wildrose

This year has been what I call "scary good". We are in our best house ever (not the biggest, the best) Our extended family is moving closer together again, which will allow our son to see more of his cousins. My business is taking off in ways I didn't expect. We are healthy. And today my inlaws (inc. my brother in law) and us and my parents are all getting together for a turkey feast at Mom and Dad's horse farm. Thanks be to God.

I'm thoroughly enjoying this thread...but I must be really lacking because I only have ONE swivel knife. It's a Stohlman one from Tandy, ceramic blade. I have some back up blades inc. steel ones, but usually I just use an angled ceramic. I do, however, have the tool obsession. I have tools I've bought for just one pattern, and never used again. Nowadays, I'll try to find a substitute tool in my collectiong before I buy like that, but the weakness/need for new ones still gets to me. I bought a bunch of geometrics recently and actually did break down and send them back when I realized I truly wouldn't use them. That was the toughest thing ever!

That's beautiful! The detail is great.

I understood it to be the way you stated, Kevin: you were going to make the wallet to the winner's choosing. I wasn't sure where the confusion came in....but when I started seeing the congrats replies, I wondered if it was ME who was understanding it wrong.

Sometimes the not-by-the-book routes come out looking and smelling great!

Wow! That's gorgeous!

Here are pics of the project with the stitching almost done. I decided to go ahead and complete it. My husband Tim said it looks "aged" and that I should only say something to the customer if she asks (at which point I'll say "leather accepts dyes differently and sometimes spotting occurs" or something to that affect)

[atachment=17579:007.JPG] Here are some pics of my 10 yr old folio. This was done back when Tandy was selling these as kits. I didn't bevel it at all...it was at a stage where I despised bevelling and wasn't very good at it - so it's only carved and backgrounded. However, I never cease to get compliments on it. The whole thing has held up beautifully, and I carry it with me most everywhere. There are some scuffs on the back, but overall it still looks great. The only tool I've had to adjust is the strap cutter, and I'm fairly ambidextrous with that anyhow. I did have some trouble getting a left handed stitching palm, but I found one through HideCrafters a while back. I would LOVE for my son to be left handed - my sister and I are it for our family. He seems to be heading the righty way though. I do always give him the choice: I set the pen/crayon in front of him and ask him to pick it up. I can only hope they aren't pressuring him in preschool one way or the other.

I talked to someone else today who said NO WAY on the rubbing alcholol, that it would do nasty stuff to the leather and harm the staining process....so now I'm not sure what to do. In the mean time, I've assembled and hole punched this binder and am stitching it. I figure if the customer doesn't like it, I'll find somewhere for it.

I've heard back from ProPay now and think that's who I'm going to go with. It seems to be just what I need.

So should I put rubbing alcohol on it before staining? Is that it, or is there something else I should use? BTW, I also thought the big spots look like fingerprints. They're at least on the BACK of the binder. I'm more upset about the "freckles" on the front. I have one more binder to do, and I'd rather not have this happen again.

Beautiful! Great attention to detail - love the lat/long lines and numbers!

What causes spots like this? I'm using eco-flo's new gel, with the recommended shene top coat. Sometimes the spots show after staining, sometimes not 'til the shene. I'm going to try to cover them with a light spot or two of the gel, but it'll likely rub right off. Is it just something I have to tell the customer "oh leather accepts dyes differently/nothing I could do" ? Is there something I can do?

So...now that it's been out a few weeks, has anyone watched it? I was anxious at first because reviews were not good online, but gave it a shot. I like it. The casting, IMHO, is quite good. The plots, while not specific to the books, are in line with the series. The action sequences (i.e. fight scenes) have cheesy freeze frames in parts. But all in all, I'm going to keep watching it. I was a little miffed over the first episode because it really changes some major plot points, but if you can get by that, it's pretty good. Of course, the books are better, but that's par for the course!

I would suggest contact cement and upholstery tacks. As to long term care, I'd suggest Aussie wax.

I'm glad for this post, because the pictures of the "possible bag" were the first time I'd heard the term at all, and I thought to myself: "well it looks like a definite bag to me!"

Bonjour! Commen t'allez vous? (Don't remember if I spelled that right) It's been a while since I spoke or wrote French, but my college professor was from France, and she had studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. She always would tease a boy in our class who was from Quebec, that his French wasn't as good. We had fun. Welcome to our group, we are glad you are here. Do not worry about your English, there are people here from all over the world.

I wrote to ProPay and still (2 days later) haven't heard anything back...hmm....

Gel, that's the stuff. BTW, I'm a southpaw too! In fact, I have a "lefty style" folio (pad on the left side) which is what I bring to events with me.

Here's one I have used. Also, a thistle. If you decided to go the thistle route, I have at least one other I could scan for you.

I surfed PayPal's site for info...As you noted, they charge 30.00/month. That's a little steep for me.

Okay, the staining process was a bit more convoluted than I expected. I am a loyal Tandy Allentown customer, and they haven't failed to give me good advice, so when I was looking for a substitute for Tandy's Mahogany Antique (no longer made), I went on Jeff's recommendation and tried the new EcoFlo "paste". I have that in quotes because it is totally unlike Fiebing's old antique paste. It goes on much smoother, yet it's not a liquid. And I adore the color, which is just like the old mahogany antique liquid I first fell in love with. It's such a classy color and looks great on folios and business stuff. (Not that I don't like saddle tan, but that's just a different sort of look in my mind) ANYHOW, after applying the paste with soft cloth/wool scraps, and wiping it down to the desired look, I let it sit overnight. The bottle says to use certain top coats on it, and Aussie Wax (my favorite) was not one of them. So, I bit the bullet and put a damp sponge of Leather Sheen on it. Took off a significant amount of color! Got swirly! Could've cried! But after some moments of panic and some additional swiping, I decided it was really okay. After it dried again, I put another LIGHT coat of the EcoFlo on it, just to even it out a little. After I stitched it, I rubbed some Aussie Wax into the lacing, and voila, all done.

Thanks guys! I was glad she gave me lots of time, too. I was allotting myself one/week, but am actually moving along faster than that. My point really was gotta love the decisive customers who spend a bunch too

I had a customer request a folio with credit card slots too, and I thought that was the hardest thing to design. You did a great job, it's beautiful!