Monday, January 28, 2013

Hand sewing leather...

I have had fun over the weekend making a leather cell phone holder. It is not quite finished yet as my original idea was to have a detachable strap but Tandy Leather was totally sold out of the smaller size clips that I wanted. I still need to do some work on the closure strap but I am happy with how it is turning out.




Whilst sewing away - hand sewing the leather is pretty labour intensive I enjoyed listening to Passenger.  I love Mike Rosenberg's voice - he sounds like no one else.


My husband had a meeting in LA today - I was his car pool buddy and I got to have a little fun in the process. 
 I love this old sign on Ventura Blvd.

I also managed to get to visit Dick Blick while we were up in LA. I have wanted to visit this store for so long.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Now is the time...

With it being the New Year I have decided that 2013 will be the year of experimentation. Over the years I have stockpiled several ideas that I would like to try but have never had the time to indulge myself - instead I have concentrated on my jewelry making.  So, I have decided - now is the time... 


I have been experimenting with paint on leather.  I wanted to see what works and whether the paint would react with the leather and would it stay put. I painted both sides of a really nice black leather and I am really pleased with the results.  When folded there is a small amount of cracking but I have read that if you flex the leather as is dries that this can be minimised.



I also painted this tan leather which I had dyed myself.  The white paint yellowed quite a bit so I will try adding another coat and see how that does.  I am a little worried about the cracking.  Has anyone had any success with painting on leather? What paint did you use? Would love to know!