yaklady

A "spell" should be a couple of hours or so. I let it sit until it appears that the oil is not spreading any farther. Then I know that I need to add more. If you apply more oil too soon, you can get too much. Too much oil can make your leather spongy and fall apart. When I was an impatient kid, I would dip my reins into the neatsfoot oil bottle to hurry up the job. My reins didn't last very long. Kathy

The big show in Denver is coming up next month, September 27, 28 and 29. If you are a member of a guild, here's your chance to compete. If you are not a member, you can still get in on the wide range of workshops that are being offered and explore the vendor room where special show deals can be found. Go to Columbine Leather Guild's website, http://columbineleatherguild.webs.com/ifolg2013show.htm to find out all the details. See you there! If you have kids, don't miss the free 19 and under class on that Saturday morning!

B936 is the same size as B935. One is checkered, the other is not. So if you are using checkered bevellers, B936 is the one to go with. I like smooth and can't seem to get out of the habit of using them.

To dry brush, I wet my brush, then wipe the excess water off. Then I dip the brush into the paint and wipe the excess paint off. Then I brush a piece of newspaper until there is barely any paint on the brush. Only then do I touch the brush to the leather. If this is done correctly, the paint will only hit the high points of the leather. It's very easy to get too much paint. The little beveller I use is Tandy's B935. That size comes in checkered, too, it you prefer that look.

You can pester me all you want. I enjoy helping out others. The over/unders are simple, really. It's the parallel lines that can be tough. The beveling isn't so bad, either, but smoothing out everything takes forever. I do suggest that you start with something a bit less crazy. I sure wish I could get this thing to make a new paragraph for me! The piece is 9" x 5". I intend to make a computer bag for my daughter with it, but the construction hasn't happened yet. Yes, I did antique it first, but I honestly don't remember what I used. It would have been something acrylic to go along with the paints. The paints were dry brushed on to keep from hiding the antique.

My daughter had asked for this particular pattern to be done on leather. She found it on line somewhere. It's actually a picture of a rug. I enlarged the picture to the size I wanted, about 9 inches by 5 inches, and made the pattern off of that. Since it was a rug, it had to be straightened out a bit. I have been asked a few questions about this and shall attempt to answer them all here. Unfortunately, I can't get the computer to make a new paragraph on here, so it will all be in one big fat annoying hard to read paragraph. That bevellers I used on this piece, and on most things I do, are my very old Craftools that I got at Tandy's way back when I first started leather craft in 4-H. They are smooth and very square. To get the lines parallel, I would cut one side of the knot and scribe a line next to it with my small wing divider. Then I would cut that line. I used my A104 in the back ground. The color I used was acrylic paint, Delta Ceramcoat, from Hobby Lobby. The leather is 5/6 oz. Hermann Oak. I feel lucky to have a daughter who comes up with fun projects like this.

Thank you, Cheryl. If I am able to help even one person, my goal here has been met. Kathy