Hey everyone,
Gosh there is just so much to do and so little time. I forgot that I hadn't blog in awhile and of course I missed the whole month of April! Sorry about that folks. That doesn't mean that I haven't been crafting though...I have been plenty busy with work, crafting, and church. I have been doing research (always doing research) for my next crafting project. I love leather, love, love me some leather! Sooooo while I was out on the research stroll, I found this great faux leather tutorial by
Einat Kessler on YouTube. This lady is a Steampunk Dynamo!!!! She does really awesome work. I found myself watching her videos for almost an entire day. She did the Faux Leather tutorial using a toilet paper roll. Now, folks let me just say...there are some things that I really don't think are very practical and using a toilet paper, paper bags, and envelops to make mini albums are some of those things. To me (and this is just my opinion), mini albums are of 2 types functional (practical) or non-functional (display). With the work, time, and material that go into making the mini albums we create...I'm thinking the TP roll is not going to work in my world (by-the-way hers is gorgeous but that would be a NO for me). I like to make albums that are functional. In the beginning I was just making mini albums just to make them. Now, the albums need to be functional. The space needs to be created for that special photo, the paper needs to be positioned so that it's beauty is not covered by the photo. The paper needs to help express the feeling or moment of the photo. All those tags, flips, pockets, turns, folds, pull-outs, etc. need to be useable. Tiny tags that you can barely get the word "the" on are useless (especially with our aging eyesight and non-essential tremors). If I have to explain everything in the mini and write down instructions on how to manipulate the pages, it takes away from the beauty and aww of the mini and it's intended purpose. But of course, if someone wants to commission me for my services and they want those properties and characteristics, then who am I to argue with their logic; at that point it certainly works for me (lol...dissertation of over). Well, anyway; I decided to give Einat's tutorial a try and it was awesome!!! I love how the demo turned out. My mind was just all over the place with the possibilities of what I could use this technique for!
Below is my demo. I tried to stick with her materials as much as possible. The inks used:(all distress)-Vintage Photo, Spiced Marmalade, Forest Moss, and Black Soot (she didn't have Black Soot she used Staz-On), Glycerin (purchased at Wal-Mart in the pharmacy section). I used one of my favorite embossing folders. She didn't have exact measurements for the Glycerin to water. I used the 2.7ozs $1.99 bottles from Hobby Lobby, that come 2 in a pack. I think I used 1 tablespoon (which is also 1/2 oz or 15cc or 15ml) of Glycerin and the rest plain tap water. Glycerin is different from Glycerol (if you see a "ol" at the end of a word, it usually indicates some type of alcohol group), so make sure you get the right product. I used Liquitex Flexible Modeling paste. This will allow you to crunch, bend, and fold the TP roll after you are finished without harming your project. It looks, feels, and acts like real leather!! It is so cool, you are going to really enjoy this tutorial. The other good thing was, I didn't have to go out an buy anything...everything I needed was right in my crafting studio. If you've been crafting for awhile you probably have everything you need to give it a try. Well, that it for now and until til next time, craft like crazy!
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In the bottom left corner you can see my mistake, I laid it down before that part was dry. Since it was a demo I didn't bother to repair it. All-in-all it was great!
Hugz from Me,
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