Cecil

Hi Mike - Love the Fish. I would also like to know what you used to get the beilient colors.

Amy: Check the link below. This has a pattern and instructions. It will be a bit tricky getty the measurements from your fathers foot. http://www.btinternet.com/~kingsmerecrafts/page61.html I have found this site to be a very good resource. Follow this link for the Contents page to the site. http://www.btinternet.com/~kingsmerecrafts/Contents.html

I live in florida and we have heat and humidity. I have had problems, with mold, when using a ziplock or plastic bag to store wet leather. The work I do is on smaller pieces, Belts, billfolds etc. I found that wrapping the leather tightly in Plastic Wrap seals it from the air. On a belt I can uncover a section as I work on it and recover it if I don't get the section finished. With this approach I only have to case the belt once and I have had no problem with mold. It may just be my emagination, but the leather seams to behave differently when it is cased this way than with a sponge or spray bottle.

Thanks for the information.

I have never added a leather lining to a belt. Is there a good reference that explains how to do this or can you all give me some guidance.

Keven: These Billfolds were made with the Maverick Wallet Kit (44020-2) from Tandy. Follow the link to see the kit. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/products.asp?dept=342

Thanks for the sugestions. I will try these and see which one works the best.

Amy Belts Are Trickey. This is the most recent animal pattern belt I have done. Check my web site I have done sever others along this line you are describing. I will email you a background pattern and some animal patternss you can use if you want. These may give you some ideas.

I have been using Tandy belt blanks to make belts with. I havn't been able to get a smooth finish on the back side of the belt. I asked the local Tandy store manager and he said to use Fiebing's edge dye and finish. This help but it still doesnt give a polished finish. I have seen some of the other members work, for example Steveb's. And they get a beutiful finish on the back of the belt. How is this done?

Hi helen - your work is great. If you search the forums using the keyword mask you will find some realy good online lessons in leather mask making.

I finished this belt with using blockout on the lions with a light brown antique background.

These are Two new Billfilds. The future owner of the one with Lions has not decided on the prefered finish yet.

Sure beats my Desk.

Amy Thats great, keep at it. The more you do the betteryou will get.

There are a couple of books you may find useful. This is a link to the Tandy leather factory website. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/products.asp?dept=63 If you want to do figure carving there are three books I would reccommend. All them are by Al Stolman. Figure Carving Pictorial Carving Finesse Figure Carving Finesse I also found this to be an instructive website. http://www.btinternet.com/~kingsmerecrafts/Contents.html

The fish is realy great. I just finished a belt buckle with the same large mouthe bass, although I called a cat fish when I posted it. I see several things I can do to iamprove my techue from your posting. Thanks.

This is a link to Rattlesnake Jack's Old West Clip Art Parlour. http://members.memlane.com/gromboug/index.html This site has all kinds of western clip[ art. It also has clip art of many animals and some westen fonts among pther things. If you like the old west or ar looking for patterns from the old west you will enjoy this site.

I am looking for hunting and fishing billfold and belt patterns. Tandy used to have several bu aparently dropped them. Can anyone help me? Heare is a sample of the type of thing I am looking for. My photgraphic skills leave something to be desired.

I just completed this belt buckle. I used Tandy block out for the hoghxlights with medium brown antique finish. What do you thinK? How could I improve it? Is ther any way I can darken some of the ares that have the block-out applied?

This is a little trick I have found. To reuse patterns that are on tracing paper: Copy the pattern onto the tracing paper. Cover both sides of the tracing paper with Scotch or another brand of clear Mailing and Storage Tape. (You may apply several layers.) Hope this is useful.

These are plans for a light box.

I would be interested in downloading them. I could even put them in one or more PDF documents and make them available for download online. Folks wouldn't have to download a bunch of individual files. Provided it is legal.

The best book I have found is Pictorial Carving Finesse by Al Stohlman. There is a companion book Figure carving Finesse and a set of patterns. Follow this link http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/products.asp?dept=63 . Go to the bottom of the page. The other two books are on the next page.

This is a belt I recently made for a friend. See the belt

Hi: I am a new member who has recently retired and has just started doing leather carving again after a 45 year break. This is a belt with big cats that I recently did.