Daniel Tyack

Alright folks I put together a PDF with the pattern and directions for these shoes. Simple Shoe Directions Let me know what you think!

That's pretty sweet! Got any shots of the sides / back?

This was a project of firsts! It was the first time I ever basket weaved (well I practiced on a small piece first), the first time I ever tried making a box shaped item and the first time I ever tried lining anything. Needless to say, I learned a LOT! I'm not too proud of this one, but I am happy with the result based on my experience. I put this in the show off thread because I want to show it off but please feel free to critique! I want to get better and I would love to hear your input. I made a lot of mistakes in the order I did things and I rushed some processes before something was truly dry or what not. I'm also not happy with the Herringbone stitch on the back. Suggestions? I think I may just go smoke a cigar to celebrate a successful project You can check out more pics of it here.

Andy, you got the design part down already! All you need is to get some programming help. I would highly recommend elance for a guy like you. Just design what you want your site to look like and hire a programmer to create the site. DT

Oh and one other thing for you Zonies that love to invade our beautiful beaches when your state turnes into the fires of Mordor... When you're driving around SD, make sure you use the pedal on the right! You guys are killing us

We of course have a Tandy which is fairly accessible from anywhere in SD. There is a place called Downtown Saddlery in East County (El Cajon / Santee) that has some decent hides and good saddle making hardware. But the real gem just happens to be right by the beach! (Perfect for you Zonies) It's called Stonehedge Leather and it's in Ocean Beach right across the street from the main lifeguard tower. Don't expect lickety split service and if Eric helps you (the son) expect to be sold EVERYTHING in the store. However the real beauty there is it's a production shop and they pump out some very nice work. Phil (the dad) is a genius at tooling and is always willing to give advise and talk shop (supposing he's there and having a good day). Just google "Leather San Diego" and you'll find them all

3 Cheers for So Cal! To bad you guys aren't down in SD, we have 3 fine leather joints in the area

Cool looking stuff Jacko, I would love to see some of it in the field.

That's some fine looking work you have there!

Simply fabulous! Wish I had one

Very nice design! I wish I could draw like that

Thanks Ray I'll try to add individual topics in the near future. That post was a lot to type for an ADD guy like me! I'll aslo try to stay active in this section with new topics, for a new guy like me it's just hard to jump into topics that have been up for a while.

I'm a marketing guy by trade and thought I would share some thoughts with you folks. I looked over a lot of posts in the marketing section and saw some good and bad ideas floating around. This is an "infinite" topic so I'll try to just share what will help small time leather businesses out. 1. Create a "personal" brand. You are most likely a one man/woman show, don't pretend that you aren't. It may be temping to create a "big" presence however this will only harm your business. There are a zillion big companies out there that sell nice leather items (made by hand in a country with cheap labor rates) you cannot compete with them. Instead, market your personality and boutique vibe. People love to connect with a personal brand, it makes them feel good about themselves in two ways, 1. They feel special because they have a custom item 2. They like to route for the underdog. DO NOT pretend you are a massive company, instead embrace the fact that you are small time and play the unique hand mad factor up. 2. Be Genuine. Do not try to be someone you are not and do embrace who you are. Don't try to do everything, instead specialize in what you like/are good at and push it hard. If you spin your wheels taking project you don't like or don't have the skills to accomplish you will be miserable and clients will not be happy. Don't be afraid to tell a client that you don't feel comfortable or cannot produce an item. Just be honest and then offer another option (preferably something that makes you money). A company that sell a focused set of product will do much better than a company that tries to sell / be everything. Be who you are, embrace your personal style. 3. Don't do your own root canals. I run into this all the time. A business owner will hire a CPA, Accountant, Lawyer, Sales Person, Shop Boy, Fulfillment Service, Cleaning Service, HR Person etc. but they insist that they do their own website. I don't know why this is a trend in small business but honestly it's about as smart as doing your own root canals. You ARE going to screw it up and it is going to HURT! Yes it's good to have a general knowledge of things like HTML, CSS, PHP, SEO etc. but only so you don't get ripped off when you hire somebody. I know you are scared to hire it out because you think it costs a lot of money. Yes, a website can cost a lot, and it can also cost very little. If you are in the market for one do this... Go to www.elance.com, create an account, post your job (website design) and watch the bids come in. You will get bids from $300-$5000, just be sure to check portfolios, reviews and how long a provider has been on elance. (any outsourcing website will work I just like elance.) Some people will stick their noses up at this idea because they would NEVER take jobs away from Americans. Well the moral of the story is that US based design firm just hired a guy from elance to do your website and you paid them 6X what they paid to get it done. I'll write a post some day about economical solutions for small businesses and cheap bastards but for now... Stop doing your own root canals! 4. Utilize free goodies. There are many free tools out there to generate business and sell product but I do recommend 2 above all others. Google Places and Facebook. With google places you can essentially create a verified listing and business profile page within google's system. If you do nothing else for your search engine optimization, please do this. www.google.com/places Create a Facebook business page. A huge percentage of the population uses facebook and it's a great way to keep your product in front of your fans without spamming them. The key is staying active and posting relevant content regularly even if that just means quick pictures of your projects. Here are a few FB tips. 1. You cannot create a page without having a personal profile so do that first. 2. Create a Fan Page (not a group) 3. Get a unique domain name like facebook.com/uniquename 4. Suggest it to all your FB friends and promote the heck out of it on your website Contributing to online communities is also key. This will do to things 1. establish you as an authority 2. Get links back to your site. You'll note I have a small link in my signature to www.leathermob.com it's a social network I started for leather workers. I want new traffic and new members so I'm taking the time to write this article. I'm being brutally honest about this to show you a real world example of contributing to a community to generate traffic. There are tons of other free services like local business directories that will help you out as well. Just google search things like "How to promote my business" and you'll get all kinds of tips. 5. Youtube Youtube Youtube Youtube! Did I mention Youtube? People love youtube, in fact probably everyone reading this has clocked a few hours checking out leather stuff (or dancing cats...). Youtube however isn't just fun, it's also GREAT for business! Here's a good strategy... Make a tutorial video of you building something that you are really good at and you really like, title it "How to build a __________", add 10 or so relevant key words and watch the hits come in. Potential clients will see the care and time you put in to your work and be more inclined to order. Google also lists videos on the first search page so if you title it appropriately you can bypass all the organically places search results with one video. Videos will also help people connect to you and your brand. Once they watch 2 or 3 of you working your magic they will start to feel a loyalty to your brand which can easily convert to web traffic and sales! I could go on all day and everybody's brains would glass over so let's just stop here If you ever have any questions like "How do I promote my business" just ask google, you will surely find some good advise. Hope this helps somebody out!

Wow! That is pure magic I love the depth of your carving and the layout is phenomenal!

I have been experimenting with different shoe styles for my kid lately and finally got one that worked. I look forward to getting better at it! I'll eventually make a PDF of the pattern if anybody else wants to try their hand at it. I made a little video of the process go check it out here!

Heck yes! That's some bad ass zombie action right there!

That's pretty sweet! I really like how the sharp angle of the back rest contrasts the smooth lines. The finish is fabulous as well

Thanks for the info, much appreciated

Pete, I only used a knife, a couple bevelers and a backgrounder Thanks Andy!

Ok so I'm new and this may be a dumb question but how did you do the silver embossing? Is there a resource you could point me to so I can figure out the process? Thanks

Actually it was a design a friend did that is selling on iStock. I'll have to look into tattoo flash for some more designs. It isn't free but iStock has ton of killer designs. I use them every week in my marketing business http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-illustration-1918278-koi.php

Well that was a rough start Let's try this!

First let me say that this is a fabulous forum, I'm glad I found it! Second, I have recently gotten back into leather stuff after about 8 years and am really just starting out. When I was younger I made a lot of studded belts and guitar straps. I have been trying my hand at carving, the attached pics are of my 5th carving project ever. I started with a Celtic Knots and was advised by a San Diego leather shop to practice a lot of arcs to get comfortable with a swivel knife. I didn't want to just cut leather so I tried tackling a piece that had as many arcs as I could find Of course there are a lot of things I would change next time around (especially the finish) but I'm pretty happy with how it came out! Critique is very welcome especially advice as to how I could make it less flat looking.