Taking a break from Santa's workshop

[Schno]

This is my first Christmas as a leatherworker, so I decided to do a bunch of leather gifts this year. Fortunately, my family is fairly small.

As always, please forgive the horrible photography. The lighting has made the whites look very yellow in these pictures. I point and click and hope...

This is a Tandy roper wallet kit. I had wanted to lace the edges, but the holes weren't symmetrical. Lesson learned!

This was a wallet that I did with my own pattern. It was also my first attempt at lacing. The corners are a bit rough, I know.

The wallet is for my niece who goes by 'Kat'...

This is a sporran for my brother. He's very proud of his Irish roots.

My mom has taken up archery this year, so I made her an ankle quiver with her SCA crest on it.

My son's stepdad is a musician, so I worked a bit of that into a wallet.

I'm working on a belt for my son. It's not quite finished yet, so I'm headed back into the workshop tonight!

I'm really looking forward to Christmas morning this year. I've always enjoyed watching people open their gifts around the tree. But this time, it's not something I bought at Macy's. There's no scratched off price tag. There's no gift receipt. It's something that I've made for someone I love. Merry Christmas, indeed!

Thank you guys so much for inspiration and guidance!

[Greybeard]

And What a MERRY CHRISTMAS its gonna be for those folks!

Very nice work, clean lines, and great coloring. Superior Craftsmanship!

[Timd]

Awesome stuff, Schno. I especially like the roper wallet.

[Schno]

Very nice work, clean lines, and great coloring. Superior Craftsmanship!

Thanks, Greybeard! I'm trying to keep things cleaner these days. The people on this site continually raise the bar on quality. I really appreciate that, because it changes what I'll accept coming off my bench. I've still got a long way to go, but each piece teaches me something new.

wesome stuff, Schno. I especially like the roper wallet.

Thanks, Tim! I wanted to do something different, and I hadn't seen anyone do a stained glass motif on leather. (It has, undoubtedly, been done... I just haven't seen it yet ). I'll probably do some more of this kind of thing. The red stain seems to have worked well.

[ETW Grumpy]

I like the stained glass wallet. I hate doing something from a Tandy kit, then finding out when you go to assemble it that the holes don't line up. Grrrrr.

The sporran is awesome! Great lettering.

How did you get the color fade on the ankle quiver? Very cool.

[MADMAX22]

Great work on all of them, I agree I like the stained glass look also.

[Crystal]

Santa Schno has been very busy in his shop. What a great job on all!

I, too, like the fade on the quiver. The "Hello Kat" is precious.

Crystal

[ArtS]

Good stuff!! I agree, there's nothing like giving a gift that you made.

Art

[Luke Hatley]

your folks are gonna be happy when they open the packages.

Great work.

[CitizenKate]

Nice work, Schno... great job salvaging that roper wallet kit. That turned out very nice!

Kate

[Schno]

How did you get the color fade on the ankle quiver? Very cool.

That effect was the entire reason I went out and bought an airbrush. I tried the dry-dying technique, but it never seemed to come out as smooth as it does with an airbrush. Not to mention that my dying time was cut exponentially. Still, I don't use it much. I do most of my coloring and finishing by hand, but for some things you just have to use the right tool.

And as always, thanks for the kind words, all!

[Elegant]

Gorgeous work! Love the sporran.