LilyLionLabyrinth

That's adorable! I like the tooling, but am especially fond of that asymmetrical flap.

It's not just you! I went to open one of my jars and the safety lock thing was completely busted. My partner and I had to tag team it: she sliced the jar open with an x-acto blade and I caught the dye in a glass spice jar. I like Eco Flo, but all their containers the past few years have made me really hate working with them. I'm thinking about finding an alternative storage solution to decant them into, I just don't know what yet!

Thank you! I did the Autumn one with Eco-Flo dyes instead of acrylics. I've been wanting to toy with that marbling method some more, actually! (Method...really...it's just dye and a grocery bag, lol). I had to look up the lost dutchman matchbox. I will *definitely* consider that one for the future! Thanks again. :D

So, hello again! It's been a long time. I've moved on from mostly making leather masks, to making journals and jewelry. The past two years, I've mostly been focused on creating my own line of painted leather finishes for Traveler's Notebooks. It's taken a good while to get the hang of it. Acrylic on masks was easier, since the masks didn't need to open and close and flex all over the place like my journals. Took me a good year to solve all the cracking issues with the paint, but I think the effects are worth it!

That looks lovely! I love the decorative border. I am another stitch-by-hand-while-watching-TV kind of person. It can suck a lot, but the tedium can also be nice, sometimes.

Those are all beautiful! I especially like the Mandolin bag. It's such a unique design!

Aww, thanks, Charlie! I am in Massachusetts now, yes; I am from Fort Worth (which I mention just as a 'hello!' seeing that's roughly the area you're in!). The college idea is a really good one. My studiomate attends Harvard, and we live a stone's throw from both there and MIT (not to mention the, what, 50 colleges in Boston?). I will have to look into that, so thank you. I am toying with the idea of an airbrush, but I honestly don't know how much use I'd get out of it. I tend to paint intricate things with sharp outlines. It would be nice for sweeps of color, though! When you do get around to trying your hand at masks, you are more than welcome to bend my ear about it! I am still learning the process myself, but can probably answer some questions.

No, I don't currently have an airbrush. I do all of my painting by regular brush, which works nicely for my shading in tight areas...but an airbrush would be awesome for the background colors!

Ken, going to Mardi Gras would be awesome! There aren't a whole lot of places left in the states I really want to see on my bucket list, but that area is one of them. Leatheroo, thank you! I looked at all your past mask threads the other day, and so to get a compliment on coloring from you means a lot! I am working on the next version of the Minotaur mask, and want to continue with the whole Lunar/Starry theme that the original myth follows.

I would like to be added as well, when you get a chance.

Beading like that is insanely labor intensive. Unless you were working with someone with a large budget, it's not usually worth it. The most I ever do at this point is beaded accents. I just sew the beads directly onto thinner leather with good ol' needle and thread, like this: It gives a kind of beaded look, but takes a lot less time. (Even still, that beading on both sides took me at least an hour).

I can't tell you exactly how that artisan set their stones, but I have been practicing with my own method of setting cabochons in leather lately: I haven't done any kind of wet forming in the setting process. I am using softer leathers, rather than tooling leather, so it forms to shapes nicely already. (That necklace is about a 2-3 oz piece). Basically, I take the cabochon I want to set, and make a pattern on paper to the shape I want it, giving a few extra mm than the cab. I make the top piece of leather the same size as the backing. I then cut out a shape in the center of the top piece of leather. I don't usually measure, but you might want to. Using a leather like this, it has some stretch to it, so you have to be sure to make the hole a fair bit smaller than the actual size of the cabochon. I basically use that tension to hold the stone in place. I use a leather cement for the setting, that works on contact. So I coat the backing piece of the leather in it, and glue the cabochon to the leather. I don't think this would work as a long time thing, but I find letting it dry a little there helps keep the cabochon from shrinking while you try to stretch the leather over it. Then I put glue on the edges of the top piece, and stretch it over the cab, and using my fingers and clips to hold the two pieces of leather together. It can be a real challenge! Depending on what your cabochon is made of and your brand of cement, you can clean up excess glue that gets on it while it is still wet, or scrape it gently off once it's dry. It took me some trial and error to get the hang of it! I think if your leather is thicker and you still want to try it via wet molding, you could follow the steps above, stretch the leather over the cab while it's wet, and dry it in that shape before gluing it. But I haven't tried that.

Spinner explained the differences between finishes and sealants wonderfully! I have to use sealants myself in most cases, since my pieces tend to be drawn/painted on very graphically as the main emphasis (like masquerade masks). I wind up not having exposed leather, so it makes more sense for me to do the last coat as an acrylic sealant. Sealant can be used on dyes. But they have a really different feel than using something like a wax, almost plastic-like. For leather projects that you want them to be heavily used and age gracefully in that distressed way, I would think wax would be a better bet as an overall finish. I have, however, done half-and-half: seal off the acrylic with a sealant, and the dyed or raw areas with a finisher.

Thank you guys! Wild Bill, that's how I feel about a lot of the beautiful projects on this forum. I know next to nothing about motorcycles, holsters, sheaths, etc...but I can definitely tell the artistry of them when I see them.

That is absolutely gorgeous! I know pretty much nothing about guitar straps, but that element you have at one end where another strap is woven through a few times? It really helps set off the roses (which are wonderfully done, too!).

That's beautiful! And hardly looks worn at all, which is impressive.

I haven't tried to paint on any leather that was dyed by a manufacturer, yet. However, I have used acrylics over veg-tanned leather that I first dyed myself! (And Copic Markers, and pens, and dry pigments...). For dyes, I typically use Eco-Flo. There is probably much better dye out there, but it is the stuff I bought when I first got into leatherwork and still have a bunch of it. After I dye the piece, I then seal it with a high-quality, very flexible acrylic sealant. This does tend to leave the piece glossy, but there are other acrylic matte mediums you can apply later to dull the effect. Once it's sealed, I then I paint on it! I use artist acrylics from Dick Blick. Once I am done painting, I do another coat or two of sealant, just to be safe. None of my leather projects are old enough or seen enough handling to really know for sure durability. I do, however, have one messenger bag that I used almost daily for around 8 months, and it held up beautifully (the acrylic held up a little better than the dye, actually). I have done some flexibility testing because I was paranoid, and sometimes the paint will crinkle a little if the piece of leather is bent backwards, but even after playing with that for half an hour, it was still perfectly adhered.

Aww, thank you, Tom! Eventually I might want to collaborate with some local photographers and/or models. Until then, masks get to be modeled on either me or my roomie! (Or a mannequin. That's still something I'm debating, if I can snag one off eBay at a decent price).

Well, actually, there is a sixth one that I don't have a picture of. I just finished making a batch of five masks that I'm really pleased with. I can see a huge difference between them, and my earlier masks...even the one I made last month! I don't have pictures of the new masks yet. Most of them are flower-themed, so my partner-in-crime and I are going to do a photoshoot near flowers hopefully tomorrow if the weather cooperates and the filming they are doing in our neighborhood doesn't get in the way. Until then, I thought I would post my earlier masks! They're made from tooling leather of various weights, and most are painted with acrylics. (Sorry for my face in one of them; I don't have a picture of just the mask yet). Most of them were made for our yearly themed Halloween parties. It's not until this past month I've gotten into making them for Etsy. The Minotaur (2012): Knossos Bee (2012): Rose Sugar Skull (2013): Marigold Sugar Skull (2013): Icarus (2014):

Oh jeez! Yeah, it was like that outside our apartment, too. Some of the snow banks were taller than me, even! I don't drive anymore and don't have a car, so I think that helps me a lot for my tolerance. And I will keep that pub in mind, thank you!

I tend to make items in a range of sizes. So scraps that I have wind up going to other projects. Like, if I cut out the eye shape of a mask, I might later use that piece as a pendant, keychain, etc. Really thin scraps, I use as making straps to hold the ribbon to a mask. I also use really small scraps as test pieces. What would this color look like painted on this leather? That kind of deal. My partner-in-crime uses some of the leftover scraps of tooling leather to sand/smooth down wax doll parts (she is a dollmaker). There are still a few scraps I'm not sure what to do with, yet, that are super small (like, millimeters). I usually just wind up trashing those. But those 2 feet "scraps" you are talking about? For someone like me, those are not scraps, but several projects waiting to happen. I am sure if you picked out some of the pieces like that, you could sell them on Etsy or eBay - those are two places I go to pick up other people's leather scraps. You could also bundle up some of the much smaller pieces and sell them, too. I know some people sell tiny bits of leftover hair-on hides and furs for people to make fishing supplies out of.

Thank you for the warm welcomes, everyone! BDAZ, the summers here are amazing, especially since I am used to 100+ degree weather! I have had the chance to visit Salem a couple of times, once in the summer, and once in a snowstorm. I really love the winters here, and having actual seasons. But I can easily see how it could be way too much. I am not a big bar fan, but there are definitely some Irish bars in the area I want to see! The other places you listed, as well. Glendon, I didn't realize it was a popular belief all leather workers are from Texas and the midwest. That's why I was surprised by how many Texans I saw when perusing older threads. Then it made sense to me, after a little thought (okay, made more sense after my partner-in-art-crime pointed it out). The community here so far seems great! It's a nice feeling to have, and I wish I had looked for a forum like this one sooner.

Hello, all! I am a 20-something year old, who grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. (I should not be surprised by how many Texans I have seen on this forum, but I still am!). Less than two years ago, I moved to the Boston area of Massachusetts. It's so strange to place my orders from Tandy Leather Factory and see my home city on some of the product labels! I have been into art for as long as I can remember. I took it all through high school, then wound up shaking things up a bit and went to TCU for my degree in religious studies and psychology (this is relevant, really). After that, I did a couple years of art school, before I dropped out and moved. I got into leatherworking a couple of years ago because I was really into bookbinding. My now-roommate and partner-in-art-crime originally wanted me to make a journal, but that project turned into a refillable journal cover made from leather. A material I always wanted to work with, but was too intimidated by. But I gave it a shot, and I was hooked! I did a sporadic project here and there. It hasn't been until the past few months I have really thrown myself into it, heart and soul. My current focus is on making masquerade masks, but I also like making the aforementioned journal covers, jewelry, decorative objects such as bowls, and small handbags and pouches. My subject matter tends to draw a lot from mythology (see, the relevance I mentioned!), and I am very, very interested in marrying my love of drawing with the leatherwork. So my stuff tends to be kind of graphic. I have been lurking here a little bit, and am really excited by the community! I look forward to getting to know you guys.