Cyberthrasher

I think the dry brushing is the best way to prevent it. Obviously there's large open spots in your background that you could use more dye on the brush because you don't have to worry about it bleeding. Once you get a feel for how it spreads, you can move onto the smaller areas. Most of the videos I've seen have shown them using up the dye on their work and then once most of the dye is off of the brush, using it to feather and make a transition into the non-dyed area. I think that would be the best time to brush the tooling, when it's empty. But, I've only used the eco-flo crap so far, so you may get less bleeding with a better quality dye. Now, who votes for Chancey to write a new Leathercraft book for us non-traditional types????

Sylvia's covering most of the points I was going to make, and Bob pointed out my other suggestion about the trademark. There seems to be a common myth that if you state something like that, that means it's yours (lots of other trademark/copyright myths along those lines too). Now, the business card. I think you're trying to cover WAY too much information in one spot (this could be a lot of your issues with the pamphlet too). Remember, anybody who takes your card is likely already familiar with what it is you do. I think you can clean that up a lot by dropping the description, dropping the facebook information (this is easily added to your website) and just leaving it at basic contact information. Logo/business name needs to be prominent Follow that with name and position contact information isn't usually that large - think footnotes. This should only include phone, email, and web URL. If you have digital copies handy of your logos and everything, I would be happy to help you some other design options when I get some free time. if any of this doesn't make sense - blame the dentist Oh yeah, and I'm not going to vote because none of the options fit yet. We'll get you there though.

Always practice on some scrap first. I forgot he had mentioned brushing it in. So yeah, do that and see how it comes out. I would get the dye on your brush and then "paint" it onto a paper towel or something to get a lot of it off (dry brushing) so you can feather the amount of dye you're using on the piece. Do it all on a practice piece to determine how much color and what color you'd like - as well as getting the hang of the technique. I'm picturing a darker brown, like the default brown on the forum header here. Maybe do the background the darker color and the tooling highlights the lighter of the two, with the bulk of the actual artwork being left natural. Or, even if it's all the lighter color with the natural artwork, it would still look good (in my head anyway). Oh yeah, and if you get really handy with that brush technique you could feather a halo around the tooling too

I was thinking something similar to an antique paste - but that Chancey guy will have some great ideas on the actual execution. Picture something like this where the lines are darkened up. http://www.clubchopper.com/forums/794381-post24.html I'd also contemplate doing the background a darker color, even if it is just a slightly darker color than natural. If you do it that way, try not to make the eye socket the same color as the background so it doesn't look like it's just a hole going all the way through the head.

I love it. I was kind of hoping to see what you did with bordering it, but this works really well too. As for dying it, I think some highlights would really benefit it - something to make the tooling and individual lines in the design really pop.

I would have loved to buy something like that. But, I don't have $500 + to spend and they don't offer that oh-so-mysterious "Tall" size. I'm happy with my Interstate Leather for the price. All these responses and I've never seen a response from the original poster.

Ah, I just realized that I mis-typed what I meant on part of that. If you use it as influence in your own work without copying it, then you can sell it customers who are interested in that kind of work. That's what I meant by creating similar tribute pieces. I'm glad to see someone who really does take care. I shocked a guy a few days ago on DeviantArt by asking his permission to use his stuff for practicing leather (specifically said it would not be resold). He was very happy and only asked that I send him pictures of it when I'm done.

If it was a book of flash art that was sold as something like "1000 Tattoo Designs" , then that implies that they are to be used and transferred to another medium. If it were "The Life and Times of Sailor Jerry" (obviously made up book names) and there were examples of some of his work in there then that's a no-no because the book and any associated artwork is "licensed" to you to study/research (aka...read) and not reproduce in any medium. What I would do is study the artwork and create similar pieces for myself that wouldn't have any kind of copyright/moral issues. Tribute pieces are always cool.

I use GIMP for everything I do. It's basically a fully developed free Open Source version of Photosop. There are a couple of free vector programs that are highly recommended somewhere on here too, but I haven't had a chance to try them out yet. I need to start working with vector art since I'm starting to see how powerful it can be.

Great job on the bag. I've been looking at it for days getting technique ideas. In regards to the copyright issues, remember people pay for the flash designs which gives them the license to use it in their tattoo art. So, if you've paid for the flash sheet - no problems. But, if you found the design on line, I'd say good call on reserving it for your own stuff.

It's hard to tell what would be best without seeing how the color interacts with the wood. I chose red because I think it will make it pop either way. Classy looking.

I have nothing against sportsters. They are fast and can be cool if done right (and as long as they're an Ironhead). I have problems with the little idiot who saved up enough money to buy the cheapest bike they had at the dealership just so he could be cool.

I think we've got the state covered then. Welcome Tim. Reading really is the best advice. If you can't find an answer in your research then ask away. I find that once I've done some research it's easier for me to ask the questions. As far as advice, not sure what you want to work on (specific styles and such) but I definitely recommend grabbing a few bags of practice leather from any of the online retailers and mess it all up

There's TV shows about the life??? Maybe that's why that guy on the sportster thought we were friends as I smoked him. Seriously though, I get real tired of people in that SOA crap walking up and calling me Bro or telling me how much I look like Opie. Now, time to send the thread to the facebook father and let him handle it the way he handled the laptop.....

Cool. I'll keep those in mind. I'm still not sure what we're allowed to do. There's a lot of rules regarding what they're allowed to do for fundraising and such.

They have some really cool stuff there. I might be working on a fundraiser piece for the Young Marine Corp, so that USMC snap could work well for me.

I think the airbrush would work fine. Sounds like your problem was bleeding and that wouldn't normally happen with the lighter mist.

Very nice looking. Where was that iron cross snap from? I've seen the conchos and rivets, but never a snap.

yeah, if you're going to be doing a lot of them that are the same shape and size, definitely get some molds going. Think of the time you'd save that way, which directly translates to dollars in my book.

I know I've seen people do it by molding them, so that may be the easiest and cleanest way to go. I was actually just discussing using that weight with Chancey the other night and he assured me that it's the best to use for a small solo bag, but also brought up this exact problem. Said it's a pain to work the gussets with such heavy leather, but doable and worth it.

And this is why we get along. It's not very often I meet people who think like me

Glad to hear that one's working out for you, since that's the one that's been on my list to buy for a while. I bought one of the cordless ones a long time ago because I had to do all my work outside at one point. 2 batteries and I can burn through both of them in about 2 minutes. I would NEVER recommend a cordless dremel to anybody.

Excellent ideas. I was actually just thinking about this today trying to decide if there's any of that old stuff lying around that I could rob. Unfortunately, my wife isn't your standard purse lady. But, I know lots of people who are.