WScott

Ok I am in. The kids, ahem, and certainly not me, love the Scooby Doo Wiki Tiki Mystery so mine will be something along those lines. Not that I watch a lot of cartoons or anything

Good job, looks great Will last you longer than anything you can buy from Chi..oh never mind

Good stuff here after a quick scan lots more to read

It all looks great!!

It's gorgeous! I like how you did the corner reinforcements

Go for it! Look in a hobby shop that stocks model airbrush paint....they have some wicked colors and were water based, so easier to clean up. Getting that color right so the stitching makes the project pop was the reason I posted this. It isn't great, talented leather work in comparison to others on here, but it gives you the ability to do something to customize even a simple project and take it to the next level. Finding the right color thread seems harder than finding the right paint or stain.

Yes absolutely. Your suggestion eliminates a step and I am sure the leather dyes would work well. I was just working with what I already had in the specific thread size I needed; making do with what I had kind of thing. My local Tandy is great, but has limited thread color and size, so I have not found a wide selection. The neon green paint was just screaming at me to be used Thanks for the input

I am a newbie here and in leather work, studying and doing small projects so far for just about a year now. After doing a bit of saddle stitching, I was getting bored with the color selection for thread that Tandy had, so I decided to make my own. I took some plain white waxed Tandy thread, de-waxed it with some acetone (nail polish remover) and tested dying it in different colors. The red and orange on the spool are from Cova colors (acrylic paint) and the green stuff is a water based neon green model paint for an air brush. I dipped the thread into paint wrapped on a stick and let it soak for an hour or so. Then did a wipe down with a cloth to take excess away and or fill in voids. Then hung it to dry....overnight is best. Next morning, I ran it through the bees wax and rolled them up. If you have any dead areas, you can add color with a Sharpie marker if it matches the paint color. The neon green really pops and matches my coffee mug well; the boring Tandy brown thread has nice contrast on my wife's brown mug, but not the same pop. Just fooling around, hope someone finds this interesting. Finally figuring out the photo posting here hooooray! Scott

Looks cool Give us a pic of it with the snaps in. I think I am going to try another one...on better leather this time

This is why I wanted to post a photo sooner...all the awesome advice. Than you all for that. I have just been too chicken and I do find the photo posting different than other sites, but I will figure it out. I have a local Tandy and should have used a veg shoulder I have instead of the precuts I got for the kids to fool around with. Will have to try some of the premium veg tans when I get better, would hate to waste it now

Thank you I do tend to get a little overambitious and bite off more than I can chew...but it makes me try harder Stamping is a lot easier than carving

Trying again, getting error messages and yes I did reduce the image size Hooray I got it working. Sounds cliche to say its my first carving, but it is. I used a pre-shaped Tandy coaster, but found the leather carved poorly and took up more stain than I wanted. It may have been my knife was dull, leather too wet or too small and complicated set of cuts for my skill...or all of the above! Had fun with a swivel knife, stippled shader and beveller. Used Chancey's idea of coping from the computer screen. The photo posting on here is a little more finicky, so sorry to need the babysitting This was fun to get me going and I will try to do more challenges Thanks guys and gal

If I can figure out photo posting on this site I will submit my tree of life coaster you guys inspired me to do last night

Great design for very elegant looking wallets. I agree the corner closures are cool

It is an awesome bag!! Amazing for a first bag. Love the attention to details and unique hardware used. Still working my skill level up to this, learning how to do better on smaller projects. Thanks for posting yours as I get to learn from you and the comments the project generates.

Another cool project to follow along with You are on fire!!

Wow, a month in and you are doing great stuff...Keep going!! I envy having time to be able to do this hobby as with work, wife and my two kids and their activities, time for myself is at a premium. Unfortunately your spare time comes with a price of health issues. Isn't that always the way?....feast or famine. Enjoy our limited time on earth as best you can, now you have found something you are good at and can be productive with. All the best.

Looks great! Love the green surprise inside...matching thread would have been sweet also