Today's blog post is a part of John Bead's Blog Hop. The project above was designed and created by our Social Media Coordinator, Charlotte, using Second Skin Fish Leather.
When John Bead invited us to be a part of their blog hop, I jumped at the chance to participate. John Bead's newest product is a leather for jewelry makers, and here at Jacquard, we've got quite a few products that are perfect for coloring leather!
John Bead's newest product is called Second Skin Fish Leather, and it is actual Fish Leather! Tilapia to be exact. While that may not sound appealing, it looks and feels gorgeous, it's finished beautifully, it's sustainable, and it's very easy to work with.
Out of the 12 available colors, I was assigned the Plum color. I also received a metal cuff, and a pair of Dazzle-it Leather Scissors specially made for cutting leather. Before getting started, I grabbed a handful of Jacquard paints and pigments to experiment with. Here is the final materials list I came up with:
Supplies:
Second Skin Fish Leather (shown here in Plum)
Piñata Alcohol Ink in Havana Brown
Lumiere 3D Dimensional Paint and Adhesive in Clear
Jeweler's Wire, 28 gauge
Round Bead for flower's center
Flower Bead of your choice with open center
Instructions:
Once I had all of my materials together, I decided to cut the leather prior to coloring it. This prevented me from getting any paint, ink, or pigment on my cutting mat, or my cutting utensils.
To start, I measured the width of the cuff. This cuff was 1.5" wide. Using a straight edge and a fine tip marker, I marked a straight line on the back of the fish leather as close as possible to one of the long edges so that I could cut off the rough edge on one side. Next I had enough room remaining to mark a 1.5" wide strip, followed by a 1" strip, and then there was just enough scrap leather on the other side to use for experimenting with. The Dazzle It Scissors worked beautifully on leather, I didn't have to squeeze or pinch the scissors, and I didn't have to dull my nice fabric scissors. I ended up with four pieces, as you see below.
First, I experimented with the width of leather. I decided that I liked a little exposed metal, so I selected the 1" wide piece to use on my cuff. I reserved the 1.5" wide piece for a future project.
Next, I experimented with color. I took the scrap pieces, and cut them in to smaller pieces to try several different effects with our Piñata Alchohol Inks, our Pearl Ex Powdered Pigments, and our Lumiere Paints. I settled on three finalists, pictured here.
I decided on the Havana Brown Piñata Ink, which when painted over the plum color of leather, turned in to a rich mahogany brown. The transparency of the Piñata Inks also allowed the natural texture of the leather to show through. It only took a couple of minutes to dry. Then I took a very light and flexible jeweler's wire (28 gauge) and wrapped it around the painted leather, making sure to keep the wire held flat to the surface of the leather.
Next, I used Lumiere 3D in clear to apply the leather band to the cuff. The Lumiere 3D takes a little while to dry which afforded me the ability to reposition the leather band until it was centered on the cuff. I was able to wipe away a little bit of excess without any trouble. Once it was in position, I cut off the stray ends of the leather, and allowed it to dry.
Lastly, I took a head pin and strung it through a round bead, and then through the center of a flower bead. I wrapped the head pin around one of the metal strands surrounding the leather, and then secured with Lumiere 3D Adhesive in Clear. Allow for the adhesive to dry overnight, and your creation will be ready to wear!
Thank you to John Bead for including us in your blog hop!
To find your own Second Skin Fish Leather, contact their product representatives at: info@metalcomplex.com.
To find Pinata Alcohol Inks near you, use our store locator.
