Purple = Blue?

So as I mentioned in my last post I was commissioned for a set of Purple Armor for a friend of mine. After my beautiful blue spotted hands, I went back the next day for the overcoat of purple which should have turned it into a royal purple.

Did you note the Should?



Should is not did. Not at all. It barely muted the blue. So, we ended up with a set of GORGEOUS blue armor. Thankfully the friend who ordered it also really loves blue. He says he is good with the color and since I am out of leather at the moment, I am taking it.

This project was very different than the last armor commission in so many different ways.
1) He didn't want his armor to be like either of Phydouxs which meant the entire sizing had to be original. The last commission was just for a matching set of the larger pauldrons, a MUCH easier task. He also wanted them to meet in the back, which I hadn't tried before and took a LOT of shaping work to make function
2) He didn't want a pre-drawn design, but did have a fairly specific idea he wanted. The last true-art piece I did was the phoenix waist cinch, which was drawn on command and edited as needed, but wasn't really directed much.
3) There is not a single truly good purple dye that I have found yet. They are all just a little to lavendar or almost pinkish if you layer them enough. I need to find a true royal purple or I am going to not allow commissions in the color.
4)The project kept switching details...which made it hard to keep up with. Many of the changes were mine, I didn't like how something happened to be working, or didn't like how something was turning out.
5) I am a little bit blue/purple color blind. This project was HARD.

But...I think it turned out well. It was a great challenge, and kept me working on leather for several months. YAY! Let's see what comes up next. Any suggestions? Kasha Armor? Spinal Armor? What would you like to see me create?

The Plague?

Well, it is blue spots - but its from doing the undercoat of blue for the soon to be completed Purple armor! YAY!

All the lames have the blue coat, tomorrow I will add the purple coat (Which ends up with a beautiful deep purple) and then the black edging. Once the edges are done the hole will be punched for the articulation and then it will be delivered off!

This project has taken me forever. Probably due to beginning the moving process right after getting this commission - I am really looking forward to getting this out of my project pile.

After I complete this, we are looking at at least one set of Spinal Armor and possible two. I can't wait to start a new challenge.

No pictures today - will post completed pics this weekend if all goes well!

Designs from the dark places

I am moved! That means it is time to get back out the tools and finish the armor so I can get started on Kasha's.

Tonight began with design finalization. He had picked out a design he liked online, and my job was to translate that into something that can be tooled. Let me tell you, 13 point star = NOT POSSIBLE! At least not on a small emblem sized breast piece. Now, on a back plate, I could do it, but not in less than three inches with hand tooling.

Here is the inspiration piece. I spent over an hour trying to make it work. It simply would NOT agree to being done. After a little discussion with the buyer we discussed an alternative design, it took about half an hour and we had a new design (I will try to get it uploaded tomorrow).

It works much better! So, art completed it was time to get back to work. I took all the lames (different pieces of the armor) and soaked them in water to make them simpler to tool. I am curious if any other leather workers do this, or if they all use a chemical softner and just spray it on like my other friend who does leather work? Well, began with the piece that would need the emblem tooled, I prefer to do the harder work first and ended up with a design that slipped :( *cries* which meant I had to recut the top lame and soak and retool.

Pity my hands guys, seriously. Painful to do that much detail twice. So, after failing to cut or slipping up with the razor twice I finally got the third try at the recut to go correctly, though I bet I will have messed the sizing a little, which will mean some more work when I am doing the articulation in a few days. Or it might mean it, I don't know yet.

I still need to decide how I am going to recut the second lame. He wants more range of motion with it, which simply means some additional articulation. But, I have to decide if I am going to straight-cut across the shaped lame, or if I am going to curve it and straighten the top of the other half (shortening the whole thing by 1-3 inches). I just have not decided yet. I think it might look strange to have a single straight lame amongst the curves, and it might hinder the effectiveness of motion. I truly don't know.

So, All the lames but the one still needing decisions made are tooled and are currently tied up to shape while they dry. It will be 1-2 days before they are ready for dye and articulation points, so it gives me a little time to figure out the final questions. Any thoughts? How do you as a crafter deal with questions when you don't have anyone else you know who does this craft?

Armor and a Move

I got another commission for a set of armor! This one is just for a biker jacket and has some fun tweaks. It will be a different size than the two I have already made, and is designed a little differently. I have both sides cut out of the leather already and am just waiting on the person to come by so I can confirm it will fit correctly before I begin tooling and dying the leather.

I love projects where I get to work a little harder :) This one will be a lot of fun when it's done.

Sadly/Happily - We are buying a house! :) So much of my stuff is finding its way into boxes. I had hoped to finish the armor before moving, but I don't think that will happen. No Matter, I will still aim to finish it soon.

After I finish this armor it's time to create some for Kasha! :) Can you wait?

December Craft Day and Holiday Fun!

So - Today was another awesome craft day! Today's projects for me was wrapping up the idea I had with Kasha of creating some Leather ornaments.

Here is the initial cut out

And today, with color and finish!


I really enjoyed this project and posted it up to Etsy :) Maybe I will get a few actual sales. And if not, I will have a few beautiful new ornaments for my collection! These are a fairly simple design, cut out my base pattern, tool the letters that we need and then (let dry) and color as wanted.



What do you think?

November Craft Day

Sorry dears for taking so long to work on the next project. I am still waiting on new leather projects since I am almost out of leather - so instead I did a few simple projects from stuff mom had stashed in her downstairs office. This is also part of my answer to the "Oh-GOD I FORGOT About the Craft Chain" that I had earlier this week. :)

Let's start with the books. Four white square books filled with graph paper - cute little cut out in the center front and two easily removable pages that said where they came from.



This summer I ended up with some amazing pictures of Kasha as a fairy at our local Renaissance Festival - so I took some of the tissue paper I had around the house and cut out different sizes, shapes and colors of leaf which would match the forest in the picture (I hope).

Kasha and I decoupaged them in several layers across the books covers and left the hole in the center open to put in the picture of her to send this book to one of her Aunty's. Hopefully the book comes in handy and the picture makes her smile (we'll have to see) We are waiting to insert the picture, but the book is done!

Took the same idea of "Forest" and added some red, orange and almost purple leaves to make one for another friend who loves leaves and added a beautiful copper leaf that I found on the ground a while ago and tossed in my jewelry box. I am looking at adding pretty clasps to the books but here is my Autumn Leaf book.




Mom also had the fabric and instructions for a pretty little fleece tie blanket (tiny little lap blanket size) which I put together and cut out and tied together. It was stupid easy but pretty and hopefully will make a good Solstice Present for someone else who is awesome...I in fact have a brilliant person in mind thinking of it now :)




Didn't take pictures of books 3 and 4 because I am not done yet...I just don't know what colors or Idea's to do and feel like the leaf thing is done. What do I do next? Any suggestions for a book with a hole in it to make it something useful and fun? They have graph paper which I have always loved! I am tempted to make one or both all jeweled and give it to a niece for Solstice....Any other suggestions?

So...Yeah

It's been a bit longer than I anticipated. Life has been very crazy in a lot of complicated ways - But! I have picked the next project. A good friend asked me to design her a sword/knife Frog for steampunk/pirate/ren fair events. My goal is to have it finished by Monday to give it to her as a Halloween present :) We'll see how I do.

Wish me luck!