yaklady

Obviously, I'm slacking! I didn't even notice all these kind comments you people have been leaving for me. Leatherpoker, The picture is 16" x 20", and the mule fills it up pretty good. I think a mini-mule's head would be about the same size as this mule's head, but of course the picture depicts a larger mule. Skip, I'm glad you got to see it first hand. Leather stuff always looks much better in person. Wish I had run into you. Yes, I really like the prize! Kate, it's those little details that I enjoy the most. How real can I make it look? That's what I strive for, and once in a while, I accomplish it. You do very nice work, too. I'm lucky you weren't in that competition! Mike, the eyes were done with the extreme embossing and the gloss lacquer. Sounds like you know all about that. Do you have any embossed projects to share? Thank you all for the compliments and encouraging comments. It makes me want to do some more! Kathy

Knifenut, When you're cutting your slots, try using a round punch the same diameter as the width of the slot at the ends. It's a quick way to cut those difficult ends, and it comes out smooth. If you're cutting a straight slot, you can use a ruler between the holes to keep the cut straight. On sanding your edges, a Dremel tools works well for me. I don't have all the big power tools that most of you guys have. When you do start dyeing your edges, it depends on what dye you use as to whether to dye first or last. Spirit dyes won't penentrate well once you have slicked your edges, so apply it first. If you choose acrylics, slick the edges first. Tandy's Edge Dye tends to crack, but Cheylor-Fenneli has a new edge dye out that they say won't crack. I don't know what it's called, my bottle has no words on it whatsoever! They also have a cool new applicator that works very well. On the stitching, it helps to use a stitching groover to sink the stiches below the leather surface. That not only keeps the thread from wearing, but it also helps to keep your stitches looking more even. You may as well make a big list of tools! It seems a leather worker can never have enough. Hope this helps, Kathy

Johanna, I don't have plans for Michigan City. Traveling 3 months in a row seems like a bit much. I thought about sending my mule, but it would cost about as much as for a real mule to ship it out there! Are you going to that show? You could report on it. It was my pleasure to share. Carl, I'm glad I was driving my Honda Civic and not you big rig through the canyon! I pass a lot of gas stations with it. I can get all the way down there on just over 2 tanks, and mountain driving is easy unless it's snowing a bunch, like it was on the way home.

Your spelling is fine by me! I'm used to looking at Peter Main's spelling. Aussies are the same. I think "thank you" is spelled the same either place. Clay, it looks like you're set with the frog now. I have a friend who likes frogs, so I can tell you from experience, they're a piece of cake!

I forgot to mention that I went through Farmington, New Mexico on the way down to Wickenburg. There, I stopped in to visit with Bob Beard. Bob gave me a tour of his shop, starting with the steel rods that he receives, and explaining each piece of machinery used to make each tool. Then he showed me, using a piece of stock, first hand how some of the machines work, and how the steel is formed into a high grade tool. I ended up with a simple tool made just for me, and insight on what a genius Bob is. If he doesn't have the right part for a machine to do the job, he makes one! I think he could figure out how to make anything. There is a rumor going around that Bob is getting out of the tool business. He assured me that it's no more than a nasty rumor, and his tools will continue. That's good news to many of us. Kathy

When you go to Australia can you go to Tasmania and up to Cradle Mountain to do your class?

Tina, I love this pattern! I'm into pigs and my son is into guns and Celtic stuff. Guess what' he's getting for his birthday??? Kathy

In case that's not enough pictures for you, here's a couple of shots I took on my way in. I get tired of the interstate and enjoy seeing the natural surroundings, so I went south from Holbrook to Show Low, stopping at Pine Top (the first picture) on the way. Then, Highway 60 takes you through the Salt River Canyon, (the second picture) which is a delight. The steep hills and switchbacks slow you down, but it sure beats I 17! I didn't take pictures of the vendors, they're always the same! Hope this gives you a little insight to the show in Wickenburg. I had a great time there. After I did Chan's class, I spent lots on tools and taught three classes, two dyes and finishes classes and Jim Linnell's kids' class. Jim ducked out on us to teach some 4-H people in Idaho. I enjoyed his class the most. The kids are so willing to learn and never question what you tell them. Tandy's donated tools to the kids who had none of their own so they can continue to tool at home. I know most of them will do it! If you missed this show, don't miss Sheridan, it's even more fun. Kathy

The first three days of the show, I was lucky enough to take Chan Geer's notebook class. Chan is an excellent teacher, and I learned a LOT from him, stuff like Sheridan style carving, the arrowhead basketweave, and two-tone lacing. There were only three students so we got lots of attention. Here's some shots of what we made and some of Chan's beautiful work. I wish I had gotten pictures of all the finished notebooks. Chan's notebook is on the left, mine is on the right in the first picture.

That's not all of what went on in Wickenburg. Dave Reis was on the go the whole time. He gets all pumped up for these shows and stays that way the whole show. He's also extremely generous. At the front door, Dave set up a trough with ice and free pop for all who came. In one of his moments, he had me take pictures so he could write up a "How-to" article on the proper procedure for pop placement in a trough. Let's see if he actually does it. This one I don't think he liked very well! This is how to stash the pop. More to come.

Oh contrare, Harvey! (I think that's French or something, and I don't know how to spell it!) There was a bit of competition going on. Did you not notice it, right inside the door to the right? The Journal had its portrait carving contest entries sitting there. Only seven entries were in the contest, three eagles and four mules. Here's the results: Eagles 1st, Jim Smith 2nd, Russell Padgett 3rd, Jan Herrbach Mules 1st, Kathy Flanagan (that's me) 2nd, Jim Smith 3rd, Jim Smith Honorable Mention, Lucinda Mann

Thank you Pip and Mike for the nice words. The reason I join in on this venture is to help out anyone who wants it, not to mention it's just plain fun! I've never done a zebra before, but it's just like a horse with big fuzzy ears and stripes. Clay, you could make the blue tree frog with black spots the challenge for next month. I know you'll figure out how to do one, then Jessi will be happy. I picked up a toad skin at Wickenburg, just because it looked cool. Dot Reis asked if I was going to make a toad stool. I'm likely to do that. I could inlay the skin and tool little frogs around it and put it on a small, round stool. If you firgure out the tree frog, I could add those. Anyway, with the stripes, find a photo of a real zebra and do yours to look like that. They tend to not connect in the front or around the legs or under the barrel. They aren't perfect, either, so don't try to make them that way. Notice that the mane has a lot of black in the tips. You could cover him with mud, like some zebras, then you wouldn't have to worry about the stripes. I know you'll get the stripes the way you want them. 42 times ought to do the trick! Kathy

Start him off with something simple, maybe the elk he did the tutorial on, and don't have them color it in class. They could put a clear finish on it like Clay often does, and it looks great. A one day class won't wear him out. That should build his confidence and encourage him to do more. His work is great and he has a lot of knowledge to share. The tutorials prove he can do it. Anne and I will come, and we promise to be good. For a while. Kathy

Clay, we would never heckle you! You know we're much too sweet for that. Anne, I've been trying to get him to teach. I know he would do a great job. I mean, look at all the wonderful tutorials he does. Maybe someday he will realize that everyone loves him and heckling is just the name of the game. Who else could possibly teach us how to make a buffalo with feathers? Kathy

Sorry Clay. you're just too quick for me! You have your zebra made into a photo album, and all I managed was to get it onto a piece of scrap leather in twice the time. You could always make another photo album! Like you, I did some of the shading before I put on the white (antique white). Phthalo (I think you have to use the raspberry gesture to say that word) blue is what I use for that. Some of that shading wasn't dark enough to please me, so I added a tiny bit of black to some antique white to do a little more shading. That's the beauty of acrylics, you can always add to what doesn't look right. I had a good time doing this challenge. Hope more people try it out. Kathy

Here's my submission to the monthly challenge. It was definitely a challenge. This is the kind of thing you need to do to improve your carving and painting skills. I had to look up a photo of a zebra to get the color correct, but the red shadows for the stripes on the pattern were accurate. No two zebras have the same stripes, so any way they go on is acceptable. I have never looked inside the mounth of a zebra to see what color the gums are, so that had to be a guess. Since the muzzle is gray, I decided to go with that color scheme. The shadowing of the muscling should be done before the stipes are painted on. I enjoyed this pattern and hope that lots more people do it before the month is over. Kathy

Okay, you guys obviously misunderstood me. When I said it took 5 hours to harness the mule, that meant just putting the finished harness pieces on the finished mule. I have at least five hours into hairing the mule, and probably twice that to make the harness pieces. I'm no miracle worker! Don't hang up your mallet, Dale, you can do this too. It really wasn't all that hard, just time consuming. The mule was done with Robb Barr's methods for extreme embossing. The whole mule was stretched and stuffed with leather putty from behind. Then I cut the sides of his face and the muzzle away so that the face would stick out further, and stuffed more putty in. I also cut his nostrils and stuffed them. The hard part there was figuring out how much each part needed to be raised. It's a good thing you can change the putty. It took some time to figure out what part of the harness needed to be tooled and what part needed to be 3-D. The 3-D harness was made with Peter Main's method of embossed applique. I used up a lot of scalpel blades doing that, and broke my last one before I was done. I was scrounging to find something sharp enough to make the cuts I needed. In some cases, like with the little spots on the browband, I used sheepskin skiver for the embossing leather. For most of the harness I used tooling calf on top of 3 ounce vegie tanned leather. A stitching spacer works great for making the stitches on the harness. You don't even have to sew it up. Putting the harness on the mule was the real kicker. I thought he couldn't kick since he has no feet, but I was wrong! The pieces are interwoven and you have to glue down certain pieces first. Sometimes I would get the wrong piece first, and had to think fast before the glue set so I could change something when I had to. Peter uses string to fasten the appliques down, but I couldn't do that since part of the picture is a few inches thick and it was already glued down to masonite. That new contact cement of Tandy's has worked just fine. The whole pictue is 100% leather, if you don't include all the glue. The rings are done with round leather lace. The hames have two layers of thick leather, carved to give it the round look. Some pieces are stuck underneath the carving, like the pieces that go under the browband. The browband has a cut under the front edge to accommodate them. The time was eons more than five hours total. I can't say how much, but it took weeks to accomplish this. Much of that time was spent sitting and staring, trying to figure out how to do it, and playing with tools to see how to get a certain look. I need a challenge, and this was definitely that. The other challenge I've done recently is tooling a water fall, and teaching others how to do it. It's the challenges in life that build character. Don't be afraid to try something like this. It's not like riding a bull! Thank you for the nice comments, Kathy

I used 3m to put padding on the back of some leather panels that I tooled to decorate a bar once. It worked quite well.

Hopefully I'll remember to remind you!

Our rain comes in a cold white form and it won't go away! Anybody want some?

I won't be at the next meeting, Tracy, and neither will the mule. I'll be somewhere on the road between Wickenburg and home. Come to the April meeting, the 13th, and you can see it then. I promise I'll bring the mule! Kathy

When the Leather Crafters and Saddlers Journal came up with their portrait carving contest for the Wickenburg show, I decided I had to try. I could use the prize money as well as anyone. Maybe I could buy another yak! Ten years ago, I tooled this pattern. It was a flat carving, no color added. It was a fun pattern to do, but I needed more of a challenge. What I conjured up was definitely a challenge, perhaps more than I really wanted. Once it was started, there was no going back. I can't waste a huge piece of leather like that. It's a good thing I'm out of a job right now, or there's no way I would have gotten it done. Five hours is what it took to harness this mule. I can harness a real one in five minutes. I must be nuts! The mule is embossed, the face is cut out from the eyes down and filled with putty. The harness is embossed applique, right down to the spots on the browband. It is painted with acrylics. Here it is. First the mule, then the harness, then the two together. Enjoy! Kathy

I'll be going to Sheridan. There's no way I'm gonna miss out on the chance to see my leather friends who I only get to see once or twice a year. I'm lucky enough to have a friend up there to stay with. I used to stay in a nice little motel across from Sheridan Outfitters, but they tore the building down. Sheridan needs some cheaper motels, as the Holiday Inn is more than some of us can afford. Dave Reis is a bit overwhelmed right now. He's trying to get the books out, but I doubt if you will see them till after Wickenburg. There's still time to schedule your classes. Hope to see lots of you there. Kathy

I'll be there, all week long. I hope someone else comes so I have someone to talk to. Kathy

Those are very nice! Where did you get that cool rose concho? Kathy