Hope the sun is shining where ever you are this weekend as its glorious here making for a pleasant bank holiday for a change!
I've got something a bit different to share today as I've gone back to one of my first ever crafts - making leather jewellery.
However unlike when I did it in the 90s (yes I'm old!) we have tools to help now so there is no sore fingers from cutting leather with scissors. The BIGZ dies from Sizzix are Steel Rule Dies so unlike thin metal dies which will only manage felt, steel rule dies will cut woven fabrics and yes, you guessed it luscious thick leather! Here I've used the Tropical Lei die to make myself a leather brooch.
I bought myself a pack of leather scraps - just google leather scraps and you'll find tonnes of it really cheap as upholsters have lots of bits too small for them to use but PERFECT for craft use - I got a kilo of scraps which gave me enough leather to make around 200 of these brooches for £8 so it's not as expensive as you think. I got scraps in black, brown, tan, cream and the lovely green I've used here, but the even better news is that you can DYE the leather with Alcohol inks! Hence my pewter centre and leaf - I die cut them from cream leather and then dyed them with gunmetal alcohol ink, just adding a few drops on and brushing it around with an old paintbrush and allowing it to dry. See the before and after leaves below.
I die cut the 3 petal flower 4 times from the green leather and have used two with the leather side facing forward and two with the suede as that way you look like you have more colours and textures.
To turn it into a brooch is very simple - you need one central bead, a length of wire and a brooch pin. Thread the wire through the bead, give it a couple of twists and then thread your leather elements on starting with the flower centre and working backwards to the leaf.
You then just split the wires and thread them through the holes in the brooch pin and wrap them around to secure it. Simple, cost effective but eye catching homemade jewellery to wear with pride. If you wanted to make it a necklace, simply make a figure of 8 with the wire ends in the centre of the flower, and glue a circle of leather in place behind to hold it securely and then punch a hole in one of the petals to thread your cord through. You could even go the full hog and make a full on leather lei - go for bright inks and funk it up!
Hope I've inspired you to try something different!
NEWS FROM THE STORE
We should have the following in store next week, or if they are held up by customs closures over the weekend which is likely, early the following week:
Tara
I've got something a bit different to share today as I've gone back to one of my first ever crafts - making leather jewellery.
However unlike when I did it in the 90s (yes I'm old!) we have tools to help now so there is no sore fingers from cutting leather with scissors. The BIGZ dies from Sizzix are Steel Rule Dies so unlike thin metal dies which will only manage felt, steel rule dies will cut woven fabrics and yes, you guessed it luscious thick leather! Here I've used the Tropical Lei die to make myself a leather brooch.
I bought myself a pack of leather scraps - just google leather scraps and you'll find tonnes of it really cheap as upholsters have lots of bits too small for them to use but PERFECT for craft use - I got a kilo of scraps which gave me enough leather to make around 200 of these brooches for £8 so it's not as expensive as you think. I got scraps in black, brown, tan, cream and the lovely green I've used here, but the even better news is that you can DYE the leather with Alcohol inks! Hence my pewter centre and leaf - I die cut them from cream leather and then dyed them with gunmetal alcohol ink, just adding a few drops on and brushing it around with an old paintbrush and allowing it to dry. See the before and after leaves below.
I die cut the 3 petal flower 4 times from the green leather and have used two with the leather side facing forward and two with the suede as that way you look like you have more colours and textures.
To turn it into a brooch is very simple - you need one central bead, a length of wire and a brooch pin. Thread the wire through the bead, give it a couple of twists and then thread your leather elements on starting with the flower centre and working backwards to the leaf.
You then just split the wires and thread them through the holes in the brooch pin and wrap them around to secure it. Simple, cost effective but eye catching homemade jewellery to wear with pride. If you wanted to make it a necklace, simply make a figure of 8 with the wire ends in the centre of the flower, and glue a circle of leather in place behind to hold it securely and then punch a hole in one of the petals to thread your cord through. You could even go the full hog and make a full on leather lei - go for bright inks and funk it up!
Hope I've inspired you to try something different!
NEWS FROM THE STORE
We should have the following in store next week, or if they are held up by customs closures over the weekend which is likely, early the following week:
- Neat and Tangled's new release
- Foil Quill and Foils
- Water Media mats from Waffleflower
- The new release from Altenew
Tara