Johanna

I use my deadblow for pounding down stitching or lacing. Since the surface is much smoother than my rawhde mallets, there is less of a chance of marring the surrounding leather. When stamping, sometimes it helps to give the stamp a little whack, then carefully position the stamp in the little grooves you just made, and hit it again, much more forcefully. That cuts way back on the bounce because the stamp is seated before the strike. I set hardware with a heavier maul. Now that I'm thinking about it, I'm not sure why, it was just the way I was shown. Johanna

http://leatherworker.net/Sheridan08/index.htm Thanks ClayB for sharing your pics!

Gee...I wonder if Buckeye Leathercrafters would mind if I listed these on their website? Glad you're on the ball Brent! ~J

Johanna pours Ed a tall stiff drink and gazes fondly at her hammer & flat iron collection.

new website for Dennis Lane and David Morris: http://dennislane.com.au Mail can also be sent to Dennis and David by the board via PM. Johanna

I removed Ms. Hudgins' email and phone number from her email above, (I don't want her to collect inadvertent spam!) so please post your thoughts and ideas here, and I will make sure she gets them. Thanks for your help, folks! Johanna

If you raise an arm with two fingers up, all the Girl Scouts know to be quiet, and they raise their arm with the signal, too and get quiet. I wish there were something similar in Boy Scouts- if there is, I don't know the signal. Johanna

Little Jon loved woodgrain because you could quickly fill in a large area. He used a swivel knife for the cuts. Knotholes and nails are only limited by your imagination. He made this one for me the Christmas before we married, and joked that he would add another letter to my initials. Johanna

45 is a pretty big group to work with at one time. Organization will help. Make sure you have the tools sorted and laid out before they come in. I like the idea of splitting them into smaller groups. If the space is small and noisy, limit them to one mallet per table. Assign older girls with younger ones in each group. Before you get started, do a dramatic intro. Get their attention. If they are using wooden mallets, you hit the demo piece with your 20lb. maul. If you don't have enough alphabet sets for each table/group, give the younger girls 3D stamps only. Letters aren't very easy for newbies to line up, and some girls might not like "mistakes". Also, you are really lucky that these are girls. Boys will convert hammers to weapons and implements of destruction, but girls have a longer attention span. Smart move having the snaps pre set, too. It will lessen the frustration. Girl Scouts all have leaders- make sure you enlist their help to make things go smoothly. Last, but not least- tell all the girls if they like leatherwork to check out leatherworker.net on their computers, and give them directions to their nearest Tandy store. Better to be addicted to pounding cow than other teenage temptations. You are doing a good thing spreading the fun, helping your mother and introducing the girls to the joy of the craft. When it's all over with, put your feet up and enjoy a refreshing libation. You will have earned it. Johanna

iespell is my favorite. The Google toolbar also offers some spell check options. Johanna

Too bad you are so far away...I have several children I could lend you. Kids' heads are usually bigger in proportion to their bodies anyway- couldn't you just scale down a design on a regular adult head? I'm looking forward to seeing your design. Johanna

Closing this topic. Johanna

I'm not going to pretend to discuss sewing machines intelligently, but I can say that Artisan has exceptional customer service. In the last two years I have read many posts praising the staff at Artisan from people satisfied with their purchase. Frankly, I think this post is a little suspicious too, and I would ask the OP to please provide an example or a specific reason for "name-calling" or this thread will be closed per forum rules. In the meantime, I'm letting it be for the reason Kevin pointed out- the members of this board are obviously pleased with Artisan and will set the record straight. Johanna

If you have the time Regis, that might help to know when it quit. I can check the admin logs. Thanks! ~J

I tried it too, didn't work for me either. I don't know why it isn't working, or if it ever did work. I don't even remember using that function before the board crashed, so I don't know when it broke. Thanks for letting me know. I'll try to figure out the fix. Johanna

I would get a small bucket and a couple drops of Dawn and wash it with a cloth. After that, I would use white vinegar undiluted on any stubborn spots. The sunshine will kill any remaining mold spores that want to grow again- but you know not to leave it out too long so the leather doesn't dry out. Since it is latigo, you can be a little more aggressive with the cleaning. If it were veggie tan, I would try to get by without the Dawn (it will slightly dry it out). When in doubt (and I haven't seen it, smelled it or touched this hide so I'm guessing here) try cleaning an inconspicuous place first. Let us know what you do and how it turns out. Good luck, Wolvie! Johanna

I've collected some neat pics for my screensaver from Wunderground. You can see the pics I have uploaded (mostly of the Miami Erie Canal) from this link I really enjoy touring the world on this site. People share their travels and town histories with the pics. Thanks for posting that link, Ben. I enjoyed looking at all the pics and snagged a few more for my screensaver (15,000+ pics and growing! ) Johanna

Use the "delete the cookies from this board" down on the main page, right hand side towards the bottom. Close IE and try it again. Let me know if you still have problems, and I'll zap your account. Johanna

That's mildew. Wash it with white vinegar and let it dry in the sun only as long as it takes to dry. The leather is probably just fine. Mildew comes from storing leather in damp places. Johanna former resident of Macon, home to mold and mildew they haven't made names for yet...

If anyone wants to throw a few bucks in the coffee kitty "just because" (THANK YOU rdb!!) click "My Controls" and "Purchase Paid Subscription". It costs about $60 a month in webhosting fees for this site and the chat room, and we are evaluating software for purchase to let us expand our services. Currently Contributing Members get extra PM storage space, the ability to post more and bigger pics and a warm fuzzy feeling knowing they are supporting this site. All money donated to this site goes back into this site- no one, not even hard working Kate, gets a salary. Shoot, we can't even do t-shirts! But we depend on people's generosity to pay the bills, and we appreciate everyone that is willing to help. Johanna

Well, I smoked two cigarettes on Friday...and one yesterday, but none today. I keep telling myself, "I'm not smoking NOW." because I can't think too far ahead or I get overwhelmed. I used to smoke a pack or two a day, so I guess 3 or 4 individual cigarettes a week is a big improvement, but I'm not where I want to be yet, which is 100% quit. For 30 years it's been more than a habit, it's almost a lifestyle. This lady at church came up to me today and said, "I'm so glad you quit...blah blah blah..." and it turns out she is allergic to smoke, so what I thought was just her being kinda snooty was really that she couldn't stand to be around me because I stunk. I've been stinking for years. (I think my kids tried to tell me that, too!) So I'm doing okay, but not totally there yet. Thanks everyone for the encouragement. Johanna

Chuck Stormes in The Eclectic Horseman The Tree The Seat The Rigging

I split this informative thread into two topics in order to keep Jennifer's original post and questions on track. The rest of the topic is here: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=2913 Johanna

The forum is set to not let quotes exceed 3 sets, so the layout of the board doesn't break. Are you saying you are needing that number adjusted upward for PMs? Johanna

email them to me, please, Wolvie! admin@leatherworker.net THANKS Johanna