CitizenKate

I've got the Stohlman Patterns Portfolio and also "The Mighty Oak" by George Hurst. Both are excellent resources. The Mighty Oak contains many variations on oak leaf styles, including several that are very similar to the "eklöv" style that Tina mentioned. (Looks like there must be a lot of Burr Oaks in Sweden!) Kate

Nice piece, joker. Looks nice and clean from here. Be great to see it on the bike if you can persuade your customer to send a photo... Kate

Skald, I imagine you're going to get quite a few differing opinions. For really intricate carving, a thin, light, stainless steel angle blade just seems to work better for me, and have gotten nice clean results with it. But that's not the case for everyone. Some people find the big, half-inch blades are more comfortable and can do very graceful, intricate work with them. Take a look at this video from Keith Valley: I learned a lot from watching this. I realized you can cut very tight, smooth curves if you just tilt the blade more as it turns. That takes practice, and can feel very awkward at first. Using an angle blade reduces the amount you have to tilt the knife to make a turn. The trade off is, the angle blade takes a bit more work to keep under control. Minor trade-off, IMO. So my suggestion is to try different ones and just see what works better for you. But don't be surprised if part of the answer ends up just being more practice. Kate

You can also achieve that look just with the application of dyes and stains. One thing you can try, is to drip a little brown dye onto a piece of cotton cloth, and rub a little of the dye in random spots on the strap, or perhaps more around the edges, then apply antique over the whole thing. I'll be at my leather bench later today, maybe I can try it and let you know the result. Kate

Sorry to hear of your frustration, Joe... I can certainly sympathize as I've had many occasions when I've wanted to just throw something I'm working on - or the tool - across the room. (Nope, never quite made it to that point. Uh, well, on second thought, I guess there was that cheesy skiver I threw into the trash - LOL!) I agree that this might be a good time to just step away from it for a short while to simmer down. Then, when you come back to it, let's talk about that swivel knife. Sounds like it could use a little work to make it cut better, but we'll save that for later. Meanwhile, go treat yourself to something special and rest assured there are ways to make it better. Kate

Hi ant, What type of leather are you planning to use? Kate

That looks like a piece that really has some soul. I'd love to see a larger image of the entire shield if that's possible. Thanks for posting. Kate

Here are a couple of additional tips for people shopping for a web host and other web services. As it was mentioned earlier, you can register a domain name in a number of places that are perfectly fine, including through whatever web host you go with, and it shouldn't be more than around $10/year. One thing to make sure of, is that the domain name is registered in your name. If you get your domain name through your web host, some web hosts register the domain names in their own name, and if for any reason you should want to move your site to another web host, good luck getting to keep your domain name. I've had a couple of clients in the past year who have run into problems migrating their sites to a different host, and the old host played hardball with their domain names. Also, make sure they send you the account information to get into the control panel for your domain name, even if you don't know what to do with it, and keep it in a safe place. How to find out who your domain name is really registered to? Go to Better Whois and type in your domain name. If the "Registrant Contact" for your domain name is anyone other than you, contact whoever you registered your domain name through and get them to update the record with your contact information. If you are planning to hire someone to build your site, and you haven't already chosen a web host, check to see what hosting your web studio may offer. Many studios offer hosting in support of their web design/development services, and that makes it pretty convenient for people who don't want to have to mess with that aspect of it. However, if you have already chosen a web host, most web studios should be able to work with just about any host that offers the standard array of programming support that you typically get these days. Kate

You might want to give it another try... I was able to sign up with no problems. Be sure to check your email after signing up, it sends a confirmation email that you have to acknowledge before it will send you the link to the free lesson page. Kate

Holy schnikes!!! Kate

Looks good, Josh. Look forward to seeing more articles. Kate

Looks like it will be very comfortable for the dog, too. Very nice work, Spence! Kate

Jan Schoonover and Clay Banyai have just released Jan's latest lesson in their Sculptured Leather Art Series. Each lesson features a different "extreme embossed" wildlife species, and provides detailed instruction with lots of photos to create an extremely lifelike image of the featured animal. In this lesson, Jan shares his secrets for carving and sculpting his award-winning Black Bear. It's now available on Clay's web site for immediate download for $25. Also available in this series is the Pronghorn Antelope. For more information and to purchase, visit the address below: http://badlandsleatherart.com/schoonover.htm Kate

The eco flo water-based dyes can be airbrushed. All-in-one, however, is not a dye, but a combination of stain and finish. It's more of a heavy gel that gets wiped on over the dye. Kate

I did some experimentation a while back with a product made for leather auto upholstery called Meguiar's Gold Class Rich Leather Cleaner/Conditioner. It contains a sunblock, so I dyed a couple of pieces of veg-tan with Angelus turquoise (any blue-ish colors are notorious for fading quickly in sunlight), treated one of them with the Mequiar's, left the other untreated (for comparison), and set them both in a sunny window for a couple of months. They both got exactly the same exposure to direct sunlight, which was several hours a day. This photo shows the results. The patch treated with Meguiar's is the one on the left. Although some fading occurred in both patches, the one with the Meguiar's had much less fading. I also ran similar tests with different finishes - wax, lacquer, and acrylic, comparing pieces of dyed leather with a finish and without it to see how much fading occurs compared to an untreated patch. None of these finishes has any added UV protection, but they do differ in the amount of fading that occurs to the color from exposure to UV radiation. I was very surprised to find the acrylic (i.e., supershene, satin shene, resolene, etc.) was the finish type that offers the most protection against fading due exposure to UV radiation. The wax finish seems to have made it worse! The lacquer finish had no apparent effect that I could tell. I've also done similar experiments with water-based dyes, and though they, too, will fade in sunlight (especially the more bluish colors), they hold up better than the spirit dyes do in general. Kate

This brings to mind an email I received 2 or 3 years ago. It was from someone in India who had seen my game boards on my web site, and was offering to put a small army of leather workers to work making my leather game boards for me. By hand. Very cheaply, even with the overseas freight. Using my designs. I didn't pursue it, for all kinds of reasons. But I wouldn't be surprised if there are quite a few people trying to make a buck doing leatherwork and maybe struggling to keep up with the demand, who are taking them up on it. Kate

I suppose you could, as long as you can get it smooth enough and it's not too brittle. If you have more than you need, ship it to me. I like to use it for grilling tasty animals! Kate

What method are you using to transfer your artwork onto the leather? Kate

Thanks, Simon. Those all-terrain skates are tool cool! I've noticed a lot more manufacturers who make this kind of gear are starting to pop up everywhere. This was originally posted some time ago. What we ended up doing was getting a scooter from Dogscooter.com, and some racing ("X-back") harnesses from Alpine Outfitters in WA. The dogs really love getting to go all-out! We also got a dorsal-hitch sulky from a guy in Australia, but we haven't gotten to drive it much, so far. (Need another accessory for my car that will just have to wait for now.) But the scooter is easy to pack up and take anywhere for a drive. Kate

You can buy foam at just about any fabric or craft shop, or even in the craft section at places like WalMart. Kate

Hi Pete, I haven't tried that, but I've often thought dyes go on too runny when applying it with a bristle brush, and was wondering if evaporating some of the alcohol would improve it. Sounds like it does. One question, does it still absorb well into the leather? Kate

Love, love, LOVE it!!! Kate

There is a perception of quality in that price tag. I would rather lose business to someone who thought my prices were too high - and I have, on many occasions - than someone who thought my price was too low. But no one will actually think the price is too low. They'll just think the item is not the quality they want. Kate