Johanna

Most of the leather we work with is a byproduct of the huge meat industry. Here are two sides to a recent controversy: Horse Slaughterhouses: 'America's Dirty Little Secret' by Laura Marquez ABC News http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=2235175&page=1 Johanna

Google Toolbar has lots of features like a translator, pop up blocker, autofill, spell check http://toolbar.google.com/ Iespell Internet spell checker http://www.iespell.com/ Privacy Bird Find out exactly what their privacy policy is http://www.privacybird.com/ Adobe Reader You need at least a pdf reader http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html Copy Url puts a right click option to save a link to your clipboard http://www.moonsoftware.com/freeware.asp Stripmail Clean up forwards http://www.dsoft.com.tr/stripmail/ Open Office Free Alternative to MS Office http://www.openoffice.org/ Mike Lin's Start up Control Panel add on. Decide what you want to load when you boot the computer. http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml Atomic Clock Synch to the World Timeserver http://www.worldtimeserver.com/atomic-clock/ Weatherbug Get weather alerts and forecasts instantly http://www.weatherbug.com/aws/index.asp MP3 Extensions adds icons revealing bitrate http://www.mutschler.de/mp3ext/ FavOrg Keep your IE icons (favicons) http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,108438,00.asp WinAmp Versatile Media Player http://www.winamp.com/ ( www.Shoutcast.com for some of the BEST Internet radio) Sun Java http://www.java.com/en/index.jsp Irfanview Graphics Editor http://www.irfanview.com/ Chainsaw Splits big files neatly http://www.schmeusser.siw.de/software/chainsaw.html Gadwin Print Screen Easy screencaps http://www.gadwin.com/printscreen/ Belarc reveals software and product keys. Run & print periodically in the event you need to restore your computer. http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html Motherboard Monitor puts your system temps in the Notification Area http://mbm.livewiredev.com/ MoveOnBoot Delete stubborn files before Windows starts http://www.snapfiles.com/get/moveonboot.html TweakUI Features lots of tweaks, and despite the warnings, both versions run well on XP (the two have different tweaks) http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/tweakui Java Tester helpful to diagnose java problems http://www.javatester.org/version.html All of the above programs are free to use for personal use, spyware free and compatible with XP systems. Johanna

OZ MM Fraction Decimal 1 0.40 1/64 0.016 2 080 1/32 0.031 3 1.20 3/64 0.047 4 1.60 1/16 0.063 5 2.00 5/64 0.078 6 2.40 3/32 0.094 7 2.80 7/64 0.109 8 3.20 1/8 0.125 9 3.60 9/64 0.141 10 4.00 5/32 0.156 11 4.40 11/64 0.172 12 4.80 3.16 0.188 1oz=.4mm 1/4 oz=.1mm 2 1/2 oz= 1.0mm to convert decimeters to sq. ft divide amount by 9.29

I met Billy on his first trip to the US at my first (and his) IFoLG show in Springfield, Mo. He and my first husband quickly hit it off- recognizing that they were eccentric kindred spirits (sounded better than "crazy old men"!) and among the very best toolers in the world. I remember going to bed on one of the nights, very late, while they were still happily carving, talking and drinking in the bar. Since Little Jon didn't like or trust too many people, I knew right away that Billy was special. I was so green to the art of leatherwork that I had no idea how good either of them were. I was more concerned with getting the fledgling Georgia Leathercrafters' Guild accepted into the IFoLG, and God bless Blanche Byrne for her graciousness and patience, as she introduced and guided me through all the subtleties of the cliques and companies. Like Little Jon, Billy's life is naturally interesting- neither of them ever had to embellish a tale. I enjoy Billy's wit and wisdom about life even more than leather stuff. Maybe he is such an artist because he interperets the world a little differently than the conventional mainstream? The technique he developed came from wandering into a Hobby Lobby during a break from that show, and being curious about how the custom t-shirts were being made from people's personal pictures. The fabric to leather transition was a natural progression, and since he already possessed the skills to do any kind of leather decoration, so he knew he could dress up the coloring (tooling and embossing) pretty easily. Then he looked around and realized that no one had thought of this yet in Leatherland. My husband would have loved Billy's new technique, because it allows quality results at a faster production time. Little Jon knew he was limited by what his own two hands could produce. His earning power was dependent on time spent at the bench, which is why I got the delegated dyeing, lacing, billing and other duties of the shop. Time is money, huh Shirley? You are doing seats now, and the time you spend away from the shop is not putting cash in your pocket until you have a waiting list (and if you keep getting better, looking at the work you are doing now, after only one year, you will have a list as long as Santa Claus) you will not worry about paying bills. In fact, you will have to raise all of your prices just to make that list shrink some! Wayne Christensen has been sucessfully teaching classes using Billy's technique. WC is also a very accomplished tooler, and he uses the transfer mainly for emphasis. I'll ask him if I can share his pics here for those of you that haven't seen them because you don't belong to the Yahoo IILG lists. He did a tribute to Chuck Smith and one with John Wayne that are pretty exceptional pieces even without the extra personalization of the transfer. (In my humble opinion, WC is one of the top ten toolers in the world today) Frank Zaherek is supposed to teach a class at the IFoLG show in October, and I will be interested to see how the students do. I promised Billy pictures, too. Johanna

Billy came to the US confident that all the folks who promised to sponsor him and his workshops meant what they said. No one made any attempt to put together anything meaningful for him to do, and after a year of living in Goshen, Indiana, working out of a flea market type shopping center, he went home for a visa renewal and to see his beloved wife, Mary, terribly disappointed that the people who said that they would do things, didn't. I doubt he is ever coming back to this country. Meanwhile, he had a lung transplant. Billy is not doing leatherwork right now, but he is very interested in the classes that Wayne Christensen and Frank Zaharek are teaching. He never finished his website, but you can see what did get done at www.2shews.com (use Internet Explorer, not Firefox- I've never gotten around to fixing it since he "quit" on me.) He keeps in touch, but he's more interested in graphic arts right now than cowhide. He doesn't read leather mail except for what I forward him. I think perhaps he feels like a dream died? Johanna

HidehandlerDyeingBlack.pdf This is from Hidehandler, aka Dave Howell, of Nashville, Tenn. Used with permission, all rights reserved. Johanna HidehandlerDyeingBlack.pdf

How to properly sharpen and use your headknife. headknifeTANDY.zip headknifeTANDY.zip

I forgot to mention that Philippe lives in France. If you have the Google Toolbar installed, right click and choose "translate this page" and you will get the gist of his website. http://toolbar.google.com/index_xp.html?promo=mor-tb-en Johanna

Duey Peters accepts sharpening jobs- get in touch with him directly for quotes, not on the forum. He has an excellent reputation and references. http://www.leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showuser=101 Johanna

Philippe Broc Check out his website. The man has many talents beyond creative and strategic use of scraps. His floral carving is some of the best, and he makes a wide variety of items for his store. Johanna

The Ultimate Workbench...Al Stohlman For more, see Peter Main's site http://www.petermain.com/parent.htm (click on "Stohlman Display") Johanna

I am going crazy looking for more (better) pictures of the motorcycle Billy did in 1995. I will find them. Johanna

Floral Carving examples: The first two are pics of Jeff Mosby's work The third is Jim Jackson's. The fourth is 2-shews'. I've been packratting pictures, and I've saved a lot of the very best leatherwork I've seen. I am going to ask Jeff Mosby for permission to post some of his work in a separate thread. Check out his website and be sure to look at the inlay work he does. Wow! Johanna

Clay, are those embossed? Did you use plugs or leather dust if you did? I really enjoy looking at your work, and I'm so glad you are sharing. I don't carve, tool or otherwise disgrace perfectly good leather with my limited artistic ability, so I can appreciate the effort that goes into getting the depth and the end coloring to look natural. Here is Billy 2-shews' tribute to Robb Barr. Johanna

Clay, you assembling quite a collection! The "Roz" is Roz (Short) Kaohn aka "The Dragon Lady" and she is a talented leather artist! Her work is maybe more like sculpture, but it is incredibly meticulously detailed and designed. I doubt anyone could duplicate her creations. She is also a warm witty person who doesn't mind being asked questions like, "How on earth did you do that?" and "Where did you get that idea?", which is good, because she probably hears that a lot. If you ever have a chance to get into a class of hers, jump on it. Paul Burnett has written several books. Tandy used to carry them, but I don't think they do any more. The feathers are done with acrylics and a scalpel. Since we're on the subject of feathers, I guess I need to take some pics of Billy 2-shews' eagles. When I took them to the frame shop, they had never seen anything quite like them before. When I came back to pick them up, they were hung prominently in the store, and I think the proprietor was a little disappointed that the eagles were leaving. Oh well! They are delightful to look at in my living room. LOL Johanna

I love to wear these earrings when I get dressed up. I get lots of questions, and some people won't believe they are made of leather until they touch them. Paul Burnett has the coloring down so well that they look better than a real duck's feather. My late husband, John Henry, picked them out for me because he said the green in them matched my eyes, and he presented them to me after an IFoLG show as a surprise. I recognized them immediately- they had caught my eye repeatedly during the show. Johanna

A gift from a friend... Johanna

Thad handed me this butterfly at a show wrapped in toilet paper, and said, "Don't blow your nose in this!" I miss him terribly. He was a good man, and a member of the Pittpounders Leather Guild. Here is a write up from a 2001 PPLG newsletter. Thad went to heaven in 2000, and I will never forget him. Johanna

My medicine bag has seen a lot of miles, and a ton of sweat. It's time to make a new one, for this one is from an old chapter in my life. Does anyone else make medicine bags? I need inspiration! TIA, Johanna

Hey, Dave, that website you linked to is our very own Victor Tella. Where are you, Victor? Johanna

I remember you saying you had a webcam, Dave??? I could easily add any videos anyone wanted to share...hint hint...plenty of space... When I lived in Macon, the husband of the lady I worked with at the Tandy Leather store used to come in and fool around with knots and braids in all styles. He gave many an impromptu class in braiding and knotwork, and made it look so easy. He would try to toss his knots into the trash as he was leaving, and Judy would scold me for being silly, but I would always fish them out. I'll bet I saved dozens of his "fidgets". What kind of knots are these? I cannot imagine a keyring without a leather braid. (I would have taken a picture of my husband's if I could have found his keys!) I leave the tail hanging out of my jeans pocket, or tuck the tail to the top of my purse, for easy grabbing. The pics are a few Horace Cobb originals that I could lay my hands on right away. Johanna

From Murphy Whips Johanna

I still have to go excavate my sewing machine in the basement to take pics of it. I guess if I sell it, where will my beloved family put all the camping gear? Sigh. Here are two pictures from my files of leather workshops. Neither are mine! My shop area is in the basement, well lit with flourescent lights and east windows. I have a solid workbench and a dye table, and another 14' table I use for cutting and my family uses to pile their stuff on. Someone really needs to talk to my family about being slobs. The first pic is Verlane's bench, the second pic is a student of Peter Main's in his shop. Look on Peter Main's site for detailed pics of his shop, and Al Stohlman's personalized workbenches and cabinetry. www.petermain.com Johanna Verlane__s_workbench150.pdf Verlane__s_workbench150.pdf

In that long list, don't overlook Puget Sound Leather Artisans Co-Op (PSLAC) A place to find information on ALL facets of leather: tooling, carving, stamping, dyeing, lacing, braiding, construction, and repair in the World Famous RawHide Gazette -- a newsletter ALL about leathercraft. For more links and Leather Guilds: Anderson Leather custom braiding & applique Billy 2-Shews custom carving and portraiture Yolanda Bledsoe custom carving w/ Christian emphasis Phil Broc clothing and accessories Jan Herrbach leather artist Paul Krause custom carver & master bootmaker Deirdre La Blanc custom carving Jeff Mosby custom work, specializing in musicians Rod & Denise Stanger blend wood & leather for fine art AT Barr "Don't you buy no ugly knife!" Wayne Christensen Leather by WC Dennis Doaty Dennis Doaty Leathercraft Sandra Egli Trailwest Charles Byrd Byrd Custom Leather Rick Ellenberger C&R Crafts Ann McGrath The Magpie's Nest Robert Lewis Brush Country Leather Robert Ower The Leather Horseshoe Marlin Read Marlin's Mountain Leather Giovanni Zappetta Castleberry Saddle Shop Ann Waters Ann Waters Leather ARts/ Leather ARt Tours Holly Moore Wild Rose Creations Marion Kelton Something Uneek Kate Dubiel Katherine Louise Leather Decor Rick Conn Rick's Old West Saddlery Lillian Chaudhary Heritage Tack & Saddlery Debi Katsmar Your Design Vehicle Horsedodads.com Steve Derricott Gfeller Case Makers, Inc. Twister Anita Neilson Capricorn Leather & Crafts Robert Stelmack PSLAC Chris Check Artistry in Leather Jim R. Simmons Etowah River Leather Ron & Melissa Gray Hyde & Heddle Joe & Wendy Noecker J&W Leathercrafters Vance Hirst Sr. www.3dleatherart.com Dean D'Alesio D'Alesio Kathleen Hunter Onsite Tack Services, Inc. Paul Krause P.K.BootMaker Leather Images Takeshi Sato Leather Studio Sato Jack Schleuning JWLeatherworks Michael Lamy Lamy Unlimited Custom Leather Silva Fox Silva Fox Artistry J&S Old Western Store, Saddle Shop & Museum The Leather Connection The Leather Pages The Headwaters Leathercraft Guild of Minneapolis & St. Paul Leder-Gilde or Leather Art Forum Peter Main Dave Harrison Mark McMahon Leathergoods Pendragon David Morgan Association of New Zealand Leathercrafters Judy Denham, Tauranga, New Zealand kwinton@clear.net.nz Bluegrass Leather Guild Bob Kennedy Lexington Kentucky kennedysigns@yahoo.com Buckeye Leathercrafters of Central Ohio Allan Scheiderer Marysville, Ohio amsdgs17@urec.net Buffalo Trace Leather Guild Ray Bullock Frankfort, Kentucky newimagegb@aol.com Calumet Area Leathercrafters Guild Monica Nibbe PO Box 1593 Highland, IN 46322 Central Indiana Leathercrafters Eugene Cooper, President Indianapolis, Indiana rustycooper@msn.com Columbine Leather Guild, Inc. Len Rothfeld,President, Thornton, Colorado rothfeld@earthlink.net Florida Everglades Leather Guild Dave Barrow, President 418 Ponce de Leon Ave. knotter2003@aol.com Georgia Leathercrafters Guild Gerald Woody Cochran, Georgia gwoodyleather@mindspring.com Hoosier Leather Guild Diana Flewallen, President Fort Wayne, Indiana sundowneng@earthlink.net Illinois Valley Leather Guild James Todd Pekin, Illinois ronanna@heart.net Indian Nation Leather Guild Ann Newkold, President 10835 E. 15th Street Tulsa, OK. 74128 Leather Artisans Guild of California Brad Hamil: President Loma Linda, California bbhamil@dslextreme.com The Leathercraft Guild Robert Ambriz, President Westminster, California eatjer@email.com Lone Star Leathercrafters George Hurst Fort Worth, Texas lonestar@eaze.net Mid America Leather Artists, Inc John Vanzant Kansas City, Missouri graeme@blitz-it.net Nodoway Valley Eddie A Fidler Clarinda, Iowa ccogok@hotmail.com O-Mi-O Leathercraft Guild Carl Breidenich Port Huron, Michigan Ozark Mountain Leather Guild Robert Davy, President Bolivar, Missouri Pitt Pounders Leather Guild Chris Kearns Portersvile, Pennsylvania pittpounders@att.net Prairie States Leather Guild Don Berglund, President Gardner, Illinois dberglund@iols.com Red Cedars Leathercrafters Terry Berryhill Cedar Rapids, Iowa Teaberry1@aol.com Santa Fe Trail Leather Artists Steve Chambers, President Leavenworth, Kansas steven.chambers@worldnet.att.net St Louis Boots & Saddles Leather Guild Charlie Crow Chesterfield, Missouri cwcuerbo@aol.com Wisconsin Leathercrafters Guild Amy Brown, President Milwaukee, Wisconsin tjbcarver@aol.com Please advise of any corrections. Thank you! Johanna

Rod and Denise Stanger combine function and beauty with every piece they do. Here is a step by step they shared of a chair in progress. They won best of show at an IFoLG show with this teapot. I'm a big fan of their work. Johanna