HollyNelson

That looks pretty cool, might have a look at it. My first attempt with the baked cloisonné paste above was pretty disappointing. Oh, it made a dandy image on glass and baked on nicely, but wouldn't imprint onto the leather. Just a few shallow dents here and there, even after being laid on the cased leather overnight with some canned goods pressing it down. Back to the drawing board...

I want to do small, simple original forms for using as repeated patterns on edging and such, and just bought a tube of this: http://www.amazon.com/Pebeo-Porcelaine-China-Cloisonne-20-Milliliter/dp/B00266D8UK I've gotten a couple of small pieces of glass, will be trying a woodcut phoenix pattern on the weekend.

The original patent leather was achieved by applying multiple layers of a linseed oil mixture to leather. And linseed oil was the basis of the original Linoleum. Linseed oil is really cool stuff. BTW, linseed oil doesn't "dry" as such -- rather, the short molecules of the liquid oil link up once exposed to oxygen, to convert into longer chains which are no longer liquid. They will continue to do this, though slowly, for centuries. (!) which is one reason very old oil paintings develop a crackled appearance.

There are a few old leatherworking books, digitized, at the Project Gutenberg site, for free. Just do a search there under "leather." http://www.gutenberg.org/

What sort of leather is that on the fourth item? Actually, the fifth too. Love the tooling on the next-to-last photo.

Just moving into hand stitching, trying to make a open topped handbag with a yin/yang top, which looked so interesting in a craft blog. I have the milled leather, but it's obvious that proportions are going to be crucial to make it work and not waste a lovely piece of leather. Soooo... a friend gave me an old leather skirt and I mocked up the purse last night. It is ugly but sturdy, and I invite you to make fun of it, or even make suggestions. Have fun!

I thought the Cricut sounded marvelous, so I went and looked it up online. However, it won't work offline or without being logged into the Cricut website. Since I would want to do personal drawings, sketches, and such, this seems a bit controlling. Still, pretty neat.

There is a special kind of pencil for drawing on mylar film, not graphite based, which doesn't smear when you're using it. Not certain if it is still being manufactured, but it does a good job on translucent mylar. I have a few left from a previous life as a draftsman, called Berol Filmograph pencils, and there appear to be some people selling them in eBay and Etsy and places like that.

Also, (because I like accuracy in natural textures and drawings) you might get close-up photos of various kinds of bark, and putz around with tools to approximate different species. Poplar, elm, oak, plum, birch, willow all have very distinct bark. Your goal on each type is not to achieve perfection, (you're whacking leather with steel tools, for heaven's sake) but to arrive at a series of strokes that visually suggest the particular tree. Hope that was helpful.

Thanks for this useful reply! I am not up to powder coating anything yet (am I right in assuming it should only be used on metal?) but I might be active enough come spring to try coordinating metal fittings that wouldn't otherwise match. Oh, and a friend who is expert in "fimo" type molding is going to teach me how to make molds, copies of brooches and natural items, and other artwork to use with my leather items ... and if we are lucky, even thrice- baked molds that I might be able to use as stamps. She does gorgeous jewelry work, I am so excited to be learning from her.

Very "lacy" sandals. And I bet the stage show was fun, too.

Tannin asked: "Is that a stamp/punch that you made to emboss the first fish design? I would quite like a large one of those fish on a T-shirt (keen fisherman)." Yes, I was trying to see if I could make a fimo stamp for stamping out a personalized image. The good news is, I made the fish and you can rammer-hammer the bejezus out of it on leather without breaking it. The bad news is, it is springy enough that it doesn't stamp properly. In the end, I got the imprint you see there by squeezing it in place with a pair of pliers. You could carve something for your tshirt out of dense blue insulation board, or smaller images from potatoes. (Let the carved potato stamp dry at least overnight, or it will get your paint all weepy.) Odd thing -- the fish was traced from a photo of a real goldfish, yet the finished stamp doesn't look like a goldfish, it looks like a betta. Ô_o "...BTW what is the leather spatula shaped thing with the cool horse & cow/buffalo & beaded lanyard?" So glad you asked. The images, cow, horse, deer and handprint, are taken from cave paintings from Lescaux. I was looking at the scrap and thought it looked a lot like a shoulder blade or some other animal bone --- adding the prehistoric images seemed natural. Then I got bone beads and some other beads to make it a male necklace, something a prehistoric hunter might have worn. Hint - waxed linen thread doesn't last long as a stringer for beads. I am going to have to restring it soon.

Nice koi! It has a rather aggressive look, no wimpy Walt Disney goldfish there! My first fooling-around piece was a goldfish too, but I did something wrong to his eyes, he looks like he'd survived a nuclear spill or something. Hope you enjoy the granite. Another place to score heavy slabs is in thrift shops. They surface from time to time, I guess from a previous life as pastry rolling surfaces or something like that. Oh, and keep an eye on Kijiji / eBay classifieds for tools and such. Mostly, you will find eBay leather tools overpriced and sadly beat up, but now and then a fellow will be clearing out his tools and offer you a dandy deal. That's where I got scores of stamps, a good swivel knife, many pattern books, and odds and ends, from a couple downsizing their crafts tool supply. I needed help to cart them to the car.

Hi Pounder, I look forward to seeing what kind of "ideas" you got. I wouldn't mind getting a whole box of vegtan scraps for little things like this. That would keep me busy for years! Odd shapes aren't useful for "real" projects, but dandy for jewelry, decorations, and of course testing colours and stamps.

Thank you. I like the prismatic powders idea, many fittings I see I would enjoy in another colour or texture, but it doesn't look like something you could do in your kitchen. O_o Or is it? I only ran across industrial sites in a quick search. HN

Hi all, I've been playing with leather, seeing what I can do with it, for a few months now. So far, I am more a painter/sculptor than a crafter of utilitarian items (like saddles, cases or shoes.) But I have some fun ideas for the next few, larger projects. Anyway, here are some of my doodads. Enjoy.

Nice, and not the usual thing. The black and the dark red-brown make it look almost like expensive dark chocolate. Yum.

Very handsome piece. Now, I must go look up "prismatic copper." Like I don't have enough trivia in my head already. Curious -- what is the d-ring for, near the bottom of the bag, below the shoulder strap d-rings? Just a lower attachment point to convert shoulder strap to a shorter hand-strap?

* blush *

Very nice!

Hee hee! Sounds like a great, quirky idea!

That skull is eating lotos! Nice touch to beautifully detailed carving.

Yeah, a friend keeps Silkie chickens, she tells me they are the only cuddly chicken breed. Maybe I can make a Mutant Chicken handbag next. ;-D

Handsome, forbidding look on that owl! I love the bag. Most people won't care or even notice, but I agree with WyomingSlick about the gears. There' something about doing stuff accurately that adds a splash of interest, or detracts if it isn't there. Kind of like those people who draw horses but can't remember which way their leg joints bend. They end up with a magnificent horse with broken legs. :-) Minor point, but maybe it can help with future designs.