Pineapple leather earrings

The most recent addition to my Etsy shop the Transylvanian Trove is a new model of handmade leather earrings. These original pineapple-shaped earrings are entirely made by hand out of genuine, 100% natural leather. These are great fashion accessories for both everyday use and special occasions. The transparency effect is obtained through the overlapping of two pieces of leather, the upper one perforated to suggest the fruit's texture. Several color combinations are possible. The earrings are fitted with common metal hangers and loops.

The art earrings in question are created in Transylvania, but of tropical inspiration. Due to their length - 5 cm (1.9 inches) - these earrings shall not pass unnoticed! Be disco and have them assorted to various types of casual or festive outfits.

See more unique earrings at special prices from the Transylvanian Trove HERE.
Read also an earlier blog post about my leather earrings created for Atelierul de istorie HERE.

Pineapple earrings, handmade out of natural leather, original jewelry, fruit earrings, perfect gift for her, disco from Transylvania

Pineapple leather earrings

wearing my own creation - pineapple-shaped art leather earrings

fruit accessories handmade

anatomy of a pair of handmade leather earrings

Red leather draco wallet

Atelierul de istorie has just created a personalized variant of the handmade leather wallet with tooled decoration consisting of the mythical Draco, the half wolf half snake war standard of the ancient Dacians. The bi-fold wallet is entirely made by hand - original drawing, transfer, incision, tooling, dyeing, sewing, and finish. This color combination - red and brown both inside and outside, degrade on the outside, one red card pocket stamped with the same ancient symbol - is but one of the options available.

Draco leather wallet by Atelierul de istorie

Draco leather wallet by Atelierul de istorie

Draco leather wallet by Atelierul de istorie

Draco leather wallet by Atelierul de istorie

Here are some images during the manufacturing of this wallet, i.e. the hand stitching and gluing of the components. These are all made of natural veg tan leather, the pieces varying in thickness.

Draco leather wallet by Atelierul de istorie

Draco leather wallet by Atelierul de istorie

Draco leather wallet by Atelierul de istorie

Draco leather wallet by Atelierul de istorie

 

Handmade leather goodies from the Transylvanian Trove

The Transylvanian Trove includes several handmade leather items - bracelets, earrings and coasters. The most recently added is a vintage tooled veg tan leather bracelet decorated with a hand-painted geometric flower motif (that some have also interpreted as Neptune's trident :)).

Vintage tooled leather bracelet, natural leather cuff, handmade leather jewelry, geometric flower, design in Transylvania, Romania

The leather earrings available on the Etsy shop are both tooled and plain leather ones. The advantage of both is they are light and warm to the touch, so very comfortable to wear. The octopus earrings have been described in a previous post HERE and the autumn leaf earrings HERE.

Leather earrings, autumn leaf shaped, asymmetrical (framing the face), handmade jewelry, veg tan natural leather, from Transylvania

Octopus leather earrings, animal earrings, handmade jewelry, natural leather, 3D, designed in Transylvania, trendy accessories, Romania

Leather earrings, round earrings, handmade jewelry, natural colors, natural leather, metal hangers, made in Transylvania, Romania

I have also recently added another category, i.e. leather coasters, made of up-cycled natural leather, assorted in brown and black colors. The colored coasters can be used to differentiate between glasses at parties and receptions.

Set of 4 leather coasters, assorted natural colors, natural leather, drinks coasters, gift for him, handmade in Transylvania, Romania

Handmade leather bracelets/cuffs

The Proper Leather Studio of Cluj-Napoca, Romania (selling via Etsy) produces fully handmade leather goods such as wallets and bracelets/cuffs. Among the latter, one successful type consists of such fashion accessories with tooled and hand-dyed decoration depicting the Draco. The ancient war standard, an iconic symbol of the Dacian civilization, is very popular in Romania and among Romanians all over the world.

Here are couple of variants of the cuff type and the season greetings from the proper Leather Studio. Merry Christmas! 
Do not forget about the 10% Etsy discount coupon that applies until the end of this year!

Dacian-inspired gifts for men

Continuing the special offers for the 2016 shopping season, Atelierul de istorie presents the gift for men, with items inspired by the ancient Dacian civilization. The package includes:

• cotton T-shirt, black, serigraphy imprint in white Draco-the Dacian war -standard
• handmade leather pendant (stamped veg-tan leather, hand-dyed with Gel Antique) on leather cord - depicting the same symbol
• bone pendant, camel bone on leather string
• linocut book mark / business card
• red wrapping

Handmade leathercraft

As we [The Proper Leather Studio] have just started a new batch of natural leather, tooled wallets, I though I should show you our method. The first painstaking step is to cut all the elements - outside, money divider, pockets - at their required dimensions. The outside is cut of thicker veg tan leather as it is decorated through tooling. The chosen motif (a skull and an owl so far from the current lot) is transferred by hand on the damped piece of leather, incised and tooled. The pockets are meanwhile hand-dyed - all black for this project.

Veg-tan leather cut for several wallets

 

Hand dyed leather elements (dividers and pockets)

The tooled motifs are then blocked with Leather Sheen and/or Resolene (we use Tandy Leather products for this). Resolene does a better job at blocking but allows for less hue gradients of Gel Antique. Sheene is more permeable but better for some projects. It all depends on the intended effect.

Blocking tooled leather motifs

The next stage envisages hand dying the outside of the wallets - around the blocked motifs - by brush and sponge and then applying and wiping Gel Antique from the entire outer surface. The combination of colors is rather important here, considering that the dye is covered with the semi-transparent Gel Antique and the precise and sufficient blocking of the motif, that should remain leather-color, with the gel just stressing the indentations.

Hand-dyeing

The parts and then assembled, glued, sewed and the edges finished.
 See our finished products on ETSY.

Handmade leather bracelets

Atelierul de istorie and The Proper Leather Studio started the preparations for the end of year activity by creating new cuff bracelets. According to popular models, the decorative motifs selected for the new lot consist of the Dacian war standard, the so-called Draco, Celtic knots and Celtic triquetra. All bracelets are entirely handmade, through a succession of carefully executed steps: cutting, model transfer, incision, tooling, dyeing, finishing. The sides and back are also treated with special substances (creams) that make them comfortable and more resistant to moist. Made of natural vegetable tanned, full grain leather. Dimensions: 17 – 20 cm in length, ca. 3.5 cm. in width. The closing system of choice is with leather lace as it allows for a good fitting on almost all wrist sizes.

 

Probably my last Etsy treasury

As Etsy has announced that treasuries can no longer be created and old treasuries can no longer be edited from October 5 (you can sign a petition against this HERE), I've decided to end this pastime with something fun: kinky leather. I was innocently searching Etsy for leather toys and I discovered several nice adult toys, the names of some of which I didn't even know. So, check out the Kinky Leather treasury to learn about dragon tongues, cage bras, special riding crops and, naturally, spanking paddles!

 

Celtic triquetra leather cuff

The latest product of Atelierul de istorie is an entirely handmade leather cuff bracelet decorated with the Celtic triquetra (triple knot) motif. The term is of Latin origin, from tri- "three" and quetrus "cornered", originally meant "triangle" and was used to refer to various three-cornered shapes. The wristband depicts a series of tooled interlaced knots, ending in vegetal tendrils. In order to stress the interlaced decoration further, all relief parts of the decoration are painted by hand in black against the dark green background. Made of natural vegetable tanned, full grain leather. Dimensions: 17 – 20 cm in length, 3.5 cm. in width.

Bucranium leather wallet

The Proper Leather Studio is working on another project, a new folding handmade leather wallet with bucranium - tooled decorative motif consisting of a buffalo's skull,a motif of ancient Roman inspiration. The intended special effect is to be achieved through a Leather Sheen (three times over), dying the background by hand in a mix color (very dark violet brown) and then applying over the entire surface orange Gel Antique (saddle tan). This lazure/patina effect on nuances of orange/yellow/brown renders the organic color of the animal skull. Soon on Etsy!

Proper Leather Studio Etsy Shop

The Proper Leather Studio, my second, brand-new Etsy Shop, is a family business, with me making the designs, transfers, cutting, and dyeing, and my husband managing the measuring, cutting, and sewing of the products. We like to make thing properly, thus every item has been cut, incised, tooled, dyed, sewed, and finished entirely by hand. We take our time in carefully crafting every single item so that it is both artistically pleasing and durable.

The studio produces fully handmade tooled leather accessories and we started adding listing in the "wallet" category. Bracelets to follow soon, stay in touch! You can use the Facebook Page as well for updates.

ProperLeatherStudio shop cover photo

Hand tooled leather wallet with hooded skull

My Etsy Shop has just been upgraded with this new leather wallet. Continuing the series of skull wallets, intended as gifts for men, this item depicts a hooded skull. It is entirely handmade, as no machines were used throughout the production process: leather cutting, model transfer, incision, tooling / carving, dying, sealing, sewing, and finishing. For more photos and insight stories from the workshop, check our specialized Facebook page, Piele sculptata.

 

Tutorial - asymmetrical houses leather earings

I had fun with another series of playful leather earrings. After attempting several complicated solutions, I returned to the basics: combinations of colors and textures, asymmetrical shapes, and overlapping. The design starts with several simple shapes, drawn on cardboard and then cut to be used as templates:

The house shapes are then drawn around the templates on leather (on the back side, naturally) and cut with a simple scissors. The combinations of leather shapes is all the fun - changing things, avoiding monotony, obtaining special effects through imperfections and the thickness/texture of the different types of leather employed (suede, glazed leather, usual kinds). The asymmetry of the earrings is not only meant "inside" one piece, but also in the combination of the pair (see below):

The closing system adds to the overall decorative effect, as it consists of a small bronze clasp (with teeth, securing the pieces of leather together) with the surface decorated with equidistant punches.
See also my older post on DIY leather projects HERE.

Leather Tray Etsy treasury

Starting from my previous post, I turned to searching for leather trays on Etsy. The best are selected for my latest treasury. Naturally, this not purely devoid of personal interest, as I am thinking of making some myself. So, as usual, Etsy treasures provide a source of inspiration. I have selected here trays and bowls that do not require stitching, as I find this among the more difficult operations in leather working.

Round leather earrings

Last weekend I experimented complicated leather accessory designs, human masks, three-part Ionic column pendants and other ideas. They proves just that: too complicated to be cool. So I turned to a very simple solution: round earrings with accessories. Each item consists of two leather circles in assorted colors (using as pattern two of the most common Romanian coins) and some recycled glass, sand beads, or bronze decorative elements (leaves). See how you like them and feel free to try.

Or check them out, with full descriptions in Romanian, on my website, Atelierul de istorie. 

variants of color and accessories

brown and grey + three leaves

white and grey and black sand bead

black and white and bronze leaf

tones of black and bronze leaf

black and grey and recycled white glass beads

white and grey and turquoise glass beads

brown and red and red glass beads