Unite or Die

I found this really cool American Revolution piece of propoganda. I appropriated the slogan for a shirt. I cut the stencil and added my own little bit of nonsense - you know, for the 4th of July.

The 4th of July - making things

I had a really great 4th of July. I spent a lot of time with the fam. I made some stuff and took a nap (or two).

Here are a few photos from the weekend's activities.

The first detail is a little anchor stamp that my father-in-law got me for my birthday. It's become my 'brand' for leather working. It's a fun little detail.

I oiled & polished a few bracelets & leather cuffs that I'd been working on - and hung them on a chair to air out.

Later that night I watched the fireworks and built a little fire in my firepit (another birthday gift from my lovely family).

How to Mystery Braid a Leather Cuff

My wife found this tutorial and sent it to me. So I'm posting it here becaust in all honesty Martha Stewart and her peeps can explain this much better than I can.

Enjoy!

Found type

I ran across this little pocket sized book of Trig Functions in my father-in-laws roll around (I was looking for his rivet gun to use on a leather project.)

I thought it was pretty cool looking.

Short Trick Braid

This bracelet was a result of me just looking for another way to do things. It's just a short braid. I cut three small slits in the center of the piece of leather and braided those. The effect is more of decoration - and seems a bit more substantial than my normal fully braided leather bracelet.

The Faithful Anchor - freezer paper stencil

Here is a project that I've heard about for years. I made a freezer paper stencil tee shirt design. I've always been pretty good with an exacto knife - so I knocked out an anchor (of which I'm quite fond) with some hand designed typography.

Pretty simple really.

1. Draw design on freezer paper.

2. Cut out design - be sure to hang onto the counter forms or negative spaces of the letters because those CAN be ironed back into place.

3. Iron the freezer paper stencil to the shirt. (shiny side down or it won't adhere to the shirt)

4. Once the stencil is adhered - apply ink to stencil (I used speedball fabric screen-printing ink).

5. Wait for ink to dry and remove stencil. Toss it in the dryer to heat set the ink.

6. Bam! Dopeness!

Black Leather

Another black leather trick braid. 1 inch in width x 9 inches in length and very comfortable. I found some really great, very soft black leather for this one.