leather

Earrings For Riding In Trucks

May 25, 2011 by The Noisy Plume

I wanted to create, for myself, a pair of big, bohemian-esque, countrified earrings.

Pretty and rustic.

Earrings I could wear while riding in my truck this summer.

Here’s what I came up with!

I love mine so well that I decided to make a few pairs for you — big and small. I’m not a leather worker but I’ve used leather here as I would sterling silver. These earrings are simple, sassy and lightweight, stamped conservatively with a western style leather stamps and antiqued a gorgeous saddle tan. They’re like wearing feathers. They have a beautiful leathery smell like you’ve been hanging out in the tack shed soaping saddles all afternoon. They’re perfect earrings for riding in trucks.

Or, I suppose, riding on subways.

Or riding on bicycles.

Or anything else you can think of…

…they’re just perfect.

In the shop now!

x

:::EDIT:::
WOWEE!
Thanks so much ladies for snaggling these earrings up so quickly!
I appreciate you so much!
Now I’m going to go buy some spinach.
x

Filed Under: leather, riding in trucks, summer

Prairie Woman Breastplate

February 4, 2011 by The Noisy Plume

There’s been this battle in my hands when it comes to what the heck to do with leather.

For a while, I’d shiver when looking at my leather bench, afraid to make anything except simple, bright belts to go with my belt buckles.

One of my dearest friends is a leather worker and it always seems like she’s already done everything, tooled every kind of design there is to tool, strung together every kind of bag one could make and crafted every kind of cuff there is in the world.

I’ve been paralyzed by her proficiency and terrified of dancing all over her tender little tootsies,

until now.

Finally, in the past few weeks, I have dreamed up something that combines leather and metal, something that really feels like my own and feels true to my heritage and my style. I’ve suddenly come into feeling free to sit down and create a bit, just a bit, with leather. I’ve realized, even more than I did when I wrote this, that creative freedom is ALWAYS mine (and yours), whether it is encouraged, or not. It isn’t granted by anyone but rather, it is inherent in us all, as humans — we all have a right to create, to express ourselves, to make with our hands and our souls even if that means our work overlaps the work of others technically and aesthetically. Our work and the honesty of our work is our own business.* I love discussing this topic and the idea of creative “ownership”, I could do so for hours really…I so often find myself utterly alone in my perspective that it makes for lively debate — stimulation for the minds! YEE HAW!

But back to the topic at hand, I’ve been making breastplates.

They are entirely handcrafted, including the fine silver buffalo ingots that are central to the designs. They have girth and sit, quite warmly, over the heart. On the body they feel protective, cozy, soft and powerful. In the hand, they feel like something beautiful you’d trade for a three month supply of pemmican, or a cured and lush bison hide.

They evoke rustic living, pioneering soul, a dash of native fortitude and a strong connection to the earth, animals and maybe even subsistence lifestyle — they’re just so unique, so rugged and lusty, so wonderfully organic.

More than anything, I have this grand sense, when I wear mine, that even though I have strayed far from the great Northern plains of Saskatchewan (my home), I can still hang the spirit of the prairies over my heart, like a shield.

They are stitched together by hand and tie around the neck with the softest turquoise suede. A total sensory pleasure to wear.

This is the first I’m offering, the original is my own.

You may find it in the shop, toute suite!

Happy weekend to you all!

I’m so excited to have most of my computer work finished for the day already (oh my gosh, it’s only 9:35AM). I’m going to head out to the studio and work on a few other diddies that I’ve had bouncing about my soul this week before retiring for the weekend. I hope you all have the most wonderful WONDERFUL day.

I appreciate having you in my world, so much.

I don’t tell you that nearly enough.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you for finding me.

With abiding affection,

The Plume

*This reminds me of something I was journaling about the other day. I was remembering the journals I kept throughout high school — the unhappiest time of my life. I’ve read over them and can hardly bear how dishonest they are. I wasn’t writing them for anyone but myself, but I didn’t know how to be honest with myself, even in private! Do any of you relate with this? When I flip through a currently tended journal, I’m astounded by how much I’ve grown as a girl who is simply able to be honest with herself, in private and in public. It feels good. I know that honestly is flowing out into all of my life and all of my work, I know that honestly expressing my emotions is healthy and it’s…well…it’s kind of exciting! Sometimes I feel all grown up…

Filed Under: bison, breastplate, leather

Sitting On My Duff

August 13, 2010 by The Noisy Plume

It’s true. I’ve been sitting around on my fluffy little duff this week. But the lack of productivity isn’t really my fault (though it sort of is). I placed a material order almost two weeks ago and had been waiting on it for ages and finally, I said to myself:

Well! Where on EARTH are my materials?

When I hopped online to check on my order status, I found out that I never actually placed the order.

*GROAN*

So, since sterling was in short supply around these parts, I turned to leather and finished up a belt and some cuffs when I was NOT running about town like a madhatter since life was also held captive by mundane errand running all week long. Sigh.

I must take a moment to also point out that besides having a fouled up supply order, this was a hard week. We’re talking zero flow. We’re talking everything that could go wrong DID go wrong, sometimes all at once. And then yesterday I had a filling performed at the best dentist on the planet and so I had an Angelina Jolie FACE for the entire day (as in my face looked like her lips), and my phone broke, and yadda yadda yadda. I’ll spare you the gruesome details.

The good news is that it’s August, I’ve fallen into my solo rhythm now and I haven’t been beating myself up over it. I’ve just been shrugging my shoulders and eating lots of fresh veggies and not stressing. It feels good. Every summer, I have to grow up a little bit. Every summer, I have to step up a little bit. From where I am now, the view is lovely and I’m going softly on myself.

Anyway, here’s a belt!

Now about the actual belt portion, it says:

KISS ME

I TASTE LIKE WILD RASPBERRIES

Sassy, for sure.

I often think about all the things I want to say to RW while he’s away. I want to tell him about my weird dreams, what I found in the garden, what I saw while out running, what someone said in an email….but more than all of that, I just want to yell in his face:

KISS ME

I TASTE LIKE WILD RASPBERRIES

Every man should be so lucky to hear such a sentence in his lifetime…

I reckon at least one of you wants to shout the same thing at your fellow so I made this belt for you,

you wild little pioneer woman….
It’s made to wrap around something sassy that has a circumference of 40-42 inches.

Sometimes it’s nice to let your hips do all the talking…

I’m off to pop a couple of things in the Etsy shop (this belt included)

and then I’m going to make lunch for a really lovely quasi-stranger-friend who is stopping by

and then she and I are going to head out to the reservation to

watch the pow wow.

Today I want you to:

1. Taste like wild raspberries.

2. Walk somewhere barefoot.

3. Sunbathe in an alpine meadow.

Happy Weekending!

Quillianna

Filed Under: belt, leather, sassy raspberries, sitting on my duff

The First Time is the Sweetest

July 29, 2010 by The Noisy Plume

I finished this at 2AM last night!

MY FIRST EVER BELT AND BUCKLE!!!

CAN I GET AN AMEN?!!!

100% handcrafted in every way! This belt features a hand cut, carved and tooled leather belt that has been antiqued and hand painted. The buckle was also crafted by me from sterling silver and amethyst. I feel compelled to once again remind you that a belt buckle takes one day of my life to create and is a labor of love in many ways. This buckle features two bison with pierced and patched hearts, one metric ton of texture as well as four amethyst cabochons. Like my buckles of the past, and many of my other pieces, this piece features a handful of word strips that utter:

Stay wild. Run free.

The leather portion of the belt echoes this sentiment and the entire piece is made to wear slung low around a part of a woman that measures about 37 inches. I can punch ONE MORE hole in this leather to snug the fit up a bit but NO MORE than that.

The belt has been equipped with two bomber snaps that allow you to remove the buckle if you wish to wear it with another belt or if you wish to wear the belt with different buckle. Versatility! YAY! Seriously, I struggled with how to antique this piece. I really wanted to use my chartreuse antique but sensibility won in the end and I selected saddle tan for the job — not everyone wears at least one piece of chartreuse green every single day like I do. See? I’m always looking out for your best interest (except for sometimes).

What people see when you’re going:

What people see when you’re coming:

This is my first larger scale effort in leather and I am so delighted by the outcome I think I’ll keep on with it. What do you think? Would you wear it?

I’m off to whip up some breakfast and a cafe au lait before heading out to the studio for the day.

I hope Thursday is treating you well, you smart little chickadees and chickadudes!

Filed Under: belt, belt buckle, bison, leather

Plough winds like mustangs…

July 28, 2010 by The Noisy Plume

Occasionally I wake up in the morning and I know, perfectly well, that there aren’t going to be enough hours in the day. Does that ever happen to you? Where do your priorities fall? Or do they take to the air like a deck of cards and land where they will? The sun is starting to dip low and there’s still so much to do! I thought I’d show you the cuff I just finished a few moments ago.

Flowery flowery flowery in shades of green and blue.

It’s muggy here. I wish the sky would break open and do its raining. I’m impatient for a storm. There’s nothing like a good old fashioned summer storm, is there? I love to sit out in the shelter of the front porch and feel the cool descend and the plough winds rear up like mustangs.

I’m off to cut fresh rhubarb and pick peas before I head out for a jaunt in the hills.

Glad Wednesdays to all.

PLUME

Filed Under: cuff, leather, New Jewelry