Am I In The Right Place!?

[IrishD]

Yeah...I'm the newbie on the block...and I am in awe! I was going to start an album, but truthfully, after seeing all the amazing work here, the Leatherwork I have done is mediocre at best! I cannot believe how fantastic some of the Leatherwork is that I've viewed so far! All I do is wallets and basically carry-arounds...nothing like what I've seen here. I've been doing Leatherwork for some time now (off and on for 20 years) and I am amazed to see that I apparently have only scratched the surface. Everyone here should be commended on such beautiful workmanship and dedication. I can see I have a lot to learn!

[Cyberthrasher]

Don't talk yourself down so much. Post some work and let us see what you do. Getting advice from those we look up to is great, but that can't happen if nobody sees your work. Plus, the confidence gained from compliments will skyrocket your work faster than anything.

Edited October 9, 2012 by Cyberthrasher

[Chief31794]

Welcome aboard, this is a great site. X2 what Cyberthrasher said. Post some work, ask for constructive comments and suggestions and you'll be amazed at how easy it is to get suggestions from some great leather workers. I look at critique like chicken soup when you're sick, might not help but it can't hurt.

Chief

[katsass]

Of course you're in the right spot!! You already have folks from both ends of the country saying 'howdy'. I think that you'll find a pot-load of fantastic leatherworkers on here, and they are all willing and able to help you with just about any project or problem that comes your way. We are always our own harshest critic, so ignore that feeling and let us see some of your work, I suspect that you'll be pleased with the outcome. Now, before I ruin my image as the grumpy old guy, I'll just say 'have a great day and enjoy yourself here. Mike

P.S. Hope you are too close to the fires up there.

Edited October 10, 2012 by katsass

[Cyberthrasher]

Irish, I took a loot at your Etsy page. Nothing to be ashamed of there

My wife actually has a candle shop on there too, which I found kind of humorous since it sounds like your "just up the road" in Idaho terms.

[bluesman1951]

No worries ,pull up a chair and join the conversation . No one here who has not had a first day at something . Its all about learning so I believe you are indeed in the right place .Glad to have you ,look forward to seeing some of your work . Bill

[IrishD]

Thank you for the great welcome! I now feel I'm in the right place. It's great to find a place where people can actually help. Everything I've learned about leatherwork was out of books and there are times when I feel that I'm just not doing some things right. I've looked through alot of the topics and I've already found better ways to make it so your leather doesn't get pushed out of shape when you're tooling it. All this time I was using the "cement to posterboard" method which worked fine if you were lining the wallet, but a pain in the posterior if you weren't lining. I'm still trying to figure out how to make a clear 3-D Stamp impression. I used to use a hammer...very poor quality impressions...and I've even gone so far as using my husband's drill press...the stamp end fits perfectly inside a full-open drill chuck! Works alot better, but I think it could be better. Anyway, I'll have to look through more of the help topics to see if there is an even better way that's within my budget.

Cyberthrasher - We used to live in Lewiston! And amazingly, my husband is into bikes and trikes! As you know, Lewiston's population is like 50 times the size of us (between Lenore & Orofino). Everything I use has to be done over the internet and it gets pretty pricey after you add in the shipping. We make a once-a-month trip into the Big City of Lewiston. We'll have to find out where you are so hubby can see your bikes. He's suppose to be getting a trike out of CA and he's a Clearwater Member of ABATE. It would be great to meet you!

I'll try to get some pics up if I can figure out how to do it. I'm not real tech saavy but I'll try to figure it out. You are all such a great group! I'm so glad I found you!!!!

[Cyberthrasher]

Cyberthrasher - We used to live in Lewiston! And amazingly, my husband is into bikes and trikes! As you know, Lewiston's population is like 50 times the size of us (between Lenore & Orofino). Everything I use has to be done over the internet and it gets pretty pricey after you add in the shipping. We make a once-a-month trip into the Big City of Lewiston. We'll have to find out where you are so hubby can see your bikes. He's suppose to be getting a trike out of CA and he's a Clearwater Member of ABATE. It would be great to meet you!

Anytime. The day job on campus keeps me pretty busy lately, but I'm sure we can find some time somewhere

I only have the one bike right now, but I'm always up for showing it off. I'm sure my wife might want to pick your brain on candlemaking too since she's just getting started.

[IrishD]

Sounds good...when we hit Lewiston, it's like a whirlwind getting to all the stores we need to hit. We could meet at Arby's maybe??? Snow's going to be flying soon and hopefully it will put these darn fires out around here. I'm really getting tired of the smoke along the river.

Well, I just put some pics up, but I think I put them in the wrong place...it said something about "our album". Didn't know what that was, but it sounded good. I hope I did it right. It kind of cut me off at 27 pics so I'll try again tomorrow. Mostly just got my old stuff up and was starting to put more recent pieces in when I lost the page.

I wanted to say thank you to electrathon for saving me. One of the reasons I came here was to find a Masonic craftaid that one of the members had up for sale...didn't get an answer, but this guy stepped in and said if I didn't get a responce, that he had one he could sell me! A real life saver!!! So very helpful! You are all a great bunch!!!