Johanna

I've received a couple of complaints about the speed of the site, and they were usually resolved on the members' end. We are moving the ads to a different server this weekend, and we hope that will speed up the site a bit more. We upgraded the site to get better security, add more features and be able to accommodate all the traffic on the site. We are growing pretty quickly, and I don't know what you mean about "going Wall Street"? To make this site possible, there are bills to pay. Our sponsors are reputable companies with products and services of interest to our members. Between them and the members that really care about LW, we'll be here for a long time to come, sharing education, entertainment and fellowship in Leather Land. Without the financial support of the members and sponsors, we die. Let me know next week if the speed improves for you on your slow connection. We are doing everything we can to improve the performance, and many members have noticed a significant speed-up. (Thanks folks, for writing to let me know it helped!) I'm sorry you feel like we're letting you down- quite the opposite. We're trying to make leather info available to anybody anywhere without turning people away just because they can't pay. Membership here is free because of all the blue, brown & green names you see online and the sponsors at the top of each page. They are the heroes of LW. Johanna

Roz would be proud! Gotta send her a pic of the pizza, Kathy! You win for "most original item made of leather" this month, hands down. Clay, happy happy birthday to you. May you have as many smiles every day this year as you've had this weekend. Johanna

Does it help that we luv ya? {{Drac}} ~J

Tim, my laptop needs one of those. I'm jealous of Mrs. W. (My initials are "JAMS") Love the quilting and the dots. Does it have a tote handle or just the shoulder strap? Very nice basketweave. Clean and nice. Keep tapping! Johanna

Pic fixed. Good info, Ben, thanks! ~J

Yep, that about covers it. I have to show this to Wade. Johanna

LW's friend Jim Simmons has shared another fantastic lesson with us- the California Slim Jim Holster. California Holster Patterns.pdf California Holster Tutorial.pdf Nice, huh? Johanna

Wade took today off, and none of our kids are home so we...ahem...slept in. Thank you RDB!! Posts are gone, spammer deleted. Every now and then one slips by, thank goodness for everyone's help. Johanna

Ray, This is an ambitious project. The guilds here in the US that sponsor shows usually make their money off the raffle table and cross their fingers that enough people get rooms at the venue so the cost of the conference rooms isn't sky high. Nominal charges apply to vendors (you will probably want as many as you can get there) but they can't pay for the show unless they can expect super sales, like Sheridan (which is sponsored by the LC & SJ, not a guild). I would ask vendors for their money up front to be sure they show up. To get participants, you may have enough contacts by word of mouth, but to get attendance you're going to have to advertise somehow and a lot. Depending on attendance, I've seen guilds host shows wind up with a little extra money, break even, or go broke, depending on the organizing and the publicizing of the event. To start a show from scratch, I would ask for sponsors. Do you have a local leather guild or organization to help support your efforts? Competitions are tricky. Assuming you get a fair amount of entries, who will do the judging? I like your ideas for catagories but for a first show you may want to make the leatherworking areas very broad. Having been a judge at many guild shows, I have been forced to compare apples to oranges, and it's better to do that then to cheapen the whole event by handing out ribbons to undeserving pieces. You might want to prepare an objective list of goals that the entry should be judged on. The IFoLG has basic rules like "edges must be finished" etc. The guild shows competitions were originally designed to help the entrants improve. To this day we try to scribe (write down) what was done well, as well as suggestions for improvement. If you try to stay with an educational or fun theme you will be safer than "Best Wallet in the UK", KWIM? LW will of course do whatever it can to get the word out, and you can call or email me any time if I can be of use. I wish I could travel to the UK to help and attend. I would love to visit your country and meet the UK leatherworkers and suppliers. Johanna

Joe, have you tried using Internet Explorer? I had a friend test the uploading on a win 98 in IE and it went fine. I don't know enough about Firefox to be much help there. Johanna

More people will see it here than in the Journal anyway. We'd be honored to publish any of your lessons online. Johanna

PM me your phone number and a good time to call, and I can probably help you get your pics back. Johanna

Hmmm I would think leather would be esier- no customer has to be present, you don't have to care if you're making it hurt, and if you don't like it, you can throw it in the scrap box! LOL That sounds like a good idea, too- personalized leather items to match your tatts or vice versa. Looks sharp- I hope to see more of your work. You should do well. Thanks for sharing! Johanna

Amy and Rubo- I am intrigued. I've been thinking about the potential for this technology since I met Billy 2shews. I never thought much about the market for customer give-aways, dismissing it thinking "plastic is cheaper". But people tend to keep things they perceive as valuable, or find useful and durable, and right there leather fills a niche like no other, and the market certainly expands beyond leatherworkers. If either of you want to donate 10,000 key fobs with the leatherworker banner on them and your "donated by" name and number. to be given to all members who want one, we would be delighted. Maybe some leather folks who run companies would like to have some spiffy things to pass out to school children on tours, business partners and friends, place in trade show baskets, or even bigger projects- new briefcases for everybody! How cool is it to run a leather company and have unique exciting freebies and gifts, custom designed, at affordable prices? Hey best of luck to both of you- I hope you guys all make a go of it. I'd like to see more leather than plastic junk, of course. Looking at what you do opens a whole new dimension using leather. Johanna

Here are some pics of the leather feather demo Jim Linnell did in Cincinnati: http://leatherworker.net/Linnell/index.htm We had a great time- hope your class does too! Johanna

I've seen their products, and they are high quality. Keith has made a point of incorporating his customers' feedback into his designs, and the designs themselves are practical and clean. I think the market will bear the higher price point because it's still cheaper and quicker to buy C-F interiors than to do guts from scratch, and if you are all about quality, you can't use the "standard" crummy insides that have been selling for years at the lower price point. Most of those are so bad you have to do the insides yourself or be embarrassed. Johanna I googled them because I knew they had a link, and the first 5 hits were to LW. This is what we are talking about: http://chaylor.com/

No matter what, when the customer brings you the gun, have him empty it on the table and then check it yourself to be sure it is unloaded. I would definitely have some sort of written agreement spelled out and signed by the customer if the gun were going to be left with me. Johanna

LW once again thanks the very gracious Rosa Zalesak for the pics.

I do some work for a company on Canada. I want paid is USD. What is the easiest way for them to do that? Is PayPal really the best solution? Can their bank write me a check in USD? If I want to send an invoice to Canada, can I just put a first class stamp on it and hope for the best, or does it need special attention at the window? I have a client in Spain that I would like to talk to on the telephone. My Verizon plan assures me there will no charge if I initiate the call on my cellphone. If I call, am I going to cost him money or minutes? He's the type that won't say, even when directly asked. I have company in Australia that I would love to do business with. I can figure out the time thing just fine, but how does one call out of the USA on a landline? I dial "1" before the number to call Denise in Canada, but I know I need a country code or something like that to call Oz or Europe, or at least I think I do. I looked in my phone book (remember those?) for instructions, but apparently my local ISP assumes we will never call anyone further than Toledo. TIA Johanna

You know what caught my eye on your homepage? A flag and "20% discount for military and law enforcement in thanks for service". (I'm paraphrasing, but you get the point.) My late husband was a Virt Nam era Marine, Wade served in the Army. My mom was in the Navy and retired as a Commander. I'm going to support any business that supports the military over one that does not. Nice touch, and thank you for your service, too. Johanna

Guild Display Pics, also courtesy of Rosa:

People Pics