I’ve been wanting to create a manuscript cover for quite some time. I decided to sit down and create one “on spec” just to get an idea of the time and materials involved:

I’ve seen manuscript covers that use a single side of leather cut into a rough ‘+’ sign or cross shape then folded over. I wanted something that was a little sturdier, a little boxier, and that didn’t use as much leather in the project — but at the same time: would keep the pages in.

The clasp enclosure is one that bag makers might be familiar with. There’s a lot of different ways to customize a manuscript cover with tooling and patterns, rivets and conchos, buckles and linings etc…

Now, only if I knew some authors…

I grabbed one of Tandy’s leather wallet kits and one of the craft-aids to use in the making of this wallet. These pre-cut kits are great for intermediate craftsman. They allow for a wide range of skills from basic cutting, stamping and carving to finishing techniques. There are instructions in each kit showing construction and finishing for each project.

Here is the finished wallet:

I decided to use a waxed thread instead of the kit lace. It had a better look and feel and set with the overall coloring of the wallet’s finish.

There’s a lot of light bounce from the camera’s flash (and ambient light), but the deep red dye along the floral background is evident in some of the photos:

Prior to sealing the wallet with a shene finish I used an acrylic paint to give highlights and break up the wallet visually:

It’s a very saturated finish, muli-layered and it will age beautifully.

I need to play a little catch-up here.  Here are a few finished projects from the last few weeks:

Custom fender set using an Al and Anne Stohlman modified pattern; further modified from their pattern based off of watching the cowboy’s riding style.

I wanted to carve a design that was not quite traditional yet had to do something with the horseworld. Tribal pony was the way to go:

The young cowboy received his new leathers and was much surprised. It took him a second to realize that the saddle fenders had his name on it.

I’m leather multi-tasking… several projects at once. The only one I’m showing today (heh, so far) is the DMG cover.

I think the finish is made of win.

I’m waiting for it to dry so I can continue with sheen sealant and put the cover flaps on.

There’s a lot of cool color and saturation variance that I tried to capture in the picture.
It took an hour and a half of fussing with the stain to get “the magic right.”

I dig it.

I finished beveling on one side of the DMG cover and started working the other side. My back is killing me from the “barn party” yesterday ( the “barn party” was a 7 hour barn clean-up, sprucing, and trash haul-a-thon…I did what I could and then got benched by the barn owner for doing to much post-surgery).

I still have the bevel work to do on the left side, and backgrounding on both sides. I had considered doing a bunch of stain resist and other things to the cover — but I think with the bevel and amount of backgrounding less will be more with a proper antique stain.

I’m off to go create patterns for an existing commissioned order.

Moxie and Oliver are coming to get you!

I discovered Moxie and Oliver shortly after being introduced to Etsy. I wanted to show the interwebs the awesomeness of MaO and MaO designer Caitlin McNamara.

I’m happy to bring you this awesome interview with Moxie and Oliver owner/designer Caitlin McNamara:

AT: Caitlin, first of all who is Moxie and Oliver (MaO)?

Moxie and Oliver is really just me, Caitlin McNamara, creating things out of my basement studio.  I’m asked pretty frequently how I came up with the name, and I’m sorry to say that the story isn’t that interesting.  I do have a cat named Oliver, who is probably the most docile and tolerant animal I’ve ever met.  I’ve seen him hiss once in the six years since he adopted me.  At times I think that the name came from a little contradiction - my concept of “urban western” is as contradictory as that of moxie, and the cat, Oliver.

AT: How did you first get started in leathercraft?

Originally, I started working in leather as a child when we would have family reunions in the Rocky Mountains.  I have a very large family, so we’d always go to the YMCA camps somewhere, and they had activities for the kids.  One of them was leathercraft.  I made barrettes and key chains, and I can’t remember what else.  I remember very distinctly trying to pick the pieces I wanted to make with the limited amount of money I was given to spend on crafts.  It was a tough decision!  I always wanted to make more and more pieces.  I also did some little leather pouches - I’d put them on strings to wear on my neck, or on wrist bands, and keep my coins in them.  I seem to remember setting up a stand in front of my house to sell them, too.

When my husband and I bought our house in 2004, my parents dumped several truckloads of my stuff on it.  My task for the first several months was to sort through all of the stuff that they had given me, taking myself on a guided tour through my childhood.  This happened at the same time that I was working for a law firm, and constantly getting in trouble for my “unconventional” style of dress.  I needed a black belt, and couldn’t find one anywhere that was “me”, and I needed some more interesting accessories to pair with my boring law firm clothes.  When I discovered a box of my old tooled barrettes and keychains, it clicked.  Somewhere in my cavern of creative knowledge, there was some remote ability to do leathercraft.  I went to the store I used to buy supplies from as a child, and picked up some belt blanks.  I used the tools that I had around my house - none of them traditional leather tools - and made my first belt.

AT: When did you decide that leathercrafting was something that you wanted to on a professional level?

I figured out pretty quickly that what I was doing was something that I enjoyed, and it was something that was substantially different from almost all of the leatherwork out there.  There are not a lot of people who even use the tools that I use, and my work was receiving positive feedback, so I just went with it.  Not to mention, I really enjoy creating new pieces.  I think that’s what keeps me going - I have all of these ideas for new pieces and patterns, and I love seeing them through.

AT: What are some of your design philosophies?

 I’m not sure I have any, to be completely honest.  I try to keep my line balanced by incorporating both feminine and masculine items, though recently, because it’s spring, I’ve been making a lot of things with flowers.  Mostly, I make things that I like, or that someone I know would like, and hope that there are other people out there who would like it, too.  My aesthetic sensibilities seem to be pretty fluid, so it’s hard to pin down a particular philosophy, other than that I try to make only high quality items that I like.  It’s  pretty simple.

AT: What kind of inspirations do you get from “outside of leathercraft.”

I find a lot of inspiration in the world around me.  I’m constantly seeing things that I could turn into a pattern - flowers, buildings, animals, etc., - and am always looking for new ways to use leather.  I recently made a cell phone and camera case using the pattern for a poker case - the camera is the same size as a deck of cards, so it was a perfect fit! 

Most of my ideas come from a combination of environment and necessity, either mine or someone else’s.  Some of my favorite pieces, like the Bookworm Clutch, I created as completely unique gifts for people in my life (this one was for my father).

AT: How has this been received by the ‘traditional’ leathercraft community?

I’ve had mixed reactions.  The store I get my supplies from is staffed by people who are very talented, but very traditional, leathercrafters.  They know some about my work, and have been fabulously supportive (but then, I do buy all of my supplies there).  I’ve gotten many complements from fellow leathercrafters online, too, as well as inquiries about how I create my work, but I’ve also had people tell me, in so many words, that I should “refine my skill” and learn traditional leathercraft.

I have a lot of respect for leathercrafters who work in the traditional methods - it’s something I’ve done, and something that I can absolutely appreciate the time and complexity of.  It’s a beautiful craft, and has been very well established.  I suppose, in my own way, I’m trying to give the traditional leathercraft community a boost into the twenty-first century.  There is a way to do modern leather arts and still keep your roots, you just do it with passion, drive, and love.  I listen to the criticism, and respect where it’s coming from, but I’m going to keep doing my rebel thing.*

*We like Caitlin’s “rebel thing” and hope she continues to push the design boundaries in her own unique and stylistic way.

AT: What sort of things are MaO expierimenting with now?

I’ve been very fascinated with the idea of creating leather fabric patterns.  I’m working on a brocade piece now, and really think I might have to do some more in the same vein.  I’ve also started myself on a State Flower kick.  I’ve decided that I am going to create a pattern for every state flower, just to get myself working and experimenting on things that I might not normally do.  So far, it’s been really interesting, challenging, and sometimes even beautiful.  I’m only on California, so we’ll see how far I get (I have to get to Washington, right?).  I also keep telling myself that I must make more Celtic things, but that’s a bit slow-going.

I am doing a gallery show in Portland at Gossamer Designs in July - making a rare public appearance - which I am very excited about.  It also gives me a great excuse to make a lot of new work.  Honestly, in my world, making new work is the most exciting thing I do right now!

AT: What advice do you have for someone who thinks they might be interested in trying leatherwork for the first time?

Take a class, and ask lots of questions.  You don’t need to do what they tell you or show you to do in the class, but you really want to get to know your materials well before you start carving and dying them.  It was also really helpful for me to buy scrap pieces to experiment on.  Leather is pretty unforgiving, so if you make a mistake, and it’s a big mistake, the piece goes in the garbage.  Scrap pieces can be your best friends when you’re just starting out.  I can’t even count how many I went through in the first year or so of working on my pieces.  Sketches can also help.

AT: Any advice for a hobbyist wanting to transition into becoming a professional leathercrafter?

Take it one step at a time.  I haven’t taken the full plunge yet, I do still have a day job, and but I am expanding my business as demand grows.  I always recommend start out small, find a place where there’s a feeling of community and you can help other artists just starting out, whether or not they work in the same medium.  You can learn a lot from each others successes and failures.  Then, as your business grows, it will help you make the transition. 

I also learned a lot from taking my work to local stores and getting feedback from shop owners, I also did craft and trade shows, and got a lot of useful feedback from those.  You expose yourself, like it or not, to a large number of people and their reactions.  You get to see immediately what people like and don’t like, and you can gauge some of your future work from there.

Caitlin McNamara is the owner and designer of Moxie and Oliver. Moxie and Oliver can be found at their main website ( http://www.moxieandoliver.com ) or their etsy storefront  ( http://moxieandoliver.etsy.com ). Moxie and Oliver is based out of Seattle, WA. 

The Submariner

“Only a submariner realizes to what great extent an entire boat depends on him as an individual. To a landsman, this is not understandable, and sometimes even difficult for us to comprehend, but it is so!

A submarine at sea is a different world within herself, and in consideration of the protracted and distant operations of submarines, the Navy must place responsibility and trust in the hands of those who take such boats to sea.

In each submarine there are men who, in the hour of emergency or peril at sea, can turn to each other. These men are ultimately responsible to themselves and each to the other for all aspects of operation of their submarine. They are the crew. They are the boat.

This is perhaps the most difficult and demanding assignment in the Navy. There is not an instant during his tour as a submariner that he can escape the grasp of responsibility. His privileges in view of his obligations are almost ludicrously small, nevertheless, it is the spur which has given the Navy its greatest marines - the men of the Submarine Service.

It is a duty which most richly deserves the proud and time-honored title of - Submariner.”

Harley Colwell
Chief Electrician’s Mate
Submarine USS F-4 (SS-23)
Loss Date March 25, 1915
Location Off Honolulu Harbor
Circumstances: Sank during routine training

Since the acceptance of the first submarine into the U.S. Navy in 1900, over four thousand men have lost their lives in the Silent Service. The great majority of them died in the period between December 7, 1941 and September 2, 1945.

For Those in Peril on the Sea
(William Whiting)

Eternal Father, strong to save
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave.
Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep
  Oh hear us when we cry to thee
  For those in peril on the sea.

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy word
Who walked’st on the foaming deep
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep.
  Oh hear us when we cry to thee
  For those in peril on the sea.

Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease
And give, for wild confusion, peace
  Oh hear us when we cry to thee
  For those in peril on the sea.

O Trinity of love and power
Our brethren shield in danger’s hour
From rock and tempest, fire and foe
Protect them wheresoe’er they go.
  Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
  Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

Thank you for the privilege of serving.