MonicaJacobson

Cool, Chris. Looks smooth.

TheLoudOne - I wish I could work that fast. Nice work, especially in that limited time. texback - thanks for the tip! That's a great idea, and will probably come in on a regular basis.

Ridiculously nice.

Looks cool! Love the tooling.

Nice, Rosemary, I love the outside textured look. Also, the wrapover with snaps. Your interior is way better than mine. In fact, I'm just learning interiors, so it's nice seeing what everybody has done with them.

By the way, TRH, I meant to comment on your sunburst purple wallet - super cool. We took a leaf from your book and went over the whole smudged inside of mine last night. I also like that you made the inside large piece black and pigskin. Gave some variation in texture. Here's the insides of mine after the sunburst job (compliments of luthier husband who has been dying to sunburst something). It's weirdly textured because of the Aussie we dyed over. I know... silly us.... but I kind of like the texture, and the dye isn't coming off.

Thanks, Chris and Tom - I cut them individually - it took a long time. I'm not sure how often I'd do it. Charlie, the croc print looks classy on the inside of yours. Takitty, you're pictures are too small, we can't see the details at all.

Thanks guys! I'd never tried a sunburst before, so that was fun. Brian, I used only one coat of resolene (with a paintbrush over just the dragon), and actually went over it afterwards and shaded it with yellow and a light coat of red. I don't actually have any resist, but if I were serious about resisting, I would do 2-3 coats of resolene, I guess. If I understood what you were asking..

Well... Mine is as done as it's going to get this month, though I wouldn't say it's *finished*, exactly. I should have resolened the inside - I did Aussie it, but I guess that wasn't enough protection - I got black smears all over it. Darn it. So. I'm considering sunbursting the inside with the airbrush my husband bought yesterday.

I think it's nice. Very clear instructions and order form, and very clear examples of what you make.

Here's a pic of a couple of my favorite freebies Ray sent me. Really cool stuff. Thanks Ray!

Very nice, love all the colors and all the nice details!

Ha, that's awesome!

Looks great - I love the dye job and contrast.

Yeah.. like me. Just finished what I was working on, so I can finish my wallet. I had cut it out of ... yeah... 4 oz. chrome tanned, because that's what I had... but it was obviously going to be way too thick, even without cards, so I need to cut out the inside again out of some thinner veg tan I just acquired. I'm enjoying seeing all the cool variations people are coming up with!

Let us know what you come up with. It's a great idea, but seems like you'd have to pay a lot...

Wow, that's ridiculous. Must have taken practically forever. Congrats!

Hey, S.A. - Lots of leather on there. There are so many colors, it really gets distracting. I felt compelled to skip past all the listings with the four or six panels of colors, and only really focused on the pictures that were up close, like the yellow frog pattern, the top grain picture, and the embossed leather panel on the second page. Maybe you should consider using only texture pictures for the icon and include pictures of all the colors maybe in the listing. You could also expand your sections part to include "embossed", "exotic leathers", etc. Maybe even "geometric patterns" as well. Anything to narrow it down from too much leather to see details.

I give things to friends and family, sometimes, but I've never sold anything to friends and family. I know they can't afford it, and I know they shouldn't afford it; sometimes people shouldn't pay for luxuries. If a friend or family member wants a deal, I say, "okay, come make it with me." I'll make them do all the work, and they learn the true value of the product. It's always hard to turn down a friend, but it's important. Word of mouth gets around, and eventually you're working a lot of hours a week, and usually are out of pocket. And they genuinely think they're doing you a favor. The fact is, if it's handmade, the average American is not your client base. So don't feel bad for losing their custom, because you were never trying to court that customer base anyway.

Very nice, Ray! They're all very cool. They should be on backpacks, bags, or something!

Very, very nice for your 3rd project. What Eccho said, but with what you're doing already, it shouldn't take long.

Cool stuff, I like how your style is very distinctive.

Very nice, and the braiding looks sweet, as usual.