Leather- Lets get started

So it seems there is a lost art. The art of leather crafting. Well, maybe I should say lost trade. I picked it up working at Holiday Lake 4H Educational Center this past summer, and have gotten addicted to it. It's calming, rhythmic at times, and it can annoy some one in the room with the pound of a hammer! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!

Before you do leather crafting, you need to know that yes, it is SKIN. I had so many kids ask me if it was real skin. I get my leather through Tandy Leather, who takes the hides from animals used in their entirety. Also the stains and paints I use are Eco-friendly and 100% biodegradable. If you're a vegan, sorry.

There are two different kinds of leather. Veg-tan and Chrome-tan. The difference is in the tanning process.
Veg-tanned leather, in short, is tanned with vegetable extracts and is the kind of leather that is easily altered, moldable and stampable. It's the more decorative leather you might see in belts, saddles, boots, etc. Any mark made on it is permanent. Even pencil marks.
Chrome-tanned leather is tanned with chromium salts. It's what is used more typically in clothes. It is very easy to cut, and you can use a lace-maker on it quite easily. But I'll post about that another day.

These guidelines are going to be for working with Veg-tanned leather. You can buy it in all kinds of sizes and thicknesses. Just think about what you want to make, and the make the judgement.

The supplies:

Marble slab- you need a very very hard surface to hammer on, and one that doesn't bounce. I got mine through Tandy.
Mallet- you can get these in plastic or leather. I went with plastic. Just don't do rubber.
Stamps- designs, letters, backgrounds, whatever your heart desires.
Spray bottle filled with good ole H2O
Leather- make sure it's veg-tan
Good lighting
Creativity!!!


Let's get started.

Your leather can be cut into whatever shape you want with scissors or an exacto knife. I would suggest practicing before you do anything on your primary piece of leather.

Wet the leather with the spray bottle. Now it's not alive anymore, so it's not thirsty. Don't drench it. Just make sure that you get the surface wet enough so the water will absorb into the leather. Then hold your stamp straight up and down, touching the leather, and hammer. If you hammer too hard, you will puncture the leather. If you go to lightly, you won't make a mark.

There you have it!! More tips and techniques will come very soon, I promise.