ACM 2012 Purse

After the long post about the trip, I guess I should show my entry.  The rules stated "any purse smaller than 10" by 14" and not made from a kit".  Pretty broad range and it brought many different styles to the table.  Here's what I came up with.  It was my first purse so I learned a lot for the next one.  It was a carving contest so I tried to cover as much as possible with tooling.

Under side of the handle

Interior

The purse will be showcased with other entries from the Art of the Cowboy Makers contest at the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs from now until September.  If you are in the area, drop by and check it out in person.  As always, critique and comments welcome.  Take care, RW

Home from the Road

We just returned from The Art of the Cowboy Makers contest in Loveland, CO.  We had a great time and met some wonderful people.  It was an amazing display of many different artists in categories such as braiding, chaps, engraving, spurs, hats, saddles, boots, cinch making and of course leather carving.  I decided to enter this year even though the project was building a purse, which I had never done before.  Mainly it was a good excuse to go to Colorado. 


We stayed in Fort Collins which was having a huge forest fire.  Not knowing what to expect when we arrived, we took off early morning and made the long stretch to Amarillo the first day.  Had a picnic at one of the coolest roadside picnic areas I've ever seen right outside of Guthrie (home of the famous Four 6's ranch).  We hit a lot of picnic areas along the way and I believe they are a dying breed that needs a resurrection. 

Once we made it to Amarillo, I went out and branded the Cadillac Ranch with the ol' BR.  Teaching the kids the fine art of graffiti, I'm sure that will come back to bite me when they get older.

On into Colorado and a view of the smoke from our hotel window.

The makers competition was a good one this year.  I was really impressed by the talent showcased, especially Don Butler (woolies) and Nancy Martiny's (chinks) entries into the chap category.

The prizes were custom buckles for 1st place and people's choice.  I wasn't fortunate enough to come home with one this year, but it means improvement for next year's go around.

There was an entry in the braiding category that had everyone talking and gawking.  It was a miniature bit and reins that a gentleman in the Arizona State Prison had sent in.  He ended up taking the people's choice award for it.  It was well deserved, the picture doesn't do justice to the detail in it.

Here's a picture of the maker's that were able to be in attendance.

I would like to thank Casey and LeEllen Jordan and Dave and Kristi Wilson for their hard work putting this show on.  Hopefully it will continue to grow every year.  Check out Art of the Cowboy Makers website for more pictures and information about the event.

After it was all said and done, we were ready and thankful to see this sign:

I love the mountains, but it's nice to be home.  Thanks for putting up with the long post and check out my post that focuses on the purse I made for this event.  Take care, RW

Pair of Legal Pad Covers

The latest out the door is a set of padfolios.  These are border tooled with barbed wire.  The inside matches the other one I have posted on here.  Let me know what you think.  Take care, RW

Clock

I have a couple of legal pads on the stamp rock right now, but in the meantime, here's a clock I made a while back for my wife's grandfather.  It is a pattern that I think Bill Gardner did in the Sheridan style carving book.  I liked it and wanted to try it out.  This was a project back before I learned how to antique.  The darker highlights of antique would have made this look really good, but it has aged well on it's own over the years.  Take care, RW

Gunbelt and Bowie Sheath

Here's the latest out of the ol' BR.  The order was for a sheath to hold a Bowie knife that the customer had made and a matching gun belt.  The holster was provided to match the color and style.

We put a dropped slot in the gun belt to allow for more under arm room when drawing the long barrel gun.  The sheath was put at a 30 degree cant for ease of access as well.  All in all I think it turned out well.  Thanks for stopping by, comments and critique always welcome.  Sorry for the less than perfect pictures, this project was a little too big for my light box.  On to building a bigger, better one.  RW

PS I hope this post turns out right.  Google has updated the blog posting world and has officially out ran my old computer.  Hope it all comes out, I can only see about half of the functions I usually can see.  Guess it's time for an upgrade.

More Carvings

Here are a couple more carvings I've been practicing with.  They both still need hats, but I don't have the tools to work on hats yet, so they are sitting in a holding pattern until then.

This was a fella that Lynn has a video of on his website.  He called him Shifty.  He looks a bit like my Paw, back when he used to smoke.

This guy I call Sam.  I sat and did this one on my own and kind of had a Sam Elliott (Quick and the Dead style) guy in mind.  Of course he's bald, but you won't see that once the hat is on.

It still a learning process and I throw away five before I get one, but it's fun.  Hope you like it, RW

Inventory Reduction Sale

I've decided to purge some older work that is sitting around the shop to clear out room for for newer work and some cash flow for new projects.  These are items that I have made in previous years for tradeshow booths.  If you are interested in any of these, please contact me at brsaddles(at)gmail(dot)com or comment under this posting with contact info and I'll get a hold of you.

All sizes listed on the belts are from the fold to the middle hole punched.  Measure a belt you have to see what you need.  All of them are 1 1/2" wide unless noted.  Holes on belts are usually gapped at one inch so you have a couple of inches each way.


35" Tooled belt.  I call this my #5 pattern because I don't know what else to call it.  $85



34" Vine pattern tooled belt.  This one sat at Cattlelacs for awhile and has aged to a very neat color.  $85



36" Vine tooled belt.  $85

37"-38" Vine tooled belt.  This one only has four holes punched in it so the middle ones are 37&38.  $85

35"-36" tapered end belt.  Four holes again.  This belt is 1 1/4" wide tapered to 3/4" on the ends.  $90

30" tapered belt.  This one is also 1 1/4" wide tapered to 3/4".  It also has aged well.  $50

On to some checkbook covers.  I have two floral tooled ones and a barbwire border tooled one.  These are just checkbook covers, not wallets, they only have a pocket for the checks and for your record book.  They fit normal size checks, not the top stub kind.  I'm letting the tooled ones go for $60 each and the barbwire one for $40.  These were made out of a thicker leather and will take a little while to break in but should last a long time.  My father has had his for around eight years and it's still going strong.

That's all for now.  I will update this post as things are gone and you should be able to find this post on the sidebar under "sale" when it leaves the front page.  Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon.