Leather Name Badges

[Eric_Methven]

I knocked up a few leather name badges for a few people. Here's the first couple.

This one is designed to be worn on a lace around the neck.

This one is designed to be stitched onto a backpack.

This one can be either worn or stitched on.

I'll be getting all the others done next week.

Eric

 

[firebreather]

Thats mine thats mine.........lol :You_Rock_
They look even better than i imagined them to be.
Does a dance like a giddy kipper then gets ready to stalk the postie so i can get my mitts on them as soon as they turn up

 

[JonnyP]

Nice work Eric....Wish I had a handle.....Used to be the Yellow Frog in the old cb days, maybe I should have a word with Tony and get my name changed....

 

[Toddy]

Eric those are brilliant :You_Rock_

Handcrafted and totally unique; I'm really pleased The first one would hold my hair back too

Post headed your way

atb,
Mary

 

[Singeblister]

Very nice work Eric

 

[~Dan~]

brilliant work :You_Rock_

 

[Pipistrelle]

Great stuff eric, I really like the lettering I haven't done lettering yet, it is a bit advanced for me yet I think, did you use stamps for it? Here are some of my attempts doing some bracelets.

 

[Eric_Methven]

Great stuff eric, I really like the lettering I haven't done lettering yet, it is a bit advanced for me yet I think, did you use stamps for it? Here are some of my attempts doing some bracelets.

The lettering is all done by hand. I design the layout and fonts on the computer (Corel Draw), print it out and then transfer it to the leather. As the leather is damp for tooling, I put a bit of shrink wrap over it as I trace over the letters to make an imprint. Then I cut round the letters and use the bevelling tool to make them stand out. Then I stamp the leaves and acorns, finishing with the backgrounder tool. Once that's done I either dye the whole thing, or paint on different colours using acrylic ink. It's finished with a liberal coat of boot polish and a good brushing to make it nice and shiny.

Eric

 

[firebreather]

Got them now they are even better than in the piccys. I just love them Thanks for making them. Going to be sewing them on tonight. :You_Rock_

 

[Graywolf]

Eric,
Lovely work

 

[Pipistrelle]

The lettering is all done by hand. I design the layout and fonts on the computer (Corel Draw), print it out and then transfer it to the leather. As the leather is damp for tooling, I put a bit of shrink wrap over it as I trace over the letters to make an imprint. Then I cut round the letters and use the bevelling tool to make them stand out. Then I stamp the leaves and acorns, finishing with the backgrounder tool. Once that's done I either dye the whole thing, or paint on different colours using acrylic ink. It's finished with a liberal coat of boot polish and a good brushing to make it nice and shiny.

Eric

How silly am I, never even thought of printing out the lettering and the cling film idea is fab too, I use it to keep my leather from drying out but I haven't really used templates i just go with the flow.

Do you find that leather dyes are a bit too concentrated, i use vodka to thin them down at the moment but i feel like I am wasting booze and I find that you have to put a relly good coat of wax over it as it doesn't seem to want to seal the leather is there a better (less toxic) equivalent? I have used natural dyes like gorse flowrs, birch bark, Alder bark etc on cotton but they don't look much on leather and are a nightmare to fix without noxious chemicals am I missing something?

I use antiquing wax and natural colour shoe polish at the moment have you tried resolione is it worth the price I have been told not to bother but am still curious as to its effectiveness as it sounds somewhat more convienient to use.

 

[Eric_Methven]

How silly am I, never even thought of printing out the lettering and the cling film idea is fab too, I use it to keep my leather from drying out but I haven't really used templates i just go with the flow.

Do you find that leather dyes are a bit too concentrated, i use vodka to thin them down at the moment but i feel like I am wasting booze and I find that you have to put a relly good coat of wax over it as it doesn't seem to want to seal the leather is there a better (less toxic) equivalent? I have used natural dyes like gorse flowrs, birch bark, Alder bark etc on cotton but they don't look much on leather and are a nightmare to fix without noxious chemicals am I missing something?

I use antiquing wax and natural colour shoe polish at the moment have you tried resolione is it worth the price I have been told not to bother but am still curious as to its effectiveness as it sounds somewhat more convienient to use.

I generally use the leather dyes straight from the bottle. I do like to use ground Black Walnut Hulls in an alcohol base as a natural dye method. On their own, walnut hulls will make a nice deep brown dye but add a crushed iron tablet, or a bit of grade 0000 steel wool and the tanin in the hulls will react with the iron and give a deep black dye. I don't like resoline much, I prefer wax as a sealant. I find resoline gives an artificial look much like chrome tanned leather trying to pass for veg tanned if you know what i mean.

I do find acrylic ink works well to give colour though. I use the expensive stuff used by graphic artists and design professionals. It flows well from a brush, airbrushes brilliantly and is waterproof when dry - so you can still wet the leather after painting, prior to wet moulding.

Eric

 

[Buckshot]

Careful Eric.
You'll have orders for 6000 of these otherwise !

Looking very nice btw

Mark

 

[Silverback]

Cor they are a bit special they are :You_Rock_

 

[Toddy]

I've gotten mine in the post

Really, really excellent Eric :You_Rock_
The coloured one looks right on my bag and the brown one is going on my jacket. It looks 'natural' against the forest green; very special and I'm delighted with them. Many thanks.

Bighug,
Mary

 

[ESpy]

I do find acrylic ink works well to give colour though. I use the expensive stuff used by graphic artists and design professionals. It flows well from a brush, airbrushes brilliantly and is waterproof when dry - so you can still wet the leather after painting, prior to wet moulding.

FWIW, I use Createx acrylics if I'm playing with polychrome. They require a moderately high pressure (relative to FW acrylic inks) through an airbrush due to the viscosity, but the opaque ones go on very cleanly, cover well & are surprisingly resilient.

 

[Eric_Methven]

FWIW, I use Createx acrylics if I'm playing with polychrome. They require a moderately high pressure (relative to FW acrylic inks) through an airbrush due to the viscosity, but the opaque ones go on very cleanly, cover well & are surprisingly resilient.

Tell me more. I've only used guache to achieve opaque artwork, and of course it's not waterproof by any standards. I'd love to experiment with a permanent opaque medium.

Eric

 

[ESpy]

Er... Acrylics, quite thick in consistency, generally frowned upon by the higher-end airbrush users for that very reason; 2 ranges - AutoAir and Classic - of the two, AutoAir is supposed to be mechanically stronger, although I only use the classic ones. The classic are available in both opaque and transparent (transparent black is odd though!); there are some interesting effects paints in the range too - iridescent and interference effects, for example (blue/purple depending on viewing angle, that kind of thing). Transparent colours over a pearlescent base can look pretty good - I did a name badge as part of a Christmas present that worked well with that.

User guide - http://www.dixieart.com/Createx.html
A UK stockist I've used many times in the past with no issues - http://airbrushes.com

What else would you like to know about them?

 

[Pipistrelle]

I don't like resoline much, I prefer wax as a sealant. I find resoline gives an artificial look much like chrome tanned leather trying to pass for veg tanned if you know what i mean.



Eric

Thats what I was worried about, thanks eric, saves me buying some! and having it hanging around. My back yard is too small for a shed so I have the use of one kitchen cupboard and space is at a premium.

 

[Eric_Methven]

Er... Acrylics, quite thick in consistency, generally frowned upon by the higher-end airbrush users for that very reason; 2 ranges - AutoAir and Classic - of the two, AutoAir is supposed to be mechanically stronger, although I only use the classic ones. The classic are available in both opaque and transparent (transparent black is odd though!); there are some interesting effects paints in the range too - iridescent and interference effects, for example (blue/purple depending on viewing angle, that kind of thing). Transparent colours over a pearlescent base can look pretty good - I did a name badge as part of a Christmas present that worked well with that.

User guide - http://www.dixieart.com/Createx.html
A UK stockist I've used many times in the past with no issues - http://airbrushes.com

What else would you like to know about them?

I wouldn't mind having a look at some of your work. Fancy posting some photos?

Eric