rdb

see!....kewl in unexpected places

We all agree...more pix! A lot of times, we don't really have anything super to show off, so we don't post, or we don't want to hijack someone else's "showoff" thread. Cheer up..open thread is here. This is your opportunity to post some of your stuff that didn't move you to show it off, you know, the regular stuff from keyrings to some new shaped latigo keeper. If it works out, maybe we can do it more often. I'll throw mine in to start it off, just one of my simple guitar straps. Black Bridle leather makes this a bit special. It just feels great, but no tooling, etc. Don't let us down...More pix...

Never tried this with leather, but part of my life as a carpenter, the old trick was to mix sawdust with elmer's glue, to fill the nail holes or scratches....maybe take a belt sander to some leather, and use the dust mixed with a glue...might work

Ça va. Sylve. I ne parle pas très bien français, que nous sommes encore. Bienvenue sur le Forum. S’il vous plaît apprécier.

Color?!! Why? It's gorgeous as is.. a little oil, some Pecards, and your done. Sun, Time, and a little butt rubbing will turn it into something fit for a museum someday...Great work!

Rawhide, If you can participate in an online forum, you can run a simple website. Google is your friend Step 1: Pick a website host $4-8 a month for simple ones, there's even a few free ones around still (with all you need to create a site). Step 2: download some html/css software...my favorite -"html-kit" - http://www.chami.com/html-kit, and an ftp uploader -my favorite -"smartftp" Step 3: Either make it up in your software, or download a free template (google free web templates). Step 4: upload your new site, and rake in millions...lol

cool we should hook up ...maybe a trip to zack white's, or a midway beer!

Thanx robert and rawhide...where's yours. List them here...

it's probably a dns propagation issue Jo, new site domain and all..way up there in the great north, the wires are probably frozed....lol

my web site works for me..try again..if not let me know..anybody else have the same problem?

Okay, I spent the past 24 hours building this little site: http://www.rockyriverleather.com/index.php So far, I just have the basic pages up, and the links working. You wont see much...There's a few old pix splashed here and there. If you spot things awry...let me know, please. I intend for these pages to be the friendlier entrance to the shopping cart, which if you click on, you will see a typical Cart, but it's not set up yet, just the shell.That's for the next coming days. I use Servage.net for hosting at http://www.servage.net/page/front/ (if you like them, let me know, you get stuff for turning your friends in....lol. I've been using them for a few years now, and no probs..quick email responses, and lots of script install goodies. I used a basic open source site template, which I screwed around with, and will probably do more to it. It's like thousands of others, you still have to know your way around coding. Here's a few questions to youse guys: How are you promoting your sites? What parts of your sites are attracting new looks? What percentage of your business is coming from the sites? You can ask questions of everybody yourself, or throw in some wisdom for the rest of us to learn from. If you have any horror stories to share, I'm sure we'll all love the juicy parts.... AND WHAT BETTER PLACE to post YOUR sites address. We should have a consolidated list of all our sites. Maybe Johanna can pick through this topic, and have enough to assemble that list for everyone??

You did a GREAT job! Did you cover the whole thing, or just the top? I've seen this done by many, including the King himself. I've always wondered how it affected the tone. Your brother has a decent guitar there...what did it do to the sound?

Most of us do use irfanview (check your spelling beaverslayer...lol), it's a goldilocks app...just right The simplest app is from MS: image resizer, found on this page. It gives a choice with a right click on a pic to resize from small to large. For quickies, this isn't too bad... http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloa...ppowertoys.mspx For a free equivalent of photoshop, download gimp (do a google). For most people this is a darn good freebie.

I like this topic!. Thanx abn. IMHO: Style can probably be defined in several ways. First: there is the craftsmanship side. You could copy traditional styles, but there is something in the items you make, that distinguishes you from the others. Maybe that would include how you use the hand tools, pear shaders, etc. You might even use a hand tool differently to create a new something (think Freak's leaves in his backgrounding) There are acceptably standard ways to hand sew, for instance, but you may end with a wrap, instead of a backstitch, or both. Second: there is the actual design on the piece. All the bike guys here have distinguishable differences in their design choices, braid/stich/rivet choices. There are the actual patterns of the piece, maybe original patterns (think Kevin King's wallets, or esantoro's bags, or Jordans cellphone holster. (I'm not leaving people out, just random choices, or this comment would run 12 pages naming everyone's contributions...not to mentionall the incredible saddlers). They are all combinations of the works that came before, yet, with a personal style applied. Maybe it's just one of these, or all of them that distinguish a person's work. Maybe it has to do with location , like clay said, after all, the people who buy from you local, are the ones that tell you what to make. Horsey people, musicians, corporate types.... I'm not even sure we, as artists, and craftsman actually know what our styles are. We know what choices we make, in leather, and design. We allot time frames to our piece making, that influence quality. We make our own unique decisions, but it maybe the outside observer who finally decides if you have a style, or not. If they see the difference in what you do, then, You have a style.

Those are great designs! I love non traditional....

Thanx barra, I'm enjoying these videos...back to watchin'

Bewteefull! I don't know how you did the leafs as part of the backgrounding, but they are cool.

Even black can't hide that fantastic tooling! Great job.

This might be a small one, you'll have to check with them though to be sure: http://www.bowstock.co.uk/acatalog/Punches.html

They all look good to me abn! I like the fob color. The Tri-corner looks neat, and the wallet looks just like it's supposed too.

Their big buyer is for Rawlings Baseballs They are in Tulahoma: Tennessee Tanning Company, Inc. Leather 931-455-3441 interesting read on Rawlings and TTL: http://www.businesstn.com/pub/1_5/topnews/7258-1.html

I love the fighting battle axe sweep of the design. That's just great work. If the customer wants to cover it in green flouro paint, it doesn't matter...we saw it...we know. Take his money and move on to your next great piece.

Randy, that's sharp!. A full cover holster, and at the same time minimal leather. I like it.

Seems there is always someone willing to plunk down big bucks...to bad some of it ain't coming our way! http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/fema...in_page_id=1879 Anyone into knockoffs for half the price...lol

The whole thing looks good to me, from the carving to the braiding...great job. I agree, they need a little stiffener. I like the shaped ones better than the floppy round ones.