TomSwede

Hi Azrider and thanks Azrider!! I used Fiebings aussie leather conditioner and leather balm on top of that. Be careful with the leather balm if you use it. I got some lift from the black wich partially got into the red tribal carvings and darkened the cuts. It's not very noticeable but I do like my work to look just as good in close up view as it does from a distance. This is a fun tecnique to work with. Tom

That is a cool seat!!! I won't hesitate to say that yo tied that one up neatly;-) Lots of bonuspoints for creativity!! Tom

Same thing applies for a lonely carving Swede. Tiiiina come home soon ha ha Good words Johann! Tom

This is a first I think but the inside is so dang nice that I'd wish the cover would be without tooling and *pop* when you open it up. It'd just hit you in the face with that elegance if the cover didn't reveal that delicious inside. Sorry if this is disturbing now that you went through all the efforts of making a really good looking cover because it is very nice on the outside too. Tom

Ha ha I had two constrictors (regnbågsboa och kungsboa). Doesn't fancy spiders (except our own Spiderbro) much either. Yeah, I gotta learn some tricks with painting. I haven't seriously tried either. Never had any request for it so far. Be glad you can't se the rest of the pic ha ha...also, got a mess from another staffmember and being accused to white out the monitor ha ha (hi TO;-)!!!

Wow sis, looks like you're a bit on the wildside today!! Gorgeous as usual and that snake inlay is soooo nice. Dang I wish I had your ability to paint realistic. Good'un!! Lillebroren

Hi and welcome to the board!! Excellent in style and apperance, showing both beautiful leathercraft and the arrows. The design is really nice, your own?? We do have a subforum for archers and new contributions is very welcome to it!! However you can post your work to the show off subforum for maximum exposure and it will be sorted to the right subforum after a while by the great powers that runs this board. Nice introduction, we love pics here!! Greetings Tom

A really beautiful seat David!! Very classy and elegant!! Great job!! Tom

Cool stuff Bro!!! Love the iPhone holder!! Tom

Hey sis, can I bother you with asking for a pic from the side. The C mark distorts the little I can see. Tom

Ah that one!! Gotta tell you, it is awsome laid out flat like in the pic BUT when I shaped it around my arm to act as a bracer....aww man it's THE ugliest bracer I ever saw. NOT gonna show it completed! That post is just a tutorial for the colouring so not for showing off that particular piece. Tom

Nah, now you're kidding me right...save it so I can see it in person and i'll promise I find a way to make it mine ;-) I should have known better than to think you had missed such a detail, as usual!! Tom

Abselutely beautiful sis!! One thing pops into my mind though, what if you had mixed some of the same blue as the lining into the waves?? Still gorgeous as ever and one of a kind. I sure wish to see your purses up close and "live", the way you paint your work is really vivid and solid. Tom

Yes you do have alot of practice but it'll pay off in the end. Keep one thing in mind when carving, you should not need to feel like you're forcing the knife through the leather. It should feel like cutting through butter BUT with new blades that hasn't been stropped (polished alot) you may get some drag from the blades (ceramics is well known for this). Some people use a carving solution wich allows the blade to slide easier. Not available in Sweden so never worked with that. Tom

He he thanks alot Rick!! Perhaps he's a icebeer then;-) Tom

That looks really cool David! Good suggestions and support from you Luke!!! Where the links connect you have a small gap. Carving and tooling would be easier if you eliminated that gap also that is how a stretched chain looks like. Also keep in mind that letters are very hard to carve, the chain is also very similar to the letters to carve. I recommend that you try some with a scrap piece first. Correct casing is allways important but for letters I am allways extra careful with that. I don't do letters if the leather feels to moist. I use ceramic angled blades for all my carving nowadays but originally I started using a regular Tandys filigree blade just because of lettering. Tom

Thanks Kate!! I'll have a look around and see if I can find such a brush. We do have horses so chances are. Thank you Art!! He is a cute little fella'!! I have more drawings with him so hope I get the chance to do them too in the future. Tom

Thank you very much Marrok!! That is a nice thing to say..eh..uhm...I'm not sure wich skull bracer you mean. I know I have three posted here for sure but it's quite possible I've done more than that. I'm loosing count on bracers..lol. Most of my bracers are not photographed because back then I didn't have a digital camera. Hey, I've done at least 7 bracers, 1 keyfob and 1 necklace with mjolnir on them aswell. Think I used the "Skåne" version for all of them. Tattoos are fun when you make them but then you realize that your canvas just shrunk and it get's tricky to fit in all the goodies you want ha ha. Still have my back to go but gotta turn around the finances first. Only regret I have with tattoos is that I don't have more, lol. I don't fancy tattoos below torso and stomach tattoos that looks good is a rare thing too. Only for some...for a few years, lol. There will be lots of beer bellys that has REBEL in olde english lettering around the elderly homes when I end up there;-) Forgot this one earlier, that is strange but it did happen so let's bring out another one while at subject Ha ha thank you bud, one keg of mead to you!!! Tom

Hails!! I'm Norse for real;-) Got a valknut on my arm too (I noticed that you used the Scandinavian term)!! So set sail on your longboat and be prepped for a journey in the worlds best board. It is loaded with info to plunder..eh, we'll actually most people here is happy with sharing secrets of the trade. The atmosphere is very friendly here and we love pics. There are no dumb questions so never hesitate to ask. You'll see tons of stuff here that will make your eyes pop out and make you wonder....HOW?? Tom

One thing I've been nagging alot about here on the board is borders. Very important to know when to use a border and when to not. Most times a border is needed to "hold the composition" of your design together and then there are those times that is the exception that confirms the rule. Some designs work better without a border and I can't tell you much about that, only that I know it when I see one, lol. Also there are times when you incorporate borders into the design, Bob Park aka hidepounder has some excellent work where he does this. I see you have borders incorporated, maybe they are sewing channels, anyway sewing channels work very good as a border when you use for example a white thread on a black leather. Even with a black thread on black leather it many times serves purpose as a border really well. I like the design you came up with (it'd be really cool for a belt) and you have allready gotten good pointers about the name going over the shoulder. Lukes idea sounds very good, I'd try and redraw it and see how it looks. Tom

Thanks Casey!! I used cova colour diluted to a milk looking apperance and painted with a brush, making certain areas to have more "shinethrough" from the black leather underneath. It is sealed with a layer of leathersheen. It looked alot better without the sheen but this area will suffer from grabbing (sweaty??) hands and possibly rains to so had to seal it thoroughly. All the rest of the strap is Aussie conditioner and a top coat of leather balm. Thank you David!! Thank you sis!! Yeah this bear is a real sweetie! Thank you Madmax!! have 4 belts ordered asap delivery and need to solve this quick, lol. The way I got with the gray areas on this strap is not acceptable so prolly just use leather balm for them but I'm gonna test the way you suggest allthough I think this one was sitting overnight with the aussie (I made it several months ago so memory fails). Tom

Well, not foe an icebear hunter but he gave me free hands on design so what the heck...I've been wanting to carve this one for a long time and finally got to do it. Some greyish areas can be see in the stampings of the thinner part. This is wax from Aussie leather conditioner. Any pointers on how to avoid this would be appreciated because I don't dare using it for carvings anymore. The sheepskin just won't get it all off when buffing. Any critioques welcome, edges is a tad on the rough side, I know that. Tom

Hey Madmax!! I sure would like to spend a day or two with you to find out what happens in your everday life since you need it as a weapon or rescue device, lol ;-) Belt looks great, clean and elegan The dualtone is a nice touch. Rollers on the buckle is great to save the belt from fraying. Nice job, should attract some interest from friends and foe. Tom

Aww Schno, you allready know the key to endure this....whisky!!! Thanks man!! Anywho, I just popped into this thread to display with pics again. Just took theese on my son. 5 images grabbed over one second. Clock is half past eleven in the evening and it's still bright enough for me to do whatever I like with the camera in regards of shutter speeds and aperture. Shutter speed 1/30s F4 ISO400 and handheld camera here. Happy son but soon he'll be happier, I'm gonna treat him with that smoked reindeer heart we bought today. Reindeers are further north than I am so it's not every day we eat it. HE loves odditys in food so very excited about it!!! Tom