shirleyz

I apologise, for those of you who have seen this, I'm reposting it for my buddy Clay, who was too bloody slow to see it before it went kerplunk! Hi All, My husband finally made up his mind and so I got to work on his saddlebags. As you can see, they are to fit a pretty unusual shape. I’m not really sure if I went about this the right way or not, but it seems to be working so I’ll stick with it. I basically just cut stiff paper to the shape I wanted, and then just kept taping more pieces to it until I had the shape of the bag he wanted. He told me he didn’t want any seams other than the gusset. So, I ended up with one big, odd shaped piece of 8oz leather, and the gusset piece which I made out of thinner leather so that it would take a fold and allow the bag to sit flat when empty. This first bag is for the left hand side of the bike. It is a Dragon, as the bike is going to have an Asian theme. It took me a little time to tool all those scales, which kinda irked me ‘coz the bag is now black. Apparently the paint is going to be a metallic green, which I want to incorporate into an antique, which I hope will make the dragon stand out against the black. I can’t do that though until I get a sample of the paint color to match. I also used the vinegaroon technique to color the leather black. That way I didn’t have to line the bag, and if it should rain there’s no chance of dyeing the contents of the bag black. I haven’t attached any hardware yet. I’ll wait until he attaches it to the side panels and see where it would look best. I’m about to start on the other bag, which will be a koi fish. I’ll keep you posted. ShirleyZ

Hi, Love the Day of the dead style! I think your coloring is dead on, no pun intended. ShirleyZ

Hi David, Nice job on lining up the lettering. I have a hard time with the stamps, always crooked. Yours looks great. Shirley

Glad to have you back. ShirleyZ

Wow! Here in Vegas you kind of forget how the rest of the country is. 103 today, last week we had 109, and the air in my truck died that day. The next day my battery quit at 110. Thank God for the pool, (and the marguaritas) ShirleyZ

Anne, I think it's lovely. Can't wait to see the other panels. I like it natural too. Shirley

I like the basket weave. Nice job! ShirleyZ

Great wallet for a great cause! Awesome job! ShirleyZ

They look great Gremlin. What size lace did you use? It looks really chunky. I like that. ShirleyZ

You know Troy, it's bad enough that you're turning out killer bike seats now that we all have to compete with. But you got an exercise mat for $5.86? I paid 20 bucks for mine. Now I'm mad. ShirleyZ

I love your stuff Steve. It's always very sturdy, and manly looking. Great finish work. Shirley

I'm not big into additives but the patches helped me a lot. I only used them for the first week, just to get me over that first 'I will rip your face off if you don't give me a cigarette!' phase. After that it was relatively smooth going. I still miss one every now and again. And dammit! they still smell good to me, even after nine years! Shirley

That looks good! I love skulls and Floral, so you won me over twice! Tooling is great! ShirleyZ

Beautiful job Ian. ShirleyZ

Hi Dave, I haven't been doing much of anything since I moved house. Half my workshop is still packed up in fact. I've made five seats in the past year. Partly due to the move, but mainly due to the fact that my kid has had some bad kidney problems. Four emergency room visits in the last eight months. However, we now know that it is nothing too serious, and surgery probably won't be neccessary, so that's a load off! It's hard to govern a ten year old's pee habits though, lol. They tend to lie to you. Now I want to get back to my old man's saddle bags. I'll take lots of pics and try to do a tutorial. Shirley

They look great Dave. Shirley

Groan!!!!!!!!!!! ShirleyZ

Spider, I didn't know you had it in you! Looks great! ShirleyZ

Hey Clay, Jordan, Thanks for your advice guys. I know what you're saying about pricing them too low, I just don't really want to make anything big off these. I can't give them to a charitable cause, because as they say charity begins at home, and my 10 year old is seeing the dollar signs already. There just aren't that many places to sell something like this if you are not going to a bike show, and like I said they are not full size seats. I'll probably end up throwing them back in the box and paying for her new bed myself. (There's nothig wrong with the bed she has, she 'needs' the pullout sleepover bed on the bottom) Shirley

We have a marketplace? I'll have to check that out. Thanks Art Shirley

I have four seats that I made as sample seats to start my website off. They have been sitting in a box doing nothing. I'm thinking of just throwing them up on ebay for next to nothing. They are only small chopper seats. The proceeds will go to my kids bedroom restoration fund. Do you think that would be detrimental? I don't want to get known as the "Ebay Queen". ShirleyZ

Okay all, I have already apologized to the guys I owe leather to. My kid has been really sick, so I haven't done anything, even orders. Then a piece I was doing for Clay I messed up. So Beaver's is going out tomorrow, gotta wait for the finish to dry. Sorry beaver, better late than never. Now, to show my PIF's. I lucked out and got two!!! First is a piece from Ferret. It's King Harold taking an arrow in the eye. Ferret even made the frame! Thank you Ferret, I love it! Second, is my very own piece of Clay B. Art. Thank you so much Clay! Both pieces will have their own spot on my work room wall. Lucky Shirl

Stunning. Beautiful work. ShirleyZ

Beautiful Job.

Awesome Job! I too love the background. What did you use, a seeder? ShirleyZ