Johanna

I like "Functional Elegance". Or "Elegant Simplicity" or "Simply Elegant" "Superior Elegance" "Built-in Elegance" "Sturdy Elegance" "Practical & Elegant" "Sturdy and Simply Beautiful" Johanna

Welcome to leatherworker.net, Tammy! I liked the story of the lonely table. There are lots of great people here, and you'll fit right in. Johanna

It's a tweak. It's kinda complicated, so I was holding off until the old posts come back. I liked it, too, and I'll restore it soon. Glad to know someone else noticed! Johanna

That is Rod and Denise Stanger, and they are awesome artists, aren't they? I love the way they integrate two art forms, and I like the bright vivid colors of their unique designs. Thanks for the reminder. Johanna

There are some pics that need to be rather high res to see the detail, and most pics would be just fine in the 100-300K range. We depend on the forum members to use their best judgment. In my experience, often the people who don't use good pic sizes just don't know how to reduce photos. If someone (hint Wolvie hint) wants to write a good "how to get pics the right size and post them on the forum" tutorial, I'll make it a separate page with circles, arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one. Not including the aerial photography. Johanna

I haven't noticed any slowdowns, and I just checked logs. They are clean. Johanna

Azmal, that rocks! Love all the extra touches. Johanna

I like your work, but of course I am partial to spiderwebs! I fixed your link to be "clickable". Welcome to leatherworker.net, glad to have you here! Johanna

Good advice, Alcove, about making lessons and instruction as painless as possible for the institutions. When I was with Tandy, a similar strategy was used for camps, churches, schools, etc. There is a big interest in leather, but its perceived high cost and complication can be intimidating to the people that are responsible for implementing these kinds of programs. No one wants to spend a gazillion dollars and then look bad to their boss when they don't know how to do the craft that was presented. We were happy to take the lower profit margin in exchange for the higher volume sale, and (with luck!) some repeat customers who were intrigued by the whole thing, as a result of the instruction provided. Many leatherworkers have learned the art in institutional settings...military, hospitals, prison, schools, camps, and so on, and continued after the initial exposure. Tandy has traditionally been the source for supplies and teaching, thus perpetuating leatherwork as a viable therapy, or other learning, alternative. Johanna

Piece of cake. Click your name to the left "find this member's posts" OR click your name where it shows you are logged in (top of page) to show your profile, posts you've made and topics you've started are listed there. Johanna

I would say the average American consumer appreciates the value of real leather, but can not distinguish synthetic from leather, or hand tooled from embossed, or handcrafted from mass production, the majority of the time. Al Stohlman, via Tandy, has influenced more leatherworkers in modern history than any one person in older times ever did. Now leatherworkers have the Internet. Johanna

DC- I'm trying to figure this out, too. When I tried to use the image tags to edit a link the error message I got was "sorry, dynamic pages are not permitted in image tags." I'm off to Google to get a solution. Johanna

Drac- Thank you! Really well done lesson there, and we all appreciate the time it took to put that together for us. You're a peach! Johanna

Good catch, Russ! I fixed the poll to have a "does not apply to me" as a choice. Maybe the folks who couldn't vote will try again? In retail, we say the customer who complains does us a favor by giving us the opportunity to correct the original problem and keep the customer. Hilly made a good point: If you are not happy with the person representing Tandy, or whatever retailer, you have to let someone know or service will never change, and you won't be satisfied. If you follow the chain and keep complaining upwards, responsible managers will probably try to make things right. If you don't let them know directly what is wrong, you can bet you won't be the only unhappy customer.Johanna

"Neo", he is the new man. Johanna

"Leathercraft Tools, How to Use them, How to Sharpen them" by Al Stohlman is a worthwhile investment. $10 at Tandy, and it will pay for itself. Welcome to Leatherworker.net! Collectively there are hundreds of years of experience here, and everyone is really good about sharing. Fire away the questions, someone will help you. We're always glad to meet new folks. Johanna

The Leather Factory was started by some ex-Tandy people before Hidecrafters was started by George Hurst. TLF (The Leather Factory) seemed more focused on wholesale accounts and volume, and they maintained warehouses/stores throughout the US. Tandy was begun in 1913 as a shoe findings company, and expanded by Charles Tandy, better known as the founder of Radio Shack, to be the only retail chain in the leather business. I got to tour the factory on Eversman Drive in Ft. Worth in 1996, and remember being amazed at how much work was done in house, and the old fashioned ways they did it. Even the machine that determined the square footage of a hide, a Rube Goldberg contraption, looked very old. Tandy had a meltdown in the late 90s, closed all of their stores, and TLF bought them, thus "Tandy Leather Factory" today. A corporate store is one with a Tandy or Leather Factory name. A dealer is another retailer who meets certain obligations in return for better prices and advertising support from Tandy. Stores operating under the Tandy name have been the first introduction to leatherworking for many American consumers. Comparing the company with other retailers I've worked for one thing stands out. Employee loyalty. The pay is okay, not great, but so what when you like your job? Johanna

This is not a thread for Tandy bashing. Like it or hate it, Tandy is THE retailer for most people who like to work with leather as a hobby. Tandy has had an enormous influence on the leatherworking psyche, as well as the materials and tools we frequently see. I liked working for Tandy, but I learned quickly to keep my mouth shut at IFoLG shows about it. When people found out I worked for Tandy, they kinda rolled their eyes. A couple of people here have almost apologized for working there. ("Don't hold it against me!") Right or wrong, that's silly. Working for Tandy is an honest living, even if otherwise professional people want to throw rotten tomatoes at you. I thought it would be interesting to address the elephant in the room- have you ever thought about working for Tandy? Johanna

Click the "add reply" button and a new message dialog will appear. Scroll down to the browse button. Locate the pic on your computer and click "upload". The forum will automatically produce a thumbnail image of the picture. To place a pic in the post exactly where you want it, click "manage attachments", then the green button. 100K-300K are good sizes for pics, but the forum will accept smaller and larger ones too. Johanna

Yep. Another good reason to register... Johanna

Tools> Options> Advanced> UNtick "display notification about script errors" Johanna

What browser, IE 7? Do you have the "use Java version" ticked if you scroll down that same menu? What does the java tester say? Johanna ps I fixed TH and restored the folders. Don't worry, you can't break anything.

I'm at 16 years sober...whooo-hooo! Jack Daniels introduced me to leather land, among other things. Scared me so bad I quit drinking. Whenever I feel like looking for Mr. Jack, I just hit myself in the head a few times with the mallet. So far it's working. Johanna and I like the flask, too!

Pics from last year's show in Indianapolis are here: http://leatherworker.net/CIL2007/index.htm This is a regional show sponsored by the enthusiasm and dedication of a few established guilds working together and friendly vendors. No vendor expects to make money at these shows, but with some work, he can meet expenses while spreading goodwill. The competition is using IFoLG rules, so entering is good "practice" for the show in the fall. These shows draw a good crowd, especially when classes and demos are offered, and are a great way to meet people interested in the same things you are. You will see long haired biker types and suit-and-ties sitting next to each other excitedly talking tools or how to get the most out of a swivel knife or this cool new way to braid...people really come together over leather. The guilds do a lot of planning to host the show, and you can show your support by donating to the raffle table, even if you can't make it there in person. Hope to see some of you in Indiana this spring! Johanna

Welcome to leatherworker.net's forums! To help you get the most out of your time here, the following may be helpful: Click "My Controls" at the top of the page to fill out your profile info and set your email preferences. Clicking your name of the top left of the board (next to "log out") will show you your profile, and recent topics you have posted to, as well as your friends, latest visitors and comments left by them. Tip: if you have a website, add the link to your profile and/or signature. So that the main board remains family friendly, there is a hidden "adult area" on this site that you must request to see. Some adult area settings were lost during the crash, so if you used to have access there, and don't see it, send me a PM, too, and I'll get it back on for you. There are three sections; tattoo flash art, adult items (whips, paddles, cuffs etc) and I think I have warned everybody- the jokes in the adult humor forum are baaaad. Send me (Johanna) a PM if you want the NSFW area visible while you are logged in. The Marketplace is run by Art, and if you have something to sell, that's a good place to post. It's like an online classifieds for leather people. If you want to run steady advertisements there (more than 20 a year), talk to Art about some additional benefits that can be available to you. Take a look at the posted rules to make your ads more effective. Leatherworker.net is dedicated to education, entertainment and fellowship for leatherworkers. All monies donated to the site are used to pay site expenses. If you see an inappropriate post, use the "report to a moderator" button or PM someone green for help. Please be patient, everyone here is a volunteer. If one poster grates on your nerves, click on his profile, then "ignore" and you will never see content from that member while logged in. This board is full of extra features, so take the time to explore all your options. You can't break anything we can't help you fix. There is more help available by clicking "Help" at the top right side of the page, or using the "Contact" next to it. Post more questions on Suggestions and Feedback. What makes this site so much fun is the participation and contributions from members. We are adding archived content every day, and plan to integrate video technology with this site. (It's easier to watch someone walk a beveler than to try to explain it!) The goal here is to make rich leatherworking content available for the whole world, and learn from each other much like a leather guild. Leatherworker.net is not an International Federation of Leather Guild member, whose members are currently the only recognized guilds whose members are allowed in their annual competitions. If you are interested in finding out more about leather guilds, click here. Another guild to check out is PSLAC, Puget Sound Area Leather Artisans Co-op. PSLAC (peeze-lak) accepts members from all over the world, and publishes interesting monthly newsletters. They have an online archive of leatherworking treasures for their members, and membership with them also earns discounts with some of the popular vendors. For leatherworkers, there are two magazines published of special interest. One is "Shop Talk", for an emphasis on our business, and the other is the Leathercrafters and Saddlers Journal, with a focus on the art part. Tell them you heard about their magazines here! We hope you are enjoying yourself. Get a cup of coffee, kick off your shoes and relax with friends. We do not recommend the doughnuts, but the cookies are fine. (Ever wonder why ClayB's dog has sugar kisses?) Thanks for reading all of this. Johanna