JustKate

Don't forget to take into account the amount of time that "stock" item spent in your work queue, that you could have spent completing orders for other paying customers. That is also tantamount to lost income.

Seconded.

This is amazingly well done, considering your experience. As for the blood stains, I believe there are some other discussions about that on the forum - I'll post a link if I can find one.

Your work is always an extravegant pleasure to see.

This isn't mine, I just stumbled upon it on craigslist and thought someone here might be interested. Please follow the link for more info and get contact info of the seller. http://topeka.craigslist.org/tls/3141881528.html

I agree, it definitely looks like it was "hand dyed" using an airbrush. If you aren't determined to do it without the use of an airbrush, that is the method I would prefer. Although there are times when it's really useful to know how to get a similar effect using other methods. As Domino mentioned, the rag method is another way, but I use that when I want the piece to have a little more of a crude/distressed/rustic appearance.

JustKate is smiling.

You can get a very similar effect using a bristle brush by loading it dry and working from the edges of the area you want to shade in towards the middle. Peter Main's books on coloring provide very good instruction on this technique.

<agreeing...> It does not take twice as long to make two of something than it takes to make one. I started cranking out a lot more work when I started doing more items that I planned to sell a lot of in batches of 4 or 5 at a time.

The ones I have make much better impressions than Craftools. But they don't hold up to heavy use. Some of them are made of pewter (of all things!), and will bend over time under a lot of heavy pounding, as many of us have discovered. The bevelers I've got from that lot have been fantastic, but these tend to get lighter use. There is another type of metal used for some of the other ones (which has some kind of blue-ish/black-ish coating on them), that is relatively brittle and just eventually snaps in two under heavy use. These also make increadibly crisp impressions, but they don't last. I also have a few from the Pro Crafter line that are chrome plated, like Craftools. They have a better (smoother, tighter) finish than the CTs, so they make a slightly better impression, and hold up fairly well. Kate

Hi Tannin, There has been a number of groups and individuals who have been campaigning for a "leatherwork" category for products, but sadly, there has been no response from the Etsy team that I know of. It may become a moot point, anyway. According to Rob Kalin, the Etsy CEO, their traffic statistics have shown that the browse navigation hardly gets used by site visitors looking to buy. The vast majority of them use the search function to find what they are looking for. So they are considering phasing out the category browsing features entirely. Whether they do or not (I don't think they will), what that tells us is, the best way to get found is to optimize your listings for search. So I second what Jess suggested. Make sure you have tags to include any search terms you want to be found by - as long as they accurately describe what you are listing, that is! I also suggest frequently adding and renewing listings. Since the search results are sorted by date by default, it is the most recent listings that appear at the top of the search results, unless the person searching changes how they are sorted. Also, my shop analytics consistently show that when I place a new listing or renew something, my shop traffic increases, and that's also when I'm most likely to get inquiries and sales. (My own shop has been pretty slow, but that's just because I haven't done much with it lately.) Kate

On the subject of stamping (as distinct from carving) I also have Paul's books on stamping, and recommend them highly. The big plus is that he provides instruction on how to create your own designs. There is also a lot of useful content on stamping designs in the Creative Belt Stamping series, too. I have found some useful information in some of Tandy's books, too, but for whatever my opinion is worth, I think Paul's books give the most thorough treatment of the subject. Kate

I would say you succeeded. Very nice work. Thanks for sharing it. Kate

When it comes to green, Angelus spirit dye is my favorite. Best place I know to get Angelus is at Turtlefeathers.net. Kate

I LIKE that! Why didn't I ever think of it? It just opens up a ton of new possibilities with the basic form. Hope you don't mind if I play around with that idea some more and see what I can spin off from it. Kate

Thanks very much for the nice comments, folks. I also wanted to mention, I have a "fan page" on Facebook that is viewable to the public, where I regularly post a lot more WIP photos of my projects, and also pass along some of my leatherwork tips. Stop by anytime! Kate