hobbihorse

Thanks Tramp. Van Gogh sold one painting in his lifetime...named the Red Vineyard at Arles...but your point is well taken! BTW, what is your ride? Besides the 4-legged kind, my other horse is a 2000 Harley Road.Glide with killer flames on the fairing, tank and fenders.

I'm a country girl from California! I grew up in a rural community, and my first exposure to leather tooling was admiring the leathercraft projects created by my 4-H "horse project" leader. The beautiful things he made seemed magical. I never dreamed it was something I could ever do myself. Forward clock 45 years (give or take), and I was still admiring tooled leather. I purchased a gorgeous vintage tooled purse at a thrift store, and hung it on my wall as artwork so I could admire it daily. For my 53rd birthday, my hubby bought me a beginners Tandy leathercraft kit, and I haven't stopped tooling since. As I mentioned in my profile, he claims that gift turned out to be the most expensive present ever, cause I wanna spend lotsa $$ for tools, stamps, leather, and other pricey supplies (U know what I mean!!) . The first year I just made stuff for friends and family as gifts cause I didn't think anyone would want to buy my stuff. After nearly 15 months of experience under my belt, they are now making requests! Hubby says (and rightfully so) I have to start recuping my expensenses! I think that is a hard transition, cause I still fight the feeling that I'm not good enough to sell my work. Any advice from fellow LWN members about how to deal with such feelings would be appreciated. I posted some of my first year projects on my profile gallery. I think this is the link: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?app=gallery&user=43733.

Nice collar Spence! Thanks for sharing. I purchased a snake skin several weeks ago, but haven't mustered the courage to try an inset yet. The skin is "puckered" and does not lay flat. I wet it to flatten it, but it dried all "puckery" again. Any words of advice?

Don't limit yourself to just "Leathercraft" patterns. I just did a quick internet search and found American Indian portrait patterns to purchase (so no prob with copyright infringement) in other crafts such as scroll saw, wood burning and even cross stitching! Check out the cover of the "Wild West" scroll saw pattern book.