My Shop

By special request - pictures of my shop! Today I cleaned my shop up...I had sanded my cabinet (the one I'm still refinishing...sigh.) in there and made a huge mess. In addition to that, the construction Dad and Dave have done in the barn contributed to the mess. My shop is now enclosed, with three doorways, so I'll be all set in case of a fire. :) Dad said that they would complete my ceiling in the near future...right now there are just some plastic panels to keep the leaky roof from leaking on my leather! I asked Dad yesterday if he'd finished my air in there yet (haha...I knew there'd be no air) and he said I'd gotten all the air I was gonna get! It's supposed to cool off, though, so that'll be nice.

I bought a lot of leather a while back, enough to make quite a few leashes, and I cut some of it up then but then got distracted by other projects. So, it's been sitting in my shop, lonely and neglected, waiting patiently for me to return. I have a wonderful table setup in my shop now, with plenty of room, and different "stations" for the different leather jobs I'll  be doing eventually.

These pictures aren't very good at all...all I had with me this morning was my iPod, and it's not the greatest lighting. We're working on the lighting, too...Dad said he's going to put twice as many lights in my shop and he'll put a switch in there that is only for my section. Right now the switch is for the whole side of the barn, not just my shop. More lighting will be nice!

For starters, my shop hasn't been entirely neglected while I've been away. This little frog took up residence on my chair and won't leave. Dave scared him off, and a few minutes later, he was sitting there again. I do prefer him to the spiders and ticks that are also there. :(

This is looking into my shop from the door I always use. Actually, there isn't a door...it's a doorway.

Oh...the flowers...this morning I decided to pretty up my shop, so I fetched a quart jar from upstairs storage and picked some little black-eyed susans.

This picture is looking from another dooway, directly across from the aforementioned doorway. The inside of these tables here is where I work mostly...where I do all the stamping and punching. I don't know if you can see it or not, but my cutting/punching board is recessed into the table.

This is my braiding station. When I get more leather for braiding (soon, I hope) I will build shelves in between the studs for my spools of leather. It's hard to explain, but it makes good storage! The chair on the left is one that I bought with the intent of weaving a leather seat...but now I'm not so sure I want to strip the paint off. Ugh.

Looking back at my tables from the braiding area. The main doorway is there in the center...you can also see my unfinished cabinet there too, a little to the right.

My sewing area...

Looking back at the tables from my sewing area...

Cutting! I'm so happy with the draw gauge I decided to keep! Having four here at time was great for me...I was able to work with them to see which felt best in my hand. I liked the looks of this particular one best, but it wasn't until after I'd worked with it for a little while that I actually liked the way it felt. It's a nice coppery color (not sure if it's copper or what,) with a rosewood handle. A C.S. Osborne draw gauge, over 100 years old.

I asked a local blacksmith for racks to hang cut leather on. I'm trading chocolate chip cookies for my racks. :D Having a place to hang the leather like this helps me keep different weights separate...sometimes it's hard to tell after it's been cut (and you cut away the stamp where it tells you!!!) Let's just say I'm still learning how to feel the weights!

That'll have to do for now. I will get better pictures with my camera one day, but maybe this at least gives y'all an idea of what my shop looks like! Hopefully, it will continue to improve as I work in it and see things that can be better.

I had such a good time working in the shop this morning. I really like the fact that I don't have deadlines and can work at my own pace. I do well with deadlines, and always make them on time or before, but it's nice not having to worry about it! I'm very thankful for the opportunity I've had to work for other people as well. While I've had some not-so-good experiences and extremely frustrating times (no reason to go into that here) I've learned so much! It also gave me the confidence that I was making good products, products that people who knew what they were looking thought were good..since I'm mostly self-taught, and I learn by trial and error most of the time, it worries me that I don't know as much as I probably should. For instance, I know that Steve Snell at Gun Dog Supply prefered my braided kangaroo lanyards over the ones that he carried made by David Morgan. He compared them side by side and saw a difference that he liked. Wow...that did wonders for my confidence, and I'm so glad I know that! I know that I am nowhere near, and probably never will be, half the braider David Morgan is, but for that particular product...well, I know I make a good one. That's great inspiration!

See ya!