bluesman1951

I hardly know what to say , if the work is under-priced and worth more, then the proper thing to do is hold ones tounge and buy all you can sell in a different market until the supply goes away . Then find another talented person and buy their work . If its about money then thats what you do ,make money . As a observer and participant for many years I can say that more talent means more money and there are buyers at all levels . For some 50.00 sales are everything and for others 500.00 sales are common . Its not the same for all of us and thats evident by the threads here . I cant put years of wholesale experience into a few words here simply no way to explain that . Friend told me once : what ever denomination of money you think in is the denomination you will make . If you think tens and twenty s then that will be your lot ,if you think 500.00 is the normal course of things then that will be your lot as well . Final thought on money : When the outgoing exceeds the incoming then your up keep becomes your down fall . (Pastor Butch Paul) Wish there was a way to make it better for all . Bluesman1951

I am in total agreement with your thinking .I dont do shows as it goes against my grain to pay someone for selling my work . In 25 years other than a flea market I have never payed show fees . Selling to wholesalers gets your profit and principle in one stroke . Most days I sell every thing I take every time I go . I could never survive selling items one at a time . You have a love of the work and a joy in doing it and in many ways thats a great reward . Helps also to have some money when in line at Smiths to buy groceries . I wish you continued success with your work . Bluesman1951

I have been making things for many years and selling in a tough wholesale market here in New Mexico. I can see your point ,then there is reality . The only thing that matters is at what point does the customer say yes I want that and reach for his wallet. Every thing else is just a load of wind . Here artists are famous for being less than great salesman simple as that .We all wish our work brought more ,in the end the public sets the prices by saying yes or no to our work . You can sell work any where in this country ,until you have sold in Santa Fe its hard to understand pricing . No one wishes to work for free ,in the end we all strive to do the best we can . I never count the time ,I average 3 times cost of material and shoot for 5 times most days . New Mexico pricing is like this : Lets say I sell a bag for 10.00 to a wholesaler ,he then adds 20 to 25 % the store owner buys and expects to triple his cost so now when the bag hits the shelf it must be believable to the retail customer at 40.00 . Jewellery is worse as the mark up is 7 times money thats how 50% off sales are possible . A Santa Fe store paying 30,000 a month plus all the extras simply cant stay in business just doubling the money . You are staying afloat at 7 times money ,brutal sounding but its a fact . Lots of empty stores to prove it ,people try and realise when the rents due they arent making it . There are more artists here than any where in the country the competition is fierce . Rember this is where a good piece of pottery will sell for 10,000 and its not a rare event just every day stuff . Think I am kidding Goggle "Robert Rivera Gourds Prices " and see for yourself . Bluesman1951

Thank you this was a treat . I went every where tried all the stuff and it worked flawless .Watched the videos and found them very informative and very well done . Only one comment : No need to tell any one you do this in your garage . Your work speaks for itself .You have my compliments and a standing ovation from me . Bluesman1951

Congratulations,Best wishes for continued sales . Please look at : www.shipwreckbeads.com Also look at www.sunwestsilver.com ask for catalogues from sunwest . Check out www.hidehouse.com ask for Jenn Check out ;www.alibaba.com ,global network for buying and selling free. Good luck with all your work . Bill

I dont understand why you would use super glue . The barge is not the most friendly either as the fumes are a issue for me . I use Aleene's Tacky glue for this type of project . They sell it at Walmart about 1.97 for a big bottle . Use one of those yellow plastic bondo spreaders to spread the glue then rinse in water to clean . This is user friendly if it gets slopped around just rinse the whole thing in warm water and any excess glue is gone . Gives a good bond and is great . Glue wider strips and cut your small strings with a rotary cutter and a straight edge . I use the 60mm cutter ,works for me .

I have been wholesaling for a long time ,what I have learned is people will either buy or they wont . To hell with the ones who arent buying simple as that . Life is too short to be dealing with peckerwoods and nimrods any way .Why waste time with fools ?

Lets talk about expensive ,that's retaliative to what your finished product sells for . There is a man here doing some fine motorcycle seats that most likely sell way up in the hundreds . For him tooling leather at 8.00 or 9.00 dollars a foot is maybe not a big deal . In the end its a balance between what you pay and what you get . Then there is the customer you are trying to appeal to .Things that work well and are good looking and useful in every day life are what I would try to make .Things for people with more money than time , brief cases and gadget cases for attorneys .Simple things like luggage tags ,and portfolios for professional people . learning seems to come in stages like martial arts you cant skip all the mundane stuff and just go the cool stuff that the master does . Dont work that way . Helps to have a mentor . I wish you good luck with this .

When I upload a single picture it says file too big , SUCKS !!! When I go from place to place I am signed out and have to sign back in That Sucks ! This just dont seem to work well at all . How does one take a small picture ??? I would like to use this but its looking very annoying . What am I doing wrong ? Name: Bill Dawson UserName: bluesman1951 IP Address: 173.163.243.81 Email Address: bluesman1951@hotmail.com

The strap originates at the male snap down across the front up and out the back ,over the the top and down to close . When the cards are placed inside pulling the handle brings them up as a group . Not one at a time .I am sending a picture showing the card holder open before gluing . Hope that helps . This is simple as it gets . If you over think this you are guaranteed to get lost with it[. If you extend the back and make a flap with a snap it becomes a small coin bag . I have test marketed these and sales are good .quote name=northmount' timestamp='1338344132' post='250278] How does pulling the snap strap pull up the next card? CTG

Been working on these for awhile . All hand sewn . They will extract the business cards when the snap handle is pulled . What do you think ?

Another tip is to use a overstich wheel on paper so it make lots of even spaced holes and then put some baby powder in a pour-us cloth and tap on paper then lift up and the talc is on your leather where the holes in paper were . Once you are done a damp cloth removes the talc. Many ways to do things ,I had a problem and this was my solution .I draw enough patterns in a days time to run a pen dry ,so I needed a good solution and this was it .Thanks for your interest and the reply . This leaves a very fine line I dont believe you can get with chalk of any kind ,my cuts are always to the line . Bill

Very nicely done !!!!! Beautiful work . Thanks for the tips .

I did look at your web site . My compliments on very fine work . I am in total agreement with you on the round knife ,scares the beejesus out of me . Unlikely I'll ever own one. Ive had the rotary cutter in my hand nearly every day all day for 25 years so I would be lost with out it . 100% of my work is with deer skin and chap leather ,rarely do I deal with the tooling leather . I really enjoyed your work and look forward to seeing more of it . I am new here so I am just getting my feet wet trying to find my way around . Lots of talented people here hope I can keep up . Thanks for your reply ! God Bless Bill

I am currently having these stitching horses built for sale . There will be two styles ,the one you see here and another style that can only be described as "Yellow Stone Lodge Style Furniture " very heavy duty ,made to last for ever . If you have a interest please contact me at bluesman1951@hotmail.com

Go to some gun shows and check out the competition ,lots of people selling gun leather . Buy some holsters and take them apart for patterns if you dont destroy them any seam can be resewn and put back together . Thats your source for patterns . If I can be any help just ask 25 yrs exp .

I am interested . My cell is 505 804 9321 Albuquerque New Mexico

I have found a gel roller pen that draws a nice white line on dark leather . It does not smear or smudge . Wipes off with a damp cloth. Costs about 1.98 depending on where you are .I have found it in art supply stores ,college book stores ,office supply stores . I have used this for a very long time ,always happy with the results . Now you will never have to draw with a ball point pen on dark leather and hunt for the lines when cutting . Those days are over for good . On the pen barrel it says "Gelly Roll-08 made in Japan . Hope this tip makes life easier and your projects more fun . Bill

I respect mine a lot . I think the trick is always have a sharp blade . less pressure is required when cutting . The thick plexi glass gives a shoulder for the blade to ride on thus preventing the finger injury you mentioned . As you can see it does a fine job . I respect your feelings on this matter and would be interested in seeing how you cut your stuff . Bill