CitizenKate

Okay, try this one. I exported it from Illustrator a little differently, and was able to get the whole thing to print out/ guitarstrap01.pdf Kate guitarstrap01.pdf

I love your work, Ed! Beautiful work on the carving and the coloring. Kate

It does make the paste easier to work with. It makes it so it spreads more easily (I just squirt it on with a squirt bottle), and gives it a little more working time before it begins to set up. Kate

That's what I was going to suggest. If you like it a little lighter, you might try mixing it 1:1 or even 2:1 with Tan-Kote and see how well you like that. Kate

What others have you tried, so far? Kate

I think you're right! They don't have to do much convincing to get me to take them out. Yes, a fine English name. I sometimes call him "Sir Nigel" (usually when he's acting like a noodle-head). My former house-mate came up with that name. She's German (from around Munich) and lived in Birmingham (UK, not Alabama) for a few years. I think it's probably the name of one of her former boyfriends. It sure seems that way to me. But then, they get lavished with approval and treats when they do a good job mushing, so that may also have something to do with it. I also think they just like any kind of meaningful interaction, and having a job to do is certainly meaningful. Kate

That is superb! (As always.) I really love that warm glow your projects always have. Kate

Finally got someone to help me get some photos of my dogs and I out scootering. Nigel and Mushka can't wait to go scootering every morning. We all have a lot more fun when they get to go the speed they like to go, without being limited to how fast I can walk. And with no dog parks in town, this is one of the few (legal) ways they get to run. This activity has also made for some great companionship. Kate

On the top one, try increasing the exposure and see what you get. Kate

The photo editing programs are great for correcting a number of problems that are not addressed in the studio. And even though the days of working in the darkroom are pretty much over - thank goodness!!! - it still is better to produce an original image that is as close to how you want it to appear published as possible. If you address white-balance, exposure, shadows, and glare issues in the studio, you still save yourself a lot of time producing a publishable image. There are lots of situations where it's good to use flash. The flash can help eliminate unwanted shadows in a photo like the one Johann posted. It's usually a good idea to have other light sources to augment a head-mounted flash unit, though. Kate

I don't know how I missed this earlier - I see it was originally posted some time ago... Very nice work, Tom, that is a gorgeous dayplanner! I know a lot of times we say things like, "The carving turned out well," as though it's kind of hit-or-miss if the carving is well-done. I think it's better to say, "You paid your dues!" The raven looks great, and now you have more capabilities than you had before you started this project. Also, nice, clean work on the lacing. I'm sure the owner of this pieces will treasure it. Kate

Beautiful, as always, Roger! I love the color scheme. And it's nice that it worked out the customer just happened to want a matching applique for his jacket. Can you post a photo of the stamp you made? Kate

Part of it might just be the difference in the color temperatures of the two different types of lighting. Do you adjust your camera's white balance when you switch between the two different types of lighting? Also, the flash is at a different angle than the room lighting, which can cause the camera to pick up different features on the surface. Kate

Wow, I really like how that is laid out, Randy! Now I have a better idea how I want mine. Thanks for posting this. Kate

Beautiful work, as always! Thanks for posting. Kate

Evidently! Looks like your steampunk niche has reached a hot market. Good for you! Kate

Hi Angel, As far as being easy to set up a shop and list items to sell, it's very easy. It's also very inexpensive, as there are no seller's shop setup fees, the listing fee is $0.20 per item for 3 months, and the transaction fee of 3.5% is very reasonable. You don't pay it until something sells. But, as Josh pointed out, it's just as much work to get a sale there as it is anywhere else. I just resumed selling there after being away from my shop for more than a year, and I think it's as good a venue as any other. You have to constantly be learning new ways to attract traffic to your shop, and new ways to make what's in your shop look enticing. You may also want to consider some other online venues, such as 1000 Markets, GoZabo, WinkElf, , or Handmade Fuzion. There are others, but these are some of the better alternatives to Etsy that I have seen. Kate

Hey, let's see a photo! Kate

Happy Birthday, Bruce! Here's a little birthday greeting for ya! Kate

Kustomizer, is something kind of like this look what you had in mind? I do this by applying the dye colors first, skipping the resist, then applying antique. Another way to give leather a little bit of an aged or distressed look is to put some brown dye on a rag, and lightly wipe it around the edges, getting it to blend from darker to lighter from the edges in. Probably a million other ways to do it, should be interesting to see what everyone else does. Kate

A brief, general how-to on how to build a saddle? That could be a pretty tall order, considering all that is involved. It will be interesting to see what the responses are... Kate

Well, I gather that I'm not really qualified to respond, since I'm not yet one of the almighty few who have made it to the point where leather work provides for all of my income. But I'll share this anyway, since it took a lot of hard lessons for me to get to the point where it's bringing in 50% of it. I do not believe at all in "build it and they will come". It may "semi-work", but it's not enough just to be good at leather work, no matter how talented you are. Some will come. Most will not even know you exist. If you really expect to make a living at it, you can't afford to just let the sales come to you. Find places to show your work where the right people are going to see it. That is, customers who not only will want what you make, but also have the money to afford it. Skip the flea markets and garage sales, stay away from the bargain hunters (unless you really don't care how much you make for your work - personally, I would rather sell nothing at all than to sell it cheap). Go instead to the more high-end craft markets, even juried if you're good enough. Learn how to explain to potential customers what value your items will have in their hands. I also don't believe in "luck" per se, but a lot of opportunities will present themselves out of the blue. Sometimes these opportunities will take you on a course you didn't expect, so sometimes it's a challenge to learn to recognize them and be prepared to take advantage of them. If you're going to run a one-person shop, you need to be good at everything: Marketing, selling, merchandising, IT, accounting, inventory management, production, customer service... until you master all (or at least most) aspects of your business, it will never be much more than a hobby that may or may not pay for itself. As I said before, eventually, you have to find ways to get other people involved, at any of a number of different levels. Employees, vendors, resellers, contractors, service providers, whatever. This will allow you to use more of your own time doing what you are best at: doing leather work. To niche, or not to niche? If you can develop a specialty item that is unique from what the crowd is doing or very original in some way, that will give you a market you can have a very large share of. The more stuff you do that is the same as what everyone else does, like wallets, key fobs, belts, etc., the more other leather workers you have to share your market with. I've seen people be successful in either mode. I have a niche that has done very well for me, but I've also had to expand to do more "common" things you see done in leather, just so I can provide a more diverse offering (both function and price-wise), and has worked well, too, from a marketing/merchandising standpoint. I believe there is an infinite number of possible niches. Finding one just depends upon your own creativity. I'll check back in when I've made it to that rarefied place of getting to leather work full-time, and let you know what more I have learned on the way. Meanwhile, I hope someone finds this helpful... Kate

Thanky, sir! Ah, I see what you mean - I was not familiar with the Weaver setup you mentioned. I am very grateful for that little tidbit of know-how. I used to think a really slick edge was more work than it was worth. I could get an edge like this using wax or gum trag if I was willing to take all day and a bucket of elbow grease to get it done. I just wonder why more people don't use leather soap??? Kate

The topic of edging came up once again, and when Bob Park (who does the most perfect edges of anyone I've seen) posted his procedure for burnishing edges, I was all over it! (The topic is here if you missed it earlier.) Bob uses glycerin soap and yellow soap for burnishing, which I'd never heard of before. I've used various waxes and gum trag, but never thought to use soap. I can't get that stuff locally, but I wanted to try something different, so I went and got some plain old saddle soap (which has glycerin in it). He hand-burnishes with heavy canvas, but my elbow tendons don't like me to do that. So I used the rosewood burnisher I got from DeuceTrinal (Scott) instead, but other than that, pretty much followed the rest of his procedure. WOW I just had to share this, because the saddle soap made a huge difference! Don't think I'll be using gum trag anymore. See below... Kate

This may be an obvious question, but since you don't mention it... are you sealing the dye with anything? Kate