Maeve

It's finally here. Now .................................. M

I don't see any back braiding on this bracelet so I am not sure what you are asking. Sorry! The way that this one is started is with 4 strings 4-plaited in the center then folded over to an 8 plait. The button is unique .... I think John does this one and the name evades me at the moment .... but you can do a gaucho, herringbone or whatever over a terminal knot. Is that what you need to know? How to do the terminal knot under the button? I have photographs documenting an 8-plait back braid if you want to see how *I* do it. Let me know and I'll post them for you (later this week, I'm afraid). Sheesh ... I feel like I didn't answer a thing! M

Thanks for clearing that up, Mike! That makes more sense to me! Will have to ponder that concept too! :D M

Thank you, Alan, for the very useful information! Yes .... I have property with horses, dogs and cats. And while my family and neighbors are used to me having sheep fleeces all over the yard, bagpipes playing at all hours and other such nonsense, they might REALLY object to cowhides laying around the place! That is not to mention that I have a pretty weak stomach myself and probably couldn't get within 100 yards of it! LOL! I do have all of the equipment that you mention except the bag of lime (easy enough to get) but where do I buy a strong stomach? A quick funny story here. I told my daughter that I was getting a cow and calf hide the other day. She FREAKED out on me! I calmly mentioned that what I was buying was a bi-product of her buying meat at the grocery store! I think she is going to become a vegetarian! So I don't think preparing my own is in the cards at the moment. Besides, I'm not even sure that I am going to LIKE braiding rawhide! I hope to get a positive start on it so that I don't give up immediately. Yes, I did get it from Bill Confer and I am pretty sure he is sending me dried hides. At least those were the prices he quoted to me! I was like a blathering idiot trying to ask questions of things I know nothing about. He was talking in microns, I was talking in mm. We were from two planets. Man speak, woman speak. It was downright scary. I suppose I'll know what I ordered when the truck drops it off here. Bill told me that they only sell red haired cows for braiding because the hide is more consistent and more transparent. Then I got afraid again that he was sending me a hide with the hair on! BUT ...... If it does come frozen and vacuum packed, just how do I deal with that? None of my books mention that! Bill did tell me (what a doll!) that if the hide turned opaque that it was too wet and to let it dry out a bit before working with it. Is that right? As for taking off the hair side, doesn't that compromise the integrity of the string? Looks like I will have a lot of experimenting to do when it arrives. I have one student that I can hand off a lot of these orders to so that I can play. That might be something to think about. So what are the pros and cons of cutting the strings from a circle and cutting a spiral from the circle first? In Woolery's book, he shows the different sections of the hide, the different circles to cut and the different properties of each section. Of all of the books, that is the one that grabbed my attention and seems to be the one that I will work with unless I get better advice elsewhere (hint hint). I'd show you what I want to start as a project but I'd be afraid of ya'll laughing at me! It's quite ambitious! Thanks again, Alan. I do appreciate the input. Love and Light, Maeve

Well that is a fair amount! Good job! I'm still contemplating just how I am going to cut this thing. So many different ways to do it. Makes an indecisive person like me just crazy! LOL! M

Hi Mike, I bought a full cow hide and a calf hide. Nothing like jumping in with both feet! While I'm scared to death, I'm eager for them to arrive. I need to get some of these orders out so that I can "play" when the time arrives. I have some projects in mind. They might be seen as ambitious by others ...... but that is not unlike me either! LOL! Good for you on the string! So how long do you THINK it is?!?! I'm rethinking my whole string cutting operation here. I'm imagining a new set up that might be more beneficial for cutting the cow. Roo hides are so small that you can put them in your lap. It won't be the case with the cow! :D Love and Light, Maeve

Ordered the hides. Will be here in a couple of weeks. Now the learning curve begins. Love and Light, Maeve

I just sent my money. I sent it through PayPay buy just using the "SEND MONEY" feature and the e-mail address. Seemed to go through just fine. We'll see! Love and Light, Maeve

That bracelet is GORGEOUS and right in line with things that I want to do with rawhide. And buttons. I want to do buttons. I like small. Thanks for that inspiration, John! LOL! Yes ..... it is VERY nice in early Feb.! Perfect for braiding on all of the porches and patio! Okay ..... the boys found a ghost and are now scared out of their minds and quiet in the other room. Here are some of the questions that I had in regards to the flyer. It says on the flyer that "Dried full hide trimmed and split or dried full hide trimmed, split and shaved". Just what does all of that mean? Shaved? It also says on the circles "request thickness". Is that very specific? And to what extremes does that go? Rawhide String (mature) or rawhide lace (calf). Is that the only difference in the two as to what is string or lace? Mature of calf? I'm assuming that lace is thinner (split-wise). I'm not sure how much I want to order. I tend to be obsessive-compulsive over these things and would probably order one of each if I thought I would like it. I suppose the smart thing to do is to order strings/lace or a circle then decide what I want to do. But if I order the wrong thing and it makes me not like rawhide, then I'm doing a real disservice to myself! I'm so confused! Love and Light, Maeve

Thanks, Mike! I ALMOST ordered a calf hide today. There are just SO many choices on that flyer and I probably want more than one thing! I have a LOT more questions (as I sat on the couch reading my 7 books on braiding ... only to become MORE confused!) but I can't go into it right now. Maybe later after I take my grandson and his buddy ghost hunting (don't ask! LOL!). But I'll make it a point this evening to try and jot done some things. And right now John has my mind reeling about the possibility of a braiding camp! LOL! Love and Light, Maeve

You've got it!!! :D I think you just hit on the right person! Every year I host a Smallpipe school in which we bring a world reknown piper to my place. People fly in from all over the country (and Canada), camp in the yard, use the house and we spend a week learning smallpipes. I have also hosted 3 banjo camps! I don't see why we can't do a braiding camp too! WOO HOO!!!!! Here are some links to the smallpipe school. Not sure if I can find the banjo camp pages or not. We didn't host it last year and my memory is horrible! Sooooooooooo ....... http://people.delphiforums.com/terralyn/ Love and Light, Maeve

Thanks for the link, John! You are SO lucky to have met this fellow. What a neat interview! I have yet to meet another braider other than through the Internet. What a lonely existence this leather braiding is in life! LOL! I only wish that I could meet someone or take some workshops. Right now all I do is teach the bit that I know to others. That is actually a HUGE help to me as I learn so much! One of my students "taught" me something the other day that will be added to the huge list of student learned things. She was using her fid in such a way that it made SO much sense to me and made me slap my forehead in one of those, "Why didn't *I* think of that!" moments! I guess experience is a great teacher too! :D But I am ALMOST (not quite) to the point of being able to travel to workshops. Soon ..... real soon. But until then, I will rely heavily on ya'll here and the experiences that I have with my students! And if "ya'll" don't chime in here really quick, I'll lose another day of no rawhide to play with before the next round of life kicks in! LOL! Love and Light, Maeve

FINALLY! All of the crisis' in my life seem to have subsided for the moment. I have the Tejas Industries rawhide flyer in my hand to order .... and I'm still as confused as ever as to which hide I should purchase. Bill Confer must be very busy lately as I can't seem to catch up with him to discuss this. So I'm turning to ya'll! What the heck to I buy?!?! There are way too many choices, weights, etc. on this flyer to just go blindly about ordering. Just so you have an idea of what kind of work I do and intend to do with this hide, I haven't cut a string over 3/32" in years. I level all of my roo hides to .8 mm. I am absolutely fanatical about leveling lately in that I even have an auto feeler gauge to set my splitter to what I like. I KNOW that rawhide and roo aren't even close to being the same animal (literally and figuratively) so I'm in a quandary. All help and suggestions gladly taken! Thanks in advance! I would like to have this ordered in a day or so before this illusion of peace and tranquility becomes unraveled in the house again! LOL! Love and Light, Maeve

LOL! Since that worked, I'll describe it a little further. You don't have to prop the clip board against anything but your lap/stomach. You can see by the picture that my granddaughter is slouched in a chair on the back porch. Totally relaxed! The harder you pull, the more it wedges in against the resistance. When it gets so long that it is uncomfortable to braid, you just press the clip and move it up! That simple. I plaited a 60" piece tonight while watching NASCAR and then moved onto some other braiding. But I don't have to be detached from my family to braid, it is portable and CHEAP! Love and Light, Maeve

Hmmmm...... just call me frugal and lazy! I use a clip board and lounge on the couch while I braid. No sore shoulders for me! I'll try to post this picture of my granddaughter. I was teaching her how to braid (she did really well!) and it shows the clip board in use! I have been able to braid bosals, reins, everything on the clip board and it holds the piece straight so I don't get the twists in the braiding. Here goes ... hope this works!

LOL! Yeah ... I have 18 different leather colors hanging on my workshop wall right now. That is WAY too many colors .... even for me! LOL! I will do some of the smaller things (key chains, etc.) in some of those colors and those can be examples of colors that I can use on other things IF I decide to take on any custom work. I would much rather just make things and sell what is there. You are SO right about colors that you think are great and others don't and the opposite. I have seen things that just gag me ... and find out that they have been sold! Go figure! And things that *I* love will sit around forever. Well ... not forever .... I usually "take" them for mine! Right now I am just doing "busy work" till I get this surgery behind me. But this is giving me some things to think about other than the surgery so this is good! Thanks for helping to keep my mind occupied!!!!!! You are doing a great job! :D Love and Light, Maeve

Thanks for the input! I agree about the colors. I don't want to be stuck with a bunch of neon tack that I can't sell! THAT would have to be a special request! I questioned my sister about what was "in" but she has no clue. She and her husband are into cutting horses which is a whole different ball game. She suggested key chains, bracelets (blech!), headstalls, and hatbands. I might throw in a few other things as well. I'm just curious about which of brandy, whiskey, natural or black is the preferred color. I love my Alamar browband/headstall that I designed and want to make a couple of those. But I want to make sure that I make them in preferable colors! I've been resisting her offer for YEARS! I just don't want to make this a business. I wrecked one hobby by turning it into a business and ended up with 48 employees. When people asked me what I did for a living, I told them I ran Florida's largest adult day care facility! LOL! That is what it felt like at the time. I know that this can't be the same as I can't hire help but I still don't want to be pressured into filling orders. So I want to make things and sell what I have on hand. If she can do that, great! I LOVE braiding and I enjoy creating new ideas. But to mass produce under pressure!?!? Been there, done that, have the T-shirt. No more! Love and Light, Maeve

GORGEOUS! Simply GORGEOUS! There are no other words!

For years my sister has been pleading with me to supply her with items for sale for a booth she has at the POA convention/National and the QH Conference. This year I am actually thinking of doing it. I am so burned out on dog leads and bracelets that I am willing to braid ANYTHING that takes me away from those worlds! LOL! I would love to get back to braiding bridles, romal reins and the likes. Now ... any suggestions as to what the "hot" colors are right now? Do the Western Pleasure riders still strap hobbles to their saddles (can you tell how long it has been since I have been in that arena?)? What about quirts or snake whips? Browbands or full bridles with fancy stuff dripping off of them?? Again ... colors. I know that my sister told me that THE hot colors this year are hot pink, lime green and such but I just can't! LOL! There is a good possibility that I am going to have some down time following a surgery this Tuesday so this might just keep my mind going in the right direction. This mind of mine easily strays in the wrong direction if given a chance! LOL! Any input would be helpful. I have until March for the POA Nationals but I'm not sure that I can come up with enough stuff for the QH Futurities. Thanks in advance! Love and Light, Maeve

Thank you, Brian and John. It doesn't take THAT long to do one of these. It's really just a 4 plait with some fancy buttons and I LOVE working small. It might take a couple more hours than it does when doing the beaded leads. John, I do split the finer strings down a bit which lessens the chance of it twisting. And I have a great pair of pliers that I can use on it if it does. I think they are called jewelers chain nose pliers. They are bent at a 90* angle and don't have a textured jaw. That way it doesn't leave marks on the leather. They are also quite small. If you are curious I an take a picture of them or find a picture on the net. I have found a lot of cross over tools from other arts that I do that are very helpful with the leather! Love and Light, Maeve

I am SO tired of doing beaded show leads ..... and one of my customers wanted something different too. I decided to make a braided button lead on a 1/8" lead. It turned out to be SO much fun that I can't stop making them! My customer loved hers but I hope that others like them as well so I can sell these things! I don't need them cluttering my house! Anyway .... they start with a 3/32" 4 plait over a core. And I make the buttons on them as I go so that I can lock them in. Being this small, I was afraid that I couldn't tighten them down enough over the core to keep them from sliding. The buttons strings are 1/16" and, yes, I beveled them too so that they would lay nicely when braided. I have so many ideas swimming around but so little time lately! Just wanted to share my fun! Love and Light, Maeve

What a shame that I'm not traveling to Michigan this year! I'd be more than glad to help you out! I'm from there originally .... and usually come back to the music festival in Evart each year. Health has prevented any travel for us this year but if you ever get to Florida, please feel free to contact me. I know a LOT of folks travel to FL .... so just give a holler! Love and Light, Maeve

The hide is sold, thank you!

Yes, Eric. That is what I do with them! I'm in Hudson .... 45 minutes north of Tampa. Rick, if you want it, it is yours. Just PM me and we'll work out the particulars. I have a PayPal account if that helps. Eric, if you want one, I'll part with the other one too. I was just buying it to make life easier on my supplier. But I have one (uncut) here already so I don't really need it. But you can never have too many roo hides! LOL! I'll figure up the cost of one of the other ones if you want it. Just let me know! Love and Light, Maeve

We had an accident! My supplier accidentally shipped me the wrong color hides. I can't use this much natural so I thought I would see if anyone here would like one (I'll keep the other). It is 63 dm and .9 mm thick. The price is $94 + actual shipping from FL. Here's a picture of it. I put a yard stick on it for size reference. Hope I'm not breaking any rules here .... just trying to not ship this back to Australia! Love and Light, Maeve