If you want to make a leather notebook cover, you are on the right page. In this article, we are going to share with you a do-it-yourself guide that will help you make a notebook cover from leather. This can make an ideal gift for your loved ones. Without further ado, let’s check out the steps involved in the process. Read on to find out more.

Things you need:

• Small notebook
• Leather needle
• Nonstick pressure foot
• Nylon upholstery thread
• Double-sided tape
• Glue
• Steel ruler
• Utility knife
• Thin leather

Step 1: Cut the Required Pieces

You need to cut the leather piece in two different sizes for making the notebook cover. You need the following pieces:

• 2 pieces of pen tabs measuring 2″ x 1″
• 1 piece of card piece measuring 4″ x 2.25″
• 2 flap pieces measuring 6″ x 3″
• 1 cover piece measuring 8.5″ x 6″

Step 2: Skive the Pen Tabs

This process involves thinning a leather piece in order to stack leather layers on top of each other. Use your skiver to separate a thin layer off of the back of each pen tab. Your aim should be to make the leather 50% thinner.

Step 3: Attach the Card Pocket

You can separate a small notch from the card pocket using your utility knife. As an alternative, you can use a corner rounding tool. This tool can be used to round the two corners on the bottom based on your personal preferences.

Step 4: Notch the Flaps

This step involves cutting notches out from the flaps. All you need to do is use your knife to cut a deep notch measuring 1/4″. You should then mark this point. You can use a hard object, such as a nail or pin to do so. During this process, each cut should be straight.

Step 5: Prepare the Cover for Stitching

Now you should apply a little bit of leather glue on the back of each hand. Give the glue a few minutes to dry. For making loops, you may want to flap the tabs over. You can also use a clip on the spot.

The next move is to put the flaps on the cover with the notches on the outside of the cover. You may want to mark the stopping points of the flap.

Step 6: Assemble Everything

The last step involved assembling everything. Once you have assembled everything, the book will be ready to use. You can then insert your pen into the strong loops in order to keep the cover closed. For additional details, it is a great idea to make use of metal stamps.

Long story short, if you want to make a leather book cover, we suggest that you follow the five steps explained in this article. This will make it much easier for you to go through the entire process. Hopefully, this Do-it-yourself guide will help you throughout the process.

The cycling time trial is known as the race of truth because your performance is based entirely on your ability. There is no drafting or team tactics. In fact, there is no support whatsoever. Every cyclist rides independently and whoever navigates the course in the shortest amount of time wins. It’s really that simple, however, your time trial performance isn’t based solely on your athletic ability and determination. There are 3 pieces of clothing that can significantly improve your results. These include an aerodynamic helmet, skinsuit and shoe covers.

An aero helmet is that funny-looking helmet with a pointy back. While it may not seem like it would make a big difference, wind tunnel tests have shown significant performance gains for cyclists who use an aero helmet versus those wearing a standard helmet due to reduced aerodynamic drag. For example, one study showed a 67-second time improvement for elite athletes competing in a 40 km (24.8 miles) time trial. You can expect to spend between $150 and $300 for a good aero helmet.

Another way to reduce aerodynamic drag is with a skinsuit, which is a one-piece, tight-fitting garment that is held to the skin by elastic tension. It works by lessening air drag along the skin and by eliminating the parachute effect of tight-fitting clothing. This may come as a surprise, but the skinsuit is among the best ways to reduce wind resistance and increase bike speed. Wind tunnel tests show significant performance gains for cyclists using a skinsuit over a standard cycling kit (i.e., shorts and jersey). The very best skinsuits have delivered performance improvements in excess of two minutes for elite athletes competing in a 40 km time trial.

Many skinsuits come with long sleeves because it has been shown that the suit’s material is “faster” than human skin. A high quality skinsuit will cost between $150 and $300. However, you can probably get one for a lower price if you buy through a cycling club or team. You may also find this to be a more efficient strategy because skinsuits are not as plentiful as cycling kits. While cycling kits can be found in every bike shop and most sporting goods stores, skinsuits are more difficult to locate.

If you are surprised by the performance benefits provided by a skinsuit, you will probably be even more surprised by the performance gains that are possible with the use of shoe covers. While the reduction of aerodynamic drag is not as significant for shoe covers as it is for an aero helmet and skinsuit, wind tunnel tests have shown a 30-second time improvement for elite athletes wearing shoe covers vs. those without shoe covers at the 40 km time trial distance. This is a significant increase in performance provided by a very inexpensive piece of clothing!

Ever think you may have a unique piece of luggage that no one else has, only to find out when you get to the airport you recognize several other strangers have that same piece of luggage? How can you tell them apart and be able to get your bags quickly and easily? Following some simple strategies can help with this dilemma.

As you shop for luggage, take into consideration colors you would be comfortable carrying around. You may only prefer black or dark green, however realize that a lot of other people pick these colors as well. So you will have to do something to distinguish your suitcase from other suitcases. If you feel adventurous there are lots of colors to choose from and even prints that you can purchase to help your luggage stand out at the baggage terminal. If you know that you need more than one piece of luggage to travel with, make sure that you travel with a matched set. This can be cost effective as well as help with identification of pieces of luggage that are checked in.

If you are going to be gone for several days, you may need a carry on as well as a checked bag. Make sure your carry on has a distinguishable identification mark so if you are flying on a smaller plane and you are required to check your bag at the gate you can pick out your luggage easily.

So what can you do to identify your bag quickly and easily?

* Place a piece of colored tape, a large enough piece that you can easily see it, on the front and back of your luggage. This brings attention to the luggage right away. Consider having this a piece of duct tape or pick a fluorescent tape that would stand out immediately when spotted.

* Another idea is to have a piece of ribbon or a thin strip of fabric on the handle of the luggage so you can spot it easily when it comes off the conveyor belt. This ribbon could be multicolored, print, or just a single color. There are also handle covers you can purchase. They fasten with velcro so they do not fall off easily.

* Having a special luggage tag attached to the handle is another tip. There are generic types from the check in counter at the airport to specialized tags that can be purchased at luggage stores or novelty shops. Again, this is so you can recognize your piece of luggage right away.

* When you check a bag in, the clerk always puts a baggage claim number on the suitcases and attach a copy of that claim number to your ticket. This is very helpful especially if there is ever any question of a bag being yours when you go to pick up the luggage.

Losing a bag can be very stressful. If your bag does come up missing, make sure to check in with the airline to find out if they put the bag in their secured area. They will ask you to describe your bag. Having some sort of distinguishable mark on it makes it easier to locate. Sometimes having a picture of your bag is also very helpful when retrieving it.

Sight-reading means playing through a piece for the first time. Every time you are given a new piece of music and looking it over, you are sight-reading. It can be very frustrating at first when you miss notes and struggle to play it.

Did you know that you can practice sight-reading? Like scales or pieces, sight-reading gets easier the more you do it. Try to spend some time each day playing simple songs that you have never seen or heard before.

Here are some tips on how to practice sight-reading:

1. Start by looking through the music without playing.

2. Play slowly. You are not trying to play the piece at the correct tempo. Find the hardest place and play the piece at the tempo you can play that section.

3. Use a metronome to keep a steady beat. You can also count aloud.

4. Look at the music and not at your hands, unless you have a big jump to play.

5. The music for sight-reading should always be a bit easier than the pieces you are learning.

There are three reasons why you should practice sight-reading:

1. You will learn new pieces much more quickly.

2. It is fun to be able to sit down and play new music easily.

3. You can accompany other musicians and make money.

If you ever want to play for church or with an ensemble, it helps to be a good sight-reader. Learning to recognize intervals, whether by sound, on paper, or on an instrument, is extremely helpful for many reasons.

Among them are chord building, improvisation, sight singing, composition, understanding and remembering keys and their related accidentals, and figuring out music by ear playing. Sight-singing means singing a piece of music at first reading. If you are trying to play a melody that is in your head or on the radio, knowing your intervals eliminates most of the time spent searching for the right notes.

When reading a piece of music from left to right, you are training your eyes to see past the bar lines and rapidly viewing notes through the measures,of music, counting rhythm out loud and moving towards the double bar line. The overlapping information also includes reviewing of what your right hand is playing, when your left hand is playing lower notes and reaching for 2 black keys, for example.

I like to introduce flash cards for increasing sight-reading skills. Remember that the ultimate goal of the flash cards is speed. I believe flash cards should be quickly shown with increasing speed to accelerate the student’s comprehension and response in identifying each card.

Flash cards can be used for a particular advantage in strengthening sight-reading skills. Students should use them for daily drills at home. You should immediately recognize white keys at a fleeting glance.

Along with sight-reading, it brings continual developing responses to fingering. Using fingering in new positions breaks the association of any finger number with any key.

The basics of recognizing the notes in the Treble and Bass Clefs and seeing whether those notes are repeated on the same line or space are all components to sight-reading training. Notes stepping down to the next line or space need to be instantly recognized as well.

You will have a successful time with improved sight-reading when you learn to recognize intervals by name and sound, and by their appearance on either staff. Have fun with these sight-reading tips.

The $20.00 Saint Gaudens gold piece is an absolutely beautiful coin that deserves the consideration of hobbyists around the globe. This coin, being a collectors’ coin and not a bullion piece could be worth two to three times the actual ounce price of gold! These coins were minted from 1907 through 1933 and many investors already rank it as one of their best choices for investment purposes. These $20.00 gold pieces have been recognized since the Civil War and have a broad appeal. Therefore they are selling fairly low for gold pieces right now!

When looking to purchase these beautiful coins it is recommended that you research gold prices at the same time. PCGS MS-64 and MS-65 grade the prices of St. Gaudens coins. The higher the MS value, the more valuable the coin is. Visit numismatic sites on the Internet such as California Numismatic Investments to educate yourself on these investments.

This $20.00 piece provides a “double play” advantage because of its high gold content and when gold bullion prices rise these coins will also rise and could bring you a handsome return, up to three times the price of gold bullion! The market of Saint Guadens gold coins holds their value. Many wealthy royal families and government treasuries along with collectors, typically own Saint Gaudens coins! Besides their market value, the beautiful design of the coin is gorgeous. Its art form is in itself an incentive for collecting the coin!

The American Government considers the $20.00 gold piece a rare coin, even though the premiums on the higher-grade coins are low. This rare coin is not subject to the ordinary reporting requirements that gold bullion coins are. Many people think that further government controls will be places on gold bullion and others even think that it is possible for gold bullion to even be confiscated again! If this happens, then the Saint Gaudens coin will become even more desirable and possibly more valuable!

When looking to buy these coins, make sure they are professionally graded by the most highly respected grading organization in the world, The Professional Coin Grading Service, or the PCGS. When you own a coin with this grading behind it you can determine your investment in regards to price and grade. You know what you have and are not dependent on a coin dealer!

The $20.00 gold coin market is traded via satellite by The Certified Coin Exchange (CCE) daily, so instant prices quotes are available! Value of these coins is not an abstract quality. The direct bearing on the coin’s worth involves its function of demand, investor base, weight, beauty, rarity, affordability and profit potential. Many individuals who believe in the power of gold to make money will move up to fifty percent of their bullion coins into St. Gaudens $20 pieces which are graded PCGS MS-64 (choice uncirculated) or even the higher grade of PCGS MS-65 (gem uncirculated). That way the gold pieces are actually worth more than their weight as in bullion coins!

These coins will surely improve and enhance your investment portfolio and give you beautiful pieces of art to treasure and admire! So go ahead and expand your investments with the beautiful Saint Gaudens coin!

Basically, cosplay costumes are designed and worn for entertainment and amusement. As a matter of fact, cosplay is a quite enjoyable event that allows you to express your creativity. However, almost every cosplayer ends up making a mistake in their endeavors. You might have made these mistakes at some point in your life. In this article, we are going to talk about some of these mistakes that you might want to avoid. Read on to find out more.

1.) Don’t Wait Until the Last Minute

For some reason, almost every cosplayer has a sense of optimism. Just because you have won the uniform of a superhero does not mean you have those superpowers. In other words, you cannot make your costume in a few minutes. So, you may not want to wait too long before making your costume.

Making these costumes is not a rush job. So, you may want to estimate how long the making of your costume will take and then just add 30 days to your system.

2.) Don’t go for a complex design

Although you don’t have to follow any rules, we suggest that you only work on an outfit that you have the skills for. You don’t have to make a perfect outfit. So, if you are happy with your outfit, you should not worry about what others think of it.

If you are trying to be a perfectionist, you are making a mistake. The idea is to start with something simple and then try your skills to make something more complex. After all, you don’t want to lose your sanity in this process.

3.) Not Sewing properly

Another common mistake is to sew the sleeve inside out. We all make this mistake when making something in rice. So, what you need to do is prepare your seam ripper. If you make a mistake, you can correct it by ripping out those stitches.

4.) Forgetting the Shoes

Sometimes, you are focused on making that perfect costume, and then you end up ignoring footwear. After completing your costume, you come to know that you have forgotten about your shoes. Therefore, you may not want to forget your shoes and make planning for them as well.

5.) Not having Glue Sticks

You need glow sticks in order to complete your costume. You will get in trouble when the store is too far away or closed for a few days. If you want to avoid this mistake, we suggest that you make a list of your required units and double-check the list to make sure you have not forgotten anything.

6.) Not Trying the outfit before the big day

Another common mistake is to avoid trying your outfit before the convention. You should have plenty of time to put on your costume. If you don’t do this type of test, you cannot check if the outfit fits you perfectly. Trying on the costume will help you perform any repairs.

In short, we suggest that you avoid these 6 mistakes the next time you are going to make a cosplay costume yourself.

My daughter was singing with her choir, so my son and had a couple of hours to waste in Denver. We went to the Denver Public Library, and of course, my son being 6, wanted to go to the Children’s library. Off we went.

As we walked in he got excited and his face lit up. He saw a giant checkers set. Each piece was about the size of one of his hands. He wanted to play. Now, I hadn’t played checkers with him before, but I remembered that my grandfather taught me how to play checkers at that age. So, I gave it a try.

I didn’t just tell him the rules and play. He was six and didn’t have that kind of patience. I told him the first two games were just practice games. We’d play together as I explained the rules to him. He was okay with this plan, and he was happy that the first two games didn’t “count.”

What color do you want to be? “My grandfather told me smoke comes before fire, son, so black goes first.” He liked that little mnemonic and I heard him repeating it for several days. Naturally, he wanted to be black.

Move one piece one square. You can only go diagonally. I moved a piece diagonally to show him. Then I moved a piece horizontal and vertical and said “you can’t move horizontal or vertical, only diagonally, and your pieces are always on the black squares.”

We moved a few pieces around and then I told him that the object of the game was to capture the other guy’s pieces and have the last remaining checkers on the board. He became a little more interested. I showed him how to recognize a jump and how to take a piece.

We played along for a bit and I set up a double jump for him. Before his turn, I told him how you could take a double and triple jump and asked him if there were any spots like that on the board. He found the double jump and took it.

I eventually got a piece to the other side and had him crown my new king. Then I showed him how a king could go back and forth. He was excited about that feature and decided to get some kings.

Finally, I explained to him that once he took his finger off the piece, his move was final. So, if we wasn’t sure about a move, needed to keep his finger on his checker.

That was the gist of the basic rules. We then played our first real game that “counted.” I hadn’t talked to him a bit about strategy yet, but he started telling me things like “well, I can’t move here because you’ll jump me” and “if I get a lot of kings, I should be able to win.”

Yes, ordinary wax paper, has a multitude of uses!

1. Need a funnel? Put a sheet of wax paper over a piece of newspaper and roll the whole thing up starting from one corner. Pull it snugly into a small end and use it for a funnel for almost anything.

2. Make hangers glide along a clothes rod. Rub a piece of wax paper over the clothes rod and hangers will glide back and forth more easily.

3. Prevent shoe polish from smearing. Let the shoe polish dry, then rub shoes with a sheet of wax paper to remove the excess polish. Use a second piece of wax paper as a work surface to prevent shoe polish from spattering the floor.

4. Prevent a mess when whipping cream with an electric beater. Poke two small holes in the middle of a piece of wax paper, slip the stem of the beaters through the holes and attach to the machine. Lower the beaters into the mixing bowl, keeping wax paper over the bowl, and turn on the machine.

5. Prevent spatters in the microwave. Cover spaghetti and meatballs, chili, or other saucy foods with wax paper.

6. Craft for Kids: Make a crayon sun-catcher. Using a small pencil sharpener, shave crayons onto a sheet of wax paper. Fold the wax paper in half, covering all the shavings. Press with a warm iron until the crayon shavings melt. When cool, thread string through the top of the wax paper and hang in a window.

7. Improvise a diaper changing pad with a piece of wax paper. Keep some in the diaper bag for traveling.

8. Save ingredients when measuring. When measuring flour, sugar, baking mix, or other dry ingredients, crease a piece of wax paper down the middle, open it up, and place it on the kitchen countertop. Spoon the ingredient into a dry measuring cup, level off with a knife or spatula, letting the excess fall on the wax paper. Pick up the wax paper and pour the excess back in its canister.

9. Store candles. Roll candles in a piece of wax paper before placing them in a drawer or storage box to protect them from getting scuffed.

10. Resurface a metal sliding board. Rub a piece of wax paper on the metal slide.

Easton has been the leader in composite bats for the last several years and will undoubtedly continue this trend with the IMX, their new 100% composite bats for 2009. Easton is extremely smart to their approach in manufacturing baseball bats by not putting all their eggs in one basket. They leave no stone uncovered by making top notch models in every category and design. Their top priority is pushing the 2 piece design and flex handle which they pioneered some 6 years ago with the Connection introduction. But they also make and market quality one piece bats with stiff handles that directly compete with manufactures that rely on this design, most notably Louisville and Rawlings.

They say the IMX or Integrated Matrix Technology optimizes composite design, materials and process for maximum performance. With the IMX Easton offers two bats made from the same IMX composite material in two distinct designs. They are the:

• Stealth IMX 2 piece bat with a flex handle they say increases the trampoline effect. The flex handle has a rating of 75. This has been Easton’s traditional bread and butter design for the last several years. The Stealth IMX has a swing weight (m.o.i) of 90 making it more end loaded than the Synergy IMX.
• Synergy IMX 1 piece bat with a stiff handle. Easton added stiff handles to their Stealth Comp bats last year to combat Louisville. They upped the ante in 2009 by making the stiff handle IMX a one piece bat. The handle has a rating of 90. They claim this design provides increased balance and bat control through the hitting zone. The Synergy IMX is aimed directly at the heart of the Louisville baseball bat consumer. As mentioned, an extremely smart move by Easton. The swing weight (m.o.i) is 80 making it more balanced than the Stealth IMX.

Both are quality high grade bats that are by far the most popular new composite bats on the market. You’ll see these bats at every age level from youth to college. The Stealth IMX is more popular at the moment which indicates a preference for the 2 piece design. Last year the Stealth Comp stiff handle was more popular than the Stealth Comp flex handle, both Stealth Comp models were 2 piece bats.

The IMX is my top choice for those looking to purchase a high end composite bat.

In this age of high-end all-in-one mobile phones, the manufacturers all over the world are concentrating their resources to make a mobile phone that packs the whole world inside its sleek and razor-slim body. Unique designs, innovative features, and excellent deliverance are the prime focal points while manufacturing a gadget. Lacking in a single feature can cost a lot to the image and the portfolio of the brand. In a quest to look distinguished the manufactures incorporate one or more features that are way out and quite different from the others.

The LG KU990 Viewty is one of the innovations which has given a thrust to the brand and boosted its popularity among the high-tech mobile-savvy people. It has a look to make the spectators fall in love for it at the very first sight. The design is so exquisite that it can give complex to the other ruling brands. The dimensions of 103.5 x 54.4 x 14.8 mm give it a distinguished framework. The TFT 3.0 inches wide gives a spectacular view with a support for 256K colours and a resolution of 240 x 400 pixels. The flash user interface is easy and attractive to browse. The phone gives a provision to download wallpapers. The ringtones are MP3 and polyphonic with 40 channels.

The phone has GPRS class 10 which transfers data at a speed of 32 to 48 kbps. The EDGE gives a lightening fast data transfer along with unquestionable reliability. With WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML browsers, there is nothing more enjoyable than Internet surfing on the mobile phones. The browsers enable the user to interact with the text, images, videos, music etc. located on a Web page. The LG KU990 is a third generation phone with HSDPA that has a commendable transfer speed of 3.6 Mbps. The Bluetooth v1.2 with A2DP is for your sharing and exchanging needs of files. That means you can let your phone interact with your friends’ and exchange as many pictures, videos and songs as you wish. The USB simplifies data exchange with the PC.

The LG KU990 allows SMS, EMS, MMS and E-mail facility so that you remain in proximity with your kins even if the physical distance is in miles.

The camera of this phone is highly developed and gives unprecedented lucidity to the pictures. The 2592?1944 pixels high-resolution camera of this phone gives prominence to the minute details and the picture appears vivid and clear. The other high-end features of this phone like video recording at 30 fps and QVGA up to 120 fps give the phone an edge over the others. The strobe flash feature makes clicking pictures at night easier. It also has a secondary video call VGA camera.

The media player supports MP3, MPEG4, WMV, AAC and DivX format files so that downloading and listening to the tracks and videos don’t require a second thought. The document viewer reads DOC, XLS and PDF files with ease. Now your personnel assistant is always in your pocket.

The FM radio with RDS keeps you crooning to its tunes. The ultimate clarity of sound and the perfect bass level of the speakers make it the most desired thing.

Built-in handsfree is also embedded in this mobile phone for those busy souls who have more than one thing to do at the same time. Your conversation will never come into your way while doing something important or while on a move. The standard Li-Ion 1000 mAh battery of lg ku990 viewty is known for its commendable back-up. It gives a standby time of 430 hours and while on consistent use it gives a talktime of 4 hours.

The memory of the phone is at par with the high-end utilities. It has 100 MB shared memory with a microSD (TransFlash) card slot for memory expansion up to 2GB. However vast your world of favourites is, it will find a space for itself in the phone’s storage area. In all, this phone proves wrong the people who think that man-made pieces are never perfect.