tg lucas

very nice, i love the holster

I love that look, where can I find a tutorial on how to do that?

If you sew them down in place with another piece of leather and then cover they last but otherwise I have seen them squish down and split...not pretty

how unique, I love it. I hope you got some more pics because that is just too cool.

Welcome aboard from Arkansas!

That is a sweet looking bag, I love how it is brand new but looks broke in with character. Great job. What would you charge ball park for one of those as I am thinking I might just need one for my laptop?

That is really nice work....I think your kid is right! you have outgrown the name.

Badhide, how did you get that finish? I love the grey wash look and want something simiular on a back patch I am working on. That rocks. Did you wait until it was almost dry before you buffed it off?

hello Mijo and welcome aboard!, My girl is from San Francisco.

Lol, I think I hit the target. Look kid, you were cornered the moment you started this post and tried to be vague and deceptive. We are not dummies here on this forum, each of us has a talent and interest in the field of leather and obviously a lot more experience in the ways of the world than you gave us credit for. Your years of so called experience since you only graduated high school in 2006, you attended the University there would take at least 3 years, more likely 4, and then you claim a school of business as well. That does not leave a whole lot of time for actual experience. Learning concepts and theories is not practical application. There is always the possibility that you have not slept in the past five years in order to gain that experience which could explain the possibility that you could believe we would buy into your BS. Where is the photos of your store with all your inventory made by this "new" process, show us your "factory" where this all takes place, where is your name on the door, show us a picture of you and your staff, with all your artists, pressman and mechanical engineers standing proud of their new accomplishment? These are all things legitimate business owners have because they have worked hard to build a business and are proud of their hard work. Well kid, I have called you out and shot straight from the hip. I think you are nothing more than dowry packing, stationary, trinkets and trash sales clerk with dreams of making it big by taking credit for work that isn't your own, deceiving and trying to dupe others to finance your goals by pretending to be something you are not. Now kid, it is time to put up or shut up. Prove me wrong or get out of town, it's that simple. anybody else want the stick....I am done beating this rat

Well there you go... transparency at last! sorta lol 1. Vaz is a retailer not a manufacturer, hoping to be exporter....that depends on others. He has no mechanical engineers, artists or pressman that work for him directly unless that shopping mall is really huge and he can fit that press, prepress and art production equipment in among all that dowry packing gear and stationary. 2. He doesn't "directly lift" images from Google, they "work" on them. India aside from China has the worst reputation for theft of intellectual property rights and copyright infringement. Send them a design and you just might see it used in the high fashion district in India free of charge....for him. 3. He claimed that he was the only major player in India for printing on leather but doesn't feel it is necessary to even register or proclaim within his own country's industry council. I guess that is the stealth approach, make them think you sell stationary and then take the world by storm. He has news coverage but can not produce it.... I have the same problem with my unicorn farm. 4. He says he has two years experience, then one and half...now only one. Must be that new math we have been hearing about. 5. He does not deny being a participant in the incubator contest but claims the company is his own...that is not registered, has no industry affiliations and is located in the second story of a shopping mall that doesn't sell stationary. The only semi official source that says that an actual store even exists is the Yellow Pages and we know how often they screw up what kind of business you are in. Of course there is that pesky listing in India's largest online business directory, Jim Trade.com, that shows that Vaz Lifestyles sells primarily "Gift Bags, Wallets And Purses, Keychains, Stationery, Corporate Gifts" and their recently updated items are a plastic cd holder, an electric letter opener, an European designed Pen Stand, a Fung Sui Pyramid Styled Card Holder and a Swiss Designed Pen Stand, the last three crafted elegantly from brass with gold plating. Now there is nothing I enjoy more than an old fashioned rat killing, but this kid makes it way too easy. He should have known from the moment I started asking questions, I was on to him. We all would aspire to be more than we are in some form or fashion but never lie or be deceitful about who you are or where you are coming from. There is nothing wrong with starting out at the bottom. It only gives you room to grow. But ask me for my money or my work while you are lying to me is asking for my attention in a way you probably do not want. As of this posting, this particular post has been viewed 417 times, 21 of those have voted in the poll, 2/3 of those being negative, mine was one of the positive. Of those 417, I am going to guess that at least 350 of those were members other than you or I Vaz. That is 350 people in this industry who now have a pretty good idea of who you are and what you were up to and we all have friends that we have communication with that we may or may not tell all about you and this post. That could easily triple the number in a matter of days and you never know who you may be pitching your product to next will be one of us who already know your story as much as we need to and that could be the end of your dreams/scams. So as I see it kid, you have two choices. Come clean and tell the whole truth OR go away and hope that we somehow forget the name of Karan Vazirani. BTW hope is not a business strategy.

I did some checking on this guy, as he had kinda a strange user name, k47, funny that it just happened to coincided with the time he joined the forum. Nothing wrong with that but it struck me kinda odd. I know some people might think that I was bit hard on the guy, but when you come on the forum asking for partners/investors or anything that involves someone else's money you should probably use your real name. His real name as far as I can find from the sparse information he gave is actually Karan Vazirani, not Karan Vaz. Alias's are ok for artists, rockstars and the occasional criminal but are not for conducting business and certainly not when there is money potentially changing hands. The main location for Vaz Lifestyles is a 2nd story of a shopping mall in India where they sell and I quote from their own ad in Mumbai yellow pages "gifts and troussoue (the personal possessions of a bride usually including clothes, accessories, and household linens and wares, dowry) packing, gifts and novelties, general stationery. You can google it for yourselves to be sure I am not being unfair by my suspicions. No where can I find any reference to Vaz Lifestyles or Karan Vazirani to a dedicated leather industry or manufacturer/printer of leather of any type in any business directory in India. Surely the best new leather printing technique would at least have a news release of some kind or maybe it is a trade secret or maybe he is just hiding it in his parent's basement. My personal inclination is to think now that we have a kid, maybe just fresh out college (if my math is correct and he graduated high school in 2006 like he said he did on his personal facebook page) that has not learned that in business "honesty is the only policy" and any deviation from the truth no matter how small will bite you later. I also get the impression that this was all just a ruse to gain advancement in a contest that basically acts like an incubator project for business ideas, to where the company sponsoring would get the rights to the ideas and Karan would get a prize if he won and well any investors would be left out in the cold. Devilishly ingenious but a scam nonetheless. How is that for transparency Karan?

yeah buddy i think you are pretty much done here.....

lol ok, link doesnt work and its not even your link! What are you trying to say? That you have competition? That if you show me a website of someone else's that makes you a legitimate business and your market analysis is based on someone else's website? Oh come on Vaz, do you realize how you are coming across? There is absolutely nothing wrong with being new to the business world, we all started out somewhere....but buddy you are "out there" but I guess there has to be starving con artists too.

now that is beautiful, and i dont care who you are. nice, really nice

Well I have to admit my shortcomings with how business is done in India, but here where I am you dont ask for something you feel you deserve, you earn it. As to your answer for product liability issue over materials and processes to your "corporates" in India dont fly here Bubba. As to the link, as I can tell you are little slow on the uptake, I will post it here for you. http://www.snopes.com/fraud/advancefee/nigeria.asp There are various evolutions to it and this situation sure sounds very familiar to me, "the product is held up by customs", and so forth and so on... and it is very easy to sit back and wait for someone willing to take a risk when you have no product or overhead to maintain, there is a sucker born every minute. Oh dont even get me started about your price of $40 dollars for a wallet that will only last two years but you only guarantee for one, I thought you said you you knew your base and did your research? You know it has been said there are a lot of dummies here in America and it is probably true, but you are going to be hard pressed to find one on this forum and that is a statement you can put your "trust" in.

do you live near a hobby lobby, they have starter kits too for very little money, just an option

Somawas, that is probably because you and I would not be considered "Gents", if you can imagine that.

Vaz, I really feel like you do not understand where I am coming from. I have represented and marketed for companies that are known the world over and I gave you a little bit of free advise from the standpoint of potential client/partner which is what you stated you were looking for. Your presentation is vague, your product is questionable from many aspects and your responses are somewhat evasive. You have a facebook page as a company website and a yahoo addy for an email, with no actual physical address listed, and your "about the company" says to email for that info...these do not scream out legitimate business. I completely understand operating on a tight budget and would use any free outlet I could as a supplement to my primary company's public face, however anyone can be what they want on the web and no investor who has half a brain would turn loose of any money with what you have presented. Now the questions I asked you were for a very specific purpose. One, any person with any knowledge of the leather industry, small scale or large, would ask these very specific questions. It would be considered required information from any initial contact. Two, I personally wanted to know if you had any actual working knowledge of the process or just a marketer trying his luck, or worse yet a scammer of which you have no actual product and have lifted images from an actual manufacturer in order to make a website to con people out of money for shipping of a product that doesn't exist. Unfortunately not a new concept, but that some are not aware of. It is easy to create a free website and email addy and pretend to be something you are not, charging possibly thousands of dollars for shipping and then simply disappearing. Now that is not being distrustful, it is called being intelligent. As for the sampling, I believe if i were in your position , i would definitely not mind risking a few bucks that might turn out to be really good for business. Business cannot be risk averse. Well Vaz, I well make a square deal for you, you send me a PM and I will give you an physical addy to ship to, I will review your product for the forum members here and you can not beat that type of advertising for the few bucks you risked on sending them to me. So with that being said, if you are truly legitimate and really have a wonderful product to promote, let us see a little more transparency and I would love the opportunity to explore this further. Just be aware as though I may come across as just a hick from Arkansas, you are dealing with a "hightech redneck" and no stranger to ways of the world.

i smell smoke.....anyone else?

Well we obviously assume that it was some kind of "machine" and that you are not painting each one on by hand, is it a press, an inkjet or what? As for applying any ink/dye/paint to a substrate that is going to be in contact or in close contact to the human body, you have to disclose period, we don't need any kind of issue with lead poisoning or such issues getting into these country as we have had recently . Are you telling me that any leather will absorb the image regardless of finish? Lol, ok "scotch test". Are you drinking it or using the tape? Seriously all finishes and dyes will fade and erode after time on leather. All leather is prone to abrasion regardless and that will significantly affect any image applied or dyed to it. Two years is hardly an acceptable time for a product unless you are just giving it away which could be why your costs "are ten times less than any competitor" well as to being "one off" any image can be set up to run once, but the question is can it be set up to run one print and still be economically viable, I can set up art to make up one tshirt but it is not financially intelligent to do so because of the costs involved in getting that one shirt. Let me get this one last thing straight, you have a product that you want to introduce that you think is better than anything else out there but you want me to pay for shipping of samples that may or may not exist for one, or more likely would be so low below standards that would render it unusable for market. No offense, but you might want to rethink your positioning and your presentation as this comes off as just another version of the Nigerian scam, fix those issues and we can talk seriously.

You are right the man does have a business to attend to, which is exactly why he is in a public relations nightmare, he was not attending to it. All customers, big or small deserve the same attention, care and service. All customers do not start out as a "thousand dollar an order" customer nor do they all end up that way, but fail to meet their expectations and each one can end up costing you that much. I have been following the posts of Seigel's plight of customer service failures, as well as his others and even visited his website a few times to confirm issues. There seems to be a commonality in each of his apologies, posts and on his website of flippant dismissal of poor customer service and veiled smugness and superiority when he is called to the carpet on these issues. His family's company has been in business for many years and claims their combined expertise as his own which very well may be legitimate. However, when he refers to the members of this community as "hobbyists" it alludes to a position of contempt and that some of the customers that buy from him should be grateful that he should even include them in his "empire". Whether or not if this is how he truly feels or not, that is indeed the perception that he has put forth and "perception is reality". As to making amends, one of the first thing I tell any client "If you are wrong, make it right, right now", nothing soothes a burning fire like a lot of cool water quickly but if you wait too long there is nothing left to save. In the one case of an ongoing issue from November to February, I want you to imagine that you are a "hobbyist" with that long awaited big break order that could launch you into the realization of your dreams and career of leather working. But the company that you chose to supply you has not only shipped you the wrong product, doesn't pick up or send the right product and further more doesn't refund your money until months later prohibiting you from buying supplies from another company and delivering your customer's order to them ("hobbyists are often on a very low margin and tight budget). Possibly the customer gets tired of waiting, cancels the order and your dreams, future business and reputation takes a major hit from your viewpoint. It is going to leave a very bitter taste in your mouth for a long time. If you are truly trying to make amends and not just trying to spin the PR back somewhat to your favor, do not place restrictions on clients you may have disappointed in resolving these matters. Fixing a problem is not convenient for anyone involved but if you are the one that failed to deliver what was promised, you should not even consider your own convenience in the matter at all, just work hard, bend over backwards and fix it now. Anything less is another glimpse of what your clients will perceive as dishonest contrition and insincere effort. As to a mob mentality, research has shown time and time again, that only one, two at best out of ten complains when they feel they have been disappointed by a company. I feel what you are witnessing is those other eight or nine that still have that very bitter taste in their mouths and are finally spewing it back in the direction it belongs. News travels fast these days and bad news travels even faster, it also may be that part of what you are seeing as "kicking the man while he is down" is the many that felt disappointed or betrayed by this company talking to others non publicly and those people responding in defense of their confidant being too shy or timid to speak out for themselves. Mr. Seigel has asked for this response because of his poorly chosen words and actions. I illustrate this by asking you to imagine hanging a "kick me" sign on your back and then stay in your house, you will probably receive a few kicks depending how you have been acting lately but go outside and down the streets, you will receive many more kicks... from people who do not even know you simply because you asked for it. Give them any reason at all, you act or speak like a jerk for instance and many more will be obliged to kick you. Leatherworkers of all kinds still have a guild mentality to them and are an extended family of sorts, if it is perceived that you have mistreated or run down one, then you invite the disdain and correction of the entire family, even cousin Ernie that is normally antisocial and hard to get along with or Uncle Joe that thinks everyone in his family is an idiot, you have given the entire family a reason to turn their negative attention on you and really examine what is actually going on and they will unite against you if there is the slightest reason to do so. The reasoning is if you do it to my brother, then you will do it to me. Finally, Mr Siegel I am responding directly to you. I know you read my posts because some of my "phrasing" has found it's way to your website whether it was conscience or not. That is a good thing because it demonstrates an ability to learn and adapt good advice when you hear it. I have some more for you to absorb if you are willing to try and repair an aspect of your marketplace concerning this board. 1. Accept your mistakes and your company's mistakes as your sole responsibility, your name is on the door the buck stops with you. Everyone makes mistakes and you will not be diminished as a person or a company leader for accepting responsibility but will actually restore your position as such. Refrain yourself from making or writing statements out of anger, frustration or fatigue. Your family's company did not survive this long on a basis of rash actions and there is no need for that behavior to continue. Remember little fires spread into big fires and many of the members of this forum are members of many more forums and you are the only one with a bucket of water. 2. Assign a customer service representative with exceptional communication skills or better yet a VP to handle any and all complaints. Do not bounce problems around from staff member to staff member in a game of "hot potato". That rep should report to you on a daily basis and any concern that she is not able to correct, should be addressed by you personally within 24 hours, no exception. Make up a form that includes all contact information including a nighttime phone number and use it for all complaints, follow up without delay on all issues. Getting a phone call at nine o'clock at night from the owner of company will go a long way to making your clients feel better about a problem they may be upset over and that they know you are working on. 3. Giving away thousands of dollars of product does not mean a thing to an individual customer whose order was handled poorly. Do not talk about it as a redeeming factor unless it was given to the individual whose order was an issue. If the customer service issue was handled properly and giving away product was part of your "fix", then that client will rave about your customer service and that is worth millions of PR dollars and you can always write it off as advertising expense as 100% deductible. Just in case you didn't know, just put a stamp or sticker on it and it becomes a sign or a business card or brochure and it's a write off. 4. Never, ever try to influence the reputation or perception of your company or products by anything other than upfront, transparent actions of honorable means. It will be perceived as deceptive and manipulative and is always going to be a blight on your company's image regardless of the shortcut it seems to be at the time. 5. Learn your clientele, big and small, if they do not fit your business model then redirect them to a supplier that can service them properly... do it gracefully. They will remember it as being aware of their needs and not concerned as much as your own. Never isolate a segment of your customers as you did by implying that "hobbyists" are less than desirable as clients, intentional or not. Many of us who make a living by our art and those that only supplement their income are very serious and passionate about what they do any attempt to minimize their endeavorers will result in their contempt and your isolation. "You know you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink...but you can drown them"...if you get my meaning. So if you choose to do these suggestions I can promise you that not only will you feel better but your company will experience a renewal and restoration not only with this board but all your clients. Your staff will see and know that you are serious about customer service and will follow your example, those that do not...well they do not deserve to be a part of the legacy that your family built. The members of this board are a very centered, good natured group and would be more than happy to accept you in their world and hearts provided you want to be there!

those are really cool, the oak leaves are my favorite

Oh wow those are almost too pretty to use!