yaklady

My daughter requested that I make her a case for her laptop which she bought for her study abroad trip to London this summer. I better get with it. The patterns she asked for are quite complicated. It took 2 or 3 days to get this much done. The one on the other side is almost as bad. Why couldn't she be happy with a case made of little juice packages like ClayB's daughter? I'll be lucky to get the whole thing done by July. Kathy

It was a cold, snowy day, and I was off at a guild meeting teaching members how to make a leather feather. A lady with her two Black Labs knocked on my mother's door to say the baby yak was out of the fence. To that she replied "What baby yak?" I have been told that yaks fair quite well being born in cold weather. This one had an exceptionally clean landing on the virgin snow, and is full of life. If I had the capabilities that CSI has, I could determine its gender from one picture I took, but as it is, I'll have to wait to find out. The main thing for now, is the little guy is healthy and happy. I didn't get the chance for a decent picture, It's hard when everyone is black and hairy. The yak in the front of the line is last year's calf.

That's the spirit! As long as he is eating and acting good, then he doesn't care, and probably doesn't know, he lost a foot. He may be able to carry himself just fine for the rest of his life. I had a pony which got her back leg caught in the fence and cut some tendons. The leg was never the same, and she never pulled the cart again, but she made a darn good brood mare. Where there's a will, there's a way.

A couple of months ago, I made a collar for a bullmastiff with a 30" neck. Those dogs are huge! What kind of appetite do they have? Two people a day? I like the way you attached the D ring. It's pretty classy looking. I couldn't find a buckle that I liked that was wide enough, so I did the taper thing to accommodate the smaller buckle. As far as I know, Centaur hasn't chewed through it yet.

All this makes me feel really lucky. I bought two 4 day old bottle calves from a dairy real cheap last fall when the weather was changing. They had scours, one didn't want to eat, and they were both cold. The scours was easy to treat, some cholostrum encouraged the one to eat, and a heat lamp and a lot of straw helped beat the cold. I did wait too long to dehorn them, and now they each have one horn, on opposite sides of their heads. I guess they can put their heads together to fight off any foes. Mike, if your calf is running and playing, he must not be suffering too much. It's amazing how much these little guys can take. Castration was nothing for my little guys. When I took the cat in for neutering, they offered to give him a long term pain killer. I said "why?". As soon as we got him home he was running and playing. Of course, this is nothing compaired to your calf. If your daughter wants to give the little guy a chance, I believe she will do everything she can to make his life a good one. It sounds like he won't be suffering near as much as some people I know, and no one is putting them down! Good luck with him! Kathy

Like Clay and Bruce, I highly recommend the show. I wouldn't miss it for anything, even if I don't hear anything at all about it before I go. Coming as far as your would be, you might want to add Miles City, Montana to the list. Jim Linnell is doing a workshop there the weekend before the show, and there's plenty of sight seeing to be done in the area. Besides, we would all love to meet you, so come on out! Kathy

I think Edd has the organizing and prettying up thing covered. He amazes me at how organized he is. If I had half of his organization, maybe I could get into my workshop without jumping over everything. As far as Columbine's past shows, you may want to contact Len. He is the most organized person in the guild, and he did much of the leg work for us when we had our last show. If you need addresses for Edd or Len, let me know. Carry on, Charley, you're doing great! It's encouraging to have someone in the guild so interested in getting this how together! Always, Kathy

A working museum would be the best way to do, and having classes there would attract people who wouldn't come otherwise. I could see it in a small mountain community with lots of mountain sights to see nearby. That would attract me, but would other people go out of their way for it? It seems most people want to stay where the action is. To simplify things, we could put the museum in Clay's basement and Clay could teach everyone who walks in the front door. He's already got a good start on one. I didn't know there was a National Carver's Museum in Monument. Of course, I was born in 1980 and wouldn't have thought about museums at that point in my youthful age. ) Kathy

Charley, if you put in a leather museum, I'm there! There's nothing better than exploring quality, original masterpieces in leather. That's where we get our ideas and inspiration. I love going through the two museums you mentioned here. Seeing Al Stohlman's works in person leaves me in awe. Since Tandy's has so much of his stuff still in storage, perhaps you could get it on loan and the rest of the world could have the pleasure of viewing it. Kathy

The only kind of padding I can think of is neoprene. Is that what you're refering to?

I say go for it, I'm there! Ernie is definitely ready to start teaching. No one out there puts as much effort into showing how it's done than he does. Clay, ClayB that is, I am excedingly impressed by your attention to detail and the manner you conciensiously take pictures of every step of the way, making it clear to anyone and everyone exactly what it is that you do next. You are already a teacher, even if you haven't had people sitting in front of you while you're teaching. Most people learn much better from a living, breathing being than from even an intense structure of pictures like yours. You should seriously consider going out and giving lessons. I'm willing to bet that you would draw a croud. Your fan, Kathy

Oh, Josh, you're a day younger than me! I have a piece of cake left for you. I hope you like pink. Your tongue will be pink for the rest of the day. Happy birthday to you! Kathy

Thank you everybody!!!!!!! You people are all wonderful. It's nice staying young. I wish my body would stay with the 29 program. It's just not the same as it used to be. I spent my birthday weekend doing one of my favorite things: spending it with fellow leather workers. I was teaching them how to do the mountain through the window. This makes the second class, and every one of the students did an awesome job, in both classes. They brought me cake and presents, but the best part was the smiles on their faces when they held up their finished pictures. Happy Eveything to all of you!! Many hugs, Kathy

I wish any of my rooms looked like your downstairs storage room! The pig sty looks better than my downstairs storage room for finished leather projects that have no other home. When do we get to look around the corner? There was a little yak at the stock show that would be a very good candidate for chaps. I almost lost my hand trying to pet him. He was for sale. If you want, I could find him. All of my present yaks are much too nice for that kind of thing.

I wonder how a yak hide would look as chaps? It would be long enough to make chaps for Bert, and it even has built-in fringe. If I murdered a yak in the middle of winter when their wool is the thickest, it would be super warm and even a bigger challenge to sew. What do you think, Clay? Want to make another pair? I bet you would put the yokes on the right sides this time. Yak hair is longer than sheep and would follow your thread a loooong ways. You could use the tail as the leg straps. Or you could have it hanging down the front in the middle. Wouldn't that be attractive? Just don't be using any cat tails for the straps, even though you have an abundance of them. I do have an extra yak . . . Kathy

I hate to say it, but you are most likely "stuck" with the stickiness. I have fought with this type of thing, and the best cure is prevention. Next time use packaging tape on the back instead. It will sometimes leave a little sticky, but for the most part it comes right off. You may want to line this one! Find some really thin pigskin. It's usually not too expensive. Kathy

To be honest with you, Keith, I haven't used it all that much, just a little experimenting here and there. Like you, I like the Neat Lac. I have a feeling you would go through the RTC faster because you do need two coats. You may be able to get away with one, but I don't trust it that much and don't want to ruin a project, so I use 2. I had no idea what a gallon of the stuff costs. I don't think I really wanted to know! Another example of that kind of pricing is with contact cement. That new stuff Tandy's has works great, but who can afford it? Just go down to Home Depot or even Walmart and you can get contact cement that smells bad, works great and costs a lot less. Deb hit the nail right on the head. Every time something is popular, they get rid of it! Why does society work that way? Yaks aren't popular. Anyone want one? I have an extra one! Kathy

Rhonda, I have had the same experience with Super Shene, and for that reason, I don't use it. I have never liked the way it feels. RTC doesn't have that feel, and neither does Neat Lac. Keith, RTC is water soluble. Some people spray it on, I wipe it on with a piece of shearling, sheared down to about a quarter inch. Put it on in circular motions, and don't use it too sparingly. I haven't tried mixing it with antique like I do with Tan Kote. It has a gloss to it, but not as much as Super Shene. I have never had trouble with it cracking. I have had trouble with Super Shene that way. I haven't used it a whole lot, because I have always liked Neat Lac as a resist, so it's fairly new to me, but I like it. I think RTC stands for Rat Tonsil Control. Or maybe Rediculous Theological Circumstances. Your guess is as good as mine! Kathy

RTC and Super Shene work the same as Neat Lac, only they don't smell bad. Apply two coats and allow plenty of drying time in between coats and before you go to the antique. Kathy

Jim was here last week teaching 4-H leaders how to make feathers. It's the greatest thing watching people who hardly know anything about leather craft making these feathers. The big smiles on their faces were the best testimonial anyone could ask for. I had the best time of anyone there. Not only did I get to work along side one of the best leather craft teachers in the world, but I also got to spend almost every waking moment for 3 days with him. What a wonderful person Jim is. I don't know anyone as dedicated to spreading the knowledge of leather craft as he is. I learned more about teaching in those three days than I have my whole life! Thank you for coming, Jim! Come back soon! Kathy

I really like floral and basketweave together, and you have done a great job with that. Thank you for eadding that last picture so we could see that great job!

I agree, the swivel knife work is gorgeous! Can you show us a picture of the front straight on? From what I can see, that side is gorgeous, too. Kathy

You know I'm gonna get you back, right Kathy? I wouldn't expect anything less, Clay!

These are simply Maaaavalous! Now I know what to do with my camera!

Hear that, Clay, you're just a pufter. Isn't that a short, fat, black and white bird that lives in Iceland? Or maybe it's a goofy looking fish that puffs up when you come near. It could be a steam train chugging up a hill. Perhaps it's something you dust your house with. Actually, I thinks that's how to describe Sheena last night when she was about to throw up! Or is it yak? Ralph? Up-chuck? You get the picture. I really don't know if you're a pufter or not, but you ARE older than dirt. You'll be twice as old as me if you keep this up. Want me to send up an oxygen tank so you can blow out the candles on your massive cake? You know I would pick on you so relentlessly if I didn't love you! Happy birthday! Kathy Are you sleeping in today, or what?