Before I get started on my topic for today’s post, I wanted to show you the finish of Sanctuary. I added some weight to the left hand branches and I like it a lot better. Ann had suggested that I add something to the right foreground but I don’t think I am going to do that. For me, this piece is all about the tree being a sanctuary in a lonely place, a place for birds to perch and rest. So I am leaving it as is.

The photo on the left is when I showed it to you last week. The photo on the right is after I added a bit more yarn to the left side branches. It feels more balanced to me and I’m happy with it so it’s done. (The photo on the left is much more true to the real colors.)

Now on to making some Lutradur leaves. I have been meaning to do this for a while. Ever since Karen L. posted about making Lutradur leaves here. Hers are certainly a bit larger than mine and much more fancy but the process is definitely a simple one.

I had a piece of Lutradur that my friend Sally kindly gave me. The leaves on the left are real leaves and my inspiration source. I have trouble telling the difference between birch and aspen trees/leaves. These are one or the other 🙂 I sketched the first leaf out with all the veins. But after that, I just drew the leaf and stem shape and winged it with the veins.

Here they are after free motion machine stitching. (If you’d like to learn how to do this, I teach on online class here.)

Then I colored the leaves in with a variety of colors using Inktense pencils and watercolor crayons.

I added water with a paint brush and a few more details with more ink and watercolor. I then let these dry completely.

Then I cut/burned them out with a wood burning tool. Then I zapped them with a heat gun. They don’t need much heat and the Lutradur melts quickly so you have to be careful. Karen wanted hers to be much more lacy and deteriorated than what I wanted. I did have a plan for these when I started.

Do you remember these pieces? I had made them quite quickly for an exhibition in September. They didn’t sell and I felt like they all needed something else. So I added the Lutradur leaves.

And here they are with the added Lutradur leaves. What do you think? I definitely think the leaves added is an improvement and it brings all three pieces together more as a group. Hopefully, when I exhibit these again, they will draw more interest and perhaps a sale or two.

Do you rework pieces that aren’t selling or don’t seem to work for you? I would love to hear your solutions. Just join us on the forum so we can all discuss or critique something that isn’t working for you.