CitizenKate

Ray, I've got a few that have several designs on them, and have been cutting the individual designs into separate pieces and using them for years. Why shouldn't they work more than once? Kate

Billy, some tombstone places may do that, but the majority don't. I once called around to a couple of places near where I live and asked if they had any scrap they didn't want that I could have. They said, sure we have scrap, sell it to you for $50/sq.ft. So much for a cheap place to find a slab. Kate

I'll try to put together a tutorial to provide some construction details for this pattern. Kate

We have an ad server running from the domain "leatherlady.net", which is Johanna's "home base" for her web hosting and other business operations. That is where all the new ads for leatherworker.net are going to be delivered from. Hope that clears things up a bit. Kate

That is the exact same strategy I have used in the past. I would never use Ebay as a primary selling venue. I do consider Ebay a pretty good bang for the advertising/promoting buck, though. The vast majority of sales I've made have been either off my web site, or custom work that began with an inquiry. I only have done occasional auctions to get the attention of a wider audience, and yeah, I usually lose money on the transaction, but it almost always stirs up a flurry of "regular" business. I just chalk up the loss as a cost of advertising. Kate

Here's one I made a couple of years ago... billfold_Bikers.pdf This photo shows the assembled interior: ...and what it looks like on the outside: Holler if you have questions. Kate billfold_Bikers.pdf

Thanks for the kind remarks, folks. No more so than a motorcycle seat or a saddle... still, I appreciate the sentiment. That's a thought... I'll have to try that, as well. That particular one did burnish very nicely. The antique does really enhance the tooling, but I'm considering other ways to do it. I decided to try my smooth shader on that design instead of the checkered one I usually use, and really liked the appearance of the smoother shading. Don't know why I didn't try that sooner. I'm just wondering how well the antique will hold up on something that will be subject to a little more stress than other items I make. I know my wrist cuffs and checkbook covers have held up pretty well, but a chair seat might be a different matter. This may be the time for me to start experimenting with oil finishes... Kate

Chalk that up as an heirloom, Anne. Nice work on the lettering. Kate

That makes two of us! Kate

Suh-weeeeet! What a nice gesture. Kate

That is a X688 that I got from the Hidecrafter Pro Crafters Tool Collection. I believe they still carry that line of leather stamps. The coloring of the leaf is all done with antique. I think I actually left a little too much there, but didn't notice until it was already setting up. There is some dye sprayed around the edges to darken them a bit. Kate

I love getting to see all the work that was on exhibit, but I also really enjoy seeing photos of people and getting to put names with faces. Thanks for the great coverage, it looks like that show shows some promise of becoming a real event in future years. Kate

Here are some chair pads I'm making for a local unfinished furniture store. They were inspired by ones that I happened to see in a catalog from Van Dyke's Restorers. Mine aren't going to be quite as cheap as the machine pressed ones, but I did make a couple that are simpler and cheaper to make, and a few with more complex designs for a "higher end" market. Kate

Hi Josh, Just my own opinion (i.e, not sure what the rest of the staff thinks...), but I think Leatherwork Conversation might be the place for those types of topics. Kate

If you don't have an air brush, you can also get this effect using a bristle brush using dry brush techniques. Here's a link to a coloring photo demo done by ClayB that may have some useful information for you. http://leatherworker.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=11979 There are also several books that cover this technique. Peter Main's book "The Main Technique of Coloring Leather" is the one that comes most immediately to mind. Kate

Josh, setting up a light box will be way easier than trying to shoot outdoors. Then you control the lighting conditions, not mother nature, and you can shoot any time. As for the exposure, Bree is right about a light background causing backlighting, resulting in an underexposed subject. But correcting for it is not rocket science, once you know what to look for. Once you get your light box, we can talk about that more in depth. By the way, what kind of camera do you have? Kate

Way better, Josh. Okay, now just zoom in a little more (try to get the subject to fill more of the frame), increase the exposure a little more, and the one on the left needs a little softer shadow. Kate

Here's a nice little tutorial for stripping out the background and other tricks for enhancing your product images with Photoshop. Most other photo editing tools have similar features. Click here Kate

Glad to have you here. There are several people here who can help you with your project (I, unfortunately, not being one of them - I'm just the greeting committee!), so I'm sure one of them will be along soon to help you out. Kate

WD 40??? I'll have to try that one. What do you use to warm it up? Set it in the oven for a few minutes? Kate

Great info, Thanks, guys! But I still wonder... why do Tandy and other leather suppliers only supply the white stuff? Kate

Pat, if you haven't already, check with Wickett & Craig. They carry a line of drum dyed leathers of all kinds. They can send you samples if you give them a call. 1-800-826-6379 Kate

I second that. Don't rely on just Etsy, or just Ebay (ugh!). There are numerous places to list and sell your work from, not the least of which would be your own web site. I'll post a list of some others I have found later on. One way to do that is to make good choices of what to sell in a particular market place. For example, on Etsy, you could do a search of tooled leather items, and make a mental note of what kinds of things are selling there. You don't necessarily want to sell exactly the same things, but you do want to make similar types of things that you know would appeal to the people actually doing the buying there, but unique and original to you. If you are thinking about exhibiting at a craft show in your region, go to the show, walk around and observe what types of things are selling well there. Each show attracts its own market, and what sells well at one may not sell well at the next. Kate

How about something like this?... MiniToes on Etsy Too cute! Kate

Very true, Ian. Good observation. But I have to admit I was very inspired by it. Kate