The Midlands Game Fair

   The weekend of the Midland Game Fair was a long, long weekend. It took a lot of preparation. The Midland Game Fair is treated as one of the last major game event of calendar. The Great Wall Motor World Series Clay Shooting Final and the Great Wall Motor World Series Gundog Championship Final with Chudleys, the European Field Target Championship and the Countryman’s Weekly Champion of Champions in the Terrier and Lurcher events were all held despite the weather on Sunday. As usual is missed the Falconery, working dogs and the heavy horse. I spent all my time in the Knife tent.

   I got to the show ground at Weston Park at 7am on Saturday and managed to park right outside the tent that was to be my home for the next 48 hours without any drama. I was at the event supporting Jackie and Sarah from The Identity Store [click HERE for their website]. Sarah set up their stall along one wall of the tent. I had a table at the end of the run of stall. We had arranged that I would do a series of demonstrations and from that we would sell kits to make the things I had demonstrated. As soon as you do anything on a stall you get an audience. We hoped to gain from that draw. One kit was for a leather tooling set and the other was for a sheath for a knife.


  I started off by do a "Blue Peter" and making parts of the sheath kit to show the various steps. The kits contain a generous piece of leather, a pair of needles, thread, an awl, a pattern and instructions all for £15. The kits are available from the Identity Store. As Saturday progressed I had worked through the Blue Peter parts and was starting to end up a series of sheaths. Part of the demonstration was saddle stitch. However once I started a saddle stitch I had to complete the piece even if it was after the folks had dispersed. By Sunday I was finding different ways to finish the sheaths.

   The tooling kits were a bit different. For a start they are fairly expensive at nearly £50 and that is without any leather to tool. I really only had five to ten minutes to show the skills before folks wandered off. I set upon a tactic. If some poor beggar that would be standing near the bench, when the allotted time came round, I would have a chat with them then ask them their name and set about tooling a piece of leather with their initial letter. That would keep a couple of people at the bench. I would manage to demonstrate the techniques and as I said before as soon as you started doing something a crowd would appear. We also had some people that bought the kits because they had come that purpose in mind then I would show them a few basic techniques. It seemed to work well. I was encouraged when folks asked when the next demo would be and actually turned up at the agreed time.  

    We sold quite a few sheath kits and several tooling kits. I was able to press Diamond Awl. I did a few on the spot jobs, a hole in a belt and stitch or two in gun case. The jobs covered my lunch. I picked up a small bespoke job along the way. I was surprised how many of my business cards disappeared from my bench. I hope those folks are reading this post and drop me a line with a job.

   The time passed quite quickly. As I mentioned we were in the Knife tent. There were six stall holders selling knives of one sort or another. They covered the breath of the market. A couple of chaps from London were selling Indian made Damascus steel blade in a bowie or Indian style. Another chaps sold skinning knives. Another sold all kinds of blades from lock knives to collector bowie knives and a chap from Preston was selling fixed blade knives he had made. They were beautiful. He started with a steel bar, cut it to shape, ground it, polished it and made a handle. If I have more than £140 spare I am having one. The only trouble with him was that he makes his own sheaths for relaxation. He make really nice sheaths.....bugger.

   The weather on Sunday was a bit iffy. I had a lie in but was at the event by 7.15am. The gates for exhibitors closed at 7.30 as the event opened at 8am. 8am came and a flush of people came through. The early bird and all that. I had a nice chat with a young farmer and his girl. 8am really was a lie-in for him. I did not get his name but I wish him well. It was steady all day but quieter than Saturday. Rain was forecast and at 4pm will got a hours worth of downpour. The game was declared and will all started to pack up.

   I managed to do some market researc on my tack. In essence folks really liked it and most of them understood the cost but the reality was that the stuff from the Middle and Far East made in webbing was easy to look after, just chuck it inthe washer, and was cheap. The same old story really. My only let down was not getting to the chap that was selling Pith helmets in time. He was rained off early....doh!  
 
        

Lead Rein

  It has been a busy week. The hours have just flown by. However I do have plenty to show for the hours spent this week. I more or less finished a Mord Sith costume, had a commission collected, made a halter for a  heavy horse, made a lead rein, sorted out someone that has been messing me about on Folksy, tweaked a costume I am delivering in a week or so. And I have chatted to lots and lots of people on facebook and elsewhere. So it has been very positive. Next week I will have to very organised and nothing must go wrong so that everything is done and ready for the market and country show next weekend. I foresee early mornings and late nights all next week. If it is all not ready by Friday we will just have to "run what we brung".

   I like the lead rein I have made. It will compliment the halter I made. You could just as easily use it as a dog lead. The leather is English bridle leather. This leather is great to work with but does take some extra effort. However it fairly glows when the job is done. The strap billet starts 1" [25mm] wide. It cut it length ways into three strands. Then the fiddly bit, to dye and burnish the edges of the strands. Very hot work on a hot day. Next the strands were plaited making sure the strands lay flat. It is a good job I have strong fingers as this was a power job to bend the stands required by the plait. The clams came in handy to hold the free ends of the plait whilst I secured them with some stitches. It was a bit ticklish to line up the handle loop around the free plait ends in readiness for stitching, but I got there. Thereafter it was plain sailing to stitch the handle loop on and then on the other end of the rein to stitch the lead chain on.

   The plaiting makes for a supple and shock absorbing connection between the animal and the handler. Where the strap is still a billet the leather is stiff and strong. The overall length of the rein is 32" [800mm]. About half leather and half brass. The brass has twisted links so that it lies flat, a swivel at the the rein end and a Walsall hook on the business end.
   

Update on note to self

   Unfortunately I did not take any notice of my note about over indulging. It was quiet at the market on Saturday due to another event being held in the town. Just as well perhaps. It was not at my perkiest. Mr and Mrs B collected their belt and are thinking about another project in leather.

   On Sunday I went over to Hill Farm to their open day. The farmer is one of the stall holders at Castle Donington. I had a good chat with the girls about the horses and had a good look over their tack. It was a very hot day for working the horses. Storm drew the short straw and got the pull the harrow around for half and hour or so. It takes the fork lift the move the chain harrow but Storm drags it round the field quite easily.

  

One Massive Catch up

   One masssive catch up. Here we have almost a years worth of posts from the old Diamond Awl website.

28.03.13 I have been a busy chap getting commissions ready from the last farmer's market and Spaceport. I have a little time to develop some new skills. See the blog entry on chain maille.


10.03.13 It was an early start to get the Seacombe, on the Wirral. I had not been to this sort of event before. The visitors were very interested in the Stars War props I took along. I can report Spaceport is a very interesting place. It even has a section of Wallace and Gromit replicas from "A Grand Day Out" for folks to climb on. It was a long day but I was made comfortable by the lads and lasses of the 99th Garrison and the Mint Imperials.
 










09.03.13 The farmer's market was a little quiet then it went mad all of a sudden. I took an order for a shoulder bag and finally sold a wrist bracer. The lady was very happy with the custom fit.
16.02.13 I have sorted out the blog so now I can add articles. It would be interesting to get some feedback. Also I have two events to go to in March. One the Castle Donington Farmer's Market and the other is Spaceport themed weekend. I am going to Spaceport just to show my wares rather than a market proper. The 99th Garrison and the Mint Imperials with be there as well as some of the actors that were inthe Star Wars Films.
   The Spaceport weekend is just a way of folk seeing my work but I hope it shows the visitors the lengths the players go to for authenticity. It won't hurt if folks ask me about what else I do. I am trying to put together a custume so I don't look to ordinary when surrounded by the troopers.


27.01.13 New entry in the blog. It is about the new City case I have just finished.


26.01.13 I am a clumsy oaf. I have damaged the portfolio area. I was uploading pictures for the latest bag. Here is a picture whilst I fix the gallery. The case has enough room for your city meeting essentials: Ipad or Nexus and holders for business card, mobile phone, your Mont Blanc pens and a clip for your keys. There no chance of anyone breaking this bag in anything like normal use. The corners are rivetted and the leather is heavy weight. Just to make it interesting instead of standard squares or D-rings to attach the strap I decided to use harness hooks. This a horse bridle technique. It has the side effect of making the strap super adjustable.

19.01.13 I have been working on chain maille to embelish the armour pieces I am developing. The bracelet was just a practice piece but it looks really good. It is heavy too! I might make some to order if asked. This one is 9inches [225mm] long. Have a look in Portfolio tag for a bigger picture.

14.01.13 The first of the farmer's market is done for this year. I was well dressed for the cold weather so the freezing weather did not bother me. I took a couple of orders for belts and got sone good feed back from the folks I did nthe Shire horse halter. More new goodies arrived inthe post during the week. Just having a practise working with them.

28.12.12 I have got the blog working again. No new posts as I just got it going a second ago. Computers eh!
 
28.12.12 The shop has to come down for a while. Email with your requests or requirements or just plain questions to me via the contact page..

08.12.12 It was bloomin' cold at Castle Donington Market. I was not in the sun this time.  There were lots of folks about and plenty of interest. I dressed the stall a bit differently. I think it was better. 

05.12.12 Just finished a satisfying job. A refurbishment of a halter for a shire horse. I had to make a new chin strap, repair broken stitching and generally clean, feed and polish the rig. I am used to ponies and the regular size of horse but these young Shires are something else.

02.12.12 Do not forget it is Castle Donnington farmer's market next Saturday between 9 and 1pm. It is a small but bustling market.  

01.12.12 Latest job is the repair and refurbishment of a halter for a Shire horse.

30.11.12 My latest commision, A Boba Fett ammo belt, has been received in Australia. Isn't the Internet a great thing.

15.11.12 Another commission out the door. Bracers this time for a Sith Lord.
11.11.12 Well..... the market stall went well. A morning sat in the sun with a bacon butty and tea having a chat to folks is never a bad thing. Have a look at the blog to find out what I thought about it. I made a very few bob for Movember.

07.11.12 This month has been renamed "Movember". It is about growing a moustashe to raise awareness and cash for Men's Health issues mainly prostrate cancer. Click HERE to go to my Mo bro pages and see what it is all about. A couple of us mo bros have joined together as a team. We call ourselvers the Moira Mo Bros. We are mo bros and we are for Moira. I am all for keeping it simple. Check out the website and give what you can, should you feel that way inclined. 

31.10.12 Its offical I shall be at the Castle Donington Farmer Market on 10th November. Click HERE for the markets website.
23.10.12 It has been a busy couple of days. Saturday I went to the Walsall Leather museum. Click HERE for  their website. Some interesting characters working at the museum. One chap had worked there 70 years. The museum is one tannery building that was saved from the 60's planners. Next it was up to Stockport to talk discuss the next developments for Star Wars characters. Then today was a make up day. I made a buch of wrist straps. Check the shop out for the individual items. I finish them to length and with a fastener of choice to order and all for £8.50 + p&p!
  










14.10.12 I went to the National Ploughing Championships in Whittinton today. There was a lot to see. H and I were mainly interested in the horse drawn ploughing. It was a splendid day. Not too hot, not too cold and a big blue sky for most of the day. I could not help but cast an eye over the the tack even if was supposed to be a day off.


13.10.12 I got did not attend the Apple Fair as a stall holder but I did go to meet the folks that run the event. I have agreed to go on the next market which is 10th November. I now know what I need to do and what I need to get before the event.

01.10.12  Enquiries are starting to drop in on a regular basis. Folks imaginations are great. I would not have though of doing any of these things. Got to keep busy producing. The Apple Fair is approaching.   

26.09.12 Finish a rather nice mini rikki. I saw a young lass sporting a small low slung rucsack the other day and light bulb went off in the my head.

21.09.12 A busy day in the workshop. Check out the blog for info on the cross belt set.

16.09.12 I finally made myself a drum sling for my tenor side drum. I was going to do a black one then thought "hold up", why not make a set.

 15.09.12 I have yet another order for E-11 blaster holsters. Just as well I got some new 3mm black shoulder in.
12.09.12 The new website went live this evening. This site loads more quickly and has a blog and shop. The blog and shop were hard to operate on the other providers platform. Have a browse round the site. The shop is live so feel free to order one or more of everything.
07.09.12 A new client has taken delivery of their repaired handbag and adjusted bag strap. Check out the blog and facebook for the details.
01.09.12 I have had a couple of rush orders for E-11 blaster holsters. Delivery made on time. Rob at RS a happy chap.
14.08.12 I back from holiday. Two weeks the English Lake district. I picked up loads of metal work and leather. On my way out I delivered commissions for two clients. One was a Star Wars E-11  holster. The other a Trader's Money Apron. Have a look in Portfolio/ Bags for the apron.
27.07.12 I dropped off my commission . It down very well. Look in portfolio/belts for the latst item, a watch strap. I picked up a new commission which I finished in double quick time. I deliver it tommorrow. I made some new  contacts at the Manchester Expo.  Some interesting thing are being to come out of the meetings.
21.07.12 This weekend is the comic-con expo in Machester. I hope to hook up with a few folks. I also have to drop off my completed commission pieces. As soon as they are dropped off I will post pictures on the Portfolio pages.
15.07.12 The Living History fair was washed out...doh! Went to the local country show intead. It was a lovely day out.
10.07.12 Check the gallery, FB and the blog  for pictures of pictures of Hazel's belt.
We are of to The Living History Fair this weekend. Check FB for details.
The shop is not ready yet but bank accounts and paypal are