Colt W Knight

I use a concave setter and anvil that support the heads on those jiffy rivets.

Do you have the anvil and setter tool?

Its never came off my guitar straps, but I apply mine with an airbrush to get nice thin layers. Thick layers of anything are more prone to chip and crack. And unlike alcohol based dyes, it doesn't harden veg tan leather.

Angelus leather paint is made for customizing tennis shoes. You can look up a ton of videos on youtube about sneakers. You can brush it on.

If you want bright/brilliant colors, you can airbrush Angelus acrylic leather paints onto the leather.

Lots of them for sale online, but I don't know if they are drop shipped or in stock. The ones on Amazon and several sewing supply sites look a little pricey at 1500-1700$

I forgot who made it too, and had to look it up again. You can also order cutting board material in large sheets or different thicknesses from McMaster-Carr

You can contact the manufacturer http://www.induscousa.com/cuttingpadapps.htm

I use cheap yellow synhetic sponges that are cheap. Cut them up as I see fit.

Strap end punch would do that easily if I understand correctly what you are doing

Everything I've tried has just made it uglier not lighter

My daily use mouse pad is one I made with ~8-10 oz vegtan with a picture of my fiancé tooled on it. I glued on a wool felt back, and stitched around the edge. Shows no sign of wear after 3 years of use. I use it with a balless mouse If you buy felt, I recommend getting wool felt from a fabric store by the yard. Wool felt wont fuzz out bad like the inexpensive polyester felts

These are those walmart acrylics These are angelus

Yeah burnish first. I top coat after applying the acrylic because it evens out the sheen. That way you don't have gloss paint and satin leather.

Before buying angelus stuff, I was using acrylics from Walmart that were less than a dollar a bottle. They worked fine, just a lot more effort than angelus

Color is always the last thing I do, I don't want to stamp something then realize I need to touch up around the impression because it's extremely difficult to go back over something and get it to match unless it's usmc black.

Color is always the last thing I do, I don't want to stamp something then realize I need to touch up around the impression because it's extremely difficult to go back over something and get it to match unless it's usmc black.

I have succescully used acrylic paints bought from hobby stores to paint leather. They need to be thinned and mixed with some distilled water to get the best result, and Ive always had to apply at least 3 coats. That being said, Angelus paints are far superior and well worth the price.

I don't have a multistep approach to punches. I just keep my punches sharp, and place the leather on top of something firm but wont damage the punch. One good whack, and I get clean punched holes every time. On thick leather, I poke the punch into a slab of beeswax to prevent it from getting stuck.

This ^ In my experience, you will want that the full size 441 clone that will sew a full 7/8" thick leather. Holsters can get thick quick, and having a machine that is too small will limit what you can do.

Something that you might try is putting some resist over the green and applying some black antique to really make those scales pop.

Your simple handbag is way more intricate and complicated than the purses I make. I would like to see your not so simple bags.

That does sound annoying, I like using the individual CS Osborne punches. I don't like the screw in things because they seem to unscrew when I don't expect it. They don't come sharp, but they do a good job once sharpened. My Tandy punches fell apart after sharpening. I think only the very tips were hardened.

My grand mother sent me a nice birthday card, and she said how much she enjoyed watching my leatherwork on facebook, so I decided I would make her something. She recently went to Africa on mission work, a life long dream of hers, and she connected with a Baobab tree in Malawi. I choose some leather I had on hand that looked like an elephant ( to me at least) and tooled a scene of a Baobab tree on the front. I wish I had done a better job stitching the front flap. Ive made a couple of these types of purses, and I just haven't figured out how to stitch that part yet. The differing thickness and types of leather coupled with the drag and awkwardness of maneuvering the purse make stitching that part rough. I have a new construction idea I am going to try on the next one.