SteemBird - upcycling necklace with a soul
Good Afternoon dear Steemians,
after some poetry in the morning https://steemit.com/photography/@anutu/not-like-all-the-others-can-you-see-me I thought I might delight and inspire you (at least I hope so...) with another upcycling art piece.
When I create my jewellery from reused findings, I always try so hard to end up with something that really has a soul. That unfortunately does not work with every piece. :) This time however I think, that this bird necklace feels somehow alive and has a sort of character.
As I enjoy my time at steemit I called it SteemBird. :)
What did I reuse ?
- some very very old leather, that was so unbelievable hard, that I had to work on it for quite some time to make it usable again.
- a a huge 1900 gallalite coat button (gallalite is a material that pre bakelite and is quite similar to it)
- two round gilded elements from a broken midcentury necklace
- a work from an old and broken wrist watch
- a round metal piece that I found in the streets on the floor (for the eye glasses at the right side)
- old copper wire
- some midcentury glass beads and a 90s glass pearl
At the end I did paint it with different translucent paints to give the SteemBird a more living look.
Right now I am preparing a series of upcycling tutorials. This will take some more time, but I will for sure come up with it. Stay tuned!
artwork and photography @anutu
so how do you work the leather to make it usuable again? those little pieces on the side look like little gears to me.... making it seem so steampunk!!! (or is it STEEMpunk heheheh)
maybe you need to make a pieces with the Steem symbol and call it STEEMpunk ;)
loved this!
STEEMpunk - definitely !!!! Great idea - I would love to make something with the Steem symbol.
The two little pieces on the side are elements from a broken 1950s necklace. Though also, they look like gears and fit well to it.
Re using leather is something that I love love love. I experimented quite a lot to make it use it again. I have learned that even very old leather is mostly just dried out from sun exposure or due to the lack of proper maintenance.
First a few times cleaning the leather with natural soap and let it dry is great. After that coconut oil in many layers does a great job, but often left light stains on the leather. If I colour the leather this is not a problem as they vanish with the colouring process. Finally bees wax and polishing a few times.
If I like to use the leather with the colour that the time has given it, Timberland boot sauce does a great job. (I try to avoid industrial products, but sometimes ...) Finally again bees wax.
Old leather can also be welded in any form to re use it. Just let it soak in water for quite a time until it is completely wet (also inside) then fix it on the form you like to have. E.g. when you fix the wet leather on a round piece of wood you get a rounded leather piece. Than put it in the oven or on a heat source and dry it. Finally natural bees wax and it will hold the form given.
There are so many ways to re use leather ... buying new leather makes no sense at all to me
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