LadyJ

Dear Fellow Leatherworker.net members, I have removed our Lady J Land & Livestock website from my signature and profile because our domain name has been pirated by evil forces in cyberspace. It looks like we can either ransom it back or register a new domain name, but in the meantime, there is a domain pirate who is using our name to try and sell everything from puppies to viruses so don't go to our website until I can get a safe domain name again. Sorry for the inconvenience. Lady J

I have decided that Myriam is right -- the leather is actually finished on the surface so I started lifting the leather inset from the table as it was not good the way it was. I discovered that the leather is very thin and actually quite supple ONCE I GET THE 100+ YEAR OLD PASTE/GLUE OFF THE BACK. It was the glue that had lifted and bubbled up and made it feel and look like the wood underneath was damaged. However, in some places, the leather is almost paper thin and getting it up in one piece is turning into quite a trick. If I can get the leather up without ruining it, I will sand and refinish the wood and then try and return the inlay of leather to its historic place on the little table -- I am holding my breath and crossing fingers as I didn't know leather could be this thin. Lady J

The Accrual method is not a good choice if you complete and sell products in one year and they are not big ticket items. In fact, there are few retail sales businesses that benefit from using the accrual method. That said, I really think that you are making your accounting more difficult than it needs to be. When you talk about the cost of producing an individual item compared to its actual sales price, you are talking profit and loss --- not income and expenses which are used in tax preparation. You use profit and loss to evaluate your overall productivity. Am I making money on this item? Which items are the better expenditure of my time? Is my volume high enough to allow me to make a profit on this item if I sell enough of them? All of these questions are important to help you decide how to develop your product lines. The profit and loss from any one item will still not give you a fair picture of your real business expenses, however. To see the impact of overhead expenses (rent, utilities, transportation, postage, fuel), you have to flip to an Income and Expense analysis. Income and Expense is the basic analysis for tax preparation. For you, all cash/payments should be included as income at the moment they are received. All "expenses" are a cost of doing business and should be deducted at the moment you pay for them (or charge them on credit). I agree with Horse Braider -- a good accountant/CPA is a valueable part of your business team and worth every penny you invest in him. You should use the easiest accounting system that is adequate to reflect your business. Don't get carried away. It can be a simple check book that has certain tax categories listed like income (deposits from sales) and expenses (employees, supplies,advertising, etc). As you write each check, just list it in the appropriate column and at the end of the month, total each column and your income and expense log is done (it is also your totals for your taxes). Every check will fit into a predetermined category for your business if you get a list from your fellow leather workers about what categories they use. In fact, creating a list of tax categories for a leather working business would be a good topic. Start with: Employee expenses (salaries, taxes, insurance, benefits) Rent for facility Utilities Insurance for the business itself Equipment: Large items used for more than a year need to be depreciated small items used up on one year are "supplies" Supplies (I would suspect this will be your biggest expense category) Inventory (if you purchase goods at wholesale and resell without much modification) Advertisement/ business promotion Vehicles/transportation WHAT ELSE ?????

Hi Myriam,I will try and get a picture. I would not have thought about a finish being on the leather but I do have to admit that the leather conditioner I tried did not seem to penetrate very much. I'll go and do some checking.

I have an antique side table that has an inlaid leather top. The leather has dried out and pulled up or bubbled up down the center. I thought if I could soften and restore some suppleness to the leather, I might be able to rescue the table. What do you recommend to try and restore moisture and suppleness to the leather?

Hi Dink, I love the chaps with the crosses. As the "shopper" of the group, is there a price tag on those and do you make chinks?

I don't mean to confuse you, but the difference in your approach and Ed's is the difference between a Cash accounting method and an Accrual accounting method. Either is acceptable but once you choose a method, you need to stay with it. The cash method assumes that all materials purchased are an expense when you buy them (cost of goods) and all goods sold are income when you recieve the money for them. This method is generally used for most retail sales businesses and is probably your best choice. It is the method Ed is using. You are describing the accrual method when you talk about recapturing your expenses from an item at the time you actually sell that item. For some of the saddlemakers in this group who have commissions for custom saddles that take longer than a year to complete, an accrual method might have some advantages. For example, you get an order for an expensive saddle in October in a slow year. You bought and paid for the materials at that time. As of December 31st, you have more expenses than you can deduct against the income you earned and the extra loss does not help you on your taxes. You get paid for the saddle in the new tax year but have no expenses left to deduct from the income. You now pay taxes on the entire amount of the saddle which my artificially distort your taxable income in the new year. For some businesses, the Accrual method helps distribute expenses to the time when the income needs to be protected from the tax. Ed's method is the easiest for most of us to use to account for retail sales. It is probably best for you too. Lady J

The Colt is a .41LC. The Winchester is the .32-20. The Winchester goes with a pair of .32-20s that I commissioned from Gary Reeder in Flagstaff. They are 7 1/2 inch barrels and are extremely accurate providing they don't jam. I had a lot of problems with them until my gunsmilth buddy basically rebuilt them. Since then, they have been very reliable. I agree about the spurs, but those Spanish riding boots in that outfit are really glitzy and there are rhinestones on them that would interfer with spurs. I found this site because I was looking for a spur maker from Delta, Colorado from whom I purchased a pair of spurs a number of years ago. Kevin Peebler. They are some of the most unique and fun spurs I have ever seen, and I wondered what had become of him. He used to have a website but now I cannot find one for him. I have a number of spurs (and agree that there is always room for more). They decorate my dining room right along with the antique china and guns! A home should have a sense of humor. But I must say that I think that some of Tina's painted leather (that Johanna locked away from us) would certainly become interesting conversation pieces -- if you have been following that thread

I cannot critique the work because I am not a leatherworker. However, I am a woman and an expert shopper and your gift for your friend really caught my eye. It is something that I would have enjoyed very much and imagine your friend did as well. So if we fussy shoppers/female types like it, that should be enough! hahahah

WOW! So where is the unedited adult version? and how does one send Johanna a PM, whatever that is? hahahah -- I feel like I am missing something on the "locked" message group.I too am amazed by the color, Tina. Is it "in" the leather like a dye? or more "on" the leather like a paint? Does it peel if the leather is bent? I was thinking about the durability of the color for tack like headstalls. some of those patterns would certainly add a new twist for the show circuit. :spoton:WOW! So where is the unedited adult version? and how does one send Johanna a PM, whatever that is? hahahah -- I feel like I am missing something on the "locked" message group.I too am amazed by the color, Tina. Is it "in" the leather like a dye? or more "on" the leather like a paint? Does it peel if the leather is bent? I was thinking about the durability of the color for tack like headstalls. some of those patterns would certainly add a new twist for the show circuit.

I ride most of my horses in a bosal hackamore and find it a great training tool for your horses. Your work is excellent from its appearance! When Grandpa Young taught us to pick a good bosal, he looked first for firmness. I cannot tell that by appearance, but if yours is good and stiff across the nose, then you have yourself a very good bosal. What are you going to tie it with? Skip all the pretty stuff that look great but hurts your hands, and try a section of thick climbing rope that is jointed. It has just enough weight to help the bosal work and is kind to your skin as well.

Wade tree, bucking rolls (squawk tits is the politically incorrect cowboy name), round skirt and the humming birds/flower combination is so unique. WOW!!! Now please tell me how much it weighs? I ride an old Capriola that is basically the same rig (only not as nice or well finished as yours --- really). Mine is well balanced and light enough I can ride it in endurance without soring a horse's back. That is because it is almost as centered as a dressage saddle). My Capriola is injured (maybe fatally) and I was thinking about finding a new saddle built like it-- but trying to lighten it even more. If you could use the lightest leather (that won't stretch out too much), and your lightest tree, and eliminate all nonessentials except D rings for snapping things on the saddle (like water bottles, sponges), what would you guess is the lightest you could make that saddle?

Geeezzz you two --- Rock Springs and Rawlins! The place I can think of that is more windy is Cheyenne! Now the Big Horns, the Wind River Mts.m Pinedale -- that is my idea of Wyoming