Johanna

Ummmm...the way you get the word out to your target market is to advertise here on leatherworker.net! I'll be happy to set up an account with you that matches needs to budget. Why do people think of the magazines first when we get over 50,000 unique visitors a week? We're not even in the same ballpark, and we have (I am repeating myself) your target market, right here. Best advertising value for the buck Johanna

I'm proud to be part of this crowd. Johanna

I can't wait to read your book, Bobby. You can tell how electric lighting changed your work hours, and how business changed when they installed the telephone! Seriously, I want to clarify that there is nothing wrong with the case making books by Al Stohlman. The explanations of the various techniques makes it possible for you to do your own fabrication. I have seen the original pages of those books at the museums-Al LABORED over each page. He did not have a computer for cut and paste. He had to draw illustrations and squeeze his text in. He carved many a leather piece for pictures and illustrations. Clearly, his whole series of books was a labor of love, and I'm sure Tandy feels they made a good investment. Al got to live in peace in BC and Tandy has been teaching with those books forever. Fabrication is what is becoming a lost art of leatherwork. This is a subject I get on my soapbox about. if the purse doesn't close or the gun doesn't fit, i don't care how pretty it is, it's junk. I've seen outstanding leather art hanging on the walls at shows. I have more admiration for the items that serve a purpose and do work, and Al's books will teach you the principles of making boxes, cases, and so forth with leather. So for the time being, buy all three books, if you can. And get Al's Tool book, too. Out of all of the leather books for sale right now, those 4 will get you going if you want to MAKE things, not necessarily decorate them. Johanna

You are forgiven. You have suffered enough, and it took courage to come here and admit that you sunk so low. Stop beating yourself up and go pound on some real leather, and thanks for giving me a good laugh today. It's been a rough one! Johanna

It just hit me that those Al Stohlman "How to make Cases" books have to be 50-60 years old. If someone wants to write and illustrate a modren one book that covers the basics, I'll be glad to publish it. An old leatherworker I knew said, "Al wasn't the greatest carver or maker, but he's the "father of leathercraft" because he took the time to write the books!" Johanna

Enough is enough.

The post was not deleted- it was under review by the staff because of the political association. We're about leather, and if the conversation stays on a home made custom delrin stamp, fine. If it changes to something disrespectful to the Office of the President, it will go. Personally, I love the stamp- think it expresses many Americans' feelings well, but let's not debate such matters on LW, please. Johanna

Bobby, when someone sends you a PM like that, just cut and paste this: "Johanna prefers that we keep all this info on the board where everyone can learn from it, so if I answer you, she'll find out, and I'll get in trouble. Like she said, better to have lots of leatherworkers opinions anyway- that way you can sort out what works for you. I'll look for your post on LW. Thanks, Bobby" Feel free to borrow that- anybody who is also getting swamped with PMs that belong on the board. Tell them you don't want to tick Johanna off. They will understand, and you might get some peace. Not everyone has hours to spend at their keyboard. The Internet forum standard rule of thumb is the 90-9-1 rule, From Wikipedia: "90-9-1" version of this rule states that 1% of people create content, 9% edit or modify that content, and 90% view the content without contributing. We exceed that by far- this is a tight community. Most people use their real names here- anonymity can be a red flag. Someone made a comment that the mods and ambassadors were rude to them. I want proof. I've not ever doubted the integrity of the people who devote so much time and energy into making this a friendly and cooperative place. They and our regulars go above and beyond to make new folks feel welcome, and in more than 4 years we've only had a couple of trolls on this board. The staff immediately identified the problems and took care of it. I don't mean to sound defensive, but I'm very impressed with all the sharing and conversation here, and I think we do better than most online communities. So that's my two cents. Johanna

Are your gator hides tanned already?

I'm sorry- I don't know what Tapatalk is, but I will find out. You do know there is a lo-fi view for the forum, right? bottom left corner is a drop down menu (it will say MBC by default) and the lo-fi version is above it. Meanwhile, I'll check it out. Johanna

Cal, I don't know what's got you so upset? Please read Denise's post again. We are here to learn and share. You can take initiative to learn, and you can be useful if you teach, but no one is obligated to share anything they don't want to, of course. This is simply not true, and I know- I've been here a little over 4 years. I believe the forum's success is because of the willingness of the members to share- whether it's experience or pics or questions. I'm closing this thread because it's gotten a little off topic. The OP can ask as many questions in new threads as desired, and we will do our best to help. As always. Johanna

(760) 749-5755 or email here ~J