Johanna

Click the map once or twice. It's javascript, same as we use for Live Chat. You may want to update Adobe Flash Player to version 9.0.47.0 here. Johanna

Elwood Turner-ClayB & CitizenKate just did oak leaves for everyone. Would you be willing to do something like this too? Pretty please? Your saddle is lovely. Johanna

SkipJ- their software will adjust the picture. Ken, it works here and on my kids' computer. Are you allowing Java to run? Johanna

We've got people from all over the world, here! Put your pin on the map! Add your picture or logo, too! Include a link if you have one. Let's see where everybody is at! Johanna http://www.leatherworker.net/frapprleatherworker.htm

Tandy used to sell a nice heavy chap leather called, oddly enough, "Blacksmith Leather" which was perfect for aprons. It had a thorough conditioning of oils and waxes, a soft but rugged hand, and came in earth tones. It was the kind of leather that just wears better over time. I wonder if they still have Blacksmith Leather? Anybody know? If not, what do they have that is comparable? Johanna

Freak, that is a pretty snazzy oak leaf! :beer: Clay is a good teacher, huh? Wouldn't it be fun to get him and a few other naturals in front of a video camera, You-Tube style? Anyone want to be an Internet star? Johanna

What are the advantages and disadvantages to marketing leather goods through eBay? Is anyone having success using eBay as a primary marketing strategy? Do you use it to draw attention to another website, or sell product directly online? I've heard of romances from eBay and fortunes made from garages & attics on eBay, but I want to know if eBay is useful for a custom leatherworker, and in what ways. Thanks for any insight you can share. Johanna

(edited for correction and clarity!) More masks here: http://members.aol.com/mdtiger11/index.html Good find, JustWakingUp! Johanna

Sometimes with patterns like Dragons Pearl describes, you can just make a fancy border and keep the size. It just depends on the style you are looking for, and how much variation you need. A half inch difference is just two quarter inch borders. Johanna

Hey, Tim, that's some nice airbrush work! Could I talk you into doing a tutorial or an explanation of you do such pretty work? Johanna

A coat of clear nail polish (or Neat Lac in a pinch) will take care ofthe green-toe problem. Johanna

If you click on a name to the left, a little arrow appears with a drop down menu of choices. "Send message" will open a PM window. Johanna

Here is another gallery of pictures from our friend gtwister09. These are from the Al & Ann Stohlman Museum in FT. WORTH TEXAS, where the 2007 "Legends in Leathercraft" International Federation of Leather Guild's annual show will be held in a few short weeks. This collection has quite a bit of Stohlman originals, and I see a few by Christine Stanley, Jim Linnell, Kat Kuzak, Robb Barr and others, too. Enjoy! http://leatherworker.net/tandymuseumpics/index.htm Johanna

Mike, there are a couple of ways to beat the lace down. I use the wooden end of my mallet, or a smooth faced cobbler's hammer, and hit it hard, on the marble or another flat surface. When I do the stitches, I place them just a hair towards the top. This leaves a nice flat edge that usually I can't see any light through. Some people do this with a piece of scrap leather in between the lace and the hammer, to reduce the possibility of breaking. (Deerskin works well, too.) Generally, good quality goat or roo lace will not break. Any lace that is starting to dry rot may break, and calf sometimes does just because. If the lace does break, I do a quick splice and figure that was just a weak spot waiting-to-break anyway. Sometimes I use a belt wheel to edge the lace, too, especially if it is a flap of some kind. Other people use rolling pins, round mauls, regular hammers and so on. I like the look of beaten lace, but some people don't. I think what I like about it, what makes it look "finished", is the uniformity of the stitches and the slight burnish effect. Two checkbooks: this one was a kit (round lacing holes- yuck!) and this one has flat chisel lacing holes: I'm not an expert, by any means, and other people probably can explain this better. Johanna

You can post wherever you want, Kevin, just keep on posting. You are doing some really attractive work! I would guess that tan is pigskin (look at the dots on it- those were the hair follicles). Nice contrast and combination. Seems like all the wives are getting nice wallets, and yes, I will be sure to point that out to my husband. Johanna

Wow, Mrs. Mike is a lucky lady! I really like the depth and texture of the carving, and the natural looking color. Only thing I can see (and perhaps it's just the picture) is that you may want to beat the lacing down. I know what you mean about the reddish-brown tint in some photos; I've noticed it, too. I think it has to do with lighting, because the pieces don't appear that way in real life. I've also noticed some really dry ratty looking leather in some kits. I don't think that the better vegetable tanned leather is even considered for those kits. Maybe the vendor feels that it would cost too much to include quality leather in a kit, or that the novice won't know the difference? I wonder how many potential leatherworkers have been turned off by the results of working with the inferior leather? Johanna

Jim, can you give me a specific link to the post the is causing the problem? I can't seem to duplicate the error you are describing, and I want to get the issue sorted for you ASAP. Thanks! Johanna

Some people clean leather with oxalic acid or lemon juice before dyeing it. Some people oil leather, too. Others will point out that leather is a natural product, and it's supposed to look a little uneven to look real. I think it depends on the particular hide you are using, and your own style. We were always careful in the shop not to lay leather on newspaper, get ball point ink marks on it, keep our hands clean and that kind of thing, but if we did, oxalic acid usually did the trick. No two hides will take dye, oil or cleaner the same, and no hide will be consistent throughout. It does keep things interesting. Johanna

Good grief, Ed, you're trying to set copper rivets with a poly mallet? Get yourself a maul and save your elbow the reverberations! If you're going to be doing this full-time, you have to take care of your hands and arms. You can seriously hurt yourself, over time, using a poly mallet trying to do heavy hardware pounding. I use the rawhide maul in the shop for 3-D stamps, alphabets, all hardware and anything I need to whack hard. On the smaller snaps and rivets, the weight of the maul is enough to set them, and it saves time and effort. A maul only costs maybe $20-$25 from HC or Tandy. Johanna

**Johanna picks herself up off the floor after looking at a Hermes bag for $56,000. (If I spend that kind of money, it better have doorknobs and windows and a mailbox in front!) Pat, when I used to have a shop, I used to fix one or two of those fancy bags every week. They often use crappy hardware and leather-like material on designer bags, but they do have a fancy label and price tag to justify the price. Regardless, you made an excellent point about noting the trends, and modernizing "classic designs". We have to do this in order to put a $300 tag on a purse that's actually worth the money (it will last a lifetime plus) and SELL it. Johanna

"The Cowboy Capital of the World" has some of the most outstanding mustaches ever found in one place! (Some of the members of my family are hard of hearing, and I forget how much I read lips out of habit, until there are no lips in sight!) What a fascinating subject- an important history, interesting cast of characters, and pride in our unique American heritage. Thanks for sharing that, Bruce. The forum is not set to accept embedded video (at this time) but to show a link and make it light up and be "clickable", just press Control and c to copy on the address bar. If you type the URL, just make sure you start it with "http://" Johanna

Hello, Gray, and welcome! I can tell you're going to fit in just fine, we all have "alternative rooms". To upload pictures, look for the "upload attachments" button on the right side of your screen after you click reply or post a new topic. The forum software will automatically shrink them into a thumbnail image. If you have any problems, holler, and someone will help you out. Glad to have you here. Johanna

Oh, I've got "Tinkeritis" real bad. I'm on a roll- 12 hours at the keyboard, and only quit for coffee! Look out... neat things are coming our way (if I don't break something first!) Johanna

How far away from Pittsburgh are you? The Pitt Pounders and the Buckeye Leathercraft Guild (Columbus) are both excellent sources of information and fellowship. We are trying to get some volunteers to do online video demos- would that help you? Don't get discouraged. Most of us started out in the same boat. Johanna

OOOPS Sorry, guys, I was tweaking for some improvements today. Everything okay now? I added a new "who was online today?" feature, and I changed the registration to ask in a drop down menu if "Are you a human?" to try and cut down on the computer generated registrations I have to manually delete. Please let me know if you are still experiencing any problems, because I think I fixed everything that I did break today. Johanna