Johanna

I got barrys, gator, studioN, docado, big o, duke and a couple more of you that sent PMs. My standard disclaimer: I turned the adult section on for you. If you don't see the NSFW section by the Marketplace while logged in, try logging out, then in again. Fair warning- jokes are really baaaad. Johanna Let me know if anyone else wants in the NSFW area of the board. It's private- you must be logged in to see it, and you must click on it to open it. If you look at the board at work, just stay out of that room until you get home. To Google and the outside world, it doesn't exist, so your boss can't see it unless YOU click on it. Johanna Drac brought many of our adult section members to the board, and he was a natural ambassador there. He also submitted a very good tutorial for making floggers that we reworded and pinned in braiding so everyone could see it. I am going to miss Drac.

Yes, they ship out of the country. You may want to email or call for an exact quote. They can't figure the charge until the weigh your package and know where it's going. Johanna

You are wetting the leather when shaping it, right?

The polka dot interior reminded me of the Gateway boxes computers come in. But yes, another example of the spin used to fool the public into thinking they are getting "value". Cloth is cheaper than leather. Like I said, i could justify spending 3 or 4 times that much if, for example, Kevin King made it or Bob Park carved it, but that kind of money for imported not-very-well-made junk- HA! They will never get it out of me. I wouldn't pay $20 for that cover and I don't care whose logo it was. Inferior workmanship and materials is still junk no matter what the tag reads or what it costs. But they are selling them- that's what we have to learn from. Why are those junky covers selling so well? Is it the designer tag? Is it because Amazon promotes them? Is it because they have $3 invested in each unit and are laughing all the way to the bank? If they sold them for $10 each, I wouldn't have started this thread. But they are getting $125 each! How can we, the custom leatherworkers, convince the people wealthy enough to buy things like Kindle Covers to buy from us? The price of the final product is actually not a factor. We could build a smilar case for less that $10 + whatever time spent customizing it. Kate Spade has maybe invested $3 per unit? Sound about right? So how do we get the business? Most of us can build a better case than that and maybe even afford to compete in price, so why aren't our phones ringing instead of Amazon's? Something to think about today. And we can be glad we'll never pay $50 for an eyeglass case cover made out of plastic, too! I also saw an ugly partly-leather purse with a poor design and bad hardware on sale at Penney's this weekend for "only" $150. It's made so badly I wouldn't buy it for Janie at Wally World for $10, My local Penneys will sell dozens of these purses. How can we get the "prestige" of the designer labels? We have quality and customization down pat, but how do we educate the customer that we have good prices and better quality than the factories overseas, and to call us first? Should we all put "Made in America" in our advertising campaigns? What can the custom leather industry do to educate the public and get a share of the dollars currently being spent on mass produced imported stuff? Anyone have any ideas? Johanna

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/ref=pe_70060_17361330_pe_06/?ASIN=B000HBXZXG That's a "Kate Spade Kindle Cover" at $125. No hand carving, no exotic inlay- but it does have the designer logo on the back. It appears to be chrome tanned leather on a fiberboard stiffener. No place to store the cord. For $125???? And would you be interested in some Florida swampland, too? So I started to play with a pencil and came up with a veggie tanned outside, lined with goat or sheep and only one pocket, not a wallet. Then I thought it would be cool if it closed magnetically- just snap it shut. I like lacing, but it adds bulk, and it usually just used to hide raw edges. I can fix that. Total cost in materials for this project is maybe $15, but I can get what I need out of the scrap bin. I haven't been seriously motivated to go in the shop for a long time, but $125 for a mass produced imported designer Kindle Cover- It would be easy to justify paying twice that for a carved one. We all know that. But how many people will plunk down the money and buy the Kate Spade one? thousands? millions? I guess it's a great profit, if you can get it! Maybe I'll try to decorate mine, or get my kids to do it. I can have 10 or 20 of them out of the scrap box, if I want. Mine will not be flimsy or have stitches rip out. And I sure am not paying $125 for a Kindle cover. Johanna

Oh, crap. I wish he'd have reached out to one his many friends.

Could you make a leatherworker.net stamp? Don't ask me for artwork because I haven't got a clue what it should look like. That would be so cool- I would get my kids to pound out keychains and things for the members who wanted them. I like how clear your designs look. ~J PS you need a website so people can see your portfolio. PM CitizenKate or go to her site for ideas http://studio2dawgs.com

Was "online" a word in the 19th century? Kate's right- the steam powered machinery worked when they set it up, and still does the best job now. There is no air conditioned computer room where someone programs the giant pipes and arms, there are guys with wrenches, I suppose. When you walk upstairs to the packing room it smells like leathery butter. The hides are beautiful, and Shep had every right to beam with pride. Hermann Oak makes quality leather. It costs a tich more, but if you need or want very good leather, try it out and see what you think. Kevin of Springfield Leather will cut you a piece for under $5 a sq. foot if you just want to see the difference. I'm not a carver, but I've seen a lot of leather. I know you carvers & stampers can pound out any flaws in the leather creatively. With HO you don't have to, and it's not dry and weak like some of the cheaper leather I've seen at that certain major chain store. It won't dry rot on you ever if you take care of it properly. Johanna Hermann Oak Tannery, St Louis, MO disclaimer: I am not trying to suck up to HO, and the opinions expressed above are my own, not "the board's" or an advertising plug. I may own leatherworker.net, but I don't know as much as some of you, and you can feel free to disagree. I'm not an expert, or even "in the business" anymore, so I don't have dog in any fight. I just share my leather adventures, just like you all do, and expect you to make up your mind. And no matter how big this board grows, or how many people I have to answer to, I'm going to continue to call things as I see them. You folks wouldn't have me any other way.