New Supplies and Learning New Information

I feel like I'm stepping up a little in the world of leather-tooling/leathercrafting. Today I got new leathercrafting supplies which I've been on the hunt for. I've been wanting a marble or granite slab to do my leather-tooling on for awhile but was unable to find one. I had been using a wooden cutting board but it became warped causing me difficulty when doing my tooling. I thought about buying another wooden cutting board which wasn't warped but I found out today at Springfield Leather Co. that no matter if the board is warped or not, it will still cause the tools to sort of "bounce" when tooling the leather. This also causes unwanted marks on the leather which is something I've been dealing with here lately while doing some of my projects. I also found out that marble slabs tend to break too easily which is why most leather-crafters prefer

granite because it is stronger and doesn't break as easily. It is also "quieter" because it absorbs more sound than marble or a wooden cutting board while doing tooling. I was told that it is helpful to purchase a square rubber mat to place under the granite slab. This helps to protect the table or whatever surface you are putting the slab on as well as absorb more of the sound caused by tooling. So I guess I will be on the hunt for a rubber mat now. If you know of where I could get one for real cheap, please let me know!

Along with my slab, I also got pieces of leather shaped into circles which are usually used to make coasters. I've decided to make the coasters with a design of something which is particularly important to me :) I also have some other ideas of designs I could use to make with coasters. I also bought a new stamping tool which stamps a horse's head into leather. I thought this particular stamp would give my leather projects more of the "western" style I aim for when doing my projects.

My mother wants me to make some things for her and I've even had other people inquire about possibly paying me to make something for them, so I guess you could say I am already taking in orders LOL. But as you can see, I am still very knew to the world of leathercrafting and I still have a lot to learn. I'm having a lot of fun learning new things along the way and even making a few mistakes here and there. I found out today that I can take free leathercrafting classes at one of the stores I go to, so I may check into that soon as well. It would definitely help me improve especially if I can get help from some of the "pros" of leathercrafting. So stay tuned and see what kinds of things I may make next!