Tag: leather

So it’s been a different week so far!  My dear boyfriend is out of town for who knows how long…maybe another week, I’m not even sure.

Anyway, no matter.  I have been focusing on three things this week so far: working out, Skyrim, and Leatherings.  Have been doing cardio so far this week and as always (always) it’s making me feel better.  I’ve been playing a bunch of Skyrim too, but that’s normal.  Mostly, I’ve been working on leather projects.  I made and listed a bunch of small items over the last few days, and my shop is looking fantastic if I do say so myself!  I don’t expect all you who read this blog to check my Etsy shop regularly (hell, I can’t afford most of the purses that I make and list) — so here’s a screen shot.

screen shot

Pretty!!!  😀

I’ve already sold one of the wallets (the oak leaf one on the top – and made the one that’s up now yesterday).  This morning I got a message from someone asking if she could buy some of these wallets in bulk, so that’s a good thing too.  (I told her it would depend on how many she wanted and how quickly she needed them…I am completely out of snaps right now….)  I also have two custom orders that I’m making…waiting on some hardware (buckles and stuff) to deliver before I can finish them.  Really ought to get everything all prepped for them tonight, though, so I can get them out of here as soon as I do get the hardware……

Anyway – totally gratifying, and I’m glad I took everyone’s advice and finally opened an Etsy shop.

Had a good weekend.  We hung around the house (Stephen’s) on Saturday; made these two items to replenish my shop which was down to 3 listings, and sat around listening to Mahler’s 3rd and 5th symphonies, and Bach’s cello suites played by Edgar Meyer on bass.  Stephen made chili, I made a chocolate meringue pie, and we had fish tacos for lunch — it was a good day.  Yesterday we went to a concert put on by the composer’s group that Stephen’s a member of, then had a couple of drinks at Jackson’s and went back to Stephen’s to watch the Oscars.  Which were pretty entertaining.  Lady Gaga is apparently an extremely talented and versatile performer — her Sound of Music medley was amazing.

Anyway, it was a good weekend, and even though today is Monday again, I’m at least glad that the sun is out (mostly) and the roads aren’t icy, and I’m making money on Etsy.  All good things.  🙂

large small

this is turning into self-promotion central

though, really, isn’t that what this blog has always been?

I have listed 3 new pieces in the last 2 days, and one of them sold after being up for about 2 hours.  It was a Skyrim apothecary’s satchel that I’d made a few months ago and then rejected in disgust as it was rather off-center.  See figure 1.

satchel askew open

fig. 1

Anyway, I listed it for $20, which is apparently far too cheap for even an askew-apothecary’s satchel.

Other two items listed were oak leaf purses.  One of them is significantly less expensive than the other, because I almost rejected it in disgust as well, after mucking up the dyeing job (fig. 2).  Gah.  I loved this purse and then had to go try to dye it.  I had added oil to my leather dye because it was turning solid (BAD IDEA — will add alcohol if anything in the future) and it basically went on all splotchy, because of that and also because I didn’t apply with a wet rag.  Oh well, live and learn.  I made another similar bag last night, out of a thick veg tan that has a soft, suede-like surface (fig. 3).  Very pretty.  I sort of want to keep it.  Might make myself one that’s larger and will hold a couple of books.

oak purse front tan oak 2

(fig 2.)                                                                           (fig. 3)

Anyway, so yeah, there you have it.

It’s been a tolerably good week so far, though I am awfully glad that it’s Friday.  We’re going to see the Grand Budapest Hotel at the Belcourt tonight – I’m pretty sure that it might be the first Wes Anderson movie I’ve actually seen in a theater.  (Unless — Anna Laura/Carla, did we see Darjeeling Limited together?  or am I thinking of the Terminal?)  Not sure what else will happen this weekend, other than sleeping in.  It’s supposed to be partly cloudy/partly sunny all weekend, and cold, so possibly a hike…or possibly reading…or…..we’ll see.

O what a beautiful morning!

Am feeling pretty positive this Wednesday morning.  Last night, I tried my hand at wet-molding leather; currently the experiment is nailed to an old cutting board and drying.  It looks like it might turn out well, but we’ll see.  I need some longer nails for this; all I could round up in the garage were little picture-hanging brads.  Which are about as long as the width of my fingers, and that makes them rather difficult to hammer.  At any rate, I did get a shape to form and stay, and if it turns out I’m sure I’ll post a picture.

After that, I just started a new purse.

unfinished purse

The red lining inside is JUST too small, so I brought more material to work with me.  I’m going to make sure to get all my actual work done before I start cutting a new lining, since I think one of the reasons I’ve felt kind of off lately is because I am not really trying my hardest at work.  And I feel like I’m doing my work ethic a disservice.  So as soon as I finish everything I can, and ask my boss(es) if I can help them with anything, I’ll work on this some more.  Brought leather, too, so I can do a flap and a strap.  I think this purse is going to look super cute once it’s finished.

I’ve been seriously thinking about taking a really long weekend and dedicating it to reading.  Does anyone know of a quiet, preferably secluded place that I/we could stay?  Like, do any of you have a cabin in the woods that I could rent for cheap?  Or an empty condo in a city that’s not Nashville?  I really can’t afford to get a hotel or B&B or anything.  Sadly.  I’m almost leaning towards going to Knoxville and maybe camping in the Smokies one night, or something.  It’s a tad cold for that right now, I know…..  Still in the brainstorming stage, but I think that getting away for several days and focusing on reading would be so good for my soul.

I’m having lots of benevolent and hopeful feelings today, and am feeling unphased by depressing news on FB.  Which is odd, but awesome.  May it last all day and into the future!  If I had a mimosa, I’d toast myself.

black ‘un

In lieu of sharing each new item on FB (although maybe it’s getting to be time to start a Facebook page for Leatherings), I’m posting here.  On the suggestion of someone from Reddit, I made a satchel (well, they’re really more like pouches) from black leather and just put it up.  Included a drawstring in this one, which I think looks great!

etsy - satchel black front etsy - satchel black open

New item!

Just finished a large apothecary’s satchel and listed it.  Because I’m supposed to shamelessly self-promote, I’m posting a link here.  Will maybe even open a FB page for myself once I have more inventory.  This last piece took longer to make than the first piece because of all the extra design on the strap.  (Picture links to Etsy listing.)

etsy - satchel large

Also, for good measure, here’s a snapshot of the satchel from the game.

satchel

assorted pictures

blog - dumplins 2
Chicken n dumplins I made for dinner last night — omg they’re so good
blog - dumplins
shamelessly showing off my new Le Creuset here
blog - quilt
quilt I made for Anna Laura/Marshall/Mary (although Mary really shouldn’t be touching it too much….eh heh…I didn’t do the best job with the star applique and with some help they could easily look much worse than they do)
blog - clutch
clutch I made for Rosa – sorry for the horrible quality of the picture
blog - satchel
final version of Liesl’s apothecary satchel (replica from Skyrim)
apothecary satchel
first version of the apothecary’s satchel, which got over 100,000 views on Imgur and 2000 upvotes on reddit. not exactly the best thing I’ve ever done, but at least the most seen.
blog - purse
purse I made for Carla….

I failed to take a picture of the knife holder that I tooled for Joel.  Hm, I DID take a picture of the TARDIS journal I made for Havah but that doesn’t seem to have made it to my email this morning.  Oh well.  I also didn’t get pictures of the cow-themed mason jar coozies I made for Mom.  Blast.

Anyway – based on how quickly I churned these out (excepting the quilt which took forreeevvvver – or at least several months), I want to actually start selling them.  Stephen asked when he should start bugging me about it, and I said a couple of weeks into January.  So…..feel free to start bugging me yourself, if you feel so inclined.

Crafts, and biting my tongue

I really want to tell you guys about this thing that I made (see previous entry), but as it’s still going to be a Christmas gift for Sister X, I’m still going to bite my tongue.  However, I will note that I posted a picture of the prototype to reddit, and made it to the front page (granted, you had to subscribe to the subreddit in order to see it on the front page, but still).  It currently has 1921 upvotes, which is absolutely ridiculous as the most karma I’d had before was like 700 from a comment I’d made last year.  I got a TON of positive feedback and people saying that they would love to buy it, so I’m actually feeling motivated at the moment to make more of these.  Unfortunately, they might have to go on the back burner until after Christmas since those gifts should be a priority, and I just have two months left to finish everything.

That said, I will say that I went to the leather store on Saturday and got these two pieces (cat for scale) for a really good price; the tooling side (the lighter colored piece…I can’t remember what it’s called specifically) was $50, and the darker piece on top – which is folded into quarters in the picture – was $40.  Both really good prices.

leather

Uh huh.  All that leather — so exciting!!!!  Plus I got some rivets and buckles and a bone folder, so it was a great trip.  Was playing around with my pyrography kit (which, I’m sorry Mom, but I had never really played around with very much before, even though I’ve had it for lots and lots of years now…) and have decided that I love it and it’s more versatile than tooling.  You’ll notice the imperfections below, but nothing I make is perfect and anyway, this was a practice piece.  I just thought it was cool-looking, with the tree and all.

pyrography

So last night I meant to take a bath and clean the house some, and do some laundry, but instead I pretty much just sat around working on Sister X’s present, drinking hot cider, and watching Rosemary’s Baby.  Good pre-Halloween evening.  How did I forget that I get so much pleasure out of making stuff like this??  I have no idea.  This happens all the time, though — I’ll be on fire about a certain project or hobby, then get distracted and go 6-12 months before I remember that I actually loved whatever the original hobby was.  I guess variety is important.  Alternating between leather crafting, quilting, and drawing is kind of fun anyway.  I just get too distracted by things like Skyrim.  Gotta work on that.

Crafts

You guys, I’ve spent the last day or two planning Christmas presents, and at the moment I am VERY excited about what I’ll be making all you people.  (Well, not all of you.  Just the ones of you who are family members.  Sorry.)  I just put together a template for the thing I’m making Sister X (because I found a tutorial online which linked to a template, but the link was bad so I just made my own – which I think looks better anyway) and I REALLY want to post pictures and tell you about how excited I am about this project.  Buuuut I can’t.  Ugh.  Dammit.

Also I spent last night sewing a couple of presents.  Again, not going to say what they were or who they’re for, but it’s not that big of a deal anyway because they aren’t fancy – they’re just part of the gift.  Nevertheless, I had an absolute blast making them and still wish I could blab about it.

I just bought a gold wholesale membership at Tandy Leather.  Wasn’t going to, as the last time I had one of these I used it about once, but leather is so expensive for heaven’s sake!!  Was browsing the leather selection and decided that even if I buy just one hide, I’d save money with a wholesale membership.  (So that extra paycheck I mentioned?  Whatever doesn’t go to bills will probably be going to leather.  I need to start selling this stuff.  Hmm.  I might make some extra of the Gift for Sister X, depending on how difficult it ends up being.  I’m positive that I could sell those, if they turn out well.)

So anyway, if anyone needs leather LET ME KNOW.  We can go to the leather store together!

Someone please make it 5:00 now, though.  Please.