My Art Projects

This is a collection of all the artsy things I've been working on lately, with oldest at the bottom, newest at the top.

I prefer working on real leather, and use art markers purchased locally. I use clip-art and other free ideas around the web as references/inspiration, including henna-inspired processes and old school tattoo designs, adding my own spin.

March 2023 - Pink Freedom Fluevogs

These are the Freedom Suki Fluevogs, which are from 2003-2004. I thrifted these 20-year-old pink beauties for $9.95 (no joke), but they were thrashed. What to do?

First, we remove those shoe clips - those are not Fluevog! 

I was inspired by one of L's vintage 70s polyester shirts. 

I can totally work with that. I drew lines on the shoes first, then plotted the centres of all the circles with a dot. 

I filled in the Fluevog logo - that one's old school, pre-2006. And then I started drawing circles.

You can see some of the rips in the leather and the white scuffs on the heel. 

I filled in sections. 

Finicky work, but I like doing finicky stuff. 

Dazzling! 

Go here for my final wrap-up, which has links back to progress pics, outfits, and my original purchase.

September 2022 - Mica's Bag

Mica's an Australian blogger (her blog's here) who I've known for close to a decade! This self-described "Crazy Bag Lady" has always been a fan of my art, so I asked if she had a bag she'd like me to decorate...

She bought this Rebecca Minkoff pale lilac leather purse on eBay and shipped it to me. 

It had potential, and I had a wish list from her of elements she liked. 

It took me from April till September (I got slower as life got busier, post-pandemic) to finish, taking probably around 40 hours. Go here to see the last set of detail pics - from there, you can jump backwards for progress pics.

The "magic" M appeared when I drew these roses. 

Same materials as my usual - alcohol-based Tombow markers, plus a permanent Staedtler black pen or four (they dry out quickly - there's a lot of black on here).

There's a secret "Crazy" under the "Official" flap, and her own motto inside the top closure, the sides are also decorated and open up. 

July 2022 - The Autumn Jacket

This jacket was done for blog-friend Autumn. I had this jacket in the giveaway pile, thought it would look cool with spiders and webbing on it, so reached out to her to see if she was interested, knowing her love for all things Hallowe'en. 

"Eternally Autumn" spelled out in spiderwebs. Little spiders are keeping the leaves from falling - it's eternally autumn, get it? 

This took about 60 hours, and over 3 months to complete (details here, including a link back to updates).

Materials: Leather jacket, bought second-hand; Staedtler permanent black marker; Tombow alcohol-based paint-pens. 

I wore it once to work, just after it was completed. 

More pics here.

May 2022 - The Rose Bag for House of Savoy

I completed this in one sitting and gave it to the owners of local consignment store, House of Savoy, here in early June 2022.

The original Danier Leather purse was purchased in the thrift store for $24.95, and I'd planned to donate it as a basket draw giveaway for House of Savoy's anniversary. 

They generously offered me a $100 gift certificate for it, which I accepted and immediately spent. 

Two roses on the front and one secret rose.

I wonder who will end up with this? 

I hope they like it. 

This was done in two hours one afternoon.

March 2022 - The Badass Bag

This project was a little over a month, start to finish. 

Materials: vinyl/PVC/fake leather bag with fabric lining, purchased here for $9.95 at the WIN thrift store. Permanent black Staedtler markers, Tombow alcohol-based pens. 

The front of the bag is an illusion, disguising the extra bit underneath. I'm not just a "Total Badass Lady"...

I'm a "Total Badass BOSS Lady"! 

Even though you can't see it, I also decorated the back.

"Carry Love In Your Heart."

I also did the sides. 

Yup, those are sides. 

You can view the final pictures here, and there are links to previous progress updates.

February 2022 - The Peacock Jacket

This jacket took me two months to complete, working off and on. 

Materials: Leather jacket. This is a 90s/early 00s piece that I thrifted for $9.95 and had worn a few times, but wasn't completely inspired by. 

Permanent black Staedtler marker, Tombow alcolol-based paint-pens and Pilot Super-Colour gold liquid ink (alcohol-based).

It was the perfect canvas for playing with and trying out a new design.

Worn here, including final progress pictures and links back to previous updates. 

Fancy! 

November 2021 - The Tammy Jacket

I illustrated this in about a week in November, as a present for Tammy's 60th birthday.

"Friends in Fair-Weather and Foul."

Material - PVC/faux leather, with fabric under arms and down side. 

Permanent black Staedtler marker, plus Tombow alcohol-based paint-pens. 

Worn by me once here. 

Full detail and process pictures here. 

Tammy wearing it for the first time. 

November 2021 - Gold Wing Dress

This dress took about three weeks to finish, from October to mid-November.

Material - fleece-lined stretch PVC/faux leather. 

Pilot liquid gold ink pen.

Sadly, the gold ink flakes into dust when the material stretches. 

Modeled once, not worn (yet). Final reveal here, with links to previous details and process pictures. 

October 2021 - Snake Jacket 

Started in August 2021, finished in October. 

Materials: leather jacket (thrifted), plus new glass buttons. 

Permanent black Staedtler marker, plus Tombow alcohol-based paint-pens. 

Final reveal here, with links to previous process/details

Worn on the reveal day. 

And at least once since! 

August 2021 - Floralized Fluevog Listen Up O'Haras

I did these over a couple of weeks in August. 

Materials: Micron black permanent marker, Staedtler coloured markers, clear sealing spray

The shoes are too high for me to wear, so I had them signed by John Fluevog at a store event, then forgot about them. 

Now that they are illustrated, I stuffed them with black socks. 

And display them. 

First pictures here (including the link to when I had them signed by John Fluevog), and final reveal here.