Friday, January 6, 2012

Alcohol ink and beeswax on leather???

Tim will probably pass out!  LOL!!!  But I wanted to do some leather tooling and didn't want to spend $10 on a bottle of leather ink, so here we go.....

First, I took a blank knife sheath and traced the design into it, then cut it out (now if you haven't done this, take a class first!)


After that I used my craftools to pound and hammer to give the whole thing lots of dimension and texture.  Took about 3 hours to do this one. But then, it's been 20 years since I've done much leather work.

Using a paintbrush, I painted alcohol inks on the leaves and acorns to give it color.  Used 8 different colors of inks.  And then used caramel for the background and expresso to distress the edges.  I think it came out pretty cool.




I did not want a "new" look like they will show you on Tandy's website - I wanted it distressed.  You can click on these photos to get a closer look.



I think the distress look on the handle is exactly what I was going for - but notice the edges as well!


I normally use a Tandy product to seal my leather, but found online that you can use a mix of melted beeswax and olive oil to protect the leather.  I tell you what - I love it!  I painted the wax on to the leather and then set it with my Heat-it tool.  Totally cool!!!


This is a gift for my brother-in-law as I saw the one he made in high school is falling apart.  I like that it looks old, not new.....but that it's new, so it should last for years to come.

Who knew I'd be using Ranger products on leather?  What next?  LOL!!!

10 comments:

pbo said...

You are so talented! The sheath looks incredible!

Heather T. said...

Great idea, and way cool look!

inge said...

Hello Jen,

I think Tim will love this extra use of his products !
Real nice project ! I think you brother-in-law will be very pleased with it and cherish ànd use it for years to come. You definitely be in his "upper-draw" !

I like the texture and images you made on the leather, but the coloring makes it perfect. I love the subtle coloring on it and the beeswax makes it indeed look vintage.
Nice job !

greetings from belgium
Inge

Kim said...

Fabulous! The antiquing is just beautiful Leatherworking was my first "adult" craft (I as 12 or 13-thought if I could make my own saddle, I'd get a horse! LOL) I did it for years. I hated the cova paints. Never did think of AI's! You just gave me a reason to break out the old swivel knife! Thank you!

lilyandthelotus.blogspot.com said...

You should send this off to be published ...it is wonderful. my son has a keep sake knife uummm...do you just make this look easy?lolThanks for sharing.

Jennifer Moore Lowe said...

Thanks for your comments! Kim - I have TWO swivel knives with multiple blades. I just love them. Heading to Tandy next to find some rivets and 2 oz leather. :o)

Jennifer Moore Lowe said...

Ally, the problem is that I skyped my brother-in-law last night and showed this to him.....he loved it! I doubt he would settle for me submitting it - I think he wants it "NOW"!!! LOL!!! I think he wants to make his co-workers jealous - he's in mountain construction and all those guys love stuff like this.

Anita Houston The Artful Maven said...

Ultra cool! What a fabulous gift! I miss the leather tooling days of high school...sigh!!!

Bethan said...

Wow, this is so clever

Unknown said...

So wonderful that you took the time to share, this is really helpful. And your piece turned out great, congrats