustable, by adjusting the 2 screws above the roller. So that is one possible way to get the exact thickness you want, then the thickness adjustment will move in incremental stops relative to where you adjusted the roller height.

One of these should do that: Super Skiver

Those of you who know me personally will readily agree that I am no marketing expert. But one thing I have learned is that no marketing strategy should rely on only one venue for promoting your business. I know people who call their business "an Etsy business", or "an Ebay business", and lately I've heard "a Facebook business" as well. Facebook is a great tool, but it should only be one tool among an array (or at least a couple) of tools used in conjunction with each other to create a total marketing strategy. Not only can you multiply the results by using multiple venues, you avoid the mistake of making your entire business dependent on one other entity, which may or may not continue to serve you in the future. There are numerous large marketplaces online now, where you can get your work seen by large numbers of potential buyers. That said, what Chit mentioned about finding creative (and relevant) ways to engage your Facebook visitors has also proven to be the key for me. The more your visitors interact with you (i.e., "Like" a post, leave a comment, share, etc.), the more other people are seeing your posts. Use your stats to determine which posts are engaging people the most, and keep making more posts like it. That will also attract more people to "Like" your page. Then when it's time to promote something you're selling, you've got an audience that is eager to see what you have to offer, simply because they are the ones who are already interested in what you sell to begin with. I love the integrity of that.

If I can allow this digression to go one post further - sorraay! I should also point out I think MacOS is a great operating system, and its growing popularity is well-deserved. I did not intend to come across as one who likes to bash them or their users. (It probably won't be long before I'll be adding an iPad to my collection, which also includes a Linux box.) My intent is simply to support Cyberthrasher's point that no computer is immune from virus or malware attacks. We all need to take reasonable precautions against them, no matter what computer/OS we use.

Whatever it was is still happening, I just ran into it today. The warning is coming from Google (if you have Google Toolbar installed?), and they are reporting the site was still confirmed infected on 7/10/13, only 1 page out of 14 they tested. I'll be calling them Monday. I would put it this way: When you develop a virus or malware, you want it to spread as far and fast as possible to as many computers as possible. Until recently, Macs (and Linux boxes, too) have had such a small share of the personal computing market, it was pointless to develop malware for them. Mac users have always assumed (and often loudly proclaimed in workplaces, marketplaces, and on the forums) that their Macs were just made better, and so were immune to this sort of thing. NOT. I've personally had the joy of extracting malware off of Macs, which is really fun when the user has taken it upon themselves to remove the anti-malware tools we installed for them. Mac users will be encouraged to know the Mac's market share is now rapidly growing, but perhaps a bit chagrined to find it an ever more ripe target for virus and malware attacks.

Get a sample card from these guys. http://www.mainethread.com/

Here's a little exercise for those of you trying to create shading effects with your art brush. Start with heavily reduced dye. For this, I used about 1 ml of reducer (denatured alcohol) with about 4 drops of dye. Use a flat shader brush (this one is a #6), and load the brush VERY DRY. Go back over the line in multiple passes. On the next pass, make short strokes from the original line just a bit to the side beyond where the dye ended on the previous pass. On each pass, make the strokes just a tiny bit longer, going just beyond the point where you ended on the previous pass. To make the color stronger or more intense, add more dye, and start the same process over. Here's an example of how that can be used.

That is exceptionally clean work for a first project. Looking forward to see your future projects.

Yeah, that front pouch is turning my brain in knots - heheh! Clever design, and beautiful work.

I can vouch for that. I don't even know why gum trag is recommended for edge slicking. Saddle soap gives so much better results with noticeably less effort. Nice work on the photo tutorial, Cyberthrasher. Your explanation and photos really simplify the process.