My grandmother was very creative when she was alive. She had many different hobbies and enjoyed making crafts.
She did a lot of cross stitch work and baking (as every grandma does). She also made these intricate paper pictures that came in a kit, and among other things, she did leather work and leather stamping.
I inherited her leather stamping kit many years ago and have made a few things myself over the years. The first piece and most elaborate one that I made was a woman's belt. I did that over 10 years ago and surprisingly, its still held up after so many years.
In the kit are dozens of different stamps that are used to create a wide variety of patterns.
You can create very simple patterns using single stamp or you can combine several to create some pretty intricate designs.
There are so many different stamps that it can be a little overwhelming trying to come up with a new design. I myself tend to just stick to the more simple ones that I have used before and are familiar with.
These are some samples that are in the kit, made presumably by my grandma. I don't really know who made them, they were just in the box when I got it.
The three designs on the left don't really look all that special but they are actually pretty complex. They are an example of what can be done when you combine several different stamps together. They are also more difficult because you have to really focus on lining them up properly to make them look seamless.
If you're really good like my grandma, you can actually carve the leather and stamp it to give it additional texture.
The other day I decided to make two simple book marks.
I measured and cut the raw leather and then created a border using a special tool - let's call it a "border tool." Then I spent time stamping out the design.
Before stamping you need to soak the leather in water briefly to soften it. I didn't show this step but you get the idea, put some water on it and let it absorb into the leather to make it soft. After that you just place the stamp and hit it with a hammer and thats basically it. One thing to note is that you have to make sure the stamp is oriented correctly. I turned the stamp in my hand at one point without realizing it and ended up with one set of horizontal lines among the rest of the verticle lines. There is only a little room for error in the process. Sometimes if you re-wet the leather and rub out the design or stamp over it you can hide mistakes. But that doesn't always work. Its best to go slow and do it right the first time and try to avoid mistakes.
You can also "tan" the leather before you stamp it, which darkens it and gives it a petina finish. You do this by wetting the leather and then massaging it with a rounded metal tool.
The sample pieces above are an example of what I'm talking about. You can see that they are darker and have a nice petina to them. The raw leather will also petina over time though, with basic use.
In the case of the book marks that I made I intentionally left them raw so that they would petina naturally with use. More reading equals more petina.
Above and below is the second bookmark that I made, with a different pattern. You can see what the stamping tool looks like from the underside, in the photo.
The pattern didn't line up perfectly within the border, so some of the edges look a little off. Maybe I'll experiment with extending the pattern further and then cutting the leather afterwards, and making the border last. I'm still learning and experimenting.
