Oooooo, guess what’s in the box!!! So excited for this.
Stones! I bought beautiful stones from the Etsy store DNA Gems. The owner was very prompt and kind in our correspondence before purchasing, too. The item was listed as five green agate triangles, and I saw them and immediately thought “hey, those would make a great triforce.” Some of the stones looked somewhat yellow, so I asked the owner to send me the most yellow ones he had! Not only did he do that wonderfully, but I asked if he could add a sixth (seeing as how I could make two triforces, then) and just adjust the price a little, and he included it for free. 🙂 If you like gemstone beads, check him out!
Aren’t they gorgeous? I’m going to inlay them into leather and make an awesome something-or-other with them. Probably a pouch/bag of some kind. Any ideas on what I should do with them? For inspiration, you can always check out the ever-amazing Les Cuirs de Belfeuil – he’s the one who’s inspired me to try stone inlaying. 🙂
I also bought these big sheepskin jasper beads. Have I mentioned how much I love jasper? I don’t think I have. Well, I love jasper. So many amazing colors and patterns. In August I found a few pieces of my favorite jasper (which I’ve seen called jasper wood and desert jasper). I’ll have to post some pictures of them. Also, if I ever manage to find my rock collection (which I hope is still buried somewhere in my parent’s home), I can finally have my original piece of jasper wood from my childhood… *sigh* Anyway, these sheepskin jasper are also from DNA Gems.
Here’s a few random rocks and copper pieces I bought up at Da Yoopers Tourist Trap in August, with the idea that they might be flat enough to do some inlaying. This was before I discovered (two weeks ago!!) that I really should be looking for stone *beads* to find the large flat stones.
And the reason I discovered this? Because an awesome bead and hand-made jewelry merchant that is always at the SCA events I go to: House of Chaos Productions! I was wandering past their tent and saw these large, flat stones… turned out to be beads! The holes were hidden because they run along the length of the stones, and they are perfect for what I want to do. 🙂 I immediately bought strands of the two kinds they had (they had many other beads, but they were smaller).
Here’s my first stone inlaying into leather! Unlike Les Cuirs de Belfeuil, I’ve started with non-veg tanned leather. For my first piece, I cut out a diamond, and placed the stone between it and another piece of leather and sewed around the stone. I added a second ring on the inside for decoration.
That turned out pretty neat – I think the pouch is pretty awesome – but I wasn’t completely satisfied with the raw edges of the leather showing by the stone. What do you think? On my second project, I cut the middle cross-lines in the center of the diamond (from point to point across), and then turned the triangles under and sewed them down.
Here are the two next to each other. The two pieces are the same color of leather, by the way – I need to find a better place in my house with more natural light so I don’t get these shadow effects. Actually, I need to learn a lot about how to take better pictures before I start taking pictures of my goods for the eventual Etsy store…
That’s my adventures in leather inlaying so far! I’ve also been playing more with leather burning recently (pyrography), and it might work to just burn the inner edges of the diamond so the edges near the stones aren’t raw. Something to try! I’ve managed some neat effects with leather pyrography recently, and I will try to post pictures soon!
Let me know if you have some awesome ideas on what I should do with a leather triforce or other stones. 🙂 ~Kell
