Another Album Cover

[Crystal]

Hi All!

This is a wedding present for a cousin and was supposed to have been done last week...oops.

I am almost done- have to put a finish on it and assemble. Seemed like a good day to try to use the lighting outside, so I snapped a pic quick.

The body is dyed Fiebing's chocolate - the inside is an interesting accident of pearlescent light green acrylic and tan gel antique with a dark brown acrylic background.

There are a couple of boo boo's and a thing or two I will pay more attention to next time, but overall, I think it looks okay. Hand stitched 12 spi. Comments and critiques welcome!

Crystal

[ArtS]

Beautiful job Crystal!! I really like it a lot.

Art

[Colman]

Crystal,

That is one good looking album cover!

I really like the synthetic rivets.

Did you mat the background or just stain it? and is plate #58 next on the list?

Johnny

[Hilly]

Beautiful Job, Crystal! It looked perfect to me! An inspiration for sure, thanks for sharing!

How long did it take you to do all that carving and tooling?

Hilly

[calanneh]

[Crystal]

Beautiful job Crystal!! I really like it a lot.Art

Thank you, Art!Crystal

Crystal,That is one good looking album cover! I really like the synthetic rivets.Did you mat the background or just stain it? and is plate #58 next on the list?Johnny

I used my new Barry King Backgrounder - love it!

lol on plate #58... I was looking at that. What do you think of no. 52??? I used 1/2 pearls and brads I found at a scrapbooking supplier online.

Thanks!Crystal

Edited November 11, 2008 by Crystal

[Crystal]

Beautiful Job, Crystal! It looked perfect to me! An inspiration for sure, thanks for sharing!How long did it take you to do all that carving and tooling?Hilly

Thanks, Hilly! I started this around the first of October. Been sewing for the last week. One of these days I will track hours - I am very slow and can't get large blocks of time to work.Crystal

Thanks, Will!Crystal

[8thsinner]

Crystal, your very talented, love this cover.

Some of you carvers make braiding look like a reef knot, I hate you all.

[Crystal]

Crystal, your very talented, love this cover.

Some of you carvers make braiding look like a reef knot, I hate you all.

Thank you!

May I say the feeling is mutual - I can't even decypher braider speak let alone actually make something! Ahh - what is a reef knot? (See what I mean??)

Crystal

[UKRay]

Beautiful work Crystal - if you do another I hear Marmite makes an excellent antiquing compound LOL

[Crystal]

Beautiful work Crystal - if you do another I hear Marmite makes an excellent antiquing compound LOL

Thank you, Ray. If I used the marmite then everyone would be snacking on it.

Crystal

[8thsinner]

A reef knot is just a (bend) used to tie two cords together, you have probably tied hundreds. It's also called a square knot.

If you yank one side it will become a sliding knot, and a (Thief) knot is a knot visually designed to look like a reef knot but not tied the same way, A granny knot is a wrongly tied reef knot.

The reef is tied by wrapping left over right and tucking followed by right over left and tucking.

The granny is a left over right followed by another left over right.

Sorry you asked?

I can understand what you mean though, carving is an art as much as a craft, I have had little interest in drawing in my younger years but had an interest in knots, I guess we simply understand what we want to.

The closest I have come is to take a digitally enhanced dragon image, stencil it on to leather and solder the shape in with it, It worked well enough I suppose but it's two dimensional. I used a solder cause it was thin leather like.

I can never get round how you guys take a flat image and give it depth and life...

[leatheroo]

this is a beautiful piece of art, i love the color combos you have used.

[ClayB]

Hi Crystal,

I think this turned out great! The carving is really nice. I'm impressed that complecated patterns dont intimidate you. The accident with the color ended up being a good thing. Wish my accidents would turn out that way. I still think you are nuts for even trying 12 spi, but it sure looks good. The pearls and brads are a great touch too.

It's gonna be a great present!

[TomSwede]

Heeey Crystal!! That is a beatuiful cover

Nice touch with the pearls!!

Tom

[Crystal]

A reef knot is just a (bend) used to tie two cords together, you have probably tied hundreds. It's also called a square knot.If you yank one side it will become a sliding knot, and a (Thief) knot is a knot visually designed to look like a reef knot but not tied the same way, A granny knot is a wrongly tied reef knot.The reef is tied by wrapping left over right and tucking followed by right over left and tucking.The granny is a left over right followed by another left over right.Sorry you asked?I can understand what you mean though, carving is an art as much as a craft, I have had little interest in drawing in my younger years but had an interest in knots, I guess we simply understand what we want to.The closest I have come is to take a digitally enhanced dragon image, stencil it on to leather and solder the shape in with it, It worked well enough I suppose but it's two dimensional. I used a solder cause it was thin leather like.I can never get round how you guys take a flat image and give it depth and life...

Not sorry I asked at all. Now you have me wondering how do you tie a theif knot? I am still trying to figure this carving business out. When I first started I got so frustrated that everything I tried to do seemed so flat looking - read alot here and tried to study everything and am slowly getting better at visualizing where you can actually get some depth and where you just need to create an illusion of depth. I've never thought I was much of an artist. I can usually follow directions and do repetitive things (quilting and crossstitch and such) so this has been and will be very challenging to me. Thanks for the knot lesson!Crystal

this is a beautiful piece of art, i love the color combos you have used.

Thank you, Caroline. I think that coloring is the hardest part. I got lucky with this one.Crystal

[Crystal]

Hi Crystal,I think this turned out great! The carving is really nice. I'm impressed that complecated patterns dont intimidate you. The accident with the color ended up being a good thing. Wish my accidents would turn out that way. I still think you are nuts for even trying 12 spi, but it sure looks good. The pearls and brads are a great touch too. It's gonna be a great present!

Thank you, Clay. And thanks for the advice. As you see - I still haven't committed to a finish. I have a few products ordered and will maybe line them up and flip a coin to see what to use. Hey - don't knock the 12 spi until you try it! Wasn't that bad - a little blood - some sore fingers and wrists and hands.... I thought it would be faster than lacing - it wasn't. Crystal

Heeey Crystal!! That is a beatuiful cover Nice touch with the pearls!!Tom

Thanks, Tom! I glued the little pearls down with Loctite gel superglue. I hope they stay stuck.Crystal

[8thsinner]

A reef knot is just a (bend) used to tie two cords together, you have probably tied hundreds. It's also called a square knot.

If you yank one side it will become a sliding knot, and a (Thief) knot is a knot visually designed to look like a reef knot but not tied the same way, A granny knot is a wrongly tied reef knot.

The reef is tied by wrapping left over right and tucking followed by right over left and tucking.

The granny is a left over right followed by another left over right.

Sorry you asked?

I can understand what you mean though, carving is an art as much as a craft, I have had little interest in drawing in my younger years but had an interest in knots, I guess we simply understand what we want to.

The closest I have come is to take a digitally enhanced dragon image, stencil it on to leather and solder the shape in with it, It worked well enough I suppose but it's two dimensional. I used a solder cause it was thin leather like.

I can never get round how you guys take a flat image and give it depth and life...

[Dags3777]

Absolutelystunning. Darryl

[Kowboyboots]

Impressive!

[Crystal]

Thanks so much Darryl and Kathy. This is my biggest project so far and am glad that it turned out better than I thought it was going to.

Crystal

[Tina]

Beautiful Crystal,

I love the look and I can see the pattern is not an easy to make. I'm sure the Album will be admired for years to come:-)

[Merrik]

Stunning work! That is really really nice. Not an artistic bone in my body so i think i will probably stick to braiding for now and leave the carving to the experts!

Re: thief knot vs reef knot. I think i remember reading somewhere (probably the Ashley book of knots) that sailors used the thief knot to detect if someone had been in thier bag. The thief would usually do his work in the dark and would think the knot used was a reef knot and therefore re-tie it as such.

On a reef the the short working ends leave the knot on the same side.... the thief knot's short working ends would leave the knot above the stnading end on one side and below the standing end on the other. (see pic below)

Not sure if that helps or makes any sense.. but hey ho!

enjoy!

[Schno]

Wow! That is absolutely stunning. I just keep staring at it. I really appreciate floral work that steps a bit outside of the traditional style. Well done!

I'm going to hunt down that backgrounder. It's perfect! What's the ID on it?

[Crystal]

Beautiful Crystal,

I love the look and I can see the pattern is not an easy to make. I'm sure the Album will be admired for years to come:-)

Thank you, Tina. Inspiration seems to strike me after seeing your work, so keep posting so I keep working!

Crystal