Mannamal

http://www.reddit.co...e_company_im_a/ Scrolling through my leather Reddit threads I found this post (above link) from a couple of days ago. Saddleback's new marketing guy is asking for advice from the small-timers (us) what they can do to better represent leather craft. Most Redditor leather workers are pretty green, so I think it would be great if some of our mentors could slip them a few words of- ahem- advice (oh, say, correcting the blatant lie that because we finish our edges does not mean that we are hiding the horrible quality of our "not-fully-tanned" leather). Saddleback is forging quite a name for themselves, and for the hand crafted leather industry, so this is our chance to get it right.

Frontal views are hard. The others look great though! The moose does look a bit like he just farted, but he's still a cutie.

Good to know, I'll put some resolene on before antiquing. I did know the proper use for stain, but it was the color I wanted and instead of waiting for my paycheck to order the dye I just used it. Looks good! Thanks for the tips. Like your new...whatever your making that you posted to facebook.

Currently making a belt. When it came time for coloring, I [reluctantly] went with ecoflo stain because I have some from my original tandy kit and want to use the stuff up. Going on I was disappointed, because it was streaking something awful despite my best efforts. I thought, "perhaps it'll buff out". So I let dry overnight. Come back to buff, and while some color is coming off, the streaks and splotches are still extremely distinguished. I dont have a mechanical buffer, and my arm is getting tired, so I figure "hey, if the stain comes off with the tan kote, then at least I get to try again for less streaks." But it didn't come off. Well some did, my rag is now a pretty orangey brown (originally white), but it took away only the streaks and splotches. It actually evened out the entire stain job and lightened it a bit (good, for me. I thought it went a bit dark). Not only that: beforehand I had attempted to resist a couple spots of tooling with 2 layers of the kote, and when I had put the stain on was disappointed that the resist didn't work. Come post-stain tan kote, the resist areas lighten more than the rest (not all the way, but enough), and I'm finding myself pleased. So, sometimes tan kote taking some stain away is a good thing.

Thanks. I'm not interested in pre-fab designs, though. I want everything I make to be original so that no one else could replicate it. (Higher value, ye 'ken?)

Helps to have a videographer friend, doesnt it? Great video!

Thanks, will do! That there isnt the final layout, just leaf drawings. I can certainly squish em together!

First go at drawing, since there arent any free patterns (that I liked). Any advice? What do you think?

Oh hi its you! You're famous. Hey I happen to be working on a mario themed belt right now (not a whole level...you'll see). Yes lets upvote ourselves!

Perhaps a hairing tool instead of swivel knife decorative cuts. All in all though, they look like feathers, I dont think anyone would be disappointed receiving those!

Not sure if this is the right forum, but I spose I would like to show it off. So my husband and I were strolling about town and just wandered into an antique store. In the dredges of their giant basement, in the corner, on the floor, a very unique case caught my eye. A briefcase. A modified briefcase. Modified for tools. The ouside is a bit beaten up, but the bones and hardware are all in working and functional order. I am not sure if it was originally used for leather tools, but I dont know what other kinds of tools would fit such slots. Works for my meager (still growing) tool set though! Oh gosh, sorry if my pictures are upside down!

I'm a redditor, and I know some of you are too! (Your comment styles give it away). A lot of you probably don't reddit as well. I think we all should! It's a one-stop forum as opposed to a mutiple-topic one, but good for general discussions in view of the public eye as opposed to some leatherworking site that nobody out of the loop knows exists (not a bad thing). Anywho: http://www.reddit.com/r/Leatherworking/ It's pretty dead in there. Let's liven things up! (There's also http://www.reddit.com/r/Leather/, but that's even deader)

After getting the tandy starter kit and practicing their common sheridan flower on some scrap, I decided I wanted to do something different on the checkbook cover that came with my kit. My dad is the only person I know who uses a checkbook cover, so I decided to make it for him. They have elk where he lives, and there are quite a few ranches out there, so I tried to make his initials look like a cattle brand. I did a lot of things wrong (please feel free to critique!), but all in all for a first attempt, I think it came out pretty well. I like the originality of figure carving. I can only take so many "cowboy flowers"

I've been interested in making some of these. What oz leather do you use?

Now that is something that would make me stop walking. Usually I think colored dyes (mostly when applied to tooling) take away from the natural beauty of leather, but in this form I love it!