Hilly

Get the book "The Art of Hand Sewing Leather" by Al Stohlman. It will help you a lot.

Nice work, as usual Kevin, but the Green and Gold is gonna wrap up the Squealers!

I went to AVG website, and they had a free 30 day trial of their AVG Internet Security program which I downloaded. They also had a large discount for renewing subscriptions. I just needed some time to recover from all the Christmas bills, so this worked out great for me. I'm covered for another 2 years. Too bad my computer wont make it for another 2 years... My computer is having trouble booting up. I keep getting the message "primary hard disk not found", so I press the button to turn it off, and press and hold the button again, and although it seems to struggle a bit, it boots. My next computer is gonna be a HP. Dells are just to much of a PITA to reformat.

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: If I ever get to your neck of the woods, I'd like to meet you just to shake your hand! Well, I'd still have to check out your leather workshop...

I could care less if you want to eat a fetus of some animal. We all eat eggs, which would become a chicken fetus if left in the egg a few days longer. What really bugs me is when an animal isn't dealt with humanely when it comes time to slaughter it. Kosher butchering bugs me. Just sawing through a cows jugular vein while it's looking at you is cruel. I have a friend who worked in a slaughter house. He was the guy that actually dispatched the cattle. He assured me that the animals (almost always) did not suffer. They hit them in the head with the pneumatic stunner, and they feel no pain while they are hung and bled. Once in a great while, a cow would wake up before it was dead, but almost always, they felt nothing. In cases like this, the line was stopped, and he RAN with the stunner, and hit the cow again, as FAST as possible. He worked there for some time, and killed many tens of thousands of cattle in this way. I have no problem with this. I've seen cattle killed on more than one occasion. My husband's side of the family are all dairy farmers with freezers full of home butchered beef. I kill deer with a rifle, but only when I have a perfect shot, and won't pull the trigger otherwise. I've given up tons of opportunities to kill a deer just because I hate the thought of an animal suffering at my hand.

I'd like to do the veining, please. Hilly

Nice work, but it's supposed to be Green and Gold!

Tim, your book is beautiful! Your flower centers look really nice

You're off to a good start. Sheridan has always been my favorite. I still have trouble drawing my own patterns - it takes me forever! Also, I'm no expert, but I did notice that your top 3 leaves and stickers don't seem to originate from anywhere. They just seem to be abruptly stuck in there. I like to see one flowing vine, with leaves and flowers all swirling off from a main stem, with no interruptions along the way. Do you have the Sheridan book by Likewise? You can follow his main stem all throughout the photo on the cover, from one end to the other. The more you study the work of others, the more stuff you notice... Hope I was a little helpful. Hilly

Nice bracelets. What is the pink one made of?

Count me in, as long as I don't have to bevel....zzzzzzzz.... Hilly

Did you use pre-waxed thread? This is what I have learned about using pre-waxed thread: You need to rub it very briskly between 2 layers of brown paper before you use it. Rub it between the paper so fast and hard that you are about to burn your fingers! This heats up the wax and drives is deeper into the thread, while removing the excess at the same time. Look at the paper after you are finished, and you will see just how much extra wax is on that thread. Also, I wash my hands OFTEN during hand stitching, especially if doing a large project. Helps keep the dirt, oils and wax from transferring onto your project.

First off, having the right tool for the job helps. If you're using something like an Osborn diamond point awl, or anything from Tandy, they don't come sharp from the box. You will need to sharpen and strop the heck out of it before it will stab well. It also helps to stick the tip of the blade into a cake of beeswax before you stab your hole. It should glide right through with very little effort. Also, make sure that when you stab your hole, the blade goes straight in, and not at an angle. Don't try to correct the angle after you've gone mostly through, or you will probably break the blade in a hurry. Awl blades don't take kindly to stuff like that. One of the best awls I have ever used came from Bob Douglas Tools. I bought a haft and a blade from him, and they came very sharp, right from the box. A bit pricey, but everyone here who's got one of Bob's awls will tell you that they are worth every penny! You can stab through several layers of heavy leather without a problem. Good hand stitching takes a lots of practice to get it perfect looking. Do every stitch identical to the one before it. Use the needles in the same order, and pull the stitches consistently tight. Most of all, have fun, and enjoy the learning experience! Hilly

Does it matter if it's the original hard drive, made by Dell, or can it be any generic hard drive? Can it be larger than the one I currently have? Would it even be worth it, as my computer is almost 6 years old? As far as reinstalling the O.S., I have all the Disks with the O.S. on them from Dell. Too bad we can't get computers with the restore CD's like they used to have. One click reformatting! Easy enough that a caveman can do it (or a computer redneck like me!)

I have 2 questions for y'all. For some reason, I am unable to open photos here on the forums. Yes, I am logged in. I can click on the thumbnails, and they won't open. I've left clicked to try and open in a separate window, but only the thumbnail shows up there. It's a little aggravating! The only change I have made to my computer was to reinstall an anti-virus program. Now for the more serious of the 2 questions... Every time I go to boot my computer, I press the power button, and I get the normal opening screen, but then it goes to a black screen and says something like the "hard disk not found" and press f2 to continue blah, blah, blah... I just press the power button to shut down the process, and then press it again, and it boots up just fine. Does it sound to you like I need to be backing up all my good stuff on the external hard drive, and asking Santa for a new computer? Thanks for your help. Hilly

As if educating those people would make a difference! There is a special place in hell for people like that, and for those that buy animal products from them. Those people know it causes great pain and suffering, yet they do nothing to remedy it. Yes, by all means, I wish them harm. Can't help the way I feel.

"Very Disturbing" is too mild of a title for this topic. Just thinking of this really, REALLY wrecked my day. I don't have a problem with humanely killed food or fur animals. I really think I'd pay good money to see more than a few Chinese skinned in this manner, and tossed on that pile of carcasses to rot.

I like Bag Kote followed up with Fiebings Aussie Leather Conditioner with Beeswax. Buff to that mellow glow.

For the past 2 years, I have been using a paid subscription to AVG Internet security package, and it's worked great for me. I only ever had 1 trojan slip past it, compared to dozens with Symantec or McAfee. My subscription is about to expire, and I really can't afford to renew it right now. I intend on downloading the AVG free version of antivirus to use for now. I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a good FREE firewall, or is the firewall that comes with Windows XP good enough? I will continue to periodically use the Malwarebytes anti-malware software to scan my computer, as it has found stuff that other malware software hasn't found. Thanks for your input on this.

Didn't Van Amburg leather carry some of those?

I could be wrong here, but I think THIS might also count as finger carving?

How adorable! Thanks for sharing!

The Leather Crafter and Saddlers Journal has a monthly article called "swivel knife finesse", which is often some sort of finger carving. You might look at a bunch of back issues...

What an awesome costume! Please post a pic or two with the little tyke wearing it? Hilly

Hi GregD! Most Tandy stores have classes to do specific projects. You might gain skills you need to complete some of your own projects from them. You can also ask your Tandy manager to demonstrate something for you, and most are happy to show you how to do stuff. Sometimes you can find videos on Youtube about leatherwork. Otherwise, you can always hang out here, and ask tons of questions. There are many people here who would be happy to answer questions, or possibly even do a tutorial for you. Now that we have video features on this site, people have posted some tuts. There's also a chat feature where you can chat in real time with someone if you want. Is there something specific I can help you with? I'm no expert, but I'm always happy to help someone if I can. HIlly