On Wednesday, January 9th, the State Fair Committee (Brian G., Gary B., Frank L. and Paul B.) met at Paul B.’s house to discuss changes to the State Fair rules and regulations. We’ve come up with some possible changes but we want input from everybody. Youth Sections No changes proposed; the sections will remain as follows: • Section 432 Youth level 1 (11

years of age and younger) • Section 433 Youth level 2 (12

to 17 years of age) Adult Sections We propose the following changes: • Change Section 434 from Adult Level 1

Beginner to • Adult Level 1 Beginner (less than two

years experience.)

Volume 2008, Issue 1

State Fair Changes

January 2008

Treasurer’s Report 2

Pattern of the Month 3

Report on January Meeting 4

Holiday Party Photos 4

Calendar & Upcoming Events 5

About NMRLAG 6

Inside this issue:

NMRLAG NEWS New Mexico Roadrunner Leather Artisans Gui ld

Message from the Guild President Well, it’s 2008. Happy New Year to all! Dec. 1st was our annual Christmas party. We had

a big crowd and tons of good food. No business was conducted so nothing to report. The 1st quarter workshop will take place Saturday March 29th from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Then

we will continue Sunday March 30th starting at 10 a.m. until whenever. We’ll be using a Robb Barr video on making an eagle head (I think). We probably won’t finish but the video will be available to anyone who needs it to complete the project. Billy will be providing me with a tools and materials list and I will get that out to you as soon as it is available.

We have purchased the New Mexico State map for the idea that was floated sometime ago about making leather counties. This map is approximately 4’x 4’ so we will have to back it with cardboard. Then we can trace the counties, figure out how much leather we need and members can volunteer to carve, emboss, stamp, paint or whatever until we get the whole map done. This

(Continued on page 2)

• Add New Section 435 Adult Level 2 Intermediate (more than two years ex-perience.)

• Add New Section 436 Adult Level 3 Advanced (Those who clearly demon-strate above-average capability in all aspects of leather craft.)

(Continued on page 2)

State Fair Changes (Continued)

PAGE 2 NMRLAG NEWS VOLUME 2008, ISSUE 1

Senior Sections We propose the following changes: • Section 437 Senior Adult Beginner (age 65 or older.) • Delete Senior Adult Advanced (age 65 or older.) • (Senior Adult Advanced are by definition “Adults.”

They are beyond the beginning stage and can compete equally with all other adults in the Adult Intermediate or Advanced. They may also compete in the Masters Section. Remember, three of our best are over 65. (Billy, Brian, Frank) (Sorry Guys.)

Master Craftsman Section We propose the following changes: • Section 438 Master Craftsman. Advanced Leather

Crafters Open. • No kits will be allowed in the Master Craftsman sec-

tion. (Commercial interiors for wallets, checkbooks, handbags, clutch purses, etc. will be allowed as long as they are incorporated in a finished entry.)

• All entries must be an original design. (Design may be drawn by the entrant or taken from some other artistic media (books, magazines etc.)

• No projects completed in a classroom setting, since these are not originally conceived by the entrant. How-ever, concepts learned in the classroom and applied to your own ideas stemming from the class are accept-able.

(Continued from page 1) Eldridge Memorial Award • The Eldridge Memorial Award will no longer be open to

the public; it will instead honor one of our own. • The recipient must be a guild member. • The recipient must be a fairly consistent participant in

guild functions. • The recipient must be continuing the advancement of

leather craft. • And more as we get input from you. • Nominations for the award are needed by the June meeting

so it can be determined by either a committee or member-ship vote.

Classes We propose splitting Class no. 6: Purses (handbags, clutch purses, etc.) into two separate classes. Since handbags and clutch purses are two different things — construction tech-niques are totally different. Therefore, Class no. 6 will be Handbags and Class no. 7 will be Clutch Purses. This will change the numbering in sequence from no. 7 through no. 29. These are all of the proposed changes. Comments, ideas and feedback are welcomed.

will be a great display at the State Fair and anywhere else we happen to go. As State Fair Liaison, I’m starting to think about the judge for the upcoming fair, which is only a few short months away. I have several names in mind but before I start con-tacting people for availability, I would like to have some idea of how many of you would be willing to pay up to $175.00 to $225.00 for a workshop. At those prices I be-lieve everything is supplied by the instructor, but I would have to check to make sure that is correct. Asking this far ahead of the fair might give people a chance to plan on the cost of a class with some top-notch instructors like Chan Geer or Peter Main for instance. Think about it and let me know if you are interested or not.

(Continued from page 1)

Begin working on those State Fair projects NOW!!!!!

PAGE 3 NMRLAG NEWS VOLUME 2008, ISSUE 1

Pattern of the Month

January Meeting Report PAGE 4 NMRLAG NEWS VOLUME 2008, ISSUE 1

By Paul Brinegar Jan 5th was the first meeting of the New Year. Small crowd but we did accomplish much. First item: We voted to reduce the dues to $18 per year (or $1.50 per month). Brian didn’t want to strain the brain to prorate dues to new members who join mid-stream. This way if someone joins in March, their dues will be $15, or 10 months X $1.50/month. Current members will pay the full $18 even if they come in and pay dues in August. The pro-rated amount is only for new members. Also, with the change in treasury responsibilities, the account at BofA will be closed and Brian is opening an ac-count at MyBank which is his bank not my bank. With this change we are also establishing a Federal Tax ID number

associated with New Mexico Roadrunner Leather Artisans Guild. Whoever is the treasurer will no longer have to have the account under his or her ID number. Dennis Murray has suggested that the Guild start spon-soring classes for children. One of the ways we could do this would be to establish a “Grants Committee.” Any member who arranges to teach a class could apply for a grant cover-ing the cost of some supplies such as the leather needed or kits. We could also set up a tools stash to be used when a Guild-sponsored event takes place. I will contact Jim Linnell about a donation of a few Basic 7 tool kits and mallets. But we will need a volunteer (Dennis?) to chair the committee and some volunteers to be on the committee. Let me know if this might be of interest to you.

The NMRLAG holiday party was held at Tandy Leather on December 1st.

A good time was had by all.

Holiday Party Photos

PAGE 5 NMRLAG NEWS VOLUME 2008, ISSUE 1

Schedule of Events

• February 2nd Guild Meeting

4:00 • March 1st Guild Meeting 4:00

FEBRUARY 2008 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29

JUNE— Start a miniature saddle SEPTEMBER—Christmas ornament or Christmas card workshop

Treasurer’s Report

Beginning Balance: $ 773.99

Income — Dues Paid 126.00 Ending Balance: $899.99

* The Guild has received $54 in com-missions from the Leather Crafter and Saddlers Journal so far this year.

Ideas for Upcoming Quarterly Events

New Mexico Roadrunner Leather Artisans Guild meets at 4:00

pm on the first Saturday of the month at Tandy Leather #110,

8252 Menaul Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110. For more infor-

mation please contact any of the following:

Ruben Saiz, Manager Tandy Leather #110: 505-296-3255

Paul Brinegar: 505-254-0337, paule49@msn.com

Pat Lynch: 505-862-7504, houseslash2@hotmail.com

William (Doc) Hayes: 505-281-4233 dochayes@naturesw.net

Please contact Tim Odle to contribute articles to the newsletter

at 505-265-1494 or todle54@yahoo.com.

The New Mexico Roadrun-ner Leather Artisans Guild is dedi-cated to promoting the art of leather craft in New Mexico and adjoining states. Our members are interested in all aspects of leather craft. We have members who work on sad-dles, horse gear, embossed pictures, figure carving, traditional Western and Sheridan style carving, exotic skins and repair work.

We hold workshops and “how-to” show and tells during our monthly meetings. Membership is open to everyone from beginner to professional leather crafters. We believe the interaction of individu-als at all craft skill levels results in all of us learning from each other.

New Mexico Roadrunner Leather Artisans Guild

Tandy Leather #110 8252 Menaul Blvd NE

Albuquerque, NM 87110

NEW MEXICO ROADRUNNER LEATHER ARTISANS GUILD

Phone: 505-296-3255

Leather artistry...Yesterday, today, and tomorrow..

New Mexico Roadrunner Leather Artisans Guild