whinewine

As far as leather, you could call Siegel of California or Springfield leather & tell the girls what you want to do. They're very helpful, very knowledgeble(sp?) & they don't bite. Waterhouse Leather also has great specials, too, but I've never called them. All 3 are advertisers on this site- look for the banner ads at the top of the page.

Lowes has directors chairs w/o canvas, similar to one of the casualhome store pictures, for $7.93 each. Since it's the end of the season, they'll probably be coming down greatly in price over the next week or so. Of course, none are like what you are seeking & i'd believe they are either a very limited production run or made for that particular retailer. At any rate, good luck! russ

Billy: i was searching the web for international shipping & came up with a few answers. 1] google 'mail forwarding'. 2] There is also a company called Bongo International that forwards parcels to 233 countries at what seem to be reasonable rates. http://www.bongous.com ; you can see rates listed at http://www.bongous.com/shipping_cost_calculator.php . Their FAQ page is very helpful. They seem to be quite legitimate, but I've never used them. (I sent you an pm through LW. We should get together.) russ

Billy: you could also try to ship something by seamail. It used to take 3 or 4 months, but it was certainly cheaper than airmail. That used to be an option years & years ago when I did a very small bit of importing in college- I don't know if it still is... You'll need to check with the post office to see- I know for sure they push air, vs sea. More recently, I sold 2 items to the UK- the shipping charge was $40 USD (I believe a flask & a tankard shipped together)- I think they went by air through USPS (my son handled that transaction). russ

Dave: don't you mean Neatlac (or Clearlac)? Super Sheen is water-based acrylic, NOT lacquer. russ

WOW! Phenomenal!(sp?) I love it. Thank you for sharing with us.

Stormy: for the most part, I try to place my maker's mark in an area not readily visible (on the back of an item, or perhaps under a purse flap) as I consider the mark merely a 'signature', if you will, & not the main focus. However, others may disagree. russ

I got a new beer frige [a kegerator, if you will] - with the tap on top, drip tray, CO2 tank, hoses, couplers, etc. It holds anything up to & including a half keg. The old one only holds a quarter keg, & it's old & obsolete [it came with the house]& I'm going to sell that one to someone who's looking for a complete setup for about $125. But now I have to tear out the bar & re-build it to hold the new frige- that'll be a Winter project, after the shows. russ

I second that- Brenda is great & very fast & works with you all the way.

Very definitely like it- beautiful! russ

It looks like the 2mm (I believe) round goat lacing that you can get from Tandy or AC Moore or Michaels (or Hobby Lobby or many other craft-type stores)... There is also 1mm goat out there, but the 2mm stuff is more useful & it's more rugged.

I do like them a lot! Nice job! russ

Super nice, rc! Beautiful!

Springfield. The girls should know, but Kevin (the owner) has many, many of these, so you could always ask to speak to him. He has a banner at the top of the page.

I do like how you've combined the different fonts, Tina. I do like your version the best.

I did that, & I believe someone else did it too. Use the search engine feature. russ

Ray: We sell through Etsy. It's not a humongeous moneymaker for us, because I don't really want it to be, but we do sell enough that we have to shut it down during shows (Each of our items is unique, in addition to being hand made/ hand crafted.) I'm trying to keep the business steady & fun, and not grinding, like a 'real job'. While we do make some duplicates of our best selling items, we don't really have a big stock, so we shut the site down during our show season because we don't want to sell the stuff we plan to take there. We are shut down for May, but will be up again for June & July (no shows scheduled) & then down again for August, September & October. The good thing (& the advantage of Etsy) is that it brings in a few steady $$ during our non-show Winter months when it's slow, when we're trying to make for the next round of shows beginning in the Spring. I guess, from previous posts, that some members don't do well on Etsy, but we do OK, and, more importantly, it is an additional way to get our name out there. Likewise, we don't sell directly through our website- if you click on an item, it'll link you to our Etsy site. (I for one would never try to sell our finished items on ebay- I just don't think it's the right venue for crafted items, IMHO.) russ

I know Kevin at Springfield has some metal ones of different sizes that end up in their SLC grab bags (I've gotten some that way). If you contact him, he might be able to fix you up with what you need. russ

Joe, Etsy sites tend to be pretty standard & uniform in their format: profile, shop policies, favorites, feedback, request custom item, sales, among other things, & then you have 'sections in this shop', where you list the items you have for sale. Etsy sites are not like websites, in that they are not highly individualized like websites. Etsy is more like a 'by the numbers' listing of things for sale. There are Etsy sites that have very amateurish items for sale & there are Etsy sites with very high quality items for sale, but their format is basically the same.

Everyone has a good laugh over this one . "Pandora" is huge in this area. For those who don't know, Pandora is a humongous collection of many thousands & thousands of different beads (glass, stone, sterling silver, cloissone [sp?], etc that screw on to special bracelets, earrings & I think necklaces. The lure is that a woman can totally customize her accessory with the charms of her choosing, and she'll have a unique item no one else has. My sons & I did chip in for a Pandora bracelet for her, but I did make up my own "Bandorra" bracelet out of a broken eyeglass holder cord and the license tags left from when our old dog died. And it was presented to her before the real gift. (Yes, my humor is skewed, & life is too short to be serious.) She's worn both to work & the "Bandorra" certainly gets the laugh.

For Mothers Day, I thought my wife said she wanted a genuine 'Bandorra Bracelet', so here it is. What she really said was that she wanted a 'Pandora Bracelet.

A simple magnet test will determine if solid brass or plated steel. it won't determine any non-magnetic metal, like pot metal, though. If magnetic, send the stuff back immediately & contact them immediately.

Tim, thank you. Similar to mine, except mine are 2" X 6"s to handle the additional weight. Just want to be reasonably sure it'll hold the stone. One thing I didn't do is use gorilla glue- I may partially disassemble & add some just to be sure. russ

TT Custom... Hi: I have some questions (& I love your table, btw): How heavy is your stone? Is it reinforced underneath (I'm assuming so) and what are the reinforcements? Any chance for a pic of the underside, please? Why I'm asking is that I'm building a table to hold a tombstone 12" X 24" X 4" & it weighs north of 150 lbs (probably closer to 200) & I'm using pieces of 2" X 6"s laid on their sides as the reinforcements- I'm just concerned whether or not they will hold that weight properly. The frame has been built of 2" X 6"s & the legs will be 4" X 4"s screwed into the frame with lag screws. The top will be made of mdf. Appreciate the help in advance. Thanks. russ

Did you try 'rock shops', 'rock hounding', rock hounds', 'rock saws', 'jewelry supplies', 'lapidary', 'lapidary supplies', 'ring findings', 'jewelry findings', 'rock tumblers', among other related fields. I don't know what is available in Ireland, but in the States, mandrels are usually found throughout the companies that specialize in selling to those who dig & cut their own gemstones. It's been years since I cut my own stones, so I don't remember any of the names of the companies that sold these supplies anymore (& they may exist no longer, for all I know...). I hope this helps a bit. russ