CitizenKate

Those of you who follow me on Facebook have already seen this, so pardon the cross-post. We had a discussion about this a while back and I thought some of the rest of you might enjoy this, and perhaps be inspired to do this with your dogs, too. This is outrageous fun and the dogs are soooo mellow and laid-back afterwards. Kate

That is the stuff of heirlooms, to be treasured for generations. Kate

Heheheh! That really gave me something to grin about. Kate

Those are some useful insights, I totally agree with all of this (and I know Johanna will love your comments about the marketing use of the word "craft" - we've had a running debate about that ever since LW began). One of the challenges of an artisan is that we tend to get emotionally attached to what we make. That is good and bad at the same time. Part of the marketing appeal of something made by hand is that it was made with a lot of personal attention ("made with love"). But it also sometimes very often clouds our judgment as to what will sell in a given market, how to present it to that market (assuming any thought is given to the market to begin with), and how our work compares with other choices available to that same market. I see this all the time, and am probably guilty of it myself. After all, if we create a design we like, why shouldn't everyone want it? More to write, but I'll have to try to come back to this later... Kate

I don't know if it's the coloring or if you are doing something different with the carving, but this one really seems to *pop*. Tight, even, colorful lacing, super-clean carving... what's not to love about it! Kate

Open source, huh?... Another way of asking for a freebie. It's not out of line for this person to ask for the pattern, but is out of line to expect it, or to discredit you if you choose not to. It's entirely up to your own discretion whether to share it or not, or if you do share it, to offer it for a fee (assuming you have the legal right to do that). Kate

Glad you joined us, Rene. We look forward to seeing more of your work. Kate

I was just going to say, "Ask Chuck Burrows." Looks like he beat me to the punchline! Kate

Nice! Lemonade, indeed, I guess you'd better go back and offer them a special price to take the rest of those lemons off their hands. This reminds me of a wallet tutorial KK posted a couple of years ago... it began with, "I went to my scrap bin and pulled out the crappiest piece of leather I could find..." and he turned it into something beautiful. Kate

Very nice, arbalet! Kate

Hi Koji, Thanks for stopping in and introducing yourself. Those little boots are pretty cool! What other kinds of miniatures do you make? Hope you post more of your work... Kate

Just so it's clear, this is for three (or possibly more) positions. Kate

Would you like to help support Leatherworker.net and earn some extra income? We are hiring a team of sales associates to help us sell our Premium Directory listings. As part of the team you'll: * Make calls to businesses that offer products and services to the leatherworking community, * Educate business owners on the power of online advertising * Work with Leatherworker.net staff to assist Directory advertisers in setting up and maintaining their listings (we do the set-up) * Make your clients more successful by helping them develop effective advertising campaigns that reach their target market (with our help, of course). We offer generous, uncapped commissions for new accounts, plus an ongoing residual for listing renewals, with opportunity for promotion and even greater earnings for high-performing associates. We're looking for people who are: * Sociable and personable on the phone * Self-motivated * Familiar with leather products Please PM Johanna to learn more.

Thanks! I spent an hour looking for it - Kate

I just use a swivel knife and a pair of dividers, Pete. One side of the bead either gets scribed onto the leather or applied by artwork transfer, then I cut the first side. Then I use the first cut as a guide for the dividers to mark the other side of the bead. (Pretty neat trick I learned from Peter Main in one of his classes.) Kate

Congratulations, Chris, nice work! Kate

You can share your experiences, and express your opinions, positive or negative, as long as you tell the truth. I would go a bit further to suggest avoiding posting things you heard second or third hand, and don't know for a fact is true. I will also mention that we tend to frown upon people who call out a supplier publicly without first having attempted to contact the supplier directly and resolve the issue privately. In your case, you have stated that you have contacted them numerous times. I just am pointing this out to anyone who considers posting a supplier review. Aside from that, we consider honest consumer reviews of suppliers and products as vital information to our members. Kate