CitizenKate

Very nice work! Kate

I'm not a big fan of consignment arrangements, and you've already hit on some of the reasons why. I have a problem with the idea of having my money tied up in someone else's inventory. Furthermore, the retailer has no incentive to sell the item, or even take proper care of it while it's in his/her store. I may offer a few samples to sell on consignment, but if they want to sell more of my stuff, they have to buy them from me. But there are some situations where it can be beneficial to sell on consignment. Here are links to a couple of other discussions on this forum on the pros and cons selling on consignment: http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=18169 http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=4752 Kate

I haven't had this good a laugh in quite some time! No, I haven't tried it, but that was only because I happened to see a post from someone else who did before I had a chance to. I think this must happen quite often, because I think I see a post like this about every year or so. By the way, putting the leather in boiling water will do the same thing. You can take some comfort in knowing you have probably prevented at least a few others from making the same mistake, and providing the rest of us with some much needed comic relief! Thanks for posting! Kate

There are a couple of companies that come to my mind: Chaylor-Fenneli Nova Leather & Crafts Kate

Great images! Daniel is an artist in his own right. Kate

I've always thought about trying something like that sometime. I think of it every time I see a beautiful handcrafted rocking horse with just a piece of vinyl for a saddle. In fact, I bet there are a lot of wood workers out there making rocking horses who would probably buy your leather rocking horse saddles to put on them. Kate

Never know when a little inspiration will wack you on the side of the head, eh? I love it! Kate

Well, you should be happy with it. That is one sweet bag! The lining and seams all look very professional, and style-wise I wouldn't be able to tell it from a designer bag. Nice work!!! Kate

Yyyyyup. Welcome to cyberspace. Singapore, Tokyo, London, Berlin, New York, Sidney... it's like we're all in the next room to each other, now. Kate

Hi Tal, Here are a few that I have done. (With a nod to Allan Scheiderer on the stamping pattern used on the first one.) The leather you use needs to be fairly thin. Say, 3-4 oz. Upholstery leather also makes excellent bookmarks. Kate

I don't even use a saw. You can chop a 3/8" or 1/4" wood dowel with a pair of diagonal cutters ("dikes") in one quick stroke. Then finish the ends in a pencil sharpener. Kate

I also use 6oz. leather for my guitar straps. Either lined or unlined. Kate

I noticed that machine in one of your earlier posts, Ray, and was wondering what on earth that was. I've never heard of a fly press... wonder if there is any place that sells them in the states. When you say "spigot", what exactly do you mean? To me, a spigot is a faucet with a knob that water comes out of. Another one of those cultural differences in semantics between the UK and the US, perhaps? Kate

That seems to work pretty well, Charlie. Any way to attach a plate to the ram? Kate

Wow, they've really gone up! I was fortunate to purchase mine used for $600. I love the machine, and it's well worth what I paid, but if I had to pay $1,550 for it, I would be considering the air-powered Tippman machine more strongly. Others will have to answer the arbor press question, since I don't know a lot about them. Kate

Hi Patrice, I have the Lucris MA Series III clicker press you have pictured (the first item). It works great with both cutting dies and embossing plates. The largest die I have is about 8" long, and use it to cut 6oz veg-tan with no effort at all. When using embossing plates, I maintain the pressure for about 2 minutes before releasing the lever to get a good impression from a large plate. I'm not sure the second item you have pictured would work very well. A printing press probably doesn't produce as much pressure, whereas the clicker press is rated at 5 tons of pressure. A lot of people also use arbor presses, such as the one Art suggested. Kate

You didn't mention what you were using for buffing, but I use a soft-bristled shoe brush to buff an application of Kiwi, and that usually gives it a more satiny finish than if I used a cloth. Kate

I'm blinded by the ***BLING***!!! Nice work! Kate

Just for fun, I slapped this together real quick in photoshop to show you the general idea. I definitely would not use white for this particular design, probably black. Depending on the artist, you could add touches that mimic the style of that person. For example, Vaughan made liberal use of conchos and beadwork in his clothing and accessories. Kate

I've only tried the gel antique once before, but didn't have any streaking problems with it. (I just thought it was a little glossier than I prefer to see.) I don't recall what the directions say for that product, but I'm pretty sure I used a dry paper towel to take off the excess. Kate

How about an inverted silhouette carving of somebody like Stevie Ray Vaughan or BB King? Kate

I spray it on full-strength with a single-action sprayer, and that works great. I apply multiple (usually 3) light coats, with about 5 minutes between each coat, then let it sit for an hour or two. Lightly buff with a soft cloth, then watch it glow! Oh - lol, that might be why it doesn't work too well. I'm going to have to try the waterproofing one of these days... Kate

I've never tried Skidmore's. How are you applying it? Kate

The two products I've gotten the best results from are: - Bee Natural Leather Finish - Kiwi Neutral shoe polish These two are easy to apply to water-based dyes, and provide very good protection from moisture. I have tried the carnauba cream, but had problems applying it and it didn't protect as well as the others. Tan-kote applies easily to water-based dyes, but doesn't protect as well as a wax finish. (I still use it to mix with my antique.) Kate

Thanks for the feedback and your patience, people... I hope all the theme switches aren't too confusing. We have narrowed the IE freeze problem down to the previous theme we were using. We plan to fix it if we can, but meanwhile, Johanna installed another theme that we tested with all the browsers and is working much better. We will put the gold-colored theme back when we get the kinks worked out of it. Charlie, is the slowness you are experiencing occurring while the pages are loading, or after the pages have loaded? Thanks, Kate