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The little spray thing may work but it would be difficult to get an even covering with it. You can get cheap single action airbrushes at Bunnings and Hobby shops that are about $15.00 that run on compressed air cans which would be our eqivalent to the preval sprayer. I'm not sure if Bunnings sell the air cans anymore though, the airbrushes are normally kept in the tool section. Clair

Thanks for the link Mike there is some great stuff there. Cheers, Clair

I came across this site where they mention where they sometimes colour their items (notebook covers) with a mix of Leather Dye and Lightfast Drawing Ink. I guess it's to try and make the dye more lightfast or for more custom colours. They don't say what brands they are using but there aren't that many lightfast drawing inks around the only ones I know of are DR PH Martins Bombay Ink and Art Spectrum Ink which is more of a thin acrylic like FW Artist Acrylic rather than a true ink and I don't think Art Spectrum is available outside of Australia anyway. So has anyone tried it or heard of it before ? Cheers, Clair

I use epson printers I'm sure some of the other brands are very good as well but that is all I've used, I don't know too much about the smaller machines they put out the ones I use are A0 size. But to get a decent quality you want to look for a printer that has pigment ink I think for the smaller Epsons they use Ultracrome K3 or Durabrite Ink. Most have swapped to pigment ink but dye based ones are still available so check just to make sure. The other brands will also have pigment ink printers. The paper I used was Doubleweight 160gm matte paper but this was in roll form and I'm not sure if it comes in sheet form for the smaller printers. For laminating I used 80 micron in business card size which can be trimmed to make them them look neater the laminating machine needs to be run a bit hotter for these than the usual A4 sheet. If you need to buy this equipment though it's not really going to be cheaper my laminating comments were more for someone who already has the equipment and for any more than twenty five cards at a time it's not really worth doing it this way. The printer I use is also able to cut and the smaller machines definately won't have this feature. If you want to do changes to your cards frequently and only want to print twenty five or so at a time it may be a feasible way to do it though. Hope this helps a bit Cheers, Clair

No worries Ken I do get what you mean I just find it funny now that what I printed for my sister might be concieved as homemade the printer I used won't fit through a normal doorway and takes four people to lift it. Cheers, Clair

No problem Ray, I'm sorry if I jumped off the handle a bit, today wasn't going to be a happy day I had a funeral to attend midday for a dear friend/workmate who had been with the company for 10 years and Kens above comment got my back up this morning. I probably do have access to better graphics equipment than the average leatherworker as that is my profession and not leatherwork at the moment. But for others just starting out a simple card with coloured fonts on a plain white background laminated can look neat and tidy. I look at this way what if the leatherworker has been a hobbyist and wants to move into paid work but has forgotton to take photos of their work. When they look at the work again they realise that they are alot better now or the items have become worn and wouldn't photograph well anyway. So with a tight budget to get started should they buy some leatherwork supplies or business cards, what are they going to do when a potential customer asks to see samples of their work umm sorry I dont have any but please come and look at my many business cards. I know I wouldn't buy from anyone until I had seen a sample of their work and I guess many others here would be the same. I think you are probably past this category now Ray and should go for a print shop where volume is likely to be a higher priority, I haven't used Moo myself but it was recommended to me by an animator friend who has been most happy with their cards so I don't know what their complete service is like but after looking at the finished cards I found them to be off equal quality to a print shop. But I think it's best that you check out their quality yourself as only you will know if you will be happy with them or not. As for tips what do you want to convey work that out first before you start to design, sorry if that sounds simplistic but that is how I start every design brief. Again I am sorry if anyone took offence to my previous post but as you have read it had been a trying day and I didn't take Kens comment the best. Best wishes, Clair

Well I'm glad that worked out for you for you my sister needed twenty cards for the twenty shops she dealt with as that is all there is in Perth for the type of business she was in. You also don't know that I am a professional graphic designer/illustrator with actual formal training oh my and have access to professional quality large format printers which these cards were printed on so before you scream homemade at me perhaps you should of found out some more information first. For even more information the cards were laminated for extra durability as the shops they were going into have wet enviroments.Even if they weren't printed on these machines laminating does bring them up a notch on normal printers and for people just starting out this maybe an option for them until they can afford your "professionally done". You don't know everyones circumstances and I don't think there is any need to be judgemental if someone does have to start out the cheaper way. In regards to Moo many professional business's use their service including award winning photographers so perhaps a visit to their website should be in order before you scream cheap at them as well. Have a nice day Clair

laminating you inkjet/laser business cards also works wonders I made my sisters cards this way as she only needed a few at a time. Another online print place is www.moo.com which I've heard good things about. Cheers, Clair

Woo hoo finally have got the full set and at 1980's prices as well, went into the other leather store in Perth city that I had forgotton about (last time I was there I got some young girl who didn't know what the hell I was talking about). But yesterday I was in luck and actually got to talk to the owner who was a lovely old gentleman and he had all of them tucked away up the back of the shop. I couldn't believe it when he pulled them out and they had the same price writing on them that some of the ones my sister gave me had. He said that I was the first person to ask for stamps in quite a few years and he seemed quite chuffed about it. I think another trip might be in order now as I wished I had written down what other stamps I needed as he seemed to have a fairly good selection and there were all 70's 80's stuff. Cheers, Clair

Jade if you are in Sydney try Birdsall Leather they will have what you are looking for, It will be expensive to ship leather from America. Also just wondering where did you get the horse hide from as there aren't many places in Oz that stock it. Cheers, Clair

Ross, Johanna could put in the code to stop right clicking but it won't stop it why because everyones computer has a print screen button which gets around it. The best thing everyone can do is watermark their photos and if they have Photoshop to fill out the image details section (other programs might have this as well). Put your watermark copyright details across the middle of the photo if it's on the borders it's easier to crop out, this will stop most of the casual thieves for the others you want to make it as hard as possible for them to remove the copyright info ie put watermarks in that only you know where they are and keep a written record of it. Also when taking photos take additional photos of the background without the product and with your makers mark or unique objects that you own. Any additional stuff is always a help if you have a case like this with a photo thief. Clair

Thanks Caroline, I'd forgotten about Maclace. Cheers, Clair

I haven't used antique before and would like to try it on my next project so I was just wondering what are you other Aussies using for an antique. A quick search around our local leather shops hasn't turned up much apart from Birdsall that looks to stock some sort of liquid stuff going by the pic on the website. Is this what everyone is using or are you importing the water based stuff from overseas. Thanks for any help Cheers, Clair

Holly you might want to check out this software http://www.hypatiaso...KnotsBag_A.html I think I've mentioned it here before buts it's recently been updated to version 2 and is alot easier to use. I payed the $20 so I could export to Illustator it can be a bit buggy but for for $20 I think it's worth it the developer is very helpful if you have any questions. I am in no way associated with them I just found it easier to use than the various fonts that are around for developing celtic themed artwork. Cheers, Clair

Gill, I've played around with Dylon and Rit as well and I think there are a couple of threads still around where I mention it. Out of the two Rit was better colour wise and like others have said the Dylon was only really good for pastel shades keep in mind though that I was using it for colouring figure carvings and not dipping it although I did dip a few small pieces when I first started experimenting with it and the colour didn't dry anymore intense than brushing it on. I gave up on it and Rit as the results were pretty inconsistent between the packets even on the same hide. I used both plain water and Metho and the colours came out the same with both. Clair

Just about out of supplies so thought I should actually get my act together before I completely run out, I tried the place in Sydney and they never got back to me. So I sent one overseas company an email and they said they can ship them by International Priority Mail so would that be Air mail and if it is I thought you couldn't send spirit dyes by air (everywhere else I've found that stocks them said they can't on their websites). I specifically asked if they could be sent as they were spirit based and that I had read their shipping restrictions page and even though they weren't listed I wanted to make sure. So I was just wondering has anyone else ordered Angelus dyes from overseas it's just I don't want to have any hassle with customs or the postage company if it's something that definately shouldn't be sent by air and they may not of been declared properly. Thankyou for any help Cheers, Clair

Wow love the colouring on this Noah very nice. Cheers, Clair

If anyone else is interested in this sort of carving method you might want to check out this artist http://www.karaginther.com/ Cheers, Clair

Wow that come up really nice Kate, I like nice and bright your customer will definately be pleased with that. It does seem to be cheaper for us Aussies to send overseas. Not sure who you are going to use but I've never had any problems when packages from the US have been sent by USPS. If you are sending to the West Coast definately don't use UPS they aren't the most helpful as there isn't an actual office here and you get sent on a wild goose chase if a problem occurs, should be fine for the East Coast though. Did some testing with the silicone and it's the same as liquid latex doesn't turn it grey but it does make it go darker and doesn't let the dye go on properly. I also tryed cleaning it with deglazer and the dye went on better but the dye came out a different shade compared to unsiliconed leather. I will probably do some more testing in the future with some different types of silicone designed for skin but that will have to wait until I finish these projects off.

Thanks Kate, thats what we call liquid latex in oz, I've used alot of it to make molds (which I hate doing cause they take so long compared to silicone) the only other stuff is dipping or balloon latex which would be too runny to do any sort of masking with it. I might try some fast setting silicone I've taken impressions off sealed leather before and that worked without pulling any of the finish off so it might be worthwhile to see how a natural piece goes and to also see if it's able to be dyed afterwards. I'm finishing off a mold tommorrow so I will do some tests I've only got long set silicone at the moment but it should give me an idea whether it will work or not. If not the self adhesive label might be the way to go I've got access to a small vinyl cutter so some testing on that might be in order. Cheers, Clair

Wow that's coming along really nicely Kate, thankyou for showing the steps and I can't wait to see it all dyed up. I'm interested to know the answer to Schnos question as well I've read on the forum before that you have used liquid latex but when I tried that it turned the leather a funny grey colour and wouldn't dye properly. The latex did have a strong amnonia smell and was oldish (was left over from a mold I was making a year ago ) so if you still do use liquid latex is there a certain brand that you use. Cheers, Clair

Finally got around to seeing it today I absolutely loved it my husband and son raved about it as well. Only saw the normal version though as I tend feel quite sick after watching 3D movies.

I want to do some press molding and was just wondering if anyone knows where I can buy Gum rubber sheet in Australia, my local rubber suppliers in West Oz only sell it in cord form or in huge industrial quantity rolls and that is only the thin stuff. I think I can order it from Mcmaster in America but I expect the postage cost will be high so I would like to try and get it more locally if possible. Thankyou for any help Cheers, Clair

Definately sounds strange, in Oz if somewhere is getting closed the police and baliff are usually the ones to attend.

They look really nice, my son would love something similiar for his Nerf gun foam bullets. I'm not sure if I should show him though as the pestering would be non stop.