KAY9

I received these today from YinTx & I am blown away! The detail is wonderful, especially the hair on the bear! I am very pleased. Well done & THANK YOU! Rockoboy, yours is on the way! It may take a little longer to get to Australia, but you should be receiving it soon!

Mine is finished & ready to mail in the morning. I will be sending to Rockoboy. P.S. The oak leaf coaster is beautiful Rossr.

Last minute, but I would like to participate!

SilentBobcat, you're absolutely right. Halfway into it I realized "wow this may have been a little bit ambitious for a first time project". But I had this vision in mind (inspired by a patch I saw on a motorcycle jacket) & I literally took a swivel knife & some tools & went to work. I should have given way more thought & consideration to planning a proper layout (or any layout at all!) I'm sure that would have eliminated half my problems, design wise. The other half is likely from lack of experience & patience. I hope to grow in those areas on future projects. I like working on projects that allow me to be creative & artistic. I also like hammering, banging, & cutting on things. So working with leather is naturally great fun for me.

Thanks for the boost of confidence, rleather! I will indeed practice, practice, practice.

Excellent! Thank you DJole. Much appreciated. Off to YouTube I go!

This is my first attempt at working with leather. I've taken no classes; I'm kind-of learning as I go. The mistakes are many, the imperfections are obvious, & the room for improvement is vast. I know this much...but nonetheless, it didn't turn out completely terrible..did it? I made this checkbook cover for my 78 year old Vietnam veteran father. I told him I wasn't entirely happy with it, but he insisted the imperfections are what makes it perfect in his eyes. I'm aware not everyone will be as kind as him (after all, he is partial), but I want to get better at the craft. With that being said, what am I doing wrong with my beveling? The Hi-Lite I applied to outline the crossed cannons just didn't turn out right. The beveling tool I used is B197. Do I need to use a different tool? Or am I just doing it wrong? Thanks for taking a look!