Leather, Leather, Leather!

Listening to "Abe Lincoln" by Best Friends Forever

I can't say that post enough.. LEATHER!!!!!

Anyhow.. It's been a little bit... ok, maybe a bigger bit since I've last posted. Things have been really moving with my leather projects. I know I posted an ambiguous picture last week of one of my bracelets. I sold that bracelet right after I displayed it and it gave me new cheer to move on to vintage inspirations. This time I have another picture...I've been wanting to do something subtle... yet me.. Took me a few hours and some buttons!! and the bracelet below is what I found in myself. I think I may keep it... shhh...

Good news. I have another belt chair I'm working on as I post this. I should have it finished with before and after pics for you to look at soon.. ok it's raining now so that will have to wait. I can't paint in the rain... :(

I went on a calming re-photo shoot this morning and was able to post cuffs to our store. We are now open. My sister should be adding her cuffs to the store this weekend so the number will double tremendously. :) Thanks for all the positive comments everyone. Cheers.

And then there were trumpets...

Listening to "Skinny Love" by Bon Iver.

It's been a few days since I last posted and I wanted to fill you in and what's been happening. It's a tornado of fantasmic proportions!! I have cuffs finished. I don't want to show everything I have finished but I did want to give a sneak peak to my faithful followers so that you can see what's coming out. I opened up an Etsy store with my sister- Hide & Moore. A little play on words but I love it. The Hide is the leather we use in everything we make. The Moore/More pertains to what we use. I love buttons and she loves sterling silver so each bracelet is different. And there is definitely more than just buttons and sterling.

So just a little breakdown...

1. Etsy store up but not quite open. I'll have it on the blog here once we have it open. So keep checking back. :)

2. I have accessories finished! Yes.. And for a sneak peak I give you.. "Hera's". This has already been spoken for by someone already but I just wanted to show you. If I show the color then I give way too much away. Take my word that this heavy cuff is awesome. ^-^

3. I also did some thrift shopping this weekend and wanted to clue you in on some of my button finds. I'll post those tomorrow with pics and separate info... I am so psyched that everything is finally coming together... :) Cheers.

Leather Burning on the Dancefloor

Listening to "Paris" by Friendly Fires (Au Revoir Simone Remix)

The leather practicing/doodling has been going fantastic. I have a few belt cuffs/bracelets started but not finished due to the snaps. A few cons have been the gun metal snaps I'm using. The leather punch I bought does not have the same size punch as the snaps. Looks like I will be driving over to Harbor Freight to check out a different punch.

So my sister is officially hooked on the leather bracelets now. I gave her one of my leather punches and we shopped for beads together this weekend. We experimented with a few bead themes and she came up with a really neat cuff. Maybe she'll send me a pic and we can post it.

I also spent a good chunk of the weekend "cleaning out" my mom's vintage knick knacks. Buttons, buttons, buttons... oh it's on like Donkey Kong with buttons. I'll post about that later tonight.

I thought I'd share a few finds with you that I will be using on my cuffs. I especially love the first stone and might even keep it for myself... ^-^. I know.. I'm shellfish. :p Cheers!

Upside Down Frowns

Listening to Sad Songs by Elton John

I can't tell you how psyched I've been this week. I ran into a bead shop on St. Pete Beach with a friend and snatched up some nifty beads. The majority were clay and bone. I also ordered a few from a shop local here in town- Primitive Earth Beads.

The leather doodling has been going fantastic since I've figured out how to remove the points from my heat tool. That actually took Google & a customer service email to the company to figure that one out. In the meantime I had incurred a papercut on my finger and a nice strawberry bruise from trying to remove the points with my fingers... Thank you to Judy Meyers at Walnut Inc. for emailing me back with a pdf creative form to remove points and an apology for cutting my finger... ^-^ I wish I had a photo of my doodles but Abby(our newest kitten) ran off with my leather scraps and I have no idea where she hid them...

As you may know, I'm not one to buy brand new things but Lowes has this awesome bench that I am in love with.. Unfortunately the price tag is out of my budget and I'm hoping a clearance slash will bring it down. I just love the detail. It's heavy and beautiful. I know exactly where I'd put this baby.
Thanks to my mom for helping me start our side garden. I've cleared out a huge patch in the side of our yard. Unfortunately the previous tenant before us used this patch of yard to create a "bonfire"... I won't go into extensive detail but they took termite infested wood and laid a fire pit on top of it. Wait.. there's a tree that hangs 4 feet above the fire pit. I have no idea how the house did not set on fire but we're there.. So Tim and I cleared all that out and now have rich soil ready for a garden. I will grace pictures once we have something worthy.

I will have a few things up tonight. Watch for them... ready... steady.... xoxo. Cheers.

Bzzzzzy

found here

Listening to "You and Me" by Her Space Holiday

It's been at least a week since I've posted and it'll probably be another few days before I do again. My sister just had her baby, Wyatt and I am so excited for another nephew. We have a wedding (future brother-in-law) to go to tomorrow morning and my future father-in-law just got admitted to the hospital. We need any prayers for all 3 people if you can give them. It's been a very stressful week for us...

On a lighter note, I just ordered some leather supplies. eBay is such a glorious site to find nifty things. I've decided to focus my crafting skills on one thing I really do love.. bracelets.. leather cuffs to be precise. I love a comfortable bracelet that gets worn in. Mmm... the smell of fresh leather in the afternoon.

I'll be working on more belt chairs and even opening up an Etsy shop soon so please keep a look out for The Thrifty Turtle! Any comments or suggestions would be appreciated. Cheers. :)

Project 1: Belt Chair

This is a project that has consumed my creative senses for years but I've never gotten around to completing it. My future sister & brother-in-law have done a couple of these and I thought I'd give it a try. First things first. I got all my belts from thrift stores. Nickel or quarter a piece. I wouldn't pay more than that because you're going to (a) either poke a hole and ruin them, (b) rip them from pulling too hard or (c) find out they are either too short. BTW... I did all those so safe tip :) This was my first try at this so bear with me. My mom found this really chic antique chair at a thrift store for $5 and I was able to take the leather hide bottom off of the chair. I cleaned the chair with wet/dry rags and then sanded it down. At this point I'd recommend doing whatever it is you want to do to the chair (i.e.. staining, polishing..) unlike what I did. I laid my belts out to figure out what pattern I wanted. I had a small chair and I used 25 belts in all. It really depends on how big, thick, and types of belts you use. I'd recommend used worn belts that you can stretch out and poke holes in. Fabric belts are very easy. I used leather saddle soap to clean the leather belts before putting them on the chair and using leather wipes after to keep their hold. My chair needed some TLC with wood glue and sanding so it took me a littler longer to do this project.

Start by putting your belts on horizontally first. It'll be much easier to weave them vertically. Pick your pattern and go. I buckled them underneath the chair that way the worn pieces of the belt were on the underside. 2 people makes the job quicker but hey... solo is my last name. after finishing with the belts I wiped them down with the leather wipes. My mom recommended a matte wood finish which we brushed on. It sealed the wood polish/stain and gave it a nice matte coat. I loved it. The rustic feel was fantastic and I think it turned out great as my first try... behold...