Leather Craft Details

Leather craft is a fascinating hobby and many artists have taken this way beyond carving initials or embossing a logo. Leather craft requires special tools and specific types of leather

Embossing / Stamping / Tooling

An excellent place to shop, learn about leather craft embossing, and gain knowledge on all types of leather craft information is at eLeatherSupply.com you'll find tools, hardware, leather, kits, and patterns there.

Embossing is art of creating a three-dimensional image onto leather. The only type of leather you want to try this on is vegetable tanned leather, which may be described as “tooling leather”. With leather craft embossing, you do not need extensive training since all that is required are some special tools, embossing plates or wheels, and some basic leather craft knowledge, which can be learned in a class or even on the Internet.

With embossing, pressure is created from underneath the leather item or from on top. For de-bossing, this is when the design is backwards, created from the top side of the leather, which would produce a sunken look on the other side.

The great thing about embossing is that you do not need extensive training or expensive tools to create a remarkable leather craft piece. The most popular method of embossing involves buying an embossing wheel. These wheels do range in size but the one used most often is one-inch wide made of metal. On the metal wheel are various types of designs that protrude, which is what will set the image into the leather.

You can find embossing wheels with every type of design imaginable. There are flowers, animals, scrolling, geometric designs, and so on. These embossing wheels are very inexpensive and easy to find at any craft, hobby, or leather store. Just keep in mind that if you plan to emboss leather on a regular basis, it would be best to buy the better quality wheel.

How To...

This type of leather work involves getting the leather wet so the design of the embossing will dry stiff and stand out more. If you do not have a special embossing wheel, you can use stencils like you would have used in elementary school to trace your initials.

Most hobby stores have a huge selection of stencils to choose from, giving you a good variety. Then, using a hammer made specially for embossing, you would tap out the design in the stencil, producing the embossed design on the other side of the hide.

To give you an idea of what leather craft embossing looks like, if you have ever seen a notary public stamp on an important document such as a marriage license or birth certificate, that raised design is embossed. Keep in mind that the quality of the embossing is dependent on the skill of the person swinging that hammer. The more detailing you see in a piece of embossed leather, the more time and effort it took to achieve it.

Blind-Stamping

This type of stamping is a reference to embossing surfaces that are not colored. On occasion, pigmentation may be added or gold leafing added to enhance the leather craft work.

Stamping

With stamping, a special press is used that looks like a rubber stamp to create the design. Additionally with leather craft stamping, the design is often not three-dimensional but contrasting colors. The results are very nice but do not have the raised effect you get with embossed leather.

Tooling

Tooling is an art form that takes time to learn. This type of leather craft involves hand tools like a chisel and hammer to create intricate designs. Look up our article on "Classes" through the link below for more information on where to find quality training for this amazing style of leather craft.

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My Craft Store Extravaganza!

For some people, going into a local craft store is a treat that is equal to enjoying a picnic, a sporting event, or a much needed get-away from the stresses and strains of a hectic lifestyle. Such places are bright with colors, ideas and designs that never fail to bring a smile to even the most busy people.

Major businesses such as Michael's, Jo-Ann's, Hobby Lobby or A.C. Moore stores provide a wealth of possibilities and supplies for any sort of project ideas that will keep your hands and thoughts busy for the entire year. Whether you like to design floral arrangements, paint, knit or scrapbook, a craft store will have the supplies you need.

Many smaller communities also have their own version of the larger stores, and will carry items that the big ones don't, while other carry only selective items that are the most popular at any given moment. Whether you shop at a huge national store or a small, local one in your town, a craft store is the first place to shop when you have a particular project in mind. Whether you're making a quilt or knitting a sweater for junior, visit your local stores first for ideas and products that will make your job easier.

Some stores cater to specific needs, such as painting, yarns or beads and stones. Larger cities often have more than one store, which makes completing any project a snap for locals, while smaller communities are more limited in their offerings.

However, the Internet makes shopping at any craft store as easy as clicking your mouse. In fact, more people today are ordering their supplies from stores on the Internet to take advantage of more competitive pricing, product offerings, as well as the ability to shop globally.

When looking for a local store that will suit your needs, it's a good idea to visit them to see what kinds and amounts of items they carry and to determine whether their employees are knowledgeable, friendly and willing to answer questions or provide suggestions when it comes to help or ideas. Check and compare pricing as well, as they will vary.

Sometimes, people will choose a particular craft store to support and utilize and refuse to visit any others. Such loyalty is nice, but may prevent a customer from benefiting from additional ideas, supplies and opportunities. Try to find at least two or three store offerings in your area that will cater to several craft supply needs, the most common of which are yarns, scrapbooking and fabrics.

Even if you don't need any particular types of supplies, it's fun to venture into a craft store once in a while just to get an idea of what people are doing and creating. Especially around the holidays, visiting a craft store can provide a myriad of ideas and projects that will help to create lasting memories that are designed and created with love and provide plenty of enjoyment for years to come.

For more information on crafts, try visiting http://www.craftguidance.com - a website that specializes in providing craft related tips, advice and resources to include information on craft store.

The Mystique of African Craft

African sculpture was admired first out of mere curiosity, then held in contempt, disdained and scorned, soon became worldwide data. Then suddenly through the interest of several modern painters, it was promoted to the dignity of an inspirational source. Today it is an object of trade and research to a number of connoisseurs. For more than five centuries before entering aesthetic hall of fame, African sculpture was regarded from contrasting points of view. This necessitated the study of the arts of black Africa.

In the last quarter of 15centuary and 2nd quarter of the 19th, the western world turned towards Africa. The attempts were so ruinous because of the circumstances that brought the two worlds together: lust for gold, European desire for power,the discovery of another civilization, economic crises etc. More than anything else Europe needed gold. Merchants knew that the gold they purchased from the infidels in the trading posts, the fonduks of North Africa came from the interior from Sudan. The decline of Hungarian mines provoked the worst economic crisis of the 13th century. The desire to find the source of the precious metal, to compete with Arab markets and awaken European economy to a life of trade was the essential motivation behind the first encounter between Africa and Europe.

It's doubtful that an inventory of what the Renaissance knew of the products and goods of Africa could be compiled. The interest was probably just a fad, but it lasted until 17th century and was strong enough to create a market in Africa itself Black craftsmen working under Portuguese merchants, fashioned ivory pieces,ivory spoons, forks and horns were eagerly sought by the royal courts of Europe. Carved horns,covered cups, salt cellars and cutlery ordered directly from artists in Africa were collected by museums in Madrid, Brunswick, Leyden and the Vatican.

Mythical accounts say that when the blacks of central Africa settled in the regions they now occupy,about 5000B.C, they found a population of small men probably ancestors of pygmies. They survived on hunting in equatorial forests. They were sometimes taken captive and sent to the Pharaoh's courts to serve as buffoons and acrobats.

Information is also available on the demographic movements that that populated Africa with blacks and their contacts before they penetrated further into the center of the continent. Sahara, at the time of Roman empire,was not a desert and was inhabited by small black communities. Mighty rivers flowed down from the Atlas and Hogger mountains. Zoological and botanical remains indicate that a residual flora and fauna,including crocodiles and elephants, still existed in the 19thcentury.Technological discoveries of massive equipment e.g polished axes, stationary millstones and crushers, suggests that their ancestors were agricultural people. Light weight tools probably used by shepherds, hunters and warriors and including blades, knives and arrow and spearheads,were found in the north.

Finally artistic traces include frescoes and engravings located in the rocky relief of the Sahara, the Hoggar, tibesti and Ennedi. Some of the paintings prove the antiquity of institutions and customs still surviving in traditional Africa.

Maria Mbura writes for http://www.kenyamarketplace.com an African online store dealing with a variety of African arts and crafts.