wildrose

Here is a little thing I make to sell at craft fairs. I pick up the boxes for 1.00 at Michael's craft store, stain them with either wood or leather dyes (both work!), cut a little scrap of leather for the top, stain it, put on the concho and voila: 15.00 easy bucks. I could probably go higher, in fact have sold 'em for 20 before. This time 'round, I began adding a little circle of leather on the back, between the concho post and the screw back. It causes a "pillowing" effect, which I find more attractive than the concho sticking out from the leather (being as the leather is thinner than the concho posts are for). I've also had my hubby knock off the posts and just glue the concho on. But I found this works pretty well. The second one - which I just glued and is still under the weight/press - I used smaller leather circles on the backing, as I found this first pillowed a bit too much/too close to the edges. Live and learn. Anyhow, here it is: You also get a glimpse of how marked up my poundo board is...

Will do "Levi" And jbird, no worries. I think your advice was excellent and I intend to try it next time this kind of thing comes up. Personally, I love the double loop stitch, and I would rather have done that on the edges, but she wanted a flat stitch. I even tried buckstitching the edges first, but that was horrible.

Thanks for the advice, jbird! I can see how gluing down the edges and skiving them a bit more would definitely have helped. I was initially going to do the sides like the bottom edge seams are, kinda pinched looking; but I didn't care for that, so I left that "lip" to stitch. Had I thought of it sooner, I'd have done that at the bottom too - but I'd already cut them off.

I've been doing more covers lately, thanks to help from my friend Yolanda Roots, and this is my first case. She and her site have been very helpful to me in this endeavor! http://custom-leatherworks.com/ The customer was entirely pleased. I decided to put the handle on the right side so that when it is carried, the Bible will rest on its spine rather than its pages. I think most of the time it is the opposite.

I'm with rhallskid. I know not everyone here believes in the Bible, but I do, and it clearly says that those who do good are going to suffer for it in their present time. After all, look how much Jesus suffered, and He never did anything wrong. So should we just give up and follow the crowd? NO. Evil will get its reward in the end. As to the original point: there definitely are unscrupulous business out there to get every last buck they can. It is up to the discerning consumer to not let them get their way.

I finally have an iPod and am looking for a good case pattern for it. It's the Nano style. I think Tandy has one, but was looking for something else.

Ben, you understood it the same way I did. I started the list because it was easier to see what had been mentioned...and by how many.

Tally thus far: Scotland: 1 Sweden: 2 USA: 7 Switzerland: 1 Australia: 4 Canada: 1 England: 1 United Kingdom: 1

ROTFLMAO! I'm soooooo with you on this. I could go through about 5 of the female halves before one takes right. I told my father-in-law about the problem, and how the setter just didn't seem to flare the metal enough before pressing it down. He sent me a set of these nail setters. I find they work really well in helping set snaps better. It takes a little practice, but it has helped me tremendously. I use it to splay the tips just a little, then I use the snap setter the rest of the way.

I happen to be with Pete. Shiny and new is not really what you want in cowboy boots IMHO... The way the guy talked on the phone, I was expecting disaster - not these little scuffs on the tops of the toes!

Tally thus far: Scotland: 1 Sweden: 1 USA: 5 Switzerland: 1 Australia: 1 Canada: 1

Had a return customer asking me for help on two projects. The first is this: he's got a grey pair of cowboy boots he loves, and the toes are showing signs of wear/scuffing. I promised him I'd take photos for the site, as re-dyeing leather isn't something I've done. After seeing the boots today, though, I told him to find some matching shoe polish. Was that the best advice, or does someone know something else he or I could try?

You can find many online at their site too.

While I've not been on the "job loss" front, I can sympathize with the down in the dumps depression end of things. You're right, docs tend to want to just dose you up, when it might not be necessary. (I say might because there are people who do need meds) As to the weight issue, my husband weighs over 300 lbs (maybe even 400, not sure), and it is a problem for him. This is something you yourself need to deal with, just like it is for him. No amount of someone else nagging is going to work. Support helps though - I went through Nutri-System and it worked for me at that time; and many people swear by Weight Watchers. Think about every single thing that goes in your mouth. Start by cutting back on portion sizes. That's my hubby's downfall: he'll have 4 slices of toast (with heaps of butter) for breakfast, as an example. Or tonight's dessert: big bowl of ice cream with choc.chip cookies on the side. I love him dearly, just as I'm sure there are people that love you, but it is very sad to watch. Take care of yourself! We care about you!

My father just got himself a Goldwing (midlife crisis???). He'd been wanting one for years, and had always had smaller bikes. I made him chaps and saddlebags for his previous bike, and of course he can still use the chaps. I was teasing him that this thing leaves me little room for leatherworking on it, so he suggested that I make chaps for my mother. His are black, shotgun style, and have tooled leather panels at the top. I used a method that someone I'm no longer speaking with taught me by using Dad's own jeans for measurements. They came out great and fit perfectly. That was a couple years ago. So now I'm at the starting point again and have no memory how I did those! HELP!!!! Keep in mind these will be hand sewn. pic from old crummy camera...

Actually, it was me that brought this topic up last time...I was curious too. I'm glad it's back around again for discussion. In my workshop I listen to primarily Celtic (my heritage) or Latino music (I have a degree in Spanish). We have such a variety of music in our house, that I could pick 'most anything: my husband listens to anything from classical (Mozart, Beethoven, etc) to classic rock (Pink Floyd, Rush), and aside from what I already mentioned for myself, I listen to alot of rock and country. My car radio is almost always on country. I used to think country was awful until I started hanging out at the Tandy in Allentown, PA. The manager there, Frank Cardenal, played it because he felt it was the only thing family friendly. I was there so much, I really got hooked on it. BTW, I do love the hammered dulcimer. Thanks for that link!!! There's a person at the PA Renaissance Faire that plays, and I am nuts about that sound.

I'm laughing about the comment on the engine never dying. We once had an International pick up truck, our first at the farm in NJ where I grew up. The thing was HORRIBLY ugly, my mom needed cushions to see over the steering wheel (she's 5'2") and it was a fight to get it started, but man could that thing run once you got it going. As to custom tags/plates, that varies state-to-state. NJ and PA were very expensive to have them. Here in VA, it's so cheap that we are known to have more custom tags than any other state. I don't yet have them on my daily driver, but I have them on my 1966 Mustang: "HAM 66" (my initials and the car's year...I was getting sick of folks saying "is that a 64 and a half?" like they were know it alls! It didn't help, they still ask) States also vary on how many letters/numbers you can fit on a plate, and sometimes it depends on the plate. My Mustang has Antique plates, they're orange, with black lettering I believe, and that being plain you can fit 7 letters/numbers on it I think. VA has a variety of specialty plates - i.e. for horse enthusiasts and lighthouse lovers, etc etc, and it can be tough to choose!

Have an especially terrific day!

Ray, thanks for the press on the press I wish I could sell it, because it's honestly a shame just sitting here. I even have a UPS packing/shipping outlet nearby I could use for it. There was a little interest after I put it in the Marketplace section, but it drizzled out. Ah well, the right time will come.

This time 'round, Ray's getting 'em from me: I happened to have had a set collecting dust (didn't use it much). I promise it will leave here well packed and in an appropriate envelope. It's sad when businesses don't ship things well, when you've paid them for the product and don't get what you paid for! Now if I can only sell that hand press I've got sitting around here...

Great design on that!

My husband's a nut about the show, we own the series, and he saw the movie (we own that too). I don't think I saw any of it...The actor from it is coming out in a new show called Castle (cop show). My husband could also go on about the new Battlestar Galactica (I didn't watch that much either) To me, in the sci fi world, nothing beat Babylon 5. BTW, great work on the rig.

ooooooh! I'm liking that! Very nice design!!!

UKRay put it very well. What I'd add, in ref. to your closing comment/question, is that I always try to educate people about the field. When they ask me "how did you do that design?" "is that stamped on?" "does the leather come in that color?" etc etc, I show them and/or explain. If they don't understand what went into a piece, they will surely not feel like paying what you're asking.

Well, it's official: I have room reservations. I hope to see many of you there. BTW, I did have some difficulties with making the reservations. The man I spoke with was SUPER friendly, but kept insisting they were all booked up. I found that hard to believe, figuring the guild had a block set aside, and I would've been stunned if THOSE were all booked (I've never been to a show that was); and sure enough he found that block and got us a room. So if you call, be sure to be patient and remind them about the rooms set aside for the show specifically.