OldCanuck

I saved my favourite part for last: the scene of Longs Peak and the Keyboard of the Winds, in Rocky Mountain National Park. Here's the original source material. Here's a contemporary photo of the scene. (Not my photo; I swiped it without permission from the Web.) Here's how it turned out.

I got all the tooling finished. Now I'm going to spend occasional evenings for the next 2-3 months dying the project and assembling it. This part here is the panel with Ouzel Falls nestled between the two basketweave pieces. One of the photos I used as source material. The design that resulted from the photo. A practice version I did, to warm up my chops and to try out some techniques. The finished panel. When the tool pouch is closed, the flap will fold over this panel. I don't want to use a snap for closure, since the pouch may get too full for the snap to engage. So, I'm going to attach a rawhide lace or something to the flap, and wrap it around a concho on this panel. I'm still trying to decide between a metal concho and a leather one. I haven't found a metal one that I like yet, and I don't want to disrupt this scene. So I took a scrap of 9-10 oz leather and duplicated part of the design on it. The + shows where the concho will be centered, and the circle shows where I will cut out or punch out the concho. I like the tooling on the scrap piece better. That's because I'd already practiced on two other pieces of leather before I got to this one. Oh well ...

That makes sense. Thank you!

Thanks for the advice. That's what I wanted to hear.

@JayEhl Thanks for the pointers!

@JayEhl, thanks for your feedback and your advice. By 'frame', I meant the two oval parts with the basketweave inside them. Typically, the entire basketweave frame gets that border stamp treatment (the one that looks like a fancier camouflage tool). This time, I was unsure about using it around the tips of the small leaves and around the scrolls -- I was worried it would clutter the frame and diminish the visual effect of the leaves and scrolls. As for the whole piece, yes, I'm going to go old-fashioned and do double-loop lacing around the whole thing. 1/8 inch dark brown calfskin. Here's a earlier photo of the entire piece. Still a work in progress.

I was gonna wait until this panel of the pouch was all finished but I'm so tickled, pleased, and gruntled with how well the basketweave turned out, that I had to post this picture tonight. It ain't perfect, but I like the way it looks. What do you think? Should the border stamp go all the way around the frame? Even around the scrolls and the tips of the small leaves? You can see that I'm still having trouble with my scrolls. I did the one on the right first, and everything was okay until I went a little Edward Scissorhands with the, um, "decorative" cuts. I pretty well mangled it. Too bad you can't erase boo-boos on leather. But I learned my lesson, and used a much lighter touch with the one on the left.

Beautiful.

I started on this project before Christmas. I knew it would take me a while to finish it, and it's not finished yet. Consider this a progress report. I figured that if I tell you all about it, you will hold my feet to the fire and make sure it gets done someday. It's the outside of a triple-fold tool pouch. The design is two scenes from Rocky Mountain National Park, a lot of Colorado wildflowers, and some basketweave, all held together by some vinework which I wouldn't exactly call Western Floral, but it leans in that direction. You've seen a photo of the wild roses on the flap before. Every blossom is from a photograph, either one I took or one I swiped from the Web. The first panel (sorry, the photos are out of order and I can't fix it) is a collection of some of my favorite Rocky Mountain wildflowers. Starting at one o'clock, and going clockwise, I have: Common western wallflower Indian paintbrush Forget-me-nots (they are tucked into several little corners) Wild strawberry Heartleaf arnica Blue flax White geranium Wild geranium Potentilla or cinquefoil Aspen daisies above the heartleaf arnica Jacob's Ladder to the left of the aspen daisies Wild iris to the left of Jacob's Ladder The second panel is a tryptich, with basketweave on the left and right, and Ouzel Falls in the center. The third panel will be finished last. It's Longs Peak and the Keyboard of the Winds, framed by columbine on the left and larkspur on the right. You may recognize the mountains from the Colorado state quarter. It's difficult to keep the moisture content consistent on this huge piece of leather, especially in the dry Colorado winter. You will notice differences in the burnishing from spot to spot. Feedback is welcome. I can't go back and change anything, but I can make improvements going forward, and I can use your advice in future projects. EDITED TO ADD: I hate doing scrolls. I always messed them up when I was a kid. I don't know what possessed me to include six (SIX?!) scrolls in the vines, but there they are. I would appreciate pointers to resources on doing scrolls.

Y'all. I must have raised my kids right. Please forgive me while I brag on 'em. I'm just a hobbyist. I'm not planning on ever getting paid for my projects. I admire those of you who do. Every since I subscribed to this site, I have admired your brands, tags, hot stamps, or whatever they're called. That's a mark of professionalism I will never attain. I have always simply carved my initials into a tiny spot on my work, and been content with that. See my first picture. Well, my kids conspired this year to design and procure a custom hot stamp for me. See my second picture. The Coloradans on this group will recognize Longs Peak and Mt. Meeker. The Etsy artist told them that his minimum die size is 30 cm. They talked him into making a 20 cm die, smaller than a US 25-cent piece. It's perfect. Merry Christmas, one and all. Here's hoping for a better 2022 -- for all of us.

Welcome, @riy! Fellow Coloradan here.

A spray of wild roses on the flap of a new tool pouch. They're more literal than Western Floral style. Each blossom image is taken from photos of wild roses that I took in the Colorado Rockies. That's 7 blossoms, 4 rose hips, 6 rosebuds, and about 70 leaves (ouch). Part of the leather was still damp from some touch-up work I was doing, and I was impatient to take the photo; hence, the discoloration on one side.

Welcome! The only moccasins I ever made were from a kit at Boy Scout camp. I wore them until they fell apart. However, I ran across a book years ago that may interest you. The author talks through how to design (and size) moccasins, and then how to make MANY different styles. It's the "Craft Manual of North American Indian Footwear", by George M. White. Amazon lists two slightly-used copies today; you may be able to find it elsewhere. If I recall correctly, there's a pattern in the book called "Giljak Sakhalin". To my mind, it's the best-looking design in the book. From the name, though, I get a sneaking suspicion that it's not "North American". :-) Waitaminnit ... The book's last printing was in 1992. According to Amazon, the book was revised and updated in 2013. It's now called "Native American Moccasins: A Craft Manual." I know what's going on my Christmas list!

Just down the road, in Loveland. Thanks! Nobody will believe it when I say it, but Wyoming is one of my favorite places to vacation/explore, and not just the northwest corner.

I learned leathercraft when I was 12 years old, in school in Canada (hence, the user name). I made a lot of belts and wallets and keychains (you know, Christmas gifts and such). Then I got adventurous and did a few larger projects and some self-designed projects, before I paused it all to concentrate on making a living and raising a family. With the kids grown up and moved away, I have a lot more time on my hands. When my son recently asked if I could make him a holster and a magazine pouch, I pulled out my tools (and bought some new ones, because you know, new tools!) and rediscovered the fun and satisfaction of doing something that didn't require a network connection or an operating system. The photo shows the holster, the magazine pouch, and the rounder that I used for practice. It's my first project in over 30 years, and my first time doing basketweave. Definitely, some practice was needed. A lot has changed in the intervening years. (How many years? Decades.) Some of the old names are gone, and new names are now the acclaimed experts. Craftool have discontinued a lot of their stamping tools, and other sources have sprung up to fill the gaps and to add variety. The term "oak tan" is now replaced with "veg tan", and I keep hearing about this guy named Hermann. And the tooling style I used to practice is now simultaneously out of fashion (my son didn't want it on his holster), a lost art being carefully preserved, and a distinctive style that is celebrated, studied, taught, and innovated. (Um, "Western floral." It wasn't called that back when I wuz a kid.) And then there's a Facebook group, a Reddit sub, tons of YouTube videos, and websites like this one. I'm looking forward to getting back into it.