JayEhl

30 years and you still got it!

Not a flaw. Just learning experiences. Experience is the best teacher. Just don't give up!!

Man, those are a sweet pair of boots. I'd even wear them, even if they were "girl" boots! I don't think I can ever aspire to make a saddle but I think I could learn to make a nice pair of boots, one day. A super nice tooling table and rack.

Painting is an area I struggle with, too. Lots of good videos out there but like everything else it's practice and experimenting.

I am by far not an expert and still consider myself a noob but from I can see: The good: I like the rustic brown; it's a classic color The improvement needed: The belt holes aren't straight. Maybe some more sanding? The original outline of the 'z' is coming through from where you traced it in. Maybe you spread your resist out too far? If not that and you haven't applied an acrylic finish on it yet you could go back with more dye? Overall it looks better than my first stab, or even my second stab at a similar design. (pun intended.) Keep poundin'!

Was wondering how much space you had to work. Very nice.

Thats some nice basket stamping

My first stitching attempts were a wreck, especially along long edges (journal covers). For me it was about patience and practice. I'm getting better checking they are perpendicular. And its more practice practice practice. :D

That is some fine detailing and beautiful paint work dude.

Looks cool. Dig the contrasting. How wide is that?

Looks store bought!

I'd carry that to work! Looks terrific!

Hi, I'm still a noobie, but I'll share with you how do this part. A warning: Not sure if this the best way but it seems to work for me. After tooling: 1) dye (usually the areas I tooled with a backgrounder) 2) dye the rest of the background leather sometimes with a separate color to separate the tooled background work. 3) after letting everything dry for a few hours (usually overnight) I apply a coat of Pro Resist very carefully with a paint very gently with a paint brush over everything. Sometimes I use a damp sponge if there isn't any delicate dye work that I don't want to smudge and let that dry. 4) Sometimes a second coat, but this time with a damp sponge. Being frugal, on the second coat I've also used a mixture of Resolene reduced with 50% water -- (not even sure if that's good so I'll rely on someone else to tell me how that can be improved) (And, Okay, I'm a little cheap) 5) I apply gel with a damp sponge and work that in back and forth in circular motion clockwise and then counter clockwise and wipe off excess. Experimenting here I've found the dye in the gel is a nice color tone and in several instances didn't bother dying anything outside of the tooled areas I've painted. 6) Letting that dry I use something like Fiebings atom wax or Eco-Flo Supersheen as my finishing clear coat so nothing rubs off. 7) Depending on the project I'll assemble with glue (gluing both sides) and waiting a few minutes for it to become tacky before tacking down and letting that dry and do the final assembly with stitching by hand (don't have a sewing machine, yet.. ). when I was out of glue I've also used some of the wife's double stick tape she has for quilting and it works, too. 7) I'll sand the edges smooth and burnish the edges sometimes repeating with higher grit to make it really smooth and use edgecoat for the finish. Most of my work is in the evenings so letting things dry isn't hard but I do understand being anxious and impatient. So something else this craft has really taught me is patience. I have lots to learn and best of all I'm having a blast (and it keeps me off the streets at night!) Cheers!

very clever, simple yet eloquent solution

Hello all you fellow leather crafters. I live out her in Pearland, Texas (due south of Houston) and work in the IT field at a university. I've been married for over 30 years and have two grown daughters and my German Shepherd. And, the recent addition of a rescue doggy for the wife but thats another story. I started my journey about a year and a half after seeing a random video about how to make a leather mouse pad from Weaver Leather and Chuck Dorsett. A couple of weeks later I ran by the Tandy store and bought my starter kit. I've yet to make the mousepad but boy have I spent some money on more tools, leather and accessories. I've taken over the kitchen table (the wife has pretty much all of upstairs for her quilting, so... ) I told a friend that getting into a hobby can be as fun as expensive as you want it to be but none the less, I am having a really good time, de-stressing after work and lately, de-stressing during WFH-ing. I have two Tandy stores that are about equal distance apart (about 30 miles away) but would I would love to meet up and visit anyone else in the Houston area to just share some work, how to's and general fellowship and oh yea, coffee.

Hello Adonis. Would you care to share your thoughts on the big Solar Winds hack?

wow that is a great paint job. What kind of paint did you use? I've heard alot about Angelus and I saw some videos how to dilute acrylic paints Did you do this, too, and layer it to build up the color?

crazy utilitarian!

really nice stitch work. Was that done by hand?

Is anything still available?

Not sure what a noob like me can provide as advice. I think its creative that you're able to upcycle an old leather jacket. very well done!

I am working on a candle holder for the wife. Think, a wrap that goes around the jar. I'm trying to learn different sewing techniques from youtube. I'm curious: how did you sew your ends together?

Cool design idea. Maybe even adding another copy so it has four wings at 90 degree angles? I have a wind thingy in the back porch but it has way more wings so that when it spins it looks like one big object but it can also lay flat for storage. hmmmmm....

The way the zipper is laid in the dividing leather piece looks... "oddly satisfying" , as the cool kids call it . Great work!