Johanna

Michael, the store manager for the Cincinnati Tandy, hosts an informal workgroup session every other Wednesday after the store closes to the public. Wade and I hopped in the car after work and drove 90 miles to check out the Tandy store and meet the folks. I was a Tandy manager from 1994-1999 when the stores closed (before TLF) so most of the inventory was familiar. I was pleased to see some new tools and patterns available. I was disappointed in the quality of the leather. Even the Royal Meadow seemed dry and brittle. I was shocked to see the deerskin and suedes folded. Folded. The manager explained that the wrinkles would be sprayed with water and ironed out. My last experience trying to iron leather resulted in throwing out the iron and an odor kind of like burning hair, so I'm not sure I'd want to go that route. Michael has lots of enthusiasm, and his workgroup does too. I saw my friend David Theobald, and got to meet Sawyer and his wife, also CW & Scott, two newer members of LW. Michael agreed to help sponsor a new leather guild, and we talked about applying for IFoLG membership at the show in Columbus in September. He figures at least 20 people are serious, and 20 more might join up once it gets going. It's good to see people actively trying to keep leatherwork alive! I was just hanging out, checking all the goodies, when I broke out into hives. David and Wade were surprised at how fast and furious that came on! I haven't been around leather day in day out for 10 years, so apparently I'm a little extra sensitive these days! I was very careful not to touch my face, but my eyes got red and teared, too. Yep, I remember unpacking shipments and then washing my hands, using cortisone cream with lidocaine as a moisturizer! Hard to believe I survived 15 years in a leather shop, huh? We had fun getting to visit with everyone, and looking over the store. I bought a few buckles, some jewelers rouge and some pyramid spots, and Michael tried to sell me a wholesale club membership. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I've bought less than $50 worth of good from Tandy in the last 10 years, since I closed the shop. Wade cracked me up because after he looked all over the shop he whispered to me, "I think we have everything at home, honey!" He never saw my shop "open", but yes, it's well stocked. Looks like something frozen in time, now, half done projects still on the bench. When we got home close to midnight, the kids were asleep and the house was dark, but it was a lovely evening, and thanks to everyone for inviting me. I'm sure the new Cincy Leather Guild will be a success, and I'll do what I can to help it along. I like the way leatherworkers cooperate with each other- what wonderful people leather attracts! Johanna

added to calendar http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?a...amp;event_id=81

Statcounter.com has a nifty little html code you can embed in a site, if your host has no tools available. I'm not sure why your pdfs are growing bigger, unless they are saving all the images more than once? If you insert an image into a Word doc, then drag its sides to change size, all the generated images end up in the corresponding folder. Could the pdf be retaining even the unused images? If you want to email me an example, I'll take a look and let you know what I think is happening. Try changing the size of your images in another program (Paint, Irfanview etc) and then dropping it in Word (don't let Word do the resizing) and see if the pdf problem persists. Johanna

Some dogs are allergic to raw veggie tanned leather, so lining them or using a drum-dyed piece as the inside is not a bad idea. I also saw a poodle with a bright green neck, from a veggie tanned color that was dyed, but then ran. It took a month for the green to be less noticeable on the apricot dog. Welcome to leatherworker.net! (Somebody get Emily a coffee and a doughnut, please?) There are a lot of great people here- hope you enjoy yourself too. Johanna

I have a couple sets in each size. I used to make lots of redneck or "property" belts, and wristbands, and names like mine (2 As and 2 Ns) are easier to do with two alphabets to work from. I don't know if Tandy sells individual letters, but you could always ask. It might be easier just to buy another set and have extra letters available, if you use your alphabet stamps regularly. Johanna

The Top 100 April Fools Day Hoaxes of All Time

Okay, Froggie, if you & Spider are going to invent a new flavor of carving style, we'd better give it a catchy name. "Skulls and Roses" "Sheridan Skull" "Creepy Floral" "Sheridan Scary" "Floral Gothic"? Hmmm...it's pretty cool, whatever you call it. Johanna

I talked to him on Thursday night. He is planning a trip to the US in May. Did you try his home phone? Johanna

I keep hearing that Dennis Lane's Card System is the new standard for horse saddle/tree measuring. Johanna

I like the way you crossed the wrenches and made them look like fangs on the skull. It looks great, and I like the attention to detail on the back. Beautiful lacing too. Bravo! Johanna

How about sending all the pics, captions and pattern stuff to: admin@leatherworker.net and I'll get it all together with a handy link we can share with the other members. Make sure you tell me you LW name if I won't know who you are. Johanna

HEY!!! What is Diana doing with my purse???? That's my title, you can ask my kids! Nice stuff, Gray! Thanks for sharing! Johanna

Download the zip file, extract the .exe and run it. It will put a very nice lacing calculator at your disposal. Save the .exe file and run it whenever you have a call for it. If your security program hollers about it (because it is an executable) allow it- it is safe. Thanks for sharing this, Hedge! Johanna

Did you get XP or Vista, Luke? Glad you're back! Johanna

Yes, thank you Holly for agreeing to coordinate the exchange. I am swamped. I have a pattern tutorial by Jim Redding to get online, a new horse carving lesson from Kathy, a demonstration of how to do a breast collar from Becky Custer...(you folks are wonderful!) plus my other work, my day job and my mother-in-law is here for a week visiting. Holly- I will do whatever I can to help make this successful- just let me know what you need from me. I'm glad to see all the enthusiasm and I hope everyone has a good time with this. Johanna

Yep, what whinewhine says. It will burn, warp, discolor, shrivel and not the same in any two spots. The results are unpredictable and usually spell the ruin of the piece. I don't recommend microwaving leather at all for any reason. Johanna

This is a good idea, and I'm glad to see so much enthusiasm...BUT...in order not to disappoint anyone, let's plan this a little bit better before we make any more arrangements. I don't want to let anyone on the list down, and I can guess there may be others on the list that feel the same way. Let's get a little more organized and plan this. Moving this topic to "Special Events", and bringing up the discussion with the moderators. Johanna

I just spent a half hour on Google Images looking for a yak birthday cake, but the best I could find was a yak eating a birthday cake! Happy birthday, Kathy! Hope you have a great day and a wonderful year! Johanna

I think it would just be the neatest thing to have a little piece from everyone's scrapbox. I would make a giant leatherworker collage and treasure it forever... I'd say count me in to this one, but I don't do anything in the shop any more, and I could never return anything as nice as what you folks make. Good idea though, Tina, spreading the pretty things around. Johanna

Just an FYI, if anyone is curious: "Rubbing alcohol" is isopropyl alcohol diluted with water to 70% strength. You can't drink isopropyl alcohol. Denatured alcohol is ethanol (a.k.a. ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, etc.) that would otherwise be fit for mixing libations EXCEPT that it has an added chemical to make it unfit for human consumption. The reason for denaturing alcohol is money. Other uses have no excise taxes like beer, wine and liquors, so it is altered to assure that it won't be. Denatured ethanol is regulated by ATF. Johanna

Added and fixed- thank you SadEyes for the heads up. Wasn't your guild the one that recently had the drawing for the original Stohlman/Stanley works? Who won the drawings? Johanna

Kathy- WOW! You had some stiff competition! Congratulations on the first place ribbon! Do you think you'll go to Mich City next month? Thanks for sharing your pics and your trip with us! Johanna

You can go to shoutcast.com and choose your music by genre too. I am fond of Audiocandy's Big Blue Radio out of Spokane, Washington. (blues, folk & rock) If you're going to listen to Internet radio, do yourself a favor and download WinAmp (it's free) so you can set radio "presets" and have all the other conveniences. Many FM stations now "stream" their broadcasts, too, so if you like a particular station, check their website. The NPR site has archives of past shows and streams, too. Johanna