Thursday, March 28, 2019

Carry It - What's Old is New Again - A Blooming Leather Handbag - Claudia Neubacher


Hi, servus and thanks so much for stopping by today!

Claudia here and it is my turn this month to not only share a project for the March "Carry It" theme but also for the "What's Old is New Again" theme.

For this, we have been asked to visit a charitable second-hand store in our town and find an item there that we could breathe new life into by using stencils for altering or adding that special extra to make it "ours" and ...well...special.  

We have the "Carla" shops over here in Vienna. These are thrift stores run by the "Caritas" (of Vienna's archdiocese). My husband and I often donate used furniture, toys or clothing. They sell everything from dishes to brides dresses...the money they earn goes into charitable projects of all kinds. 

I made a short video of my trip to the Carla store in my neighborhood. It does not only show various sections of the huge storehouse, but also the moment when I find "my" handbag. As they are busily renovating at the moment, the outside and storefront were taken down when I was there - so I could only film inside the store. 




And this is what I have turned my orange (have I already mentioned that orange is my favorite color?) real leather handbag into: 




I sadly forgot to take a "before" picture, but you can see the original state of the bag in the video if you like.

I used the absolutely lovely "Deer Antler Flowers" stencil designed by June Pfaff Daley and it had just the perfect size for using it on the bag's front.

Deer Antler Flower Stencil by June Pfaff Daley




Here's the how-to:


I started with finding the exact central spot to put my stencil in...


Then I used beige DecoArt Stylin Paint for Fashion Accessories and a cosmetic sponge to transfer the lovely flower bouquet shape so I could paint on top of this layer which was a lot easier and faster than tracing the stencil with a marker for a transfer.


The Stylin paint penetrates the surface to create a durable finish so you can use it on all kinds of leathers (natural and snythetic) and canvas as well without having to be afraid of your design coming off during usage. I used a small detail brush.


As I didn't have green in my stash of Stylin paints, I mixed one from Aqua and Yellow for the leaves' base layer and then from Turquoise and Yellow for painting in the leaf veins.


To paint the blossoms I used Stylin paints Fuchsia, Orange, Aqua, Yellow and a mix of Fuchsia and White.


Next I used a small detail brush and painted in some white highlights on the blossoms and greenery.


I also added highlights (or dimension) in yellow on the orange blossom and used Turquoise to paint the details on the blue flowers. Then I decided to paint over the left rose blossom with red for more interest and contrast. I also added some tiny dots around the bouquet for a bit of liveliness.

This picture shows the palette and all the Stylin paints I have used.



The bouquet still looked a bit too bright for my liking, so I decided to tone it down and give it a more vintage and worn look by adding a thin layer of diluted DecoArt media Transparent Red Iron Oxide fluid acrylic paint (by painting over the bouquet with a detail brush).





Much better! Some detail shots:







...and once more the finished altered handbag. The Stylin paints need to cure for 48 hours and that's it. So simple and easy and the result looks so rewarding, doesn't it?




Now I can wear this bag even with my beloved Dirndl dress as the bouquet has this feel of rural furniture paintings. Yay! (you can tell I am a real Austrian girl ;)
And piglet loves the new handbag too. ;)

Hugs and happy crafting!
Claudia
xxx








5 comments:

  1. This is a gorgeous hadbag !! Lovely change !
    Wish you a very nice day, hugs,
    Caty

    ReplyDelete
  2. Das ist ein interessantes Video, wie du diese Tasche gefunden hast! Toll wie du sie mit diesem Blumenmotiv zu einer originellen sehr persönlichen Tasche gemacht hast, wunderschön!
    Happy belated T-Day!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Beautiful, Claudia! Great pics and tutorial.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love what you did with this purse. It really looks nice. I'm going to have to remember this technique and type of paint.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you all so very much, ladies! So happy you like my bag so much! It was great fun to alter my thrift store find. Have fun too!

    Claudia xx

    ReplyDelete

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