From Russia with love

[AlexMayer]

Lets keep on:

Currently working on a sleve for passport, documents for vehicle and cards.

[plinkercases]

And you sleep and eat when?..... more great looking stuff thanks for the inspiration.

[AlexMayer]

On 21.12.2017 at 1:52 AM, plinkercases said:

And you sleep and eat when?.

Haha. right. Leatherworking for me is a rest after my day work. 

When I have inspiration I could start several projects at the same time. I do them in parallel switching from one to onother. Sometimes when I feel that a project bores me and I want to finish it as quickly as possible that is signal for me to lay this workpiece aside.

Otherwise I'll finish it in a slipshod way. I will return to it sometime. May be in couple of months but with good mood and pashion.

I'm from those who believe that a handmade item soaks up piece of your mood. So the more happy you are while crafting - the more your piece of work will be charged by positive energy. That is what differs handmade items from mass production stuff.

 

Sorry for probable mistakes or may be not quite appropriate words - english is not my native.

 

 

[KingsCountyLeather]

1 hour ago, AlexMayer said:

When I have inspiration I could start several projects at the same time. I do them in parallel switching from one to onother. Sometimes when I feel that a project bores me and I want to finish it as quickly as possible that is signal for me to lay this workpiece aside.

Otherwise I'll finish it in a slipshod way. I will return to it sometime. May be in couple of months but with good mood and pashion.

I'm from those who believe that a handmade item soaks up piece of your mood. So the more happy you are while crafting - the more your piece of work will be charged by positive energy. That is what differs handmade items from mass production stuff.

 

Sorry for probable mistakes or may be not quite appropriate words - english is not my native.

 

 

Love your work ethic, I will try to remember to use in my work. Only problem is your customers must have a lot of patience having to wait?

[AlexMayer]

1 minute ago, KingsCountyLeather said:

Love your work ethic, I will try to remember to use in my work. Only problem is your customers must have a lot of patience having to wait?

Well, this makes sense either for stuff which I make for my relatives or for my portfolio or for custorems who can wait. 

Of course for made-to-order items requested urgently or to some certain date I can not ask people wait couple of months. 

Trying to follow the rule: not to do favourite occupation in bad mood - most likely the result will go to trashbox.

For bad mood I have my main day job . 

[AlexMayer]

Dear Friends, Mery Christmas to you, your families and your close people!

here is what I finished 2 days ago: pen case for 2 pens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 25, 2017 by AlexMayer

[AlexMayer]

Made for my classmate's husband. Can't immagine a more boring combination of leather and thread, but she told her husband was very ascetic, so no contract mixes.

ok.

 

[KingsCountyLeather]

Before I started leathercraft I always loved the smell of leather and would always put my hand on it to feel the quality and then pick it up to see how well it was made. 

While I like your colour combinations.. This wallet looks great and and while plain to you, its something like what I would love to get for a present and cherish for ever.

Great job!

[AlexMayer]

22 hours ago, KingsCountyLeather said:

Before I started leathercraft I always loved the smell of leather and would always put my hand on it to feel the quality and then pick it up to see how well it was made. 

While I like your colour combinations.. This wallet looks great and and while plain to you, its something like what I would love to get for a present and cherish for ever.

Great job!

Thank you, my friend!  your reply reminded me of the following:  years ago when I wanted to by a wallet, a jacket, a bag (in general anything from leather) first I needed to smell all this stuf. That drove my wife nuts:)  to onlookers a man sniffing at a wallet seemed quite odd))  but for me that was one of key reasons to buy or not buy a thing.

Some leather had practically no scent, some had an unpleasant chemical scent, some smelt like fish ))) 

At the moment my vote in "best aroma" nomination goes to natural veg tanned cow leather (like Herman Oak or Argentina) and veg tanned horse leather (Avancorpo from ShellCordovan).

 

Edited December 29, 2017 by AlexMayer

[AlexMayer]

Dear Friends, Happy New Year! all the best wishes to you and your close people!

Another item submitted to public scrutiny.

Simple cardholder with stud.

 

[Orangeleather]

Inspiring & quality looking craftsmanship.

 

[bikermutt07]

On 12/29/2017 at 5:58 AM, AlexMayer said:

Thank you, my friend!  your reply reminded me of the following:  years ago when I wanted to by a wallet, a jacket, a bag (in general anything from leather) first I needed to smell all this stuf. That drove my wife nuts:)  to onlookers a man sniffing at a wallet seemed quite odd))  but for me that was one of key reasons to buy or not buy a thing.

Some leather had practically no scent, some had an unpleasant chemical scent, some smelt like fish ))) 

At the moment my vote in "best aroma" nomination goes to natural veg tanned cow leather (like Herman Oak or Argentina) and veg tanned horse leather (Avancorpo from ShellCordovan).

 

I vote horween horse. It smells fantastic.

[AlexMayer]

On 02.01.2018 at 9:19 AM, Orangeleather said:

Inspiring & quality looking craftsmanship.

 

thank you, sir!

23 hours ago, bikermutt07 said:

I vote horween horse. It smells fantastic.

That is No.1 in my wish list.

It is very a hard-to-get item for reasonable price here in Russia. We do not have distributors. Orderig directly from US makes the end product very expensive. 

As soon as find a customer for Horween, it will be a pleasant experience.

 

[bikermutt07]

8 minutes ago, AlexMayer said:

thank you, sir!

That is No.1 in my wish list.

It is very a hard-to-get item for reasonable price here in Russia. We do not have distributors. Orderig directly from US makes the end product very expensive. 

As soon as find a customer for Horween, it will be a pleasant experience.

 

Maverick Leather sells it. They may ship internationally. They have mostly seconds, but they are still nice.

Edited January 3, 2018 by bikermutt07

[AlexMayer]

34 minutes ago, bikermutt07 said:

They have mostly seconds,

What does "seconds" mean?

[bikermutt07]

18 minutes ago, AlexMayer said:

What does "seconds" mean?

Not premium first run. Like not A grade. Now that I think of it, they do have a few colors of the horse butts listed as first run.

The butt strips are only about 3 square feet. About a square meter, only long and slender. You can buy them for about 18 dollars a piece. Great for wallets.

Here is one in burgundy.

[AlexMayer]

On 03.01.2018 at 4:05 PM, bikermutt07 said:

Not premium first run. Like not A grade. Now that I think of it, they do have a few colors of the horse butts listed as first run.

Thanks for explanation. Will explore this store for sure!

On 03.01.2018 at 4:05 PM, bikermutt07 said:

Here is one in burgundy.

Nice color!

[AlexMayer]

Hi everyone, couple of months ago made this one "for fun". I saw similar wallet in instagram and wanted to repeat it to evaluate this concept.

Made from veg tanned leather 4-5oz. Fiebings leather dye. YKK zipper. 0.5 mm thread 

Occured to be quite spacious- can store up to 20 cards + cash and also 1 USB flash drive.

However a bit large to wear in front pocket.

 

 

 

 

 

[AlexMayer]

Somwhere a year ago I made two bags for mom and wife. Shopper bag from crazy horse leather. They use it every day and not only for sshopping (can't help noticing that I'm happy about it)  as this more than words shows that this formfactor is very comfortable.

this one is my mom's:

[JMcC]

Great work on all your projects Alex! I am always amused when I see people with backpacks. There are two straps but no one uses both...only one. Maybe make back packs with only one strap?

[AlexMayer]

2 hours ago, JMcC said:

Great work on all your projects Alex! I am always amused when I see people with backpacks. There are two straps but no one uses both...only one. Maybe make back packs with only one strap?

Thank you . 

you are right!  90% of the time I use only one strap. it is really bad habbit as it does harm for back. 

I only use two straps when I fully load my backpack. I've never thought of making backpack with one strap, but this needed to be considered.

 

[Dun]

5 hours ago, AlexMayer said:

Thank you . 

you are right!  90% of the time I use only one strap. it is really bad habbit as it does harm for back. 

I only use two straps when I fully load my backpack. I've never thought of making backpack with one strap, but this needed to be considered.

 

All very nice looking products! And all so well done with different patterns on the first try? Impressive.

 

I also don't use both straps on a back pack but that is usually cause I don't like how warm they are. I've been wondering about that 3d vented foam stuff combined with leather.

[AlexMayer]

 

12 hours ago, Dun said:

All very nice looking products!

thanks for positive feedback! 

12 hours ago, Dun said:

And all so well done with different patterns on the first try?

not at all, to my regret. not all 100% of works are worth sharing. Unsuccessful experiments do not go to trash  - I keep them as reminder of how not to do next time.

 

 

12 hours ago, Dun said:

I've been wondering about that 3d vented foam stuff combined with leather.

At the moment that is something from another league for me. 

Edited January 10, 2018 by AlexMayer

[AlexMayer]

as an experiment made a braided keychain from waxed shoe-lace. In spite of simplisity and cheapness it occured to be quite convenient. It is comfortable to hold it and it does not hamper in front pocket.

[JMcC]

That is cool...I need to learn braiding to add another dimension to my work.