The Holster, "Osama's Last Breath"

The first picture is a gun holster in the making. The second picture is the holster assembled and almost completed. Johnny Airtime's first attempt at leather tooling. At the time this picture was taken, he had less than a week of experience (now he's got a month of experience). JA completely designed this from scratch after studying flowers, leaves and leather carving techniques. Johnny Airtime says, "Thanks to Wayne Christensen at Standing Bears Trading Post for the unselfish hours of high-intensity instruction, Lori McNeil for the leather, some tools, dyes and stains, Stephen Pereira for the leather carving tools and thanks to my new friend, Al Shelton, one of the greatest leather carvers in history, whose work is an impressive exhibit of raw talent the rest of us can only aspire to."

"Osama's Last Breath" Halfway Done

This might very well be what things will look like to Osama Bin Laden when he breathes his last breath. Everything's looking rosy, almost like paradise. Then, through the foliage, he sees that an American sniper (probably from New York) with a baseball cap on backwards (military issue) is looking through a scope with his high powered rifle, and it's aimed straight at Osama's dome. This is JA's artistic interpretation of what Osama Bin Laden's last breath might look like, from his eyes. JA is giving this holster to his son John, complete with Barretta style pellet gun. If  John is as hard on his equipment as his father, this holster should last at least two weeks!

Scroll down to see the almost finished holster!

"Osama's Last Breath" Almost Finished

Further deepening of the 3D look with dyes, the roses became more three dimensional. He went on to give the flowerpot a terracotta clay color, and the flower on the right in the top photo (now on the back of the holster in the bottom photo) was dyed white with very light red shadows. The leather was then finished. JA fastened the belt loop with solid copper rivets on an anvil, cutting them off and peening them down. He then hand-sewed the edge with nylon thread with a saddle stitch, using two needles and one thread. This holster fits a Barretta style pistol.