Red Leather and Centipedes

I like to recycle good usable materials whenever possible, and frequent trips to thrift shops are part of my routine.  On one visit I found a red leather coat that was probably not going to have a future in fashion.  It was an ugly coat, but the leather was beautiful.    I purchased the coat, took it apart and cut book spines. 

This journal was similar to another one I recently put in my store and I wanted to make it different somehow.   It needed a few red centipedes on the cover.....

As I was taking pictures of the new book, I suddenly had an assistant.  Chance wanted to get a closer look at that red leather spine.  He couldn't believe it was made from an old coat!

Here is the inside of the cover and the back side of the centipede stitches.  I like to leave them exposed.

Consider how you can recycle interesting and useful materials into your artwork.   Visit your local thrift store and imagine the possibilities.