Latest few leather books

[MagiKelly]

I've still been visiting often but have not been logged in for a while, so since I am I thought I would post up a few of my recent leather projects. I make a few things but seem to keep coming back to leather journals. I did a couple for Christmas presents with a Shield / Hydra theme.

Like most makers I get better with each book as I find new techniques or just plain get better. As a result the journal I have for myself from a few years ago is pretty poor compared to my current work. So I made myself a new dog themed one. Of course I am not quite happy with the carving on this one but as it has my name on it I can't give it away and make another

I also recently finished another dog themed one as a gift for a friend. it was a fairly straightforward one to do.

Right now I am finishing off a couple of SotP ones and then onto another to be a gift for a friend. I've got some ideas for new things to try and on that so more learning.

 

[Dreadhead]

superb work Do you bind the paper in or buy a pre-bound book and insert it in like I do?

 

[MagiKelly]

I sometimes use these journal refills http://www.amazon.co.uk/Papuro-Refi...qid=1422874000&sr=8-1&keywords=journal+refill and sometimes stitch my own text blocks that are similar. The books are all refillable though as I would hate to put that much work into anything that was redundant one full.

 

[MagiKelly]

And for context these are the progression from my early attempts here.

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23987

 

[ozzy1977]

cracking job, well done

 

[British Red]

There was absolutely nothing wrong with your early work John. One at least is still in use eight years later

 

[Two Socks]

Really nice! I like the Shield/hydra ones a lot.

 

[forginhill]

Very impressive work! Those covers will last a lifetime. The patterns you put on them really take them to the next level.

 

[Clouston98]

Cracking work mate!

 

[sandbender]

The Shield journal for good thoughts and the Hydra for bad ones?

Great work there.

 

[Coldfeet]

They do look rather nice

 

[MagiKelly]

Another recent book. This one was for a competition prize on SotP and is our logo Quentin.

I had to trace the pattern before cutting it onto the leather then carve the leather to make Quentin stand out. Finally dye different bits different colours, stitch and wax. I'm very pleased with how this turned out. It opens up a lot of new possible designs to do.

In progress

And once finished

 

[Harvestman]

That last is extra special. Love it.

 

[Macaroon]

Very nice work there, the colours, especially, work very well together

 

[Nativewood]

Perfection in stitching as always, John. Very nice designs and an excellent bit of tooling for the last one.

 

[woodsorrel]

Wow, very nice! Thank you for posting your pictures.

Can you explain the technique you used to get the "relief" effect in your original post? Did you just use a background tool, or did you carve it out in some manner to remove leather?

Thanks,

- Woodsorrel

 

[Tony]

Excellent stuff John, very nice indeed ....

 

[MagiKelly]

I didn't remove any leather. I traced the pattern then cut the lines into the leather. I then wet the leather and "knocked back" the areas I wanted recessed using the tool you see in the pictures. You can use a background tool but I find I get smoother results with the one I have, but don't know the name of

 

[MagiKelly]

I finished this one a few weeks ago but as it was a present I could not post it till now. Another Quentin one. The recipient is a canoeist and a climber.

About the same time I also finished this one for a friend's son who is a big Dr Who fan.