Johanna

Mark, that is what I've been trying to do with LW- bring customers and sellers together. Maybe you and I should pool our resorces and come up with some plans to help all leatherworkers and their related vendors. I think we'll do more working together, you have the expertise, I have the contacts and webspace. This site is all about keeping people from having to get day jobs. It's why I encourage them to fill out their profile- Google really does love this site. Would it help you to see site stats? tell me what email you prefer in a PM. Johanna

I fixed these pics- made them bigger and took off the writing that was there by mistake. Enjoy! http://leatherworker.net/ifolg08OHIO/index.htm Guild display room pictures, Columbus Ohio 2008 Johanna

This pic is about two years old-but it's the whole family except for Wade's oldest son Travis who was living in Florida then. These are my kids to John Henry- Jane & Jack. Here's Wade and me...why this man puts up with me I'll never know, but I am grateful! This is Wade and our grandaughter Olivia. She's perfect, of course. When she's not, we can give her back to her parents. Perfect. Johanna

The piece has to be made in between the shows, and have no sign or use or wear. You can enter yourself in any division, but remember the competition part? The reason for the automatic bump is so that people don't always try to enter in a lower division than they belong in. If Chan Geer or someone entered Open every year, well, people would get discouraged! If you want to enter in the Masters Division, you can, but you may want to hang out in Advanced for another year. I think once you are in the Masters, you are there for life, until you take up pottery. Scroll down this page- there are two pages of IFoLG rules and suggestions. http://www.leatherworker.net/tipstricks.htm Because leatherworking itself is so diverse, the artists come from such a variety of backgrounds, and the community itself is rather small, judges have the right to make up rules as they go along. Ask Roz. Seriously, if you make something so unique you are afraid there could be a misunderstanding, include a note for the judging teams. It will be considered. There is a certain amount of flexibility built into the rules, and has to be- because of that apples and oranges thing. How can you say Jim's braiding is "better" than Kathy's yak-mule? Just making up an example off the top of my head. Also, after you've been doing this for awhile, you know this guy's work from this one's from the other side of the room, and they are both technically perfect, just two different styles. The judges do the best they can under the circumstances, and it is as fair as it can be. If they don't think an entry deserves a ribbon, they don't award one either. So if there is only one entry in a category,and it isn't good enough, it doesn't get a thing. When you take a ribbon home from the IFoLG, you earned it, fair and square. Johanna

John, when you get your entry back there will be a tag with the comments from the judges. You did win, by the way, but I can't remember where you placed. I just remember poking my husband in the ribs at the banquet saying "That's the Wild Irish Rose!" and he just gave me a blank look because he had no idea what I was talking about. When people who go to the show get their critiques, they can either open them and let others see what the judges said, or leave them stapled shut, or open them and stick them in their pocket. It's bad manners to open someone's tag w/o permission. The next show is in Indianapolis next fall, but some guilds do have regional events. Those shows are not Federation sponsored, but it's the same crowd. This past Spring Calumet put on a show in Michigan City, Indiana. The Federation shows can only be entered by members of guilds that belong to the IFoLG, guild shows are usually have open competition. There are three classes of competition- Masters, Advanced and Open. When you start racking up certificates and awards, you get automatically moved to the next highest category. In guild and Federation shows, the host guild has the final say on everything. Hope that answered some questions. What did you enter? Maybe it will jog my brain? Johanna

On any other forum this topic would have been closed about 30 posts ago, but the sad thing is that everyone agrees that the best qualified people to lead the country cannot be persuaded to step out of the private sector. There is no incentive, unless you like taking severe pay cuts, the total loss of you and your family's privacy and having to schmooze for your entire career. My dad called me up and said, "Guess what? You're just like Sarah Palin! Except youdon't have your own float plane. You didn't win a beauty pageant. You don't know how to ski or gut a moose..." Um, Dad, I've never been to Alaska or Idaho either. Johanna

I did notice that Tina entered in "Open". Thankfully, there are rules about entering too low, and if you don't move yourself up, they bump you up involuntarily. The Peoples Choice Award and the Best of Show were the same project, also entered in the Open category. (The dolls in the rocker- even the "wooden" floor was made of leather) Lonestar leather Guild won the traveling trophy. The revolving leather globe was a nice touch! The tables seemed a bit bare his year- usually Bluegrass Guild and Central Indiana can be counted on to put up a good fight! I didn't go to the raffles, but I wish there had been more of them. It's hard for guilds to make expenses without raffle donations and ticket sales. It was great to meet some new folks, put faces to familiar folks and say Hi to old friends. People seemed to have heard of LW, and they said nice things about the site. Maybe a few will get home and look us up? The BLCO made a cd of the winning entries with their ribbons and makers, done by a professional photographer. When it is available, I will put it on the Buckeye site. They did an outstanding job hosting the show- every detail was well thought out, and the hospitality was extraordinary. What a grwat group of leatherworkers we have in Leather Land. More pics are coming, I have to clear out my camera. Johanna

The only guild I'm familar with in your part of the world is: Association of New Zealand Leathercrafters Sue Nelson, President 14 Avonhead Road Christchurch, New Zealand I will ask around at the show this weekend. Johanna

Shelly- I don't ride horses, so I can't offer an educated opinion on the construction of your saddle, but from a leatherworking perspective- that is a beautiful work of art. The simplicity is elegant, and I love the rich color. Thanks for sharing! Johanna

How to start a guild Sample bylaws for a guild Operating policies and procedures This information was graciously provided by Ernie Wayman, who is retiring as president of the International Federation of Leathercraft Guilds (IFoLG) this year. This info is modeled on The Central Indiana Leathercrafters Guild and can be adapted to suit an individual guild's needs. Note: anyone can form a guild, but your guild must be accepted into the IFoLG to have any voting rights or participation in the competitions. There are standards and obligations to joining the IFoLG. No individual is a member of the IFoLG. The IFoLG is governed by the delegates sent by the member guilds. Thanks, Ernie, for providingt this information, and we'll see you at the show! Johanna Complete list of IFoLG member guilds

Welcome to LW! Now that we know you're a webbie, look out, we'll find work for you to do! Glad to have you here- make yourself at home, help yourself to the coffee and the cookies, but the doughnuts are probably stale by now. Johanna

This forum is not the place for flame wars. It sounds to me that the customer was not happy, the retailer tried to make it right, customer still not happy. I give Tim, the owner of Zack White, a lot of credit for coming on here and attempting to resolve this dispute, which never should have been made public like this, but I'm leaving it, because it shows the lengths ZW will go to satisfy their customers. This thread is now closed. I don't like the spirit it was started in, and I wish members would refrain from running with scissors. Johanna

I've worked retail for close to 20 years. When a customer complains, he is doing the business a favor. We can address the problem to make things right, and hopefully, prevent the problem from happening to another customer. When you do need to complain, follow a couple of steps to make it easier for the retailer to help you: 1. Describe the problem, leave the emotion out of it. 2. Let the manager know what you expect him to do to make things right again. 3. If he can't accommodate your request, see if his alternative would be acceptable. 4. Once it's resolved, tell your friends. But until you formally let the boss/owner know what upset you, you can't expect satisfaction. If you don't tell him what went wrong, he can't improve the experience for you or the next person. When we ship it out, and don't hear anything, we assume everything is just fine. I wish the ownder of ZW were here to put in his two cents, or at least respond to your frustration. A good businessman would try to make it right. One happy customers tells 4 people. An unhappy one tells eleven. Johanna

Nope. Your pics are just a bit over half a MB, and regular members can only put 1MB in attachments up in one post. Contributing members have a higher setting, because we assume they are not potential spammers! I wish there were a way to distinguish brand new members from established ones with that setting, but there isn't. A member can use multiple posts to get around the limits, or some people just let me know what they want to do ahead of time, (like for a lesson or tutorial) and I can manually adjust their limit. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but there's always a few bad apples on the Internet, and a couple of folks have abused the system in the past. Johanna

I would surely break out in hives from a veg tanned choker that has not been atom waxed or treated somehow on the part that touches my neck. I say line them and double the price. Johanna

Email me the pics and I will reduce them for you so they can be posted here. admin@leatherworker.net Johanna

Good news! If you are coming to the show, bring any dull tools you have. Neil Cowan of Macon Georgia will be there with his sharpening equipment. He can put an edge on a wet noodle! Here is a price list: Head Knives $15.00 Round Knives $15.00 Bag Punch up to 2" $ 8.00 Round Punch to 1" $ 8.00 Round Punch over 1" $10.00 Common Edge Tool $ 7.00 Bissonnette Edge Tool $ 5.00 Western Style Edge Tool $ 7.00 French Edge Tool $10.00 Draw Gauge Knives $10.00 Splitting Machine Blade $20.00 Common Knives to 8" $ 5.00 Clicker Knives $ .75 per linear inch Strap End Punches $12.00 Leather Shears $10.00 Visa MC AM Discover Accepted If your dull tool is not listed, don't worry. Neil can sharpen it. Bring it along and you can either leave it with him or watch him work. See ya at the show! Johanna

Dave and I send each other sounds to get our attention. Click the note symbol and there are a lot of choices. You can test then before you send them. Of course, it only works if the other person has their speakers on. Johanna

The International Federation of Leather Guilds is a 42 year old organization of member leather guilds. Guilds take turns hosting shows and competitions every year. Here is the list of member guilds: http://www.leatherworker.net/IFoLGguilds.htm Please send me any corrections, additions or suggestions...thank you! Johanna

Welcome all you new folks from Fetlife. If you want access to the NSFW adult section, send me a PM and I'll set up your account right away. The area isn't big yet, but it's growing, and we are looking forward to seeing what you do, learning how to do it, and maybe teaching you some of our tricks. The adult market is a lucrative and interesting segment of leatherland, and LW is pleased to offer consenting adults space to talk and share, while keeping the main board "family friendly". We appreciate your cooperationa dn understanding, and are glad to have you here! Anything goes in the adult area, no matter how kinky. The jokes are horrible though, fair warning! Johanna to send me a PM click my name and "send message". adult area is by request only.

The man we're talking about is registered here as Inam Malik, but he hasn't been active since Christmas. I remember the FLASAH thing, but I don't know how or if it was ever resolved. Johanna

Early Saturday morning I hope to be taking pics to get them online for everyone who couldn't make it to the show. I'll be around all weekend- please, if you see me- stop me and introduce yourself. I would love to put faces with all the names (screen, business & real!) I have gotten to know these last couple of years. I don't know how, but I didn't get to meet Kathy (Yaklady) in Texas and there had to be a few times we were close enough to touch. Don't worry about interrupting me- stop me and say "hello". I don't have a leather nametag yet this year... but I will be easy to find. I am easy to spot- I'll be the only show attendee with no leather showing and a crappy Wal mart purse, complete with a broken zipper. My cell phone number is (419) 953-1386 and it can text for free if all else fails. ( I don't always hear my phone in the bottom of the yukky purse, but the text thing beeps until I catch on.) I want to meet you all- and please give me one of your business cards. Sometimes I am in a unique position to hook people up with people who want what they can do. Sometimes I need your advice on something pertaining to your particular expertise, and I can't tell you how much it means to me that you will take the time to answer my questions and help me understand what I don't know, or don't get. I wish I had known you folks when I did leatherwork for a living. I might even be rich and famous now. And here is something else- some of you I know in real life, but I don't always know if you are on the board or who you are on here. Please let me know. If you like the board, hate the board, tell me that too. And for all you guys who do like the board- tell your friends about us please? The more the merrier, and I'll just get another coffee urn and more doughnuts for the lounge here on LW. The variety, loyalty and diversity of our members is what makes this place so much fun. Somebody wanna make a list of people coming that we can post here? It's hard to plan a 'meeting' during the weekend because everybody has classes and other obligations, but we hang out in the rooms, the lobby, make impromptu restaurant runs, take smoke breaks in the parking lot and then there is the bar, everyone is nodding knowing about the bar stuff. (people pulling scraps and knives out of their pockets and executing flawless cuts and telling stories is one of the family friendly things I can say!) We'll see each other- we just have to remember to say "Hi!" We're gonna have fun this year! Johanna