Judging Whips

[Handstitched]

G'day Peter T,

Today was the big day.

I had a 3 hr drive from the bush to the Show grounds, after having to put up with a lot of idiots on the city roads. ( I hate the city with a passion )

( I was also looking quite dapper, if I say so myself, I scrubbed up real good )

Anyway, I found the pavillion after 2 attempts in finding it.

The stewards were lovely, kind & helpful, mainly oldies, but lovely & sweet none the less.

After a few neatly cut ham ,cheese and lettuce sangas ( and I bet they too were Judged) and a cuppa it was immediately down to work.

The quality of the exhibits was very good, but not as many as I expected going by the classes & criteria .

There were only a few that I simply could not put a place on.

For example, I spotted a big mistake on a belt before I even cast my full judgement on it.

A nicely carved , oakleaf/acorn pattern belt, nice tri-colouring on black b/ground with a nice single pronged polished brass buckle.

BUT....there were no holes on the billet to do it up!! OOPS!!

Its just a strip of leather with a nice carved pattern on it.If only they put a few holes in it, it might have got a place.

The one item that I was really looking forward to and hoping to Judge, was whips.

THERE WAS NONE !!!!

Damn, Bugger & Blast !!!

After all that effort in buying a good quality whip, practicing my cracking, there were no whip entries!!

I was soooooo dissapointed !!!!

I was so looking forward to putting my (self taught ) tuition into practice .

Acording to the steward, there were none last year as well.

Now that surprises me, because there are some prominent whip makers here in WA .

But all in all, I think I did very well.

O'h well, thems the breaks eh mate?

I now have a lovely whip and some experience in cracking it, so not all is lost in that respect.

Maybe next year....if I get the gig again.

But I really really enjoyed it. its all experience for me , its another 'notch' on my belt, and my name has gone onto a register of Judges....I also received 2 free tickets to the show .... you lil' beaudy!!

All the best

Handstitched

[Peter T]

Oh noooo!!! No whips!! After all that effort! Oh well, at least you got free tickets and a couple of show quality sandwiches!

I'm glad you enjoyed it, though. Wow I bet the person who didn't put holes in the belt will be kicking themselves...

Thanks for posting your story to let us know how you went. Hopefully you get the opportunity to judge again down the track. I reckon you've earned it. Good on you, Handstitched.

Cheers,

Pete

[Handstitched]

G'Day,

Well well well, how time flies.

It doesn't seem all that long ago that I was Judging leatherwork for a prominent show last year .

I'm very honoured to be picked again for the job this year.

I must have done a good last time for them to ask me a second time.

Hopefully there will be some whips for me to Judge this time around, but this time I have a head start thanks to me buying a whip & practising and the helpful info on here.

All the best,

HS

[rcsaddles]

So where is this show? Sounds like someone needs to do some PR work to get people to enter whips.

[Peter T]

Wow, that has come around fast. Yeah, where is the show? Maybe I could send a whip over so you've got at least one to judge and all your purchasing and practicing of whips isn't in vain...

Pete

[Handstitched]

G'day,

My big day was on Friday Sept. 19th.

Once again, the entries were very good. I think the number of entries was down slightly.

And again, no whips, which was disappointing. I practiced my cracking for 2-3 weeks prior.

I've really got the hang of it now .

I was a bit more generous this time around. Last year , there were a few entries that I couldn't put a place on.

This year , there were a couple of entries that I nearly didn't put a place on as I didn't think they were good enough.

I still feel the same now.

But, I had a change of heart, I decided to give them a 3rd place , or 'Highly Commended', mainly to give the exhibitor encouragement, which is preferable to discouragement, as I'd really like them to enter again next year, and to hopefully maintain their interest in leather craft.

I nearly had to disqualify an entry as the exhibitor didn't read the conditions of entry properly, geez I felt rotten ,

but after a chat with the steward & Chief steward, they decided to be kind, but I made a note in the Judges comments....phew!

It seems that leather craft is more prevalent in the eastern states than here in the west.

But anyway, apart from the long drive to the show grounds, its was a great day.

HS

[silverback]

Hi HS, Which show was on.I am in Rockingham and haven't heard of any shows going except the royal next week.Do they do the judging in advance?. I do lessons with a group of 8 down in Pinjarra and I am sure some would like to exhibit. Any info would be great. Thanks. Peter

[Handstitched]

G'day Pete,

Yep its the biggie, the Royal.

All judging is done a few weeks prior across all catagories. Craft, cakes & bikkies beer,wine and so on.

For more info, I would get in touch with RAS ( Royal Ag Society).

I hope you do enter some exhibits in the future, especially whips. I would really like see entry numbers increase.

I was going to send you a private message, but if you enter an exhibit in the future, it would be best if I didn't,

from a Judges point of view. Hope that makes sense?. Rules are rules

In the meantime, You could also try entering your leather work, and those of your students in some of the smaller country shows,

unless you've already done so. But chances are they may not have a specific 'leatherwork / leathercraft Judge, the smaller shows may have a 'General Judge' that Judges everything, knitting, handicrafts, painting , leather work etc.

Its nice to hear from a fellow West Aussie.

Keep up the leatherwork and your tutoring.

HS

[Handstitched]

G'day Beautiful peeps,

I had yet again had the honourable task of being a leatherwork Judge at a different show. Only this time slightly closer to home. Only 2 hours drive each way instead of 3+

And, pretty much the same as before. No whips. And..... what was also disappointing, and perhaps a bit frustrating, that apart from the exhibit numbers being way less than the previous show, they were also the same exhibits as the other show. I recognised them the very second I walked in.

All but one. But by the same / regular exhibitor. I could tell by the style , pattern and braiding, beautifully made , but only the colours were different. My heart sank!!!

Hardly a challenge for this newby Judge eh?

I nearly disqualified the lot!!! ( but one) .

I had to check with the Stewards regarding Judging the same exhibits twice, but at two different shows. It also lets the Stewards know I'm on the ball. The rules should really be almost 'universal', and the exhibits should not have been shown IMO , but on this occasion the Stewards allowed it. Apart from the fact, there'd be nothing left to exhibit.

So I took a deep breath, pretended I was Sergeant Schultz ( " I know no-thing" ) and continued on.

O'h well, I just pretty much gave the same placings and comments as before.

While I was more than happy to Judge, I did go home feeling quite dissapointed.

But I do hope there are more and / or new exhibitors next time, it was also a great learning experience for me.

All the best,

HS