bissetdesign

Ok, here she is.....The oversized satchel I've been working on for last couple of weeks.

Nice Andy. I love the distressed look of it, I think you have nailed it there, a really great looking wallet

Good, I've used it in the past on the huge reels but space is becoming a problem in my workshop so got some shorter lengths in instead, mine came in snapbags off ian, no reels, just measured off & kinda hand folded but ok to work with, I don't need huge lengths of the stuff so just cut off what I need & back in the bag to keep it clean....doh! Forgot about that satchel where I'm going to need big lengths lol!

Looks pretty good to me too for a first project, I'd be happy with that for a first time but like the others, the longevity would concern me. Be good to know how it holds up if used on a daily basis, how the heat/moisture etc affects it, if any?

Ahhh thanks, now that makes a bit more sense to me now, I'm sure you guys in the US were thinking "durrrrrr is he really asking that?"

Good work fella! You'll be the next next kitchen satchel company like the girl on the google chrome ad...lol! Nice going Adam You should try the tiger thread, I think there has been a few threads about it on here, I bought some recently from Ian Atkinson at Leodis in shorter lengths, a little bit more expensive but then I don't have the huge reels from Abbey sitting around.

Nice detail & like benlilly1, the sunflowers look superb, I think it works great, beautiful work. Whats the story with the M= ?

Its the Craftool E294-03 for the expanse then switch to a smaller version of it when close to the detail stuff, can't remember the number of it though, sure it's still an E294 something or other. Cheers Adam, I'll have a look at them. Paul

Yeah must admit every time we started work there, people looked at us as though we had 2 heads each haha! I liked it, very peaceful! I've not come across J Woods before but I'll definitely have a look. Do they deliver or collection only? My stamps were made by a nice chap called Nick at http://www.artisans.co.uk

Thanks guys, I too love lacing & braiding benlilly1 but I just can't seem to get the corners right, need more practice I think! Hey Adam, yes very local...I've just finished installing a wetroom in Denshaw a few weeks back, couldn't wait to get away from that one, why is it always 10 degrees cooler up there? haha! Nice satchel too, I've never used chrome. The one I'm making is 3-4mm veg tan so pretty heavy duty, client wants it to last years & the size she gave me is huge for a satchel, I'll post it when I'm done with it

Some of my latest stuff from the workshop, a bit of a selection of different things, nice to get a few orders of different variety these past few weeks. I seem to have been so busy recently & not getting chance to log on very often at the moment but not complaining. Some notepad/journal covers, a golf scorecard holder & a couple of leatherman pouches. Just on another note which is probably should be in a different topic all together, Ive been asked to do a bag for somebody, something I've never really attempted before properly, they want a larger version of a traditional satchel type bag so I'll post when I'm done. I don't know what it is but I've had some kind of renewed passion with stitching, something I'd never thought I'd hear myself saying, whether I've hit a certain age or calmness in my life...I don't know? Anyone else ever had this? I really used to dislike it but now actually look forward to getting in the workshop to stitch, the smell of the leather hits me around 6ft-8ft from the door, then open the door & whoosh into your nasal cavity. I can then stand/sit stitching for some good stints now, hours on end, strange, like it gets somekind of stranglehold over you, lose track of time & before you know it 2 hrs gone. I'm gonna need it I reckon there is probably a couple of thousand stitches in the bag & all by hand too.

I don't really know much about chaps or making them Anna but they look excellent from where I'm sitting, I'd be very proud of completing a project like that

Truly inspiritional, I love seeing your work arbalet12......amazing!

Wow....great work philarryous, I love your laced items, if I can get to that level I'll be very happy

Wow thats even smaller than what I had to work with, good luck with it Gabriel, I think its a difficult one for a novice to do as its a very small area to get so much detail into it. Theres a guy on here, think he's called Arbalat or similar who does amazing fine detail work , really inspirational detailed work too. ....PS I'm not sure Greystone was implying you are a 'douchebag', I think that might be his initials as his post was quite complimentary & he was signing off db, maybe needs clearing up

A couple of journal/notepad covers I made last week with a horoscope/astronomy touch to them. My stitching needs a little work, especially when finishing the stitch

Hi All Something I've been working on recently: For the outdoors types amongst us, a neat little EDC pouch for a Leatherman Surge, carries a spare bit cartridge, Fenix E05 mini torch, Fisher space pen & spare blades for file/sharpeners/saws etc. My first real attempt at lacing on this small scale & lost it in a couple of places, I would usually stitch this but customer wanted it laced & I wanted to have a go at the lacing anyway. I would have started the lacing again but he came to the workshop to see how things were going & said he couldn't even tell so not to bother. Going to practice more with the lacing side of things though as I think it gives a great finish to a leather item

2 weeks??? Amazing work & completely bowled over by how you did that in 2 weeks

Tidy work, love the carving, very nice

Very nice too, would love to have a bash at holsters but would need to up sticks & go

Looks to me like it may need a bit more depth to the tooling side Gabriel? I'm no expert by any means but it looks a little 'flat' in the photos, maybe its just the angle the photos were taken from. I did a coat of arms a couple of months back on a 7" x 4" piece, found it very intricate, quite difficult to keep the detail going & carving out small letters in the scrolls without making them look like childs writing. I thought about painting in colours but decided against it & antiqued it instead which I'm glad I did, the customer loved it, I had to explain to him about a couple of mistakes were the detailing went wrong & he said 'no problem, thats what gives it its character & if he'd wanted a perfectly accurate copy he would have got it machined', great comment I thought. Posted a couple of pics to show you how it looks antiqued rather than the quality of the carving lol! Like everyone says practice practice practice, thats what I'm doing & always will be........

Pure craftsmanship.....kudos to you Bernie

Nice strap cyber, love the colours & the tooling - very neat

Thanks, the client received it just in time for Christmas & loves it. I must admit it was hard to do but I enjoyed it. I've just had a look at the pics again & I don't think they do it justice, the 2nd pic of the older girl makes her look like she has bad teeth & goofy, which I can assure you is not true, plus the colour is quite dark in the pics too. Hopefully get to do some more in the future. Paul

Happy Christmas everyone, my first attempt at portrait carving, this request came from a client who is a European LET professional golfer & she asked if her childrens portraits can be placed on both sides of a scorecard holder - 'so when I'm practising or away from home & marking my score down on the course (good or bad), they will always be with me & put a smile of my face'. Now I'm an ok artist & quite comfortable with portraits with a pencil & sketchpad but this was very different & took me out of my comfort zone, completely different to sketching, next time I would do a couple of things differently, probably less cutting & a bit more tooling. I had a couple of photos sent on email to work with & I think it turned out ok. Client didn't want any colour using, 'just a leather look'. It has 2 large pockets, 1 for a yardage book & the other for own course notes etc. Any tips on portraits would be warmly welcomed