patinating

over the last couple of days I've been experimenting with patinating brass and copper. I've tried vinegar, vinegar and heat, vinegar and salt, and salt and heat. seems the last one worked best, but seeing as I used all on the same bits of metal its hard to be sure.

this was yesterday

and today after being left sealed in a damp salty plastic tub all day

 

you may not be able to tell from the photos but the colours are fantastic in the second picture





Bellocq secrets notebook and pendant

 

 

 

 

 

Experimenting with collage

the last of autumn

another notebook another post, playing around other themes. Its a bit off season but spring is late in coming.

 

the pendant is mostly recycled copper, the leaf is cut from a piece of pipe.

private

moving on with an idea, first the d-rings were added simply as decoration, the padlock seemed a natural progression, but what to do with the key?
The pendant uses pyrite, obsidian and acylic beads, bits of electrical wire and some broken chain, the whole things came together quite nicely.

not more books, yes



more books

Ok so I've not posted for ages, I seem to have no time at the moment. Here are some new books I have done over the last few weeks.

 

this one I made for a lady at work

 

my daughter has laid claim to this one, anything Harry Potter related (or even implied)

this last one was done as a present for somebody's brother, its the largest I have done and the most difficult

 

leather book obsession

 a steampunk inspired leather covered notebook, with clock parts rivetted to the front

 the inside is covered with pages from a book on victorian crimes

 

this is an old notebook that I've covered, the rivets are for decoration and extra security to stop the leather coming away

and this one is completely homemade, the pages are ripped to size and stitched together before glueing

the cover is cereal box and old leather jacket glued together

here are the instructions I followed

http://jamesdarrow.deviantart.com/art/Bookbinding-Tutorial-292237490

 

This is great because I get to make something different but still get to hit metal stuff with a hammer

somelinks
http://www.alvenh.com/misc/projects/bookbinding/
http://lenoki.deviantart.com/art/BOOKBINDING-TUTORIAL-part-I-105762746
http://black-wolfheart.deviantart.com/art/Book-Binding-Tutorial-204638626
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-bind-your-own-Hardback-Book/#step1