Blackbirdhills Andy

Thanks again for your kind words monica!

Hi All, I'm "Showing off" my first carvings here... As you might notice, I've only had a beginners set of tools. No different sizes in shaders, backgrounders or whatever... Tipps and criticism that will help to improve my work are always appreciated and I will learn from them, promise!! :-) The Floral design is inspired by very old swiss folk art. Stuff like that was painted on furniture... I wanted something different than the "useual" western-style designs (absolutely NO offense!) :-) Now the stain problem: As you see on pic 2 where I lay out the chinks I'm working on, I'm going for a straight natural look, the deer hide was laying in the sun for 4 days so there's a color-contrast anyway... I love the look, but theres a problem: In my carvings, a couple hours after I finished them with Fiebing's Leather Sheen, there where white stains showing (As on picture 3 "Stains"). Does anyone know why this is? Is there a way to get rid of them without staining/antiquing the leather? Also: If I finish the Carvings with leather sheen (or resolene or whatever), the leather can't take any oil or wax or other conditioners anymore right? I've learned that leather should always be takin care of with good conditioner or oils, so what's about that? BTW: I'm sorry for the bad quality pic and lighting, it's early morning here and I didn't wanna wait for this to post (because of that stain thing, not to show off!... ;-) Thanks for your answers, Regards from switzerland, Andy

Thanks zuludog! :-)

Hi all! I've had the chance to buy this blanchard plough gauge along with some other stuff... As you see, it's one without the head-screw, and I don't find any information about its age... The knife has nothing written on it, so I suppose the original one was replaced... Can anyone give me some information about this thing? :-) Thanks a lot, Andy

Veeeery nice Backpack Monica! I'm thinking of making a backpack for myself since months (especially every time I buy a nice hide at my tanner's) but I can't decide on the design... haha (I want it to be a keeper for years and years, so it's quite a hard decision!) ;-)

Monica, Thanks a lot, that's very kind of you! (Although I think it's pretty hard to get things right with the photos-I think it always looks a lot different on the pictures, and not necessarily for the better) ;-)

Hi Bob, I know, I took a picture of the backside too, but it turned out all blurry, and I saw it too late, after she came to pick the thing up... But it was nothing too fancy-just a simple two straps/4rivets solution... Anyway, thanks a lot! :-)

Here's my latest project; a medium sized beltbag for my local optician lady-of course it needed a built in pocket for her glasses! ;-)

Haha, good one james! :-) Another PLUS for the Hand-Stitch! Ah nice, never been to a knife show here, but sure love knifes! :-) I always feel like a little boy again when I'm stepping into a knife shop! haha :-) I have my 100 year old victoria knife with me all the time! (The 1st picture is how it looked when I found it, Pic2+3 I've treated it with some polish and love! ;-)

Exactly! Hope those Mosquitos are gone soon, I know how they suck! (literally! haha) Here's a -not so good- picture of that frontporch expirience; no kids, just my dog and some birds... :-) I'm currently getting into the whole tooling thing. that'll bring the two things together: my graphic design and the leather work, I have lots of ideas and I'm lookin forward to share some of my first carvings/toolings with you guys here... But first I have to finish my new workbench! :-)

Monica, That's exactly why I love hand-stitching! :-) Machines are way to fast for me, and I like to be in control of my work! Also, everytime I'm making a new piece, when I'm done with pattern making and cutting etc, I'm really excited about bringing all the things together by hand... It's almost a meditative experience... :-) I often do the sewing on my front-porch, that's even better! :-)

Hi Monica, Thanks a lot! And let me say: I like your work too! Specially those fiddle/mandolin influenced bags are very pretty! Do you still sew by hand? Sorry; I just saw that your stuff is hand-stitched! Very nice! :-)

Hi Kings'X, Thanks, seems to be a very nice community here! :-) I love your work, I'm honored about your kind words! Thanks a lot, Andy

Hey James, "Sälüü!" :-) I'm living in the Kanton Fribourg, near Bern (speaking swiss german). I'm living a simple life with little money (which is'nt always easy in switzerland), so it's more a "saving money" question than a "making money" one... haha Serious, I'm making a lot of my stuff for the everyday use, for riding, canoeing etc. by myself. This way I have the real deal and don't have to spend a fortune for it... Also, I found out that-if people see how the stuff is done-are willing to pay a fair price, and I hope that's gonna continue with the bigger projects I'm planning... I'm planning to sell my stuff on some Arts and Crafts Market in 2015, I can tell you more then... ;-) About the name: Yeah I know, I was thinking about changing the name- not into swiss german, but into german... But then again, I have nice Hangtags which where screenprinted by hand by a friend of mine, and I have all the other things with my logo on... So it's quite a decision to make... :-) You found a nice place there, I was visiting the USA a year ago, and I love Virginia and the Appalachian Mountains. Great Music Heritage! All the best, Andy

Thanks Davy, It's more like an obsession though! Haha :-)

Hi all, My name's Andy and I'm working as a self employed graphic designer here in switzerland. I started working with leather in 2013. Not willing to support the throw-away-society we're living in, my goal right from the beginning was to make rugged, durable goods and not following any trends... With studying many old pieces and having one of the best western saddle makers as a "mentor", I've learned a lot in a very short time. I'm only sewing by hand, the old-school way, almost everything is made as they did it a 100 years ago, and I'm trying to keep up with the quality standards of the old time. I recently found this platform here and I'm very thankful for all the posts and "how to" infos. Also since I'm still quite new to leather working, constructive criticsm is always welcome and I'm trying to learn from it! I'm currently planning to make my very first saddle in 2015, an internship to do this would be great, so if anyone here is willing to teach me, I'll be willing to travel! :-) Thanks for reading, Andy