Mother's Day gifts

[Bryan]

I made these clutch/ purse/ wallet deals for my mom & mother in law for Mother's Day. Looking for a little constructive criticism as I really need to pick up the pace. How long should a project such as this take? They are Tandy kits & I put about 30 to 40 hours in each one. That includes drawing up the pattern, but still seems like to long.?

Thanks a lot, Bryan

[electrathon]

Your tooling looks great. The coloring on the brown one is awesome. I admit, I an not fond of the pink.

As to speed, it would take me at least 30 hours to do the same work. Remember that it is easier to learn to do good work and then speed up than it is to learn to work fast and then increase your work quality.

[pete]

did you really enjoy making it for the whole 30 hours? Was it fun and relaxing and did you feel good about the nice quality hand made work when you were done? Are you proud of the final result?

Then (for you) that was a 30 hour project.

If you are really concerned about the time then think back and figure out what took so long to do. Were you TOO careful beveling, cutting,etc.

I like it- it looks very nice and I can't fault the piece. And you mom will LOVE it.

What's THAT worth in time!

Well done

pete

[chestercheeto]

I agree....the pink is a bit flamboyant...but the brown is very nice.....good job!

[Bryan]

Thank you guys very much for the positive feedback. I did enjoy myself through both projects (I'll have to keep that in mind), just got stressed cuz they took so much longer than I had planned & didn't get them finished in time. Though I will always concern myself more w/ quality than speed. Seeing thier reactions made it worth every second though. My mother in law cried.

The "pink" finish is actualy ecoflo grape, & I was very hesitant about using it myself but my wife insisted & her mom loves it, so thats what's important. It is a very interesting finish though; it is a very very deep purple till you get it in bright light like sun (or camera flash) then appears pinkish as you've seen.

The other was a happy mistake! I used ecoflo gel antique & I was pretty unhappy with the way it was turning out. I had read here about cleaning/stripping w/ acetone so I tried that. It sure didn't remove the finish but somehow I ended up with what you see here & I thought it was cool.

Thanks again for your input. I really do appreciate it.