Here is a throwback from February 2005. I carved a Celtic knot into a leather belt and dyed and finished the leather. I really enjoy leather carving, nearly as much as pyrography. The photo isn’t spectacular, but at least I moved away from the black velvet backdrop.
Today we are going back to December of 2004 and a leather book weight I made and decorated with painted bees. It seemed appropriate to share this in nod to my bee visitor this week.
The ends of the book weight are filled with small bags of sand to give it enough heft to hold a book open. The back side is suede to be gentle on the pages and have a bit of grip. I’m still quite pleased with the stitches around the outside, I love a good decorative braid stitch. I do have to admit that I have to look up how to make the braid every time.
Here is a throwback to August of 2004, when I was getting ambitious with my wood carving. I had made a polymer clay model, then used that as a reference to carve the wood. I don’t remember which wood I used, but it looks like it might be walnut. That would be the time that I realized I was not only allergic to walnuts, but to walnut wood and oils as well (makes sense now, was quite devastating then). I like clear coats, and have steered away from wood stain for many years, so the dark surface of the wood is likely not stained. The darkened eye and frog skin markings were pyrography done with an old soldering iron.
I’ve been thinking about doing some throwbacks to projects I did before I started this blog. Here is a crocheted and embroidered Roman style helmet that I made for my sister in 2016. Yes, I’ve always been a serial crafter.
Critters and Craft 