Welcome to "Chantal's guitar straps" onboard
monologue
Last updated Monday January 17 2011
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January
17 2011
Announcement I am currently working on backed up custom orders. I will be contacting you as I go along. In the meantime, if you happen to read this and feel like letting me know you are still interested it would be great. In addition to this I will also be attempting to stock up my depleted website with new straps for sale straight of the shelves at the rate of 1 custom strap to 2 other straps for sale. Please appreciate that it will take me some time to get through the back orders. So, in view of that I WILL NOT BE TAKING ON NEW CUSTOM ORDERS until I get further down the road sometimes this year. Thank you for your understanding and hopefully continued support . Chantal |
March 12 2008 The relic strap Hum,
ok. I guess I'm not really cut out for this blogging thing but I have
a strap here that I think is very much worthy of news and it doesn't
really fit anywhere else.
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July 08 2007 Well
folks I'm doing a little better then my Bi-monthly entry this time,
by just a few days.
I am looking forward to the trip immensely, to getting out of the big city , seeing new horizon whilst doing something useful, learning new trick and last but not least, to warming my bones in the Tropical North, cold and rainy winter here in Sydney. On the other hand
I am also chewing at the bit to make a whole bunch of new guitar straps. Until the 15th (Australian time) I will be very much here minding the fort, if you want to contact me. After that I will have no LapTop with me whilst I'm away.. Thats the plan.....
Stan Cheers |
As part of the Award I won last year which now has evolved into several exciting trips around the Gulf I will be dodging Stingrays
and Crocodiles up in North
East Arnhem Land on the Gulf
Of Carpenteria where I will be giving a couple of workshops
and developing ideas in tandem with the indigenous people of that area,
the Yolngu people of the Yirrkala
community. The aim is to find imaginative ways to transform
those deadly discarded fishing nets into innovative and useful items
that might benefit the communities and might also help towards bringing
about an awareness of this problem to the rest of the world at large.
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26 th of November 06 Hello Blog. I reckon I must be the worth blogger you people have ever seen. Bi monthly by the look of it. That's a sign I am busy plotting new ideas and working up a storm behind the scene. I've felt a need to diversify a little lately so apart from coming up with several new guitar straps and negotiating several others. You now will also find some harmonica pouches for sale and a cool wallet I made for Earl's Bluesworkshttp://www.earlklatzel.com in my other accessory section, picture of it below with the Woven Croc strap that was started some time ago before I decided that perhaps it "might be" a little too fancy, its on the back burner for now. There's is also a custom strap due to be completed this week and some leather to to be picked up tomorrow for more "O "series plainer guitar straps. With only 3 left, I figure I better give you more choices . I am also gathering a bunch of materials for a custom gigbag, slowly getting there with that and there is plans in the new year of covering a couple of Amps. Watch for further developments there in 2007. I've received some exciting news in the OZ amp scene. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on that . Talking of which I have just picked up a bit of faux croc that might come in handy. I'll take a picture of the leather and post it here shortly for some inspiration. What is this thing with Crocs and Gators running around my brain ?.
Further news, straight of the press .Today I have issued my first gift certificate. Thank you Harry and Claire for this. It does make sense as it is almost always difficult for a non guitar player to choose a strap for someone else. I am surprised I never thought about it before. Now we have Gift Vouchers.
Well , that's about it I'll spare you my life story. It would be like watching paint dry. Catch you all later. |
| 22
of September 06
Vegetable tanned leather versus chrome tanned leather.. It occured to me that some of you might be wondering what the hell I am talking about when I use the terms Vegetable tanned leather / modeling hide / carving/ embossing / Bark tanned leather . Those are all terms used to basically describe an age old method of tanning leather with vegetable matters. Tree barks, Oaks and Wattle barks are favorites as they have a high tannin content. This method tans the hides slower and it allows some of the leather's natural oils to remain. Its the only leather you can carve and "wet mold". It is mostly sold undyed and in different thicknesses, each appropriate to the job at hand. Straps (belts) are generally made with 3mm and up and smaller items like billfold will use 1 mm to 1.5 mm leather. It lends itself to a variety of effects that brings out the natural grain of the leather. It is long lasting and will develop a wonderful patina.The more it is handled, the softer and more beautiful it will get. No one knows when humans started this process of tanning hides. Many objects made with this sort of leather have survived from medieval times. I expect that it will go the way of the dinosaurs in this age where nothing is meant to last longer then this season's fashion. The fact remains that its manufacture has survived until now is true testament of its qualities and still in high demand with saddlers,t he best of shoe makers who love to use Kangaroo Vegetable tanned leather or calf skins and crafters the world over. You see a lot of that kind of leather in old Army and Western gear (saddles ,harnesses, pouches, belts, bags etc) When I see people referring to their saddlers for a great guitar strap that's generally what sets them apart from the thousands of others around. A lot of the leathers you see now days is Chrome tanned leather, a relatively recent method of preserving hides invented in 1858. It uses a chemical called Chromium Sulfate. Quick to manufature, it makes the raw leather turn blue and is generally sold already coloured, its "softness" is mostly due to its thickness and its mechanical stretching, not the amount of natural oils in it. It does make good garment and upholstery leather and I will use it from time to time for lining or making large bags but mostly and there is always exception to the rules, I find it devoid of character and subtleties when used on its own. Well, I hope that explains a little why I persist in using Vegetable tanned modeling hide for my straps. I spend so much effort making them to outlast me that I want nothing but the best of materials for them. Only my own opinion of course. You can read more about the tanning processes here , if you feel that way inclined Cheerio |
9th of August 06 Hello out there. Its celebration time here. Its almost a year since I started selling guitar straps on the web in a bid towards slowly getting away from working for the film industry which is what I 've doing for the last 22 years. I really want to thanks everyone who have purchased one of the guitar straps so far and in some cases even two. Everyone of you have been a tremendous support and inspiration to keep going. Your appreciation and faith in my work has made a huge difference in those times when I simply felt like throwing the towel in. This guitar strap venture has already taken me to many great places out there on the world wide web. On the good days which by the way there is lots I feel its one of the most satisfying and rewarding time in my many years as an Artisane both uniting my love for music and my craft. To my first guitar strap customer. You know who you are, your initial encouragements were invaluable in bringing it all into a reality. To top it all off, I have
just won a MAJOR award in a competition. http://www.ghostnets.com.au/competition.html |
http://www.african-guitars.com
Photo Copyright© of Chantal
Cordey 2006
Guitar strap Copyright © of Carpentaria Ghost nets programme
Guitar Copyright © of Afri-Can Guitars
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