Stylish Faux Leather Cuff

 
 This month for The Designer Craft Connection group, the theme is a project or technique that will blow you away!
So here is a really fun idea I have been wanting to try for a long time. - Faux leather.
Its a lot of style with out a lot of work. Once you try this project, you won't want to stop!
You can use it for anything from jewelry, Hair accessories, Book marks to Card making.
Lets get started, shall we?

 Materials needed:
1 Large sheet of craft foam. Same tan color. This can be found in the kids craft section of Michaels. Just a few dollars. Plan to use at least half of the sheet for your one project.
Rubber stamp.  If you plan to make a cuff like this one, you'll want your stamp to be at least 1½" x 4½".- or 2-3 short stamps. Make sure the detail is clean and not too busy. You want your final image to mimic a real leather design. Stamp is by Stampendous.
Brown Ink. Any acid free dye ink pad is fine.
Heat gun. You'll want one with a large mouth for even heat or or use a hair dryer set on high.
 Gold and Lava Red from Inka Gold, Satin seam binding and vintage lace.
Craft Mat, Scissors, Paper napkin and Tacky glue.

- Ink your stamp and set aside.
-Cut a piece of the foam to be larger than the stamp.
-With your heat gun, heat your craft foam back and forth evenly for about 30 seconds. It will puff up, the sides with curl and then it will flatten down.
-By this time it will have enlarged slightly as the craft foam will have softened from the heat.- Just right.
-Quickly place the stamp, image side down, onto the hot craft foam and press hard with the palms of your hands.
-I found it easiest to be in standing position for this step. Hold in place for 20 seconds. -Don't wiggle.
-During this time, the craft foam will cool and shrink back to it's original shape.

The above photo shows why you need a large piece of craft foam to work with.
A - Not enough heat period.
B- Uneven heat and no ink.
C- Enough heat, enough ink, not enough pressure.
D- Perfect!
As you can see, it's easy to make a mistake no matter your level of expertise. 

-Once you have a piece you can work with,  spread the inka-gold with your finger, careful not to fill in the design.
-Then add some color detail with the lava-red.
-When you are done, gently buff the colors to a shine with a paper napkin.

-You will want to sandwich your trim in between two pieces of craft foam, so use a mistake for the bottom.
-Cut your lace to be slightly longer than the cuff and your seam binding long enough to tie onto your wrist.

Apply a liberal amount of your tacky glue to the bottom piece.
-
 -Place your satin seam binding evenly in the center, then place your vintage lace.
-Press in place.

-Next, add a even layer of glue as before to the back side of your embossed and colored piece.
-Carefully place onto of the trim, aligning with the bottom piece the best you can.
 -Turn over, place a large acrylic block on top and something heavy to hold in place while the glue sets for about 10-15 minutes. 

-Take the heavy items off, and turn over.
-Trim the over lap of lace, careful not to cut the  seam binding.
-Knot the ends of the seam binding and tie onto your wrist to wear and enjoy!