Floral Notepad Cover

[BearMan]

Hi Everybody,

Ever had a project, that just seemed to fight you ALL the way??? Well,,, here's mine!! hehehe But I think I finally won!! It's a Notepad Holder for a friend's Daughter. He told me he wanted "Muted" Fall colors on it. After getting the front tooled,,, & started the dyeing process,,,, I soon realized that even as hard as I was attempting to get "Muted" colors,,, they were still to bright for him. Soooo what I did was,,, after I got done with the dyeing,,, & it dried completely. I kind of Scrubbed it with my NeatLac replacement, which I knew would remove, some of the Depth of colors. That helped,,,, but it still was a "little" too bright still. Soooo I smeared on a good coat of Antique,,,, & kept wiping it off until I got the colors, that I knew he was wanting. Of course I topped it with some Tan Kote, over the Antique. The coloring process, only took about 15 hours of work. About 2 1/2 times longer than normal. I had to make the spine cover 2 times. I made the inside flap a second time when I found out his Daughter is a Real estate Appraiser,,,, that uses a calculator "all the time".

Of course, while working on this,,, I just had to make the "Rapid Repeater",,, & make 3 more Mauls. So,,, needless to say,,,, I'm glad this battle is over! Now,,, just 10 Mauls to make before the 15th,,,, Ed the"BearMan"

[ClayB]

I know what you mean. I'm glad you kept at it though, it turned out great! I really like what you did on the back too. That's just neat.

[Storm]

Ed this is the finest yet!! Ilove the colors and carving on the front and the back and spine all work really well. Congrats on a wonderful piece of work!!!

Storm

[bex DK]

Nice! I REALLY like it and I'm generally not a big fan of the colored stuff.

[hidepounder]

Ed I really like the muted colors better. I think I might even like them muted a little more! For me the muted colors enhance your beautiful tooling where as the more intense colors detract. Im my mind this is an example of less is more. Beautiful stuff...thanks for sharing.

Bobby

[gtwister09]

Ed,

Great colors for fall. I would agree with Bob that more muted or subtle colors might have made more visual impact. Even with that said...nice.

You have been a busy man with the handy-dandy repeater and 3 mauls along with this piece. Good luck with the other 10 mauls.

Regards,

Ben

[BearMan]

Thanks Clay, Storm, Bobby, Ben, & Bex,

Thank You all so much for the wonderful compliments! The Muted colors have grown on me. So I guess the customer was right after all,,, hehehe The "Rapid Repeater",,, (I kind of hate calling it that), really did make the stitching go faster, & a lot more uniform. The design, was an effort on my part to revive some of Ketchums, & Porja's inspired designs.

Also, the flap that holds the notepad in, is 5/6 oz Horse hide. If any of you haven't used any of that yet,,, you might want to. Horsehide is a finer grain, & somewhat tougher skin, that is Very smooth. It also takes an edge like glass. Horsehide is a little tougher to tool , & cut,,,, but it's no worse than some of the cowhide being marketed out there. If you want to try some, make sure you get the "Soft Rolled" if you are planning on tooling it. Horsehide has been used for a LONG time. Some of the best holsters use it. If you use it, be aware that it darkens quite a bit with oil,,, & it doesn't take dye quite as well.

As far as being Busy,,,, well,,, I really need to be, as working on "stuff" helps keep my mind off the chronic pain situation I live with. Distraction is a good thing,,, at least in my situation. Several battles with large animals, a couple "sprint Car accidents, & standing on concrete for 30 years just distroyed my back.

Thanks again everybody,,,, Ed the"BearMan"

[TimKleffner]

Bear

That's a wonderful notebook. I agree with you and everyone else that the muted colors make the piece 'a stand-out'. Keep up the good work.

Happy tooling

Tim

[pete]

as usual- beautiful work Ed!

Question...

I have made many, many notebooks/albums, but never a 3 piece with a spine. Is the spine the last piece to design(measure), and do you measure it flat laid out onto the 2 side pieces, or do you do the side pieces and "fold" it around to measure before cutting.

I'm going to do a 3 ring binder so it will be much thicker than yours.

anyone else(BOB!) who wants to chime in would be appreciated.

pete

[RustyMelton]

That's beautiful Ed, I love the colors. What weight leather did you use for the outside pieces?

[King's X]

that's stunning Ed.

another great job!

[TroyWest]

Ed, what type of colors or dyes do you actually use to produce those colors?

[BearMan]

Hi Everybody,

Thanks again! Pete, I don't always do it the same way,,, but usually, the front & back piece is pretty mush the same size as the Notepad,,, plus the width of the stitching seam, on three sides. Then the spine cover, I cut one edge to match the pattern, plus a little reveal, then wrap it around, to get the width, with matching the pattern on the other side. Of course, it's a good thing to add in a little "fudge" factor,,, don't want it to be too small. Make any sence?? But, you may want to check in with Bob,,, he does a lot more Binders than I do, so I'm sure he'd have better insite into those,,, & most everything else too.

Rusty, it's 5oz/6oz from Zack White's Leather. I've had good luck with them, & they're close enough, so that I get my orders withing 2 days.

Troy, all the colors are done with mostly Fiebings Spirit dye. In this case though, after I applied the colors, I had to tone them down somewhat, with some finish & antique.

[Peter Ellis]

Ed, I've been admiring your work for a while now. This one is yet another piece that is beautiful and inspiring. I love the depth you get in your tooling - whatever the colors

[ETW Grumpy]

Wow Ed, that is really beautiful. I love the "patchwork" basketweave. Is that an "SW" incorporated into the design on the front or just some vines that look that way? Your friends daughter should be very proud of that.

[little1983]

just amazing!!!

[TimDreamer]

Ed, another stunning piece of work.

ETW Grumpy said:

Is that an "SW" incorporated into the design on the front or just some vines that look that way?

Looks to me like it is "SLW" worked into the design, but I could be wrong. Ed really got them to flow with the vines. Whoever paid for this work got their money's worth and then some.

[BearMan]

Hi Everybody, Thanks for all the wonderful comments!! I forgot all about this post,,, so sorry about taking so long getting back. Yes,,, that is SLW, intertwined. Basically I just Overlaid the letters, Duchess font, Resized them, & then just had to redraw a couple areas,,, slightly. I won't find out how the Daughter likes it, until April 1st, when she gets it for her Birthday.

I really like designing the Basketweave sections on the back. The whole thing was designed using a cookie tin lid. All the Radii (archs) are the same,, except for some small areas, just to join the archs. Thanks again,,, Ed

[Craftt]

Hi Everybody,

Ever had a project, that just seemed to fight you ALL the way??? Well,,, here's mine!! hehehe But I think I finally won!! It's a Notepad Holder for a friend's Daughter. He told me he wanted "Muted" Fall colors on it. After getting the front tooled,,, & started the dyeing process,,,, I soon realized that even as hard as I was attempting to get "Muted" colors,,, they were still to bright for him. Soooo what I did was,,, after I got done with the dyeing,,, & it dried completely. I kind of Scrubbed it with my NeatLac replacement, which I knew would remove, some of the Depth of colors. That helped,,,, but it still was a "little" too bright still. Soooo I smeared on a good coat of Antique,,,, & kept wiping it off until I got the colors, that I knew he was wanting. Of course I topped it with some Tan Kote, over the Antique. The coloring process, only took about 15 hours of work. About 2 1/2 times longer than normal. I had to make the spine cover 2 times. I made the inside flap a second time when I found out his Daughter is a Real estate Appraiser,,,, that uses a calculator "all the time".

Of course, while working on this,,, I just had to make the "Rapid Repeater",,, & make 3 more Mauls. So,,, needless to say,,,, I'm glad this battle is over! Now,,, just 10 Mauls to make before the 15th,,,, Ed the"BearMan"

hi Bearman;

i was just cruising as they say. I have a customer that would like a portfolio case with insides and i like your idea for the inside. Just wanted to know if i could use your idea and send it to this person to see before doing the project? I love the colors you ended up with. He wants a sheriff's badge put on his or i would use your whole idea. Thanks for the work you put on the posts.

Craftt

[BearMan]

Hi Craftt,

Sure you can use that if You'd like.