Faux Weathered Leather Effects with Dala

Those of you who watch my Youtube channel all know that I am the worlds biggest big Dala junkie.  Last year some time in one of my youtube videos – I discussed my discovery of one of their coolest products called DALA Acrylic Retarder. In the video I showed you a card where I used it as an embossing gel for heat embossing onto a hand drawn image, and how I made.  Recently I have been playing around with it a whole lot.  I really do think that it is my favourite go-to sort of product if I need something to blend, bend or emboss with.  One of the coolest things I have discovered is that you can create amazing aged or weathered leather effects by applying Acrylic Retarder to cardstock – it adds amazing slip and makes the paper more pliable and in doing so are able to create glorious texture.
Today I am going to post a short photo tutorial on how to recreate that effect.
For a plain piece of faux leather- you need the following things

• Cardstock (my preferences are White, Manila or Kraft Cardstock)
• Dala Acrylic Retarder
• 2 shades of Dala drawing ink (Eg Dark Brown and Sepia) in whatever colour you want your leather piece to be or you can also use Dala Suncolour in Sepia -  Suncolour yields a more waxed or polished leather look 
• a piece of blending foam (I most often use a plain cosmetic wedge foam or piece of  Ranger’s Cut n Dry foamsheet, but I have also used regular foam like the ones that you wash dishes with)
• Dala Podge or Dala varnish (matt or gloss) – This is optional.

  STEP ONE:  

  - Cut your cardstock down to the size you need. 

  - Dispense a blob of Dala Acrylic Retarder, onto your cardstock and massage it into the cardstock until it gets fairly saturated.  Add more if needed.

  - Flip the piece over and do the same on that side.

STEP TWO:

- Once you are satisfied with saturation, it shouldn’t be too wet – just enough so that it starts to absorb into the paper –
-  Squish or wrinkle the piece into a wad. The wrinkling creates veins in the paper, like you would imagine an old piece of leather to have.

- The reason we added Acrylic Retarder to the cardstock, was to make it more pliable and less   prone to the tearing that you get when you wrinkle dry cardstock and unwrinkle it out.

- straighten or flatten out the piece you have just wrinkled.

STEP THREE:
- Dispense a few drops of the darker Drawing Ink or Sun colour, mop up the drops with your piece of foam.
- Lightly buff the raised veins with the darker ink.
- you could also make some random areas of the piece of cardstock darker with the same ink

STEP FOUR:

- Apply some more Dala Acrylic Retarder to the cardstock (front side only this time) – this is going to give you more slip for the next shade of ink, plus it helps to stop you from accidentally rubbing off the top layer of paper fibre as happens when friction is applied to piece of wet paper.
- Dispense a few drops of the lighter ink into a container or craft sheet and mop this up with your blending applicator (I typically use the same foam as above)
- Work and blend the ink all over the cardstock until you have blended it to a point where the contrast is visible but well integrated. What you get is a lovely piece of faux leather.  There will be some light and dark areas – just the way real old leather looks.

STEP 5

- This is an optional step, I think it gives it more finished look.  Sponge or brush over a coat of Dala Podge,  Varnish, or Matt/Gloss Medium.
-  If you have an embossing machine, before you apply the Dala Podge, Varnish, or Matt/Gloss Medium, run it through your machine in your folder of choice.  You can then apply the finish. Sandwiching the piece between a couple of pieces of chipboard,flattens the piece out so that you get the full effect of the veined texture without the rough wrinkled bumpy bits.
-  At this stage you can either use the piece as a background or you can make an embellishment out of it.

*edited to add - havent checked out the application of Crackle glaze and crack base on top of that but I reckon it would be even cool - after all crack is an addiction right?


Here below are some examples of things I have made with it.  I have also used the same technique in different colours to create texture for “dried leaves”, flowers, butterfly wings etc.   For the Balloon card - I used the same "leathering technique" but instead of using browns and sepia tones - I used blues and white to create a mottled texture - I also didnt squish the paper so much.

    

Amazing things Acrylic Retarder can do!

There are other things you can do with Acrylic Retarder - other than tasting it like me.  I am still in the process of figuring out the comprehensive potential of this product (from Dala ofcourse) but in the video below you will see how I used it as an embossing fluid (WINNER WINNER WINNER) and to make paper look like leather - kinda....

I somehow never end up uisng Dala products for what they have been originally marketed for - this is either a testament to multi-functionality of the Dala collection of brilliant products or it is an indication of my rebellious character sliding into insanity.

Homemade Kraft-core Core'dinations duped with DALA SUNCOLOR!!!

I always say to folk who are distressed about inavailability of big American Brand names in little South African towns that you can create almost anything those brands do with my favourite South African brand of art and craft supplies - Dala.  In the Video below - I show you how to dupe Ranger's Kraft-core cardstock with regular Kraft cardstock and Dala Suncolour.

I like Suncolour because it leaves a waterproof plastic or wax-looking coated finish once dried.  If you prefer a more matt finish you I suppose youcould also use Dala drawing ink.
*edited to add - I recently saw on the Dala catalogue that they have a product called Teddy Liquid Dye - I havent tried it yet, but I am confident we could make this work as well.

loved ripping off ends and glossing it up with varnish

cut, punched and sanded

Watch this video below if you are cheapie like me and want to know how you can make your own homemade Kraft-Core and pretend like you have the Tim Holtz kind.  I have done all kinds of things with this dupe Kraft-core. I sand it, I emboss it, I rip it, I punch it, cuttlebug it, cricut it.....and sometimes I spit on it!!! 

This has saved me huge moola PLUS I can get it in any variety of colours that I want (cos SUNCOLOUR comes in a variety of colours and you can blend your own shade by merely mixing the variety of colours Dala offers).  My Nikon is on the blink so unfortunately you will have to do with a few grainy, hazy webcam pix for now.



 



Rooibos - I love it - here's my attempt at making a "smashbook collection of Rooibos recipes for bath, body, soul and gut!

Floating Flower Hairccessory

Make your own floating flower hair goody!  Super cute~!

That’s right – it is possible to get soap in your inbox!

Hello from Candice!
I am super excited about the contents of this letter and my new venture. After much contemplation and a desire to get up and running in a more efficient way -from  this year on I am pleased to be taking my little soapmaking hobby up a notch and periodically will be sending out a mail-order type newsletter featuring new, delicious and "retro-back-by-demand" runs of soap, bath & body products.
More excitingly, exclusively for Richards Bay and Empangeni residents - I will start doing weekend home-party showcases. What's in it for you? If you would like to host one of these and can find atleast 10 people (or more) who would be interested in handmade bath & body works, you will automatically receive a super luxurious Tincan Handmade bumper pack bundle filled with a variety of my favourite bath & body treatments and for every single sale of R100 upwards from one of your guests, a gift of your choice from the gift bundle, as well as a 10% discount on anything you purchase at your hosted party.
I am also going to be branching out into the wedding and party favour side of things, as I too am getting bored with the party favour options consisting of the ol' miniature plastic champagne glass filled with pink and white cachous or the laminated pressed flower  bookmark....
My plans for the future include "Beauty-in-the-kitchen" weekend workshops where for a small fee to cover ingredient lists etc, I will run a workshop on how to make beauty treatments, and fun bath & body goodies from things in your kitchen. But that is a little later on, and I will send out details on that in later newsletters.
To kickstart this new avenue - I have included at the bottom of this e-mail/blogost a couple of pics of my favourite limited edition glycerine soaps for you to have a look at, together with a description and an order form. Each soap is individually handmade and thus each bar is completely unique.
Total production time for each series of soap ranges anywhere between 60 to 240 minutes dep ending on the level of detail and artistry involved. I get inspiration for each soap by things I see, smell, hear, taste or find out that it’s good for you. I then make a little sketch of what I imagine the soap should look like. Sometimes it is a bit of mission to work out how to translate the sketch into its soap-form, but most times I get pretty close to what I saw in my head. Each little detail of the soap is made, carved, and coloured seperately and then incorporated into the final design.
The scent formula (apart from the plain standards like lavender, lemon-balm, etc) is a blend designed by myself from my vast collection of essential, nature-identical and fragrant oils. I put a huge effort into creating what I call my soap art and would love to share this passion of mine with you.
If you would like to be included the next time I mail out my e-mail catalogue of sorts - just reply to this email  or do it manually at mailto:tincanac@gmail.com. Forward this letter out to any of your friends, family and acquaintances who love a bit of luxury on a shoestring budget as well, after all who says that whimsical luxury must only be the indulgence of those with big wallets. I would love to have more people share in my obsession!
Bars of glycerine soap that weigh 110g are usually sold at R12-00 each, but I have a special going on right now - I will give it to you at cost per bar which means that you will only spend R10 for a whopping 110g. Or get the Tropical Trio guest soap set, each weighing 40 grams for R25. Fill in the attached order form and type in E-LETTER SPECIAL in the coupon code box in the subject box to qualify.

Glycerine Soap – VERANO (Vehrah-noh) A spanish summer - bright orangey-yellow chunks of the sun embedded in clear base. Weighs 110g Fresh, clean unisex scent like walking in a sunkissed meadow.

Glycerine Soap - EARTH Earth toned spiral in a clear base Weighs 110g Earthy, woodsy, masculine scent

Glycerine Soap - SHOWER DOOR A misty shower door in stripes of aquatic hues. Weighs 110g Decidedly cool, fresh Aqua notes. TOP SELLER and voted as customer favourite

Glycerine Soap - ICED COAL Big chunks of black coal plunging into clear icy antartic water. Weighs 110g Smells heavenly, spicy wood undernotes with a touch of a patchouli middle and rounded off with a deliciously refreshing peppermint twist. I designed the fragrance formula to cater to the masculine market but it is extremely popular with both men and women.

Glycerine Soap - HOT CROSS (Aromatherapeutic) A clear cross embedded in a rosy base. Weighs 110g Warm, spicy notes like a hot cross bun with clove, cinammon and sandalwood essential oils. I especially get a kick out of the clear cross in the middle.

Glycerine Soap - FRESCO (fries-koh) The Italian word for "fresh", “cool” and a water-based pigment painting. Beautiful marbly swirls of greens, blues, yellows and purples in a translucent base. A fresh clean gender-neutral scent with a hints of musk, pine and bergamot.

Glycerine Soap - STRAWBERRIES & CREAM Crushed strawberries in red glycerine base with a generous dollop of skin loving moisturiser. weighs 110g Scented lightly with Strawberry

Glycerine Soap - MUSK Looks like little pieces of chewy candy in soft pastel tones swimming in a clear base. Weighs 110g. A sensual smoky white musk scent.

Glycerine Soap - FIRE Fiery billows erupt from moten rock. The design seeks to capture the roaring magnificence of the element fire. Weighs 110g. Softly scented with sweet and musky notes and a undertone of ginger.

Glycerine Soap - CITY ABLAZE A tribute to the magnificent dusk landscape of industrial Richards Bay Weighs 110g Softly scented with warm spice and citrus notes

Glycerine Soap - OH SUGAR like caramelised sugar weighs 110g lightly sugary sweet (the lighting makes this picture look a little more vibrant than the soap actually is - its a lot more muted and definitely more caramelised, cooked sugar looking)

Glycerine Soap - LAVENDER (Aromatherapeutic) one half opaque lavender essential oil infusion, one half lavender buds soaking into translucent glycerine. weighs 110g Lavender of course

Glycerine Soap - DOUBLE CHOCOLATE made with real cacao and cocoa butter with coffee grounds for scrub. weighs 110g naturally chocolatey

Glycerine Soap - CRUSHED ALOE & ROOIBOS half aloe, half rooibos infusion weighs 110g Very rooibos and herb scent

Glycerine Soap – MOONLIT DREAM The moon swimming in a magical night sky weighs 110g fresh floral

Glycerine Soap – APRICOT CRUSH Translucent syrupy looking soap chequered against exfoliating bran topped apricot pieces weighs 110g sweet sugary apricot

Tropical Trio Guest Soap Deliciously refreshing summer soap. Each guest size glycerine soapweighs about 40g and comes in a fruity tropical medley of Watermelon, Starfruit and Satsuma.

Order form

soap	left in stock	add to cart	quantity required	subtotal
example	5	x	3	R30
verano	4	.	.	.
earth	2	.	.	.
shower door	5	.	.	.
iced coal	3	.	.	.
hot cross	5	.	.	.
fresco	5	.	.	.
strawberries & cream	2	.	.	.
musk	4	.	.	.
fire	1	.	.	.
city ablaze	3	.	.	.
oh sugar	4	.	.	.
lavender	3	.	.	.
double chocolate	2	.	.	.
rooibos & aloe	2	.	.	.
moonlit dream	1	.	.	.
apricot crush	3	.	.	.
tropical trio	9	.	.	.
TOTAL		.	.	.

Enter The Massive $10,000 Mobile Monopoly Giveaway Contest

Enter The Massive $10,000 Mobile Monopoly Giveaway Contest

Allergic to perfume?

So my latest idea for scenty things was born out of a love of crafty repurposing, the need to fix up the unfortunate way too plunged neckline of almost perfect dresses that the trend industry has inflicted upon us 30-somethings, and of course the insatiable need to turn it into something that pleases at least 3 of the five senses.  Best of all you can easily do this for under R7 or $1. 

The project mainly started off like this.  I have 2 dresses that are super cute, a cute little purple floral mini-dress that I love and a fuller skirt length floral dress.  They really are cute and I love wearing them, because they are cut perfectly to my exact body shape.  The only problem with them is that they have wide plunged necklines so low, that if it got any lower you would see my belly button. 

Now I am quite firmly of the opinion when you hit a certain stage of your life , and your body is starting to not look like your 16 year old self – you should have enough sense to not try to dress like a Hip-hop video girl!  Needless to say that I think Hip Hop video girls usually are not the classiest women to  begin with.  So yes, even though I consider myself a decent enough feminist – I have to say that there are some looks – that you just must not attempt past 18! 

Anyway, I digress – back to my story.  I had these dresses and I wanted to fix them up, and I didnt want to do the dated camisole look either, and neither did I want to do the sweater-over thing either – the dresses were so pretty that they needed to be unhidden.  I got to thinking and I thought – ha – I should make a pinbrooch to fill in the absence of decorum of the pretty but borderline hooker wannabe dresses.  Now I’m not talking about like a cameo pinbrooch with Queen E’s profile, I wanted it to be something more like the Bohemian/grunge while trying to seem business like look I tend to favour.  After all, I belong to the Nirvana-Pearl Jam-Metallica-Foofighting - generation of the early 90’s!

So that’s what I did.  I have mentioned my love of PEP Home stores before, and my weekly pilgrimages to it– and so I trundled myself off there again and found a two headed bunch of kitsch silk roses, for R2,99 I think.  You know the kind – overtly plastic stems and leaves, usually part of the decor in restrooms at petrol stations, or in the decor-style of those living-rooms where one is likely to see prints of Elvis and possibly a Pope, next to Britney Spears opposite  of which - a string of neon coloured rosary beads hang on an equally distrubingly gaudy cross,  underneath of which one of those pictures of Christ with a radiating heart stands balanced on a stack of empty beercans.  Yep those kind of roses.   I got sort of funny looks from the cashier, but I didnt care – I had big plans for ‘em trailer-trash roses. 

I brought them home into my studio and proceeded to take the heads of he stems and pull the flower apart.  Then I used a self-blended concotion of ultramarine and maroon Dala Sun Colour dye and I proceeded to dye the die-cut petals to tone in with the colour of my purply maroon dress.  Once that was all dyed and dried, I layered the disassembled flower in a less “obviously-rose-ordered” pattern that I liked.  Then came the most frustrating part of the project and that was glueing and stitching all the layers together so that it stayed in exactly that pattern.    Once that was done I got a matching button out of my random button collection, stitched through it to secure it to the centre of the flower and voila fleur de Candice. 

Then to get it to attach to the garment, I took an ordinary large safety pin and sewed that onto the back of the flower (no serious sewing – I pretty much used the frontier button sewing technique through out the project), and finished it off by sticking a little teeny strip of velveteen over where I had attached the safety pin to the flower.  To stick with that grungy theme I wanted – I took a little brush and dipped into some metallic craft paint and sort of randomly brushed over the petals and the button to make it look a little distressed and grungy like.  I ended up with a radically cool grungy pinbrooch and I am loving it – so then I went back out and bought a whole bunch of different plastic flowers (daisies, chrysanthemums, lotus??) to turn into more pieces of grunged jewelery – I mean who wouldn’t like to wear big distressed blossomy grunge earrings right???  I’m also thinking wrist corsage type watch.

Now about the scenty bit – here comes the genius part.  I noticed a while back, when I pulled a sweater out of the closet that I could smell the perfume that I had put on, on the day that I last wore that sweater.  Then I started thinking about my brother, who has really sensitive skin and cant wear any cologne etc.  That catalysed my brainwave idea – what about scented accessories – you could scent the item and smell like, well …roses without it even having to be on your skin?  And I started asking around, whether peope wore perfume regularly and whether they changed their perfume often or stuck to one kind.  I’m thinking layering here?  You know when you soap up with Grunge Passion soap, then you grease yourself with Grunge Passion moisturising body lotion and then you spritz with Grunge Passion body mist – except those people whose skin cannot tolerate strong perfume concentrations – in that case you would just wear a scented accessory!  So there you have it - another one of my great ideas for the week that I will probably never ever market.  That’s the finished piece up on the left. 

HANDMADE SOAP

WHIMSICAL TREATS

The Feature today is this lovely series -