wildrose

Glad to hear from you! You've certainly got your work cut out - this is the biggest list yet! What a great group

Wow! Reminds me of when a good friend of mine shot himself in the foot (literally!). He told all his customers that he dropped a marble on his foot when they asked about the damage.

Great idea! Thanks for the tip! Here's one I do: To keep the thread of my contact cement jar from gluing shut, I coat the threading with Aussie Wax (petroleum jelly would work too, I'd assume). Makes it so much easier to open the jar after it's sat for a while!

Tandy has a zippered folio kit now. It's pricey, but might be a good start for you. I've made one for my husband. http://www.tandyleatherfactory.com/home/de...ature=Product_5

After cleaning the piece with rubbing alcohol, I let it dry overnight and stained it today with Tandy's saddle tan antique. It looks great! Thank you for this suggestion, and I'm sure I'll use it again.

A while back, I made a shield for a LARPer up in Pennsylvania. Here are some pics with my hubby "modeling" (he's really getting into it, huh? LOL!). He has his own sword, which is a Starfire. It was wood in the center, leather on the outside, and foam around the edge, covered with suede, and held on with upholstery tacks. I learned alot from this one, and would make changes had I another to do. One thing I was fortunate on is that my dad-in-law cut the wood for me, so that saved time and money. [attach ent=19690:shield_modelled_02.jpg]

That is really classy, and great work! Don't let 'em scare you. This is what you pack....I'm speaking from experience not too long ago (my son is 4 now): 2 diapers wipes (you can get a slim container to put these in, so you don't have to carry alot) bottle/sippy change of clothes (esp. pants) That's really all you need. I would sometimes add a toy (if I was going somewhere like out to dinner with him), those scented bags you can dispose of diapers in, and some washclothes (for covering you-know-where when changing a boy)

Wow! This has been a really interesting topic to read! Like most, I don't do leatherwork full time. Right now, I'm working part time in a coffee shop. The humor there is that I don't drink coffee and knew very little about it when I started there (latte? what's that?) But it's a great place with a terrific crew. I'm lucky there. I've also been really fortunate with the leatherwork this past year. I do that in the mornings while my son is in pre-school. My husband is in the computer field and has a good job at Virginia Tech, and he also teaches a few courses at the local community college. So that leaves me with more time to spend with our son. At some point in the future though, I'll likely find something full time, hopefully in the education field (my degree is in Spanish and secondary ed, but I don't really want to teach full time). The longest I was anywhere was 10 years at Raritan Valley Community College in Somerville, NJ. I loved that job, where I worked with a lot of foreign students and administered a variety of tests, along with record keeping tasks. My pet peeve there, though, were the "it's not my job" and "why bother?" staff, those who would do only enough to get by. I can't work like that. I give my all where ever I am.

I went ahead and bought some rubbing alcohol. Soaked a rag with it and wiped the piece down. Since this is a small piece, with an easy design, I figured it's the safest thing to try it out on. I've used Tandy's deglazer before when I mucked up a big piece (tri-leg chair), and it does work well for removing stains for such a problem. I don't think I'd use it for something like this though. And yes, it is very strong in the odor dept!

I have found at most festivals that when I approach other leatherworkers, they are extremely close mouthed about their work and how they accomplish certain effects/pieces. Personally, I do the opposite. When someone asks me how I made something, I'm happy to pull out some tools and demonstrate. In fact, I usually bring some stamps for kids to work with while I'm set up at an event. If we don't educate others, how will the craft continue?

As some of you may remember, I had some trouble with splotches on some recent projects. It was suggested that I clean the leather before staining it. What is the best method/product for this? At one point, I'd heard lemon juice?

That flask was my favorite too! He gave me the scan from the front of a book he had - I think it was called A Wolf in Wolk's Clothing. The "blood dripping" effect was longer on the original design - I had to shrink it to fit the USMC below it. I think I like it because of the simplicity compared to the other work I've had to do lately.

Okay, now that the craziness of last month is over, I can post pics of what I was up to. Binders (I think I posted these before elsewhere): ' Flasks (for a Marine, and another with the Campbell logo) Bible covers (from a mom for her sons) This ranks as the busiest pre-Christmas season ever!

I don't think I can show that to my bro-in-law because I'd have to be making one after! He is a total SW freak. I got him this trivia book game off Amazon.com for Christmas. Generally I don't buy him SW stuff 'cuz he has it all already. When I told him I'd never seen Empire Strikes Back, he bought me the whole trilogy for Christmas that year.

Our modem at home is shot, so right now I'm at our public library. We won't be online again at home 'til at least tomorrow...anyhow as to shipping out of US: I personally have found that it varies by where it's going (of course). I always ship with the post office. I find UPS is way overpriced. While it is more expensive to go out of the country, I've found it to be usually within twice the price.

Thanks for the memory jog Kathy! I'm borrowing the inlaws' computer, so didn't look the other posts up. No offense taken, I hope I'm looking forward to testing it out. I ordered a beginner's Tandy kit for a customer's daughter, and promised them some scraps from low quality hides I have laying around. I'm planning on using the Skil to cut them off the bigger pieces. I got music too: Celtic Thunder's two cds. I like Sarah Brightman, but I prefer Michael Crawford as far as Broadway voices. In the female set, I really like another Sarah: MacLachlan. (Probably just spelled a bunch of names wrong...)

I'm using my inlaws computer right now - visiting for Christmas in Ohio - so I've not been online much. I just wanted to add a note that I am thrilled Mike brought it up, and certainly don't feel my toes have been stepped on at all. I took up the first PIF when a volunteer was being sought, and it was so much fun that I offered to do a second one not long after (to especially catch people who'd missed the first one). I do like the idea of drawing names, as I think being open to ideas other than how we originally did it is not a bad thing. Deadline? Haven't thought that through yet. I'm happy to let Mike "take the reins" if he's got the time. Now that the holidays are almost over, I've still got a few not-so-pressured projects to do, as well as finishing up cleaning the basement from the flood we had earlier this month. While I do have time enough to do PIF, I'd not mind being "merely" a participant. Oh, and before I forget: nope it's not just for US residents. At one point, we did ask if there were people more willing to ship overseas. I don't know if we want to go that route or just say that if you want to participate you might end up with someone out of the country. After all, that's more fair (in my mind) to the overseas people who are going to likely have to ship here anyhow. Sorry if that's kinda disjointed, because my 4 yr old is yapping in the background and going "what's taking you so long, Mommy????" and such. Whatever ya'll think

I got that cool Skil cutter that Denise (is my memory right?) was raving about.

I'd be happy to do it again. As an explanation to "newbies": what is done is to make a list of who would like to participate. Then, you send a gift YOU make to the person ahead of you on the list. This enables folks to experience a variety of styles and items! I should add, I also got a book by an author I'd been wanting to check out (George RR Martin), so your gift really doesn't have to be handmade entirely (I also got leather goodies)

I deal primarily with the Allentown, PA store: Jeff, Talina, and their staff are fantastic. I've also dealt with the Baltimore, MD, store previously. Bill there is a great guy, too. It's nice to me to see people speaking positively of the stores they've dealt with.

I'll be in Ohio with the inlaws. Don't know yet what the meal will be, but as for amount of people: if there's 10, that'll be alot. I miss the old days with my mom's family: there were about 30 of us then! That was alot of fun, teasing each other and grandmom's wonderful cooking. I think I miss her ambrosia most of all (a side dish with mini marshmallows, coconut, mandarin oranges and a really yummy cream all over it...never made it myself)

Let me check into local shipping places (i.e. UPS) and see what the weight/cost of shipping it is. It'd be after the holiday, most likely. OK? I'd need your zip code so they can get me an estimate...

Happy birthday! I remain very grateful for your help with the bracelets...you're a great teacher!

I'd written under another heading that I was seeking one or more of Tandy's old briefcase kits. My husband and I love ours, but they're falling apart. I know my husband really REALLY wanted another one. After seeing no replies, I'd given up hope. Thursday night, our basement flooded. We have a finished basement, which includes my shop, our computer desk, play space for our son, a bathroom, and a library area. Almost all was under water. After a day of rain, the drain outside my shop entrance had backed up, and the water had flowed under the door and throughout the basement - beginning with my shop. Thankfully, over years of bad basement experiences, I keep whatever is floor level in plastic containers, and the leather was all up on shelving. HOWEVER, I had to rip up the carpeting in the room, and the main room is still stinky (we sucked up as much water from THAT carpet as we could) Through all of this, I thought I could cry. THEN....Friday, the mail carrier came knocking on my door....and there is a package...hmmmm....not expecting anything. Don't recognize the name right off....I open it: and it's a briefcase kit!!!! Hip hip hooray!!!!! Thank you Robert Greene, you are the best! What a bright spot in a lousy 24 hrs!!!

This is a reconditioned press I got from the late Ben Hughes. I'm not sure of its value, but since I've only used it once, I'd rather part with it than have it collect dust here. I also am including the attachments in the deal. I live in the Roanoke, Virginia, area, in Radford. I'm willing to travel up to an hour to meet up/deliver it, or you can pick it up here. It's too heavy to ship, unless you're really willing to pay for that... If you're not a buyer, but could help me price it, I'd appreciate that too. If it doesn't sell here, I'm going to eBay it.