tashabear

Well, since I can't edit the original post, let me put this here: this mallet is no longer available. I needed a mallet and couldn't find my other one, so I started using this one and decided I like it after all. Sorry to disappoint. Tasha

I bought this mallet several years ago because, let's face it, it's pretty. I like pretty tools. Unfortunately, it proved to be a bit heavy for me, so I only used it a few times. Tools are meant to be used, even the pretty ones, so I'd love it if someone could take it off my hands and make beautiful things with it. The heads have the barest hint of wear, and it's even in the original box. A comparable flat head maul goes for $119 retail, $96 Gold Club, and $85 Elite Club at Tandy. This one, now discontinued, can be yours for $70 plus shipping. If you want it, and you know you do, contact me. I may have some other tools coming up for sale as well. While I have enjoyed leatherworking, I'm moving back towards sewing as my major creative outlet and I only have so much room for stuff. :-) Thanks for looking! Tashabear

Printer paper and packing tape works well, but I use printing vellum -- made for inkjets, tough, and translucent so I can see where I'm positioning my design. I just got through making... um... seven designs for some book covers I'm making.

So I haven't been here for a while, but I have a really, really good excuse. Back in October, my husband Wolfie and I went to Disney in Florida for a wedding in which I was a bridesmaid. We had a fabulous time -- other than my few issues getting out of the house on the morning we left, it was the first vacation we'd ever been on that didn't involve motorcycles or the SCA. We were even making plans to go back for our tenth anniversary (we'd just celebrated our 5th this past June). Wolfie and I both got sick right after we got home. I had a rotten cold, but his progressed quickly to an upper respiratory infection, and I took him to the hospital a week after we got back from Florida. He never came home. He called it; he got H1N1. It progressed quickly to pneumonia, and 24 hours after being admitted to our local hospital, he was intubated to support his breathing. Ten days after admission, he was transferred to Massachusetts General Hospital. Ten minutes after he arrived in Medical Intensive Care (MICU), he was medically paralyzed. 24 hours later, they put him on ECMO, which stands for Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation -- lung bypass. They usually use ECMO on preemies, but they had good results with ECMO on adults in Australia during their experiences with H1N1, so they've started using it in the US. The problem is that there are maybe 125 facilities in the US, and only one in New England, doing ECMO on adults. Wolfie was on ECMO for 18 days. They took him off the circuit the day after Thanksgiving, and everything seemed okay at first. Then he had a bad reaction to his antibiotics, and they narrowly brought him through that. That experience left him with almost no reserves, no kidney function, and poor liver function. They'd been unable to change his position during the two weeks on ECMO, so he developed a very serious pressure sore across his glutes. Then he got another infection, and they were unable to support him anymore. His blood became too acidic for the blood pressure meds to work, and his blood pressure dropped lower and lower and lower... and then his heart stopped at 6:25am on December 15th. It's been an interesting three weeks in the crappiest possible way, but I'm managing. He drew some tattoo flash for us while I was deployed in 2005, and we never got around to getting it done. I found the flash while he was hospitalized, and resolved to get it done when he recovered. Now it's a memorial; I got it done a week after he died. (Please excuse the chicken skin.) This is my first tat, and the artist did an AMAZING job. (Wilhelm Scherer at Sanctuary Tattoo in Portland, Maine, if you're interested.) So that's where I've been, if anyone missed me. I'm getting back into the swing of doing leatherwork -- I'm sitting at his drawing table right now sketching patterns for some bookcovers I need to do for a show at the end of the month. Other than that... I'm hoping to go back to school for respiratory therapy. The RTs who looked after him inspired me. You get to do some very important patient care, and never have to wipe anyone's butt. ;-) Thanks for reading, kids.

I didn't just see it in 3D, I saw it in IMAX 3D, and it was worth every penny and the headache I had when it was over.

I wouldn't be surprised if the memory issues are as related to the poor and insufficient sleep as anything else. I really hope things turn around for you soon... *hugs*

That's hilarious! Nice work! (Also, my mom totally had that Corelle pattern when I was growing up.)

My friends have been using it to make SCA armor for years.

Next to the vambrace, I think that the collar is my favorite part! Very handsome!

Very nice! I especially like the Green Man.

Yay! Happy birfday to ME! (And Happy Birfday to all the rest of you, too!!!)

Dawwwww..... That looks AWESOME. Nice work!

If you want documentable patterns, look for the book Purses In Pieces by Olaf Goubitz. It's very readable, has great detail about the different types of pouches and when and where they were worn, and has fabulous pictures and recreations of the items that were unearthed. If you want ren faire stuff... I have no idea. It's not really my gig. There are too many interesting things to make from documentation to spend a whole lot of time reinventing the wheel.

I have access to a Dick Blick Art Supplies, so I use Golden Liquid Acrylics. Liquitex is okay, but the Golden is AMAZING. It covers beautifully (except for the white; I'll have to go with Liquitex for that one), comes in a gorgeous array of colors, and for me, it's been going a long, long way. My point about Dick Blick is that they have the best prices I've seen on Golden Acrylics, and I've shopped around. Also, my husband is an artist too, so it was worth our while to get their discount card. For $10 a year, we get 10% off our purchases. Plus their sales are incredible. My husband got a new drafting table, 44"x31", that came with an hydraulic chair, lamp, and pencil tray for $150. Regular price was $335. We have to go into Boston to visit the store, but it's a short trip on the train, or we can drive there, plus my husband works in town, so he can go there when he gets off work. Best part? It's just down the street from Fenway Park. :-D

Maine Line Leather is only about an hour south of you. They're very nice, and might be able to help you out.

I wouldn't use an expensive watch on that either -- I was just idly looking at watches on Amazon last night and found one (an ugly one, at that) that sells for nearly $100K ON SALE. Crazy. Rather than stamping the new bands, why not try distressing them? Someone elsewhere on the board posted this link and I think it sounds like fun to play with. I'm going to be doing some steamy things for a con next summer, and will definitely be experimenting with some of these techniques. Another one that a friend shared with me is hitting the leather with a bristle brush -- gives it little pockmarks. She used it on a mask she made to look like a skull with great results. Another thing you can do to add brass bling is add rivets or spots; I've even used eyelets as accents. Metallic paint is fun to play with too; I bet you could make it look like a metallic coating has worn off. I've used Treasure Wax as a sort of antiquing technique -- dip a cotton swab in turpenoid, then the Treasure Wax, spread it on and buff it off. It looks really nifty.

Looks like a dressage saddle to me. IIRC, Miller's was/is a well-known tack shop in NYS.

I love the basketweave! Where'd you get the watch? I've been wanting to do something like this (though not as wide), and finding the right watch is hard! I agree with you about the bands. Something thinner, a bit wider, and darker (like a java brown) might look better. How does it fasten?

When she was in college, my sister had to do a persuasive speech in public speaking, and was at a loss as to subject. I suggested she do one on the plight of that endangered species, the Nauga, slaughtered wholesale for their colorful, thin hides so well-suited to upholstery. I guess she was pretty persuasive; after class girls came up to her with tears in her eyes asking where they could donate.

GMTA! Nice meeting you this weekend at KWCS!

I'd use acrylic rather than oil paint. It's not such an issue with a piece that doesn't need to bend, but the acrylic will flex and bend with the leather better than the oil paint will. That being said, it's lovely!

I just use regular paper or inkjet vellum covered with clear cellophane packing tape.

Works beautifully to get spirit dyes off of vinyl floors. (Spilled mahogany dye looks like you stabbed someone in the kitchen. Just sayin'.)

That is lovely! Really nice work.

Aw... that's so cute!