Sylvia

I would say that's just about perfect, Winterbear. Great find.

One thing you must consider is versatility, and size of the "harp" of your machine. Take a look at any "cheap" home machine these days and you can barely get your hand under there to sew... let alone a big gob of fabric. The same thing goes for leather machines. the longer the arm the more reach you'll have and the more material can be placed to the right of the sewing area. Also the arm allows you easier access to tight areas. I can tell you that I've sewn on a flat bed industrial and it can be very frustrating to try to get into tight spots and sew a clean line. (Like top stitching around the outside shoulder of a jacket, or sewing on a cuff) I vote for the cylinder arm machine you can always buy the bed attachment later or just have one made for you.

LOL. Very cool and it is very exciting to sell your stuff to total strangers. Congrats.

Hi: I looked for "horse shoe" font but didn't find a font that was constructed from horse shoe shapes. When I shortened it down to Horse font. I got this... http://www.fonts101.com/fonts/view/Uncategorized/49508/HorsePose_Becker I did find some "western styles" that sort of reminded me of horse shoes. Let me know if you want me to find those again for you.

That's called block dying. (done a lot back in the 70s) Take a soft cloth, wrap it around a block of wood. Apply dye to cloth, dab off excess and apply dye with block to your collar. Apply a second coat as needed... until you reach a desired color. easy.

Gum T can act as a mild resist but it is NOT water proof. If you use to to slick the back... dye first, then Gum T.... then seal with Resolene or at the very least Tandy's Super Shene.

Looks like the one on the right is some sort of press/punch type tool. Have you unscrewed the L-shaped handle to see what the end looks like?

LOL Mike, you old edge licker, you. ha! I've used Gum-T and the same method Mike uses. I sand, dampen, burnish, dry sand, dye and reburnish with glycerin soap, then either beeswax or finish. I like Gum-T okay, for slicking the backs of belts but I would always seal them. And you have to make sure that nothing gets on the front of your project. I've sort of moved away from it for most things because I can't stand the smell of the stuff. (smells like pinesol to me, Yuck!)

Thanks to both of you. I have some wet/dry in some pretty fine grit... and some emery cloth strips. I might try that before I go buying something.

that's pretty slick!

Rawhide: Do you have a great place for getting those ultra fine stones for a reasonable cost?

I have read here that those that love those ceramic blades have finessed the blade on them. The use an ultra fine stone and sharpen it so that any visible lines on the blade are gone. Then they strop it silky smooth. From that point on it's just a matter of maintaining the strop... I have a couple of BK blades, for my BK knife... I had a huge amount of trouble trying to sharpen the hollow blade (at least until they fixed my keen edge barrel by drilling out the other end for me) Even then when I sharpened the hollow blade it changed the angle some. It cuts very nicely now. I look at it this way.... sharpening is part of the job... because a dull blade is a dangerous blade.

That turned out awesome, Cheryl. I would be really proud of that if I were you.

LOL I like it! It's a more peachy pink in the pictures than I imagined.

Thumbs up on Dirtclods method. Keep in mind your accordion folds are going to take some extra material. So you'll need to allow for extra height.

too bad you don't have a gem setter there... you could bedazzle them too. Don't stand in front of the target. LOL

She tooled it! She used at least a swivel knife, a modeling spoon and a pear shader.

Cheryl: As far as I am concerned this is THE BEST tooling I've seen you do so far.

Tandy has a video on how to clean leather after mildew growth. You just need to wipe off any spores, milew powdery stuff... then with a clean cloth, dampened with "real lemon" (green bottle at the grocery) wipe it down. Here's the video. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/en-usd/Mold-and-Mildew-Treatment.aspx As for preventing mold and mildew... I imagine your best recourse is to prevent humid conditions as best you can.... so some sort of desiccant would need to be required.

Carve only those lines you really want to stand out. Like perhaps Sienna. The rest just use the modeling spoon, your backgrounder.. and your beveler... there is nothing in the rules that says you have to bevel a carved line, you know.

Cheryl: Get out a piece of paper... make your drawing on that with Pencil... and eraser... then when you are satisfied... just trace it on your leather as you would any other tracing. (scan the picture first, so you have a copy of it if you need more for some reason) As far as the waves over the rocks... think in terms of a "white shape" and outline it with maybe a ripple mark or two (slight indications) with the pointed end of you modeling tool. For the darker portions of water use the spoon part of the tool. Don't over do it.

I think part of it is people don't have much confidence in their ability to draw... Although this challenge may seem easy at first, composing, drawing a concept can sometimes be daunting. (artists block) I haven't drawn much in years and I never was much good at perspective... I remember in the 80s there was a fellow who taught kids to draw in a program called Secret City on PBS by the name of Mark Kistler. He really made an impression on me about perspective and shading... like anything practice makes perfect. I found him online and thought I would share one of his many videos... http://www.mkisdraw3d.com/vplayer/index.php?v=LovelyLilies here's a few more videos. http://www.mkisdraw3d.com/public/p_ovaa/

Yes it is possible. here's a link to a shop that sells them http://toughcraft.blogspot.com/2012/02/7-strand-mystery-braided-wrist-band.html

I'm so glad that Chavez chimed in with his local knowledge. I agree with starting with smaller projects but I found that thicker leather is easier to carve. If you can't find those books in hard form you can also get them... well, most of them, via http://www.leathercraftlibrary.com as ebooks fairly inexpensively. One project that seems to be popular is a sporran... it's fairly small and will get you started on saddle stitching. There are a few here who have made them. Another thing you might try is a pouch or case for your "smoking materials." or a Mobile phone case. Remember that leather working takes patience.... don't rush or you will pay the price of gobs of frustration. Allow things to case properly and allow finishes to dry a good long time between coats. Sylvia