Newboy Stephen Report post Posted March 13, 2013 Hi all, Thought I would introduce myself. I'm a scot living in Wales and, like a lot of people in the forum, I took up this craft whilst recovering from a visit to hospital. I bought a starter kit from Tandy and completed the projects in that during my recover period. I really enjoyed it and like other people have said, it is quite relaxing (except when I make a mistake I can't cover up;-) ). Unfortunately, at the start of this year I had to have my dog put to sleep so in memory of him the very first piece I designed and created is a wallet with his profile as attatched. I looks better in real life, It's quite plain when compared to the real crafters on here. Any comment please go ahead, I thirst for knowledge on this. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
benlilly1 Report post Posted March 13, 2013 I know what it's like putting a dog to sleep, so great idea for your wallet. The obvious for me is you need more depth. Make your stamps do the work and choose the right stamps for each area. Good start. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bob Blea Report post Posted March 13, 2013 Welcome to the forum. You will find lots of people here willing to share their advice and experience. Bob Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Newboy Stephen Report post Posted March 15, 2013 (edited) Thanks Benlilly and Bob. When I look at the piece after I completed it it looked great, but when I look at the photos of it it does look a little flat, lacking depth. More like a drawing than leather craft. Still project number one completed. Number two still to be devised.. I videoed the making of the wallet and from start to finish it took about 8 hours. What would you say the average time would be to make this sort of thing,'properly' I think instead of going fully into a new project, I will experiment on things like coaster or just scrap pieces of leather. Experiment with how hard to hit the leather to get certain effects. Just thinking aloud I guess. We'll see. thanks again for the input Stephen Edited March 15, 2013 by Newboy Stephen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Chief31794 Report post Posted March 15, 2013 Stephen, Great job, you seem to have identified a few of the things you want to improve so that's good. The depth and detail will come with practice. I was wondering why you chose to lace it with a single loop, a double loop would make a much better edge and provide more strentgh in the construction. I actually use Mexican Round Braid pretty often on wallets using 3/32" lace, it makes a nice tight weave that is even stronger. If the single loop is what you wanted it's fine, if you want to use the other lacing tecniques, there is a book on lacing at Tandy Online for down load that is about $4.00 US, great addition to your library. I don't think it covers round braid (mexican basket weave), but it does the others. To learn the techniques I have a couple of simple (not very well done) videos on Youtube on different kinds of lacing, search for chief31794 and they will come up. Welcome to the forum, Chief Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aguilerag Report post Posted March 15, 2013 Welcome to the forums. As a dog owner/trainer I know how hard it is to put one of our 4 legged kids down. I love the idea for the wallet and like others suggested, the tooling will come with practice. Keep it up, learn from all the helpful people on the forumn and keep posting pics. Gabriel Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Newboy Stephen Report post Posted July 3, 2013 Stephen, Great job, you seem to have identified a few of the things you want to improve so that's good. The depth and detail will come with practice. I was wondering why you chose to lace it with a single loop, a double loop would make a much better edge and provide more strentgh in the construction. I actually use Mexican Round Braid pretty often on wallets using 3/32" lace, it makes a nice tight weave that is even stronger. If the single loop is what you wanted it's fine, if you want to use the other lacing tecniques, there is a book on lacing at Tandy Online for down load that is about $4.00 US, great addition to your library. I don't think it covers round braid (mexican basket weave), but it does the others. To learn the techniques I have a couple of simple (not very well done) videos on Youtube on different kinds of lacing, search for chief31794 and they will come up. Welcome to the forum, Chief Thanks for the advise Chief. As soon as I have written this (very late) reply I am off to Youtube to see how it is done properly. I am embarking on my next project today, a money purse for my wife. She want both dogs on it (Toby and Lily an all black collie, that'll be fun shading that!!!). I've told her it'll be no problem at all. Oops. Still I can only do my best. Thanks again for the advise Stephen Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
raysouth Report post Posted July 3, 2013 WELCOME, STEPHEN, Hope you continue to enjoy leather craft and make a zillion additional items. You are limited only by your imagination so turn it on and have a great time. Happy to see you on the site. God Bless. Ray Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
