wildrose

My mom, who is 5' tall and about 100 lbs is looking for a western saddle for her Arab gelding, who is just over 15 hands. He is a fit horse, not overweight or too thin. She rides him a lot. The last saddle was too heavy for her, and fit him poorly. Email me at holly@wrcleather.com if you can give me some leads on how to help. She'd take a used one if it was in good shape.

We're likely going to get a Honda generator. Up to this point, I've used multiple lanterns around the booth, and they're just not bright enough. We do have a portable battery, which we got for emergency use because of my husband's cpap machine. It WOULD be handy camping as well.

I'm not a "newbie", but this is a new area for me. I do one or two big outdoor events a year in my regular run of shows, which run into evening hours and where the ability to have better lighting than just lanterns would be great. Also, my husband has a c-pap machine - and you might know about the "derecho" wind storm that knocked power out for long stretches of time here recently. Which, for someone like him means no sleep 'til it comes back on. We were fortunate that ours came back the same night... Anyhow, if you have a generator, what do you use and why? Is it quiet? Does it really put out the fumes? I've seen/heard some at shows that there is no way I'd buy.

I priced how I needed to, I have no hard feelings if he shops elsewhere.

I'd've bought two hides at Tandy and the project would nOt have used all of either, so the leather supply for it would've run him 150-200. Then there's buckle, pattern, rivets and thread. Plus I have to HAND SEW it all aside from the other work going into it.

Well I went with 400 and likely lost the job. The leather alone would've run me over 150 so I don't feel it was unreasonable.

Let me preface this by saying I've not done a project like this before. I had a repeat customer ask me to make him a belt that will hold ammo for hunting game in Africa...yeah, BIG bullets. My thing is usually swords and knives, so this is new ground for me. It has loops like other belts I've seen hereon. And it will be lined. And I'll also make a pouch for his leatherman. Also, this has to be entirely hand stitched as I don't have a machine. Is 350.00 too high, too low or about right? What did you charge for your first one? Thoughts?

I still have an EZ UP, and I call it my "dinosaur" because it's lasted me over 10 yrs now. I'd replace it, but it's expensive and I seem to sink enough into getting IN shows. I've signed up for two big events so far this year and hope for a third. I know of one other I'll do for sure. The rest will be smaller venues. I'm working on two custom orders - one is a "notebook" case, and no, not the paper kind; the other is a flask. I'd also like to make myself an iPhone case, but as we know, what's for us is the last thing made. After those, I'll get back to bracelet making. I want to make as many as I can early on, so then I can devote myself to nicer pieces for the events. Bracelets sell really well and I do a variety; but they are not my favorite thing to do. Oh, and roses too - gotta make a bunch of them.

I have bad vision, but I'm not over 60 - I just turned 44. Almost all my leatherworking supplies come from Tandy. The biggest problem I'm having nowadays is reading tool numbers on the stems. Had I a need, I would get a magnifiying lens or the lamp Phatdaddy recommended. I see alot of leatherworkers that use them.

What I have is the 5 stamp set/collection that Tandy released briefly a couple of years ago. It has Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard and Marines. I've found the Marines stamp toughest to work with because it's not set on the angle I expect it to be - so if you use it, strike it on a sample first so you know how it's going to line up. It may be the alignment is something that I myself just don't "get"... I'd sell it outright, but I use them alot on keyrings. They're just the right size for that.

I have the military stamp set Tandy put out. I'd consider LOANING it to you if you're interested and would pay to ship it back/forth.

I'll be teaching a class in how to make leather roses at the Green Heron shop in Radford in mid December. If you're interested, let me know and I'll get you more details.

I suspect if you're paying tax on your supplies, then that would work. I myself have a tax id in VA and submit payment monthly (it was quarterly in PA though). It helps me in several ways, the biggest being that I get the makers & sellers discount at Tandy. I incorporate the tax into my item cost, so that I'm not carrying a bunch of coins around at events. It works for me.

I've met Aubrin :-) He's great too. My sister and her family live near Raleigh, so when I visit I go there to buy in person. For some reason I have less "warm feelings" about that store than the Charlotte store. Not sure why. But he really knows his stuff. I think it's more a personality issue that leads me to like phone dealings with Jimmy at Charlotte more.

The "let go" part was certainly not my point - I know the company moves managers around alot. My point was that it's frustrating to get a good relationship going with a manager and then have them gone with no warning. I'm pretty sure the girl I spoke with was staff and not management anyhow, too green. She was very nice, though, and got the job done right - so I expect with time and experience she'll be great.

Please keep me posted too - my inlaws are in Youngstown, OH, and we're out for Thanksgiving, so I could pick things up in person possibly. I'd potentially be interested in swivel knives, mallets/mauls and any stamps/tools. I've begun teaching more, and would appreciate extras. My email is holly@wrcleather.com

Chalk it up to my brainless moment of the week....the guy I'd been dealing with was Jimmy, not Billy. Just got my order, it's perfect, and called the store to tell them I was a happy customer as usual. That said, they DO seem to move managers around alot!

I called to place an order yesterday and got a (obviously new) woman by the name of Kaitlyn (spelling?) She informed me Billy is no longer there - boo! He was terrific. I had to go over my requirements several times with her and I'm still not confident I'm going to get what I need.

To get a tax id was pretty simple in PA, I went to the local tax office and filled out a piece of paper as I recall (though it's been a while). Now I'm in VA and I do file sales tax reports monthly (it was twice a year in PA) which in one regard is annoying, but in another it keeps the amount low rather than a large chunk. That said, here is what I do: When I'm at a craft fair or event, I incorporate the cost of tax into the item price. Thus, if an item is 50.00, I don't have to deal with keeping coins in my cash box. And when I'm shopping at Tandy (which I do pretty regularly), not only do I not pay them tax, I also get the business discount price without having to join a club and pay extra for that. I do, however, pay the use tax i.e. when I buy a side of leather and a bunch of dyes. That's me.

Totally adore my ceramic blades (no joke either). It's all I use unless I'm teaching a class - then I use the same basic swivel knife as my students do. Strop and go, no sharpening needed. Carving is my favorite part of any project, so if they weren't working for me, I'd not be using them.

If I feel I've not cut as well as I'd like, i.e. as deeply, I find using a stylus "opens" the cut line better. But 99% I only cut and bevel. I do use a stylus to trace the pattern on with, though!

Be Thou My Vision is my all time favorite. It is Well With My Soul is great too. I'm a fanatic about most traditional hymns, though, so I'd have a hard time picking. There is a great selection of Scottish/Irish hymns - Michael Card has a cd Starkindler that has some good choices on it.

in 4H, we used empty cereal bags, from inside the boxes.

My all time favorite book - Wizard's First Rule. TV show is well cast but horribly done, though. Your work is AWESOME...yet I still expect to see it in red...