wildrose

Au contraire: while we do sell plenty of produce at our Farmers' Market, I do pretty well over the course of it on my leatherwork. But it's truly hit or miss as far as crowds go. I'm fortunate to be in a university town, and when school's in session, it's good business. This one is 4/5 oz leather, Tandy's new ecoflo saddle tan, Aussie wax on top. No stain on the interior. Haven't spilled anything on it yet - miraculously, as I did use it at work (I work in a coffee shop) for my sweet tea cup. (I actually don't drink coffee myself) It doesn't fold, but I don't think squashing it would harm it.

I'm sorry to hear that, will keep you posted!

A simple and potentially hot selling product (no pun intended). I'll be showing it off around the area and at an event this weekend.

Well, I must be in the minority - I had haggis while we were touring Scotland and I thought it was good. Not something I'd eat everyday, and I imagine some people really mess it up; but it was good when we had it.

I have ones of him actually working on leather, but I can't pinpoint them right now. I know I posted some a while back under the topic "kids in the shop" or something like that. This paint job is on what he calls his "pirate ship tree house" - LOL - and it's a Melissa and Doug brand product. My husband's brother always gets him the cool stuff!

Looks really nice and the turquoise spots are a great accent. I would still bring the hat "band" down over the "hem" below it, but that's personal preference. I'd be a proud owner if it were mine.

I have taught kids in an after school program as young as kindergartners. They sure love to pound! As for my guy, it gave me a big smile when he said "Mommy, I could paint with you all day!" (he was helping me paint roses at the time). I have a train stamp from Tandy that is his particular favorite for 3D stamping. You're right that it can be a problem to have them in the workshop at times, when you don't want them touching everything, but in the long run it's rewarding. They're only little for a short while... Here he is painting a wooden fort he has.

I suspect those'll protect you REALLY well! Nice work.

That's cute! I thought I started my son young at 3 (he's almost 5 now and still loves it)

See, that's where I'm usually at, which explains the time crunch.

My guess is that if I get 5 inquiries, I get 1 sale. I find once the price comes out, people don't write back. And that stuns me because I'm not what you'd call on the expensive side.

You might add a light "wash" of a silver or black metallic acrylic paint. Granted, it'll be over a large area (armor); but I use it on smaller pieces and it's nice.

Having spent the past 3 hrs painting leather roses (20 of them!), I'm wondering how many others have worked in a time crunch and turned out multiple items repetitively. It has to be minimum time and maximum pieces, so do tell!? BTW, right now my fingers are orange!

In the easy solution dept., you might try a "hefty handle". I use them with the more detailed 3D's and it works well.

I've been offered space in a local shop, and I'm going to do this on a wallhanging for there I think!

Here's my end: I have two dear friends whose work is totally different than my own. Sometimes, when I do a show, I don't have enough of my own product. To "fill up the booth", I ask if they'd like to put up some of their things. This makes the space look better, and it's a better variety. What we do is this: if I sell their product, I get a cut of the price. If they are helping at the booth, and they sell their own piece, they keep the whole amount. After all, they're helping me by being there! This has worked great for us, and has never resulted in hard feelings. In fact, one of them is coming all the way down from PA to VA this next weekend to help me with a huge event. She hasn't done a show in ages and has a bunch of stock sitting around. I told her to bring what she could and we'd set it out. I don't intend to charge her at all, since she and I are going to be at the booth the whole time and she's doing me a huge favor by helping out. But if she offers me something, I'm not going to turn it down, either. After all, I'm helping her too by getting her stuff out! I did have a third friend who took a cut of my work at his booth, and that was fine with me - even when I was there. It was my first big event, years back, and I was pleased to be asked. Plus, the event took a cut of his sales too! I think if you can work out a reasonable arrangement, all can benefit. I do think you should not be charged a fee for orders you take, or orders you later receive because of people seeing your work there. That is unrealistic. My .02

Dang! tlowry, that's a lot of kids!!! I thought I had it rough with the Girl Scout summer camp a few years back when I'd have 13 to troop around with all day long.

When you are making something, not an item someone has specifically chosen a design for, how do you choose the design that goes on it? As an example, I have dozens of Celtic designs, plants, animals, etc etc. When I begin a project, for example a box, I measure it and decide what shape would look best on it (round, square, etc). Then I consult my files and pick what I feel works for it. But sometimes I'm stumped. I'll look and say "nah, did that one recently" "nah, didn't like that one last time", whatever. Stumbling along, I'll pick something just to get it done, but I won't be happy doing it and likely won't be happy with the outcome. Ever had that happen? Just curious. I feel much the same way when it comes to coloring the project!

I'd go with the name idea, such as "Handcrafted by: ... " I chose Wild Rose Creations because of the wild roses that grew everywhere around the farm I grew up on. After I got on this board, I was somewhat amused to find a Wild Irish Rose joined too...a bit close, but I guess legally it's different enough.

Stunning!

LOL! Yeah, surrrrre!

When I finished tooling this, and even after I stained it (Tandy's old saddle tan antique liquid), I was pretty happy with this piece. But somewhere between trimming it to fit the inlay, and gluing it in, I was no longer quite as pleased. I think it struck me then that I could've done a better job with the beveling. Also, I pressed a little hard with the modeling spoon when pushing it into place on the lid. Hoping for some positive feedback!

Wonderful work! The only comment I was going to make was made: watch the edges. I especially noticed below where the "hatband" is, it seems a little rough/uneven.

Ever go to the Tandy there in Essex? When I lived in Delaware, I went a few times.

Very nice and classy looking.