Ladykahu

Red is one of the harder colours to get naturally, cochineal is the best source I only know this from my wool / fabric dyeing days so have no idea if it would work on leather. But, you will probably find it way cheaper to buy red dye than to buy the insects needed for cochineal! Natalie

I saved and zoomed in on the link you gave, and I am pretty sure I can see stitch holes around the edge in a few places. I am also looking at using some of these sort of embelishments soon (they are in the post) so am keen on answers you get as well. Natalie

I tried a felt tip pen, but go better results from a pencil, it also meant I could 'refine' if needed if I made an error in tracing. Natalie

I take it one step further.. I use either publisher or photoshop to resize, flip etc my images... Then I am naughty and gently trace directly on my laptop screen onto my tracing paper. I use a really good quality pencil and hardly press at all, then firm up the lines on a table afterwards. The laptop screen being backlight really makes tracing easy. But do NOT press hard or you will damage LCD screens. My laptop screen folds flat so it becomes a tablet (kinda) Natalie

LIke wear a red bandana and beaded beard plaits? and dreadlocks? He is a mightly fine looking fellow though Natalie

Hi from across the ditch! Nelsonian living in melbourne here Natalie

If you 'jack hammer' a bit of leather, surely then you won't be able to do any stamping, patterning etc on it? might kind of defeat the purpose of a journal cover really Nice info though on how its done. Natalie

Hi Given that your up in syd, maybe try these guys for tools, books etc http://birdsall-leather.com.au I have only used them mail order so far, and at first glance they seem to be way better for what they stock than leffler is down here in Melbourne. When I checked out buying things from tandy, the postage was HUGE! I have found overall the cheapest way to get tandy stuff is from the ebay vendor called stecksstore, he stocks some of the tandy books but only charges quarter the postage. and, if your feeling like a trip to Brisbane... http://dimensionsinleather.com/index.htm leatherworking conference in July that looks to be fantastic! Natalie

I am sure one of the experianced leatherworkers will chime in with the 'proper' way.. but.. If it doesn't need to be weather proof then could you maybe mix some PVA glue with water and 'paint' that on the underside? I have used pva/water mix on leather in the past when making costume armour for school plays (cheap and just needs to look ok on stage stuff) and if you play a little and vary the amount of glue you can get varying stiffness into the leather without changing the look of the skin side. The PVA mix will soak in a little so don't slop to much on. If it needs to be weather proof then look up some stuff called 'paverpol' which is like pva to work with but handles all weather fine. Natalie

I like them especially the applique parts that match the band above Natalie

To be honest with you.. I think Hidepounders edges are better still. Check out some of his gallery pictures and you will be blown away with the quality. He also did a tutorial thats pinned above in this section that explains how he goes about it Natalie

I work at a college, its school holidays so nice and quiet with the teachers and students away :-) anyways... I eat my lunch in the library kitchen area, so when I am by myself I tend to peruse the books. I was looking at a medievil artwork book yesterday and a little light went off in my head! Sheridan style must have originated from medievil style artwork, as many many of the swirls and floral patterns have the same base. if you google medievil artwork images, you may find something there that you can swap over to carve (no copywrite issues with something that old!) Natalie

Looks great mounted like that, what sort of frame are you making for it? Natalie

These guys might have something you can use? http://proleathercarvers.com/patterns.html?cat=63&dir=asc&order=price Natalie

Yep its cute.. but erm.. isn't a dream catcher supposed to have lots of holes to let the good dreams through and catch only the bad? Natalie

Ultra suede is pretty thin, but you could possibly fabric glue it to some light weight felt to give it the extra body and yet still allow the stretch. Use proper sheeps wool felt rather than synthetic as the synthetic stuff doesn't handle stretch well (it falls apart). the sheep aren't harmed during shearing, so most vege's are ok with wool products. Natalie

Is it just the poor quality of the vid download or is it slightly out of focus most of the time? Nice shirts though Natalie

Hi Seveneves whereabouts is your messenger bag on your website? I had a good hunt but couldn't find it, there was a broken link to www.nevescustomleather.com I am interested in your patterns Natalie

Nice basket stamping! Natalie

Thanks for the link on the aus. company for the wallet interiors I have contacted them directly in the hopes they sell to the public. Cheers Natalie