Display Name

[Display Name]

Hello everyone! I'm guessing I cannot find the "Change Display Name" because I'm lacking certain permissions. But I'm curious if there is anyway for me to change it. I typed my business name into Google because I was curious if I came up in the search results. When I typed in my business name, which is also my display name, my forum posts on here come up. I have not posted anything offensive, etc but I would rather not have my forum posts come up if customers type in my business name. I know it's my own fault since I chose my Display Name, I just was not thinking at the time! haha! Is there any way to change my display name without having the button to press? OR is there a way for me to delete my member account (no subscription) and start over? haha! Hoping somebody has some answers for me!!

[Efficient Ways To Take Orders?]

A comment on your "quality" over "quantity" desire and people who seem to be impatient: For all handmade goods and services, some customers might need a reminder that

They can have a good job cheap, but it won't be quick (i.e., meaning you'll work on it as time allows).

They can have a quick job cheap, but it won't be good (you'll slap it together, but the quality will most likely suffer).

They can have a good job quick, but it won't be cheap (you'll have to work overtime, and possibly turn down other orders, and will therefore charge accordingly).

I've seen caterers, florists, tailors, jewelers, leather workers, gunsmiths, portrait painters, quilters, hairstylists, and others have the sign with the points in their workshop/store/booth, etc. as a reminder to their customers and themselves. It's also a good reminder to the artisans not to sell themselves short either, as there will be some people who will demand the moon and want it now, and will try to pressure the artisan for a good quick cheap job--but once they get it, they are likely to demand it again and again (or they tell their friends, and the friends will demand it from you). Customer service is one thing, but not every customer will appreciate someone bending over backwards for them. Best to save your efforts for those who will, like a good customer who is in a bind.

As a friend of mine keeps telling me, "'No' is a complete sentence. Just 'No'. Not 'No problem', or 'No, but...'. It is ok to tell people 'No', especially when other commitments, obligations, or your own free time, family life, or sanity is involved."

I need to listen to that friend more.

haha! That is GREAT advice WinterBear!! Thank you so much! I have seen with my own eyes those signs in shops before!! It's just a "gentle reminder" but makes one think twice! Perhaps I need a little sign on my website....just a "gentle reminder" sign!

I do need to start saying NO! Right before Christmas I had taken in so many orders that I was working 7 days a week! I'd start at 7am and sometimes not turn the light off in my studio until after midnight! Needless to say I was exhausted physically & mentally! Barely got to spend any time with my husband AND was beginning to hate painting! I don't ever want to begin hating to paint ever again!! haha!

Thanks again for the great advice!! That is something I will always keep in mind!!

[Efficient Ways To Take Orders?]

Like Dwight - we (my wife and I) also use Excel for my orders, though we use it in a different way. I built my website using the free Concrete 5 site builder. I'm currently using their form component to receive my new orders. Once we receive the order and print it out, we hand-write any updates to the order should the customer decide to make any changes. When I am in the shop (my garage), I have a set of stacking in/out paper trays. I place all my orders in the trays - one order per tray. That printed order form stays with the holster until it's ready to be shipped out. Meanwhile, my wife types the contents of the order form into Excel (one customer per row) as we receive the new orders. As an order is completed, she hilights the customer's row of information and shades the cells gray to indicate the order is complete. This gives us a quick reference for how many outstanding orders we have left to complete. It contains detailed information about what they ordered, as well as the customer's contact information and the total amount of the order. When it's time to file taxes, my wife prints out a nice and tidy spreadsheet that shows the entire year's orders and how much money the business has brought in and we hand this over to our tax guy.

You can also use Outlook to schedule your shop time. You can create a new appointment, they copy and paste the contents of the customer's order form into your appointment if you wanted so you don't have to go digging through old emails to find the order information. Theoretically, you could schedule all your existing orders out for the next X days or weeks, provided you're that organized with your time. I ask my wife "what's next" and she tells me what to work on.

A better method would be to tie the order form to a database so that once the customer's information is received, the data is automatically submitted to the database. Using a private back-end page, you could access the contents of the database on a per-order basis and have fields where you can add notes and such. You could have a method of marking the order as active so your customers could log into the website and see what ticket number you're working on so they'll know many orders are in front of their own. I'm not a big database guy, but would love to know how to do it. They're very powerful if they're setup correctly from the start.

Wow! Sounds like you have an EXCELLENT system going!! I will have to try and use some of the ways you go about organizing your orders! I have some paper trays here from when I was in school, perhaps I should give that a try as it would certainly keep me more organized with my coming & going orders! And using Outlook is a genius idea! I have a Blackberry that all my business emails go to but have often found myself searching through emails to make sure I add all the changes to the product that my customer requested! Making an appointment with all of the order information would certainly save me some time!!!

Thank you so much for such great advice!! Perhaps when my business gets a little larger (and therefore more hectic!) I will have to look into the database idea!!! Thanks again!!

[Efficient Ways To Take Orders?]

Tacky: I do all my billing, . . . scheduling, . . . tax records, . . . on one little computer program: Microsoft Excel, . . . but I have about 20 years experience at it, . . . and judging from your picture, . . . you probably don't.

Be that as it may, . . . you can use Excel as a calendar, . . . and as you get orders, . . . put them into the calendar. Only load up say 6 hours a day, . . . that gives you the ability to do 2 things: one, you can have a "cushion" of time, . . . just in case stuff goes South, . . . and two, you can visually see where you actually are. It makes all the difference in the world when you are first trying to get stuff together.

You can also print it out in the morning, . . . make pencil changes during the day, . . . correct and re-print tomorrow if pencils work better for you than a keyboard.

I couldn't post an Excel sheet on here, . . . but I did a screen save/convert to *.jpg so you could at least see what one looks like. PM me if you want to look at something more elaborate, . . . I can help you there possibly.

"Organization is the KEY, to production, to profitability, and believe it or not, . . . to sanity". Not an old saying by any means, . . . but I live and believe every word of it.

May God bless,

Dwight

Thanks for the great advice Dwight! I do have quite a bit of experience using Excel, but never thought of using it for organizing my orders!!! I will most likely end up printing them out each morning as I tend to like to have things in hand. It would probably be easier than simply having the invoices in front of me! Perhaps this will help with my organization and help me better prioritize my use of time! I do believe my organization is a big part of the problem! haha!

Thanks again for the great advice!!

[Efficient Ways To Take Orders?]

Probably the two best pieces of advice I have is do not get all of your eggs in one basket diversify and let your business tell you where it wants to go. We have built everything from boot harness to movie props and saddles. Neither were where we initially headed but both made us fair money. I like to laugh that at one time we were the leading purveyor of bad taste as boot harness manufactures for the whole country. A salesman came in the shop one night and asked if we could make this boot harness, I said yes but why would I want to when he told me what he was paying for them we signed on.

My point is keep trying to come up with new ideas and do not be afraid to get out of your comfort zone

That is great advice! Thank you so much! I will keep that in mind! That's incredible where your business has taken you!!!

I definitely would like to "expand my horizons" rather than stick to my comfort zone! I think after some time it would be a nice change of pace to take on something different than the norm! I've had a few people actually ask me to even paint cowboy boots which would be pretty neat! I'm seriously considering giving that try!

[Efficient Ways To Take Orders?]

I doubt that I will find a solution as the shop was first started in 1962 part time and became full time in 1981 when a distribution company for wholesale horse products went business went belly up. Most of what I do now is just with two long time wholesale customers and a few friends.

Leatherwork can be very rewarding and at the same time very frustating. The biggest problem is when dealing with horsemen remember that we are a cheap bunch. This is caused by the cost of having a 1000 lb. friend and is compounded if we have a family as that always required more big friends.

haha! You are very right about that! Seems like we always want the best for our big friends but at the same time don't want to break the bank!

Wow! I hope my company lasts as long as yours has! I am a college graduate and can't find a job in or out of my field to save my life! So I decided to combine my horse hobby & painting together and see if I could make some money at it! I would love if I could turn it into my full time job because I enjoy doing this much more than the degree I have! LOL

[Painted Leather....suggestions/advice?]

The Angelus products should be fine. I've actually had good luck with the Tandy Super Sheen as well oddly enough. I do spray mine and build up 3-4 light coats. I've used resolene with success as well but I'm not fond of the longer drying time and the tackiness that it has while drying. All three are acrylic based top coats and should do the job just fine. If you're in a state that allows you to buy it though, give Fiebing's Saddle-Lac a try. It's a lacquer based hardening top coat (piece still remains flexible) and is very water resistant. Being a lacquer though, you definitely want to spray it on as the heavier solvent in it will pull up and smear acrylic colors if you try to wipe or brush it on.

Thank you so much! I will look into the Saddle-Lac and see about giving it a try! I make custom painted horse tack so my products have to be able to withstand the "abuse" horse & rider place on them! haha! Thanks again!

[Painted Leather....suggestions/advice?]

First off, I just want to clarify that over the LONG term, any coloring of leather whether by dye or paint will fade eventually. Just a matter of how long. That will be determined on how much sun it gets, how often it's cleaned & protected (using a good leather dressing like Pecard will help) and how rough the client is on the piece. Obviously, if the piece is cared for correctly, stored indoors when not in use, etc. it and the color will last longer. Quality paints make a huge difference as well. Angelus is a good one and I do use it for some colors but I prefer Golden Fluid Acrylics as they are formulated to resist heavy UV exposure and when thinned with their mediums have great adhesion.

That leads us to the first tip. When thinning paints, use the thinner (aka medium) recommended by the manufacturer. Water is a common thinner for water based/acrylic paints but it adds nothing to the paint itself, it simply thins it. Most mediums will add a binder and something of a finish to help enhance the color as well as it's performance while making it easier to brush on. For the Golden Fluid Acrylics, I like to use their Airbrush Medium but they have others like gel mediums that make the paint stay wet longer (for blending) or crackle mediums, etc.

As for process, it's pretty straightforward.

Apply the deglazer to the whole thing evenly with light coat(s) as needed. If you plan to have dye & paint combinations this is important as trying to 'spot' deglaze can lead to uneven or blotchy colors with dyes. Let the deglazer dye and/or remove any residue as instructed. Apply a coat of neatsfoot or mink oil, let soak in overnight if possible and then wipe off/buff away any residue. It's important to let the oil soak in/do it's thing otherwise it will sit neat the surface and cause the paints to resist adhesion.

Next, if possible a base coat of white (a light dry brush white wash works well) or using a lightening agent like Oxalic Acid or pure lemon juice helps keep the colros true and vibrant. This makes a difference as applying any colors that are 'pearlescent', 'transparent', a 'tint' or 'shade' will all show the underlying color through. If applied to unlightened leather, the colors will pick up the golden/russet color of the leather and tend to have a warm, golden tint to them. This can be an issue when trying to get a deep black, or keep blues blue (versus blue/green).

Always thin your colors as discussed above and apply successive light coats versus one thicker coat. The thick coat make be faster but the paint will take longer to dry and will be more susceptible to cracking/peeling. Let each coat dry completely before applying the next coat/color to ensure proper adhesion. Apply a wet coat over a wet or partially dry coat will simply result in the two blending into one thick coat, negating the purpose of thinning in the first place.

Once the color is applied, let it dry completely (I like overnight) and then apply your sealer of choice. Spraying sealers on is a good practice if possible as it ensures that everything gets covered and allows you to control the amount of each coat. (again, light coats applied many times is better than one heavy coat). A quick note on sealers...gloss is more water resistant than satin. I'm not sure what the actual explanation is, has something to do with the way the liquid forms the finished surface and having less tooth (microscopic bumps in the surface) making it more difficult for water to penetrate. As with the color, let it penetrate & dry completely before applying the next coat.

Once the the top coat/sealer is dry, I generally apply a good quality weather-resistant leather dressing to the piece. Many folks have their favorites but mine is Pecard Motorcycle Leather Dressing. Simply rub it on lightly with a soft cloth, let sit for a few minutes and lightly buff any residue. On areas that aren't painted, the leather accepts the dressing well by buffing a little longer before rubbing off. Helps bring back some of the flexibility.

Hope this helps!

Chris

Wow! Thank you so much for posting that for me! That has answered many, many questions I had! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate you being so willing to help! It's nice to be able to have the steps broken down as well as the added advice and tips! Again, thank you so very much!

I have on final question for you!

I have currently been using Angelus Acrylic Finisher/Sealant but have seen a lot of discussion about Resolene (sp?). Is acrylic resolene something I should consider as my final top coat?

[Calling All Paint Gurus....]

Thanks for the compliment, glad to help. I'm typing a reply to your other question here in a minute, hopefully it helps some as well.

Chris

You are very welcome! Thank you for replying to my questions, I really appreciate it! It's been hard to get advice as it seems many people don't want to tell you what they know! HAHA! And that makes it very difficult for somebody to learn the process! Thanks again! I will check back later for your reply!

[Calling All Paint Gurus....]

Using a good deglazer before painting (or dying for that matter) helps get down to the leather and remove the tanning agents/waxes used by the tannery. Helps the paint adhere a little better to the material itself versus the top coat inbetween.

Thanks for the advice Spinner!! I am currently using the deglazer made by Angelus and so far so good! Btw, I've seen some of your work that you have posted in other topics, and wow, your work is just incredible!!!

[Calling All Paint Gurus....]

So I know many people on here are experts on painted leather as well as the best way to prep leather! What would you all recommend/consider the best way to prepare a piece of leather for painting? I'm sure everybody has their own "go to" preparation methods and I'm curious to hear everyone's opinions! I'm a newbie and love learning/hearing the tips and tricks from the experts! One should never stop learning!

[Efficient Ways To Take Orders?]

I have worked in some area of the horse business for most of my life and finally figured out that most of the calls are not judgemental. Your customers have spent all day in the mundane world without their main intrest. Most will be looking for nothing more than a conversation about their favorite subject. That said it will be up to you to figure out how to handle them as it is possible to spend all day visiting and not get anything done. I* would love to share my secret but have not ever found a solution. You will also have to learn to deal with the dissatisfied customer as no matter how hard you try some are never pleased.

A whole lot of talk without an answer right. Sorry

Not at all! You are right about them looking for conversation! I have received an email asking about their order, and I hold my breath, expecting them to be upset, etc. But they weren't, they were just looking for somebody to chat with because "how's my order coming?" has often times turned into me learning their life story! haha! So far I haven't had any dissatisfied customers but I'm sure I will learn my lesson in regards to that at some point. Nobody is perfect and I'm sure at some point I will make a mistake, just human nature! If you ever find that solution, be sure to let me know!

[Painted Leather....suggestions/advice?]

[Efficient Ways To Take Orders?]

Sounds like you're A) still getting a feel for how much you can produce in a given time, and trying too hard to please the customer with quick turnaround.

I'm in the same boat and discovering (painfully) that I need to really get a grip on appreciating the time it takes to put things out. Am finally starting to realize that the customers asking for custom gear are more interested in the quality than time frames that equal off the shelf purchases. Gonna have to not worry so much about those that are rushing - let them but the off the shelf stuff - they'll likely be back when they realize that it's not *exactly* what they wanted. If not, then they weren't that worried about the fit/finish after all and I'll spend my time pleasing the ones that value custom quality ;0)

Life's to short and ya can't please everyone every time ;0) <--- new mantra LOL

I am definitely trying to get a feel for what I can produce in a given time. I think it would be easier if I only made one specific product but of course painting a saddle cross takes far less time than painting a complete tack set! And you are right, I am trying too hard to please customers with a quick turnaround! I let all my customers know that I work on orders in the order that I receive them but I still get the customers asking how their order is coming even though they just placed it yesterday! I really enjoy the work that I do but found that with people pressuring me to get it done in their requested time frame, well, it just wasn't fun anymore! I want to produce a *quality* product, not *quantity!* I guess I will just have to let customers know that if they are desiring a quality product that it will take me X amount of time to complete it, bottom line! Thanks so much for your advice! It was very helpful!

[Efficient Ways To Take Orders?]

I just make holsters, but I know about how many items I can complete in a month. If that's, for example, 10 items, and I have 40 orders, then I state on my website that I have a backorder of something like 12-16 weeks. Find a number that is comfortable for you, then artificially inflate your backorder if you wish. That'll help dial back new orders, and people that really want your work will not really care about the long lead time. You'll still be at your current workload for a while until you get rid of those old orders, but once those are clear, you'll be able to slow your pace down to maintain a production level you're happy with. I know one particular person on this site that built a custom order form that ties into a database that manages his orders. If you have just a ton of orders, you might consider something like that. I just do everything via forms on a website that the customer fills out. When they submit it, I get an email. We print out the emails and put them in a file in the order they were received. Not very sophisticated, but I don't get a ton of orders - right now I'm only able to fill about 100 orders per year on average because I still have a full time job and family responsibilities.

That's great advice! Right now I am using the same system of simply printing out my invoices and filing them in the order I receive them! I tell my customers that I work on orders in the order I receive them but still seem to get quite a few customers asking how their item is coming along even though they just put their order in yesterday! Generally while I wait for one item to dry I grab the next one and put a coat on it, etc. I do my best to multitask to try and keep up! I think part of my issue is needing to find out how many items I can complete in such and such time frame! Thanks so much for the reply! I knew I would get some very helpful advice on here!

[Efficient Ways To Take Orders?]

Hello all!!

So I started my company, TACKyPaints, about 3 months ago and have had many orders. I make custom painted tack and I have noticed other companies that sell items like mine will post "booked through 2nd week of January!" Perhaps this is a stupid question, but how do they take orders in that way? Do they just figure out how long it takes them to make specific items? I would really like to figure out a more efficient way to take and book orders so I don't feel like a I'm constantly running around frantic! The past three months I have felt like all I do is eat, sleep, and paint! I never seem to have any time to do anything else!! I am very thankful for the business but I would really like to not feel so exhausted because right now it just seems like there are not enough hours in each day!

Anyone have any experience with this or suggestions? Please?

[Painted Leather....suggestions/advice?]

Hello everyone! I just have a few questions and have seen such great advice given on here so thought I'd see what you all might have to say!

I have been dabbling in painting leather tack and have made several bronc nosebands, saddle crosses, etc. I consider myself a newbie at all of this! I use Angelus leather paints and currently their satin 605 acrylic finisher (but just contacted Angelus about ordering their 600 acrylic finisher). My concern is that my items are not durable enough. I want to make sure that my items don't crack, fade, etc in the long run. I've read some advice on here when searching for similar topics but am still not sure what products to use & in what order! So here are my questions!

1. How would you recommend I prep my vegetable tanned leather?

2. Do I need to glaze? (Saw this recommended on another site) If so, what should I use?

3. What finishes do you recommend for painted leather?

4. Would the 600 acrylic sealant be enough or do I need something stronger?

5. Could you give me some instructions, for example, what order you recommend from prep to finish?

I would LOVE to hear your advice, any suggestions would be helpful! I really hope somebody on here can help me out!!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays to everyone!!!

I also attached a picture of my work