Johanna

Your membership has been validated, so you should able to upload pics. The books, patterns and stamping tools are going to generate the most interest. I'm hoping the experienced members give you an idea of thedollar value of what you have so that you don't take too little $$ for your collection. Good luck, and welcome to LW! Johanna

(Where is the dancing banana when you need him?) Freak- that is WONDERFUL news! Hugs to you and Minnie & S- hope every report from now on is just like that! YAY!!!!! ~J

I live in Ohio. You go south on I75 through Ky and you're in Tennessee. Keep on going, you wind up in Georgia where I have some dear friends. Plus, Randy & Claudia invited me to Nashville. What more reasons could a person need for a roadtrip? ~J

I have no idea what living in England is like, but the Smoky Mountain region is one of the nicest places in the US, and I would move there, given the chance. Winters are mild, summers aren't too hot, the scenery is beautiful and the people are friendly. If you want the property checked out, I will be glad to make a roadtrip recon mission for you. Johanna

Here is a supplier list. Most of the sewing machine companies carry needles and threads in different sizes, including Artisan. Springfield Leather and Hidecrafters also sell needles and thread for hand sewing and for machine stitching (they also carry sewing machines). Perhaps other people will chime in with where they buy their supplies. Johanna

We always stuck to "custom leather"- eliminating the hand (which can signify "not enough money for a machine to do it right") part of the phrase. People were delighted when they booked us for shows that we didn't require any electrical outlets (well, lights helped!) because a mallet was our main tool- no external power required. In the US "craft" carries the connotation "not serious". A crafter is enjoying a hobby, not working at a profession. If I still had a business doing leather, I would call myself a "custom leatherworker", meaning I can fix your saddle or make you a belt. Whether I use machinery or electrical tools then becomes irrelevant. Johanna

Would this be the Jason that did the targe patterns some years back? I am sorry, your name escapes me, if I am thinking of the right person. Congratulations! I have a friend in Plymouth who will be glad to drive yo your store, and I'll be sure to tell her. Johanna

Yep- you may even want to go into the control panel> device manager and uninstall the touchpad, reboot and reinstall the drivers. But do what Dave said first. IE isn't so bad, though I can't say I see big improvements with IE8 here. Johanna

I'm gonna miss you, but that sounds like a dream vacation, and I hope you have a wonderful time. I'm glad you let us know so we didn't get the FBI looking for you after a few days. Don't do anything I wouldn't, okay? Johanna

If your customer takes an old belt that they wear and that fits, and measures from the fold where the buckle hole is to the hole they use for the buckle, you will have an accurate measurement to work with. That number becomes your center hole. I usually go 2 up and 2 down to give them a little "wiggle room". Womens pants will vary by style, so the belt might be at the natural waist or right at the hips, and there can be quite a few inches of difference, depending on the woman and the pants. It's got to be frustrating trying to work without being able to do your own measuring. People either lie or get it wrong. I've had customers insist on a size, I've measured them and shown them the correct size and they have argued with me. If in doubt, I would make the belt too long. You can always shorten it, but you can't make it longer. Johanna

I never heard of him, so I sent him an invitation to look at the site and join us for coffee. Monty- if you see this, glad you stopped by! Johanna

On your website you could put a "sign up for our newsletters here!" and when they fill it out you have permission to email them. As keeper of the world's largest leather mailing list, I would not sell, trade, or lose LW's list, or use it w/o conductiing LW official business. Definitely put a "unsubscribe" feature on the emails for the people who don't want to receive the extra mail any more. Check out a newsletter service (Topica is a big one) to make it easier on yourself and help you get through the spam filters with a multi-address mailing. People are funny about email. They will throw away 2 pounds of garbage the postman brought, and complain bitterly about an email that takes one click to delete. Johanna

I was poking around on Kevin's website when I ran into this FAQ sheet. Being an ex Tandy manager, and having visited Kevin's store, I snorted coffee out my nose laughing so hard. Kevin's been around a long time and has probably heard every question a thousand times. And no, he doesn't sell any magic products you saw on TV that are going to iron your couch back together when your pit bull has shredded it. He is not going to encourage you to try to dye your sun faded leather seats in your car. But people are going to do it anyway! I've seen them completely disregard expert advice (I wouldn't stick that suede jacket in the dryer, honey!) and they get stuck on an idea (I can microwave my leather to dry it out!) Here is the Stump the Chump FAQ from Kevin Hopkins, Springfield Leather Company, Springfield MO. Johanna

The person on the billiards forum is just jealous. For example, LW is also a team effort. Just because my name appears as "admin" does not mean I do all the work or take the credit, just the blame. You were right to sign your name to the case- it's YOUR team that built it. Having your chief tooler sign his too shows your (the leader's) respect and adds value for the eventual customer. Don't let them drag you down, John. Your makers stamp was appropriate (after all, who sold and who funded this adventure?) and well within standard craftsman practices. Sounds like you ran into a troll on the billiard forum. Johanna

John, that is one good looking cue case! I especially want to thank you for introducing us to your team. We are fans of your whole team, and we love seeing what you folks are doing. Thank you for sharing! Please tell them all that we appreciate the hard work and skill that goes into their creations, and that they rock, however you say that in Chinese idiom. Johanna

Okay, fly into Billings, rent a car, go to Sheridan. Now I gotta find the money. Doggone details! ~J

Leatherlady.net is the umbrella for LW and all its sister sites. Kate and I decided that if we were going to do ads, we were going to have our own ad server and host it ourselves, because, hey, you all know what can happen when you type "leather" into a search of anything. We decided against third-party ad servers, and are counting on our friends with trusted and reputable companies to want space. Please keep giving Kate and me feedback- we're trying to make sure we have everything in order. Thanks, Johanna

Okay, I'm thinking about going. What airport is best to fly to? Looks like Denver is still quite a ways from Sheridan. Help me out here, locals! I thought about driving, but Google is saying it's about 1200 miles. one way. Johanna

Kate and I are experimenting with the new ad server. Tandy and Artisan didn't mind being beta-testers. I will post more info as I figure it out. Johanna

Pics don't do this justice. I took a close up of the tail swirlies. Wade picked it up and said, "How did he get his makers mark on the back?" I said, "It's two pieces of leather, back to back." Wade looked at it closely under the light. The edges are so well burnished you can't really see where one leather stops and the other starts. Burnished holster style like that, no one would know it was two pieces of leather unless, like Wade, they thought, "Hmmm...why is there no flesh side?" So somebody get Bob to explain his burnishing technique, because it's very good, as well as all those perfect swivel knife cuts. Wow. Johanna

This was a gift from our Hidepounder, who knew I admired his entries in the recent Leather Wranglers finger cut contest. I have to show this off, and I will always treasure it! Thank you, HP! You are a sweetie and a star! Johanna

It's easier to upload an avatar. They have to be 150K or less- the forum will automatically resize it for you. Joe- let me know if I can help somehow. Johanna

The key to embroidery or beading or even sewing leather is to place the holes correctly. With leather, you only get one chance to get it right. Once the hole is in the leather, you're committed. What did you think of sewing designs with the Toro? Johanna

Anne- I'm not seeing any pics associated with this thread on my end, and no one else is having any problems. It seems to be your computer? Why don't you try again? Johanna

Allan- you did a great tutorial! Send me the original pics by email ( admin@leatherworker.net ) and I will upload the larger pics so everyone can see the detail easily. I'm not seeing any larger versions of the pics on my end, so I'm guessing the forum reduced the small pics even smaller. And folks- be easy- Allan is one of the best stampers ever, but the computer is relatively new to him. I give him a great big gold star for trying, and I hope you folks didn't discourage him from trying again! Johanna