Fall Leaf Keychain

Even though I’m gone, it’s still Silhouette Challenge Week!  I managed to get a project done for the 3 months I’ll be away – and so here is your first!  Our theme to tackle this month was fall, so I figured the turning colors of leaves would be a great fall theme.  And since I’ve been on such a leather kick lately, I wanted to see what I could do there as well.  And so I made a keychain!

Materials

*Some of the following are affiliate links.  Thanks for supporting this blog!

1 small piece of 5-6 oz tooling leather (~2×2)
Silhouette Kraft Paper (you could use vinyl, but I like the stiffness of the paper)
Scissors for cutting the leather (a good pair of fabric scissors will do)
Silhouette design 14031
Ball Tool (I have the kit linked to here, but you can find these by the clay tools as well)
Fiebings British Tan Dye
Jacquards Metallic Rust paint
Hole Punch
Keychain

Step 1: Cut out your Design

For this project, I just used a desgin I bought from the Silhouette store (see above).  So all I had to do was size it to be about 2 inches long and then cut it on the kraft paper.  I also like this design because there is no weeding neccesary.  I just used the stock setting for the Silhouette Kraft Paper.  And let me tell you, the Silhouette Kraft paper is perfect for this project!

Step 2: Cut out your Leaf

Adhere the larger leaf to your leather.  Then, using your leather scissors, cut around the pattern.  You won’t be able to get into the corners with the pattern there, but once you’ve got the basic outline you can remove the craft paper and snip out those corners.

Step 3: Hand Emboss your Design

For this part, first wet the leather and then adhere the second, inner piece of craft paper to the leather.  You will want to make sure the leather is wet throughout this whole step, so you might want to keep a wet paper towel nearby to keep wetting it.

Then, start pressing down hard with the ball tool in the open spaces of the design.  I realized afterwards that I would have liked it better if I didn’t press down around the outer edge.  I went over this step twice to make sure the impression was nice and deep.

Remove your paper guide, and you can see all of the embossed areas.  Nifty, huh?!  All hand embossed, and the sturdiness of the kraft paper plus the ability to stick right onto the leather helps so much!

Step 4: Decorate as you wish

For my decorations, I used the Fiebings British Tan dye and applied an uneven coat.  This made it look darker in the center.  I also decided it needed a bit more umph to the swirl, so i painted that in with some metallic rust paint.

Finally, punch a hole in the stem.  I used a hand awl, but you could also use a dremel, drill, or simple hole puncher.  Attach your keychain, and viola!

Want to Check Out More Silhouette Projects?

My Silhouette Challenge buddies and I are all sharing projects on our blogs today, so peruse the projects below for a wealth of Silhouette inspiration!

1. Create & Babble // 2. Lil Mrs. Tori // 3. unOriginal Mom // 4. Zanaree // 5. The Kim Six Fix // 6. One Dog Woof // 7. Cupcakes & Crowbars // 8. Living My Given Life // 9. Architecture of a Mom // 10. Put A Bird On It // 11. Just Add Paper // 12. Weekend Craft // 13. Silhouette School // 14. Minted Strawberry // 15. My Paper Craze // 16. McCall Manor // 17. Chicken Scratch NY // 18. Mama Sonshine // 19. Creative Ramblings // 20. From Wine to Whine // 21. Please Excuse My Craftermath… // 22. Dragonfly & Lily Pads // 23. The Thinking Closet // 24. Simply Kelly Designs // 25. Sandpaper & Glue //

I like to link up here.
Affiliate links help me keep this blog running. Thanks for using them!
All opinions expressed on this blog are always my own.