bird bags

These are lovely vintage burlap fabric squares that i found on etsy. i'm turning them into bags this week and will have them available at indie valentine. six days to go...

The Crowded Fire

every once in a while my husband, michael, gets a wild hair and decides he wants to do something seemingly improbable... but he does it. like, hitchhike down to san fran and meet ferlinghetti, talk to russian poet yevgeny yetushenko, interview howard zen for his live non-broadcast talk show he's been wanting to do for years and so many more things. it's sometimes hard to believe the things that michael has done, but there's always proof.
this friday, michael will have his first talk show and is interviewing (by telephone...through p.a.) author howard zinn and lakota activist russel means. oh yeah and next month he's got noam choamsky. i can't wait to be there. these are people that i studied for years and to have it happened at Picasso's, a coffeehouse/cafe, in slightly backwards-trying-to-get-turned-around st. charles, missouri, makes it even better.
here's the information below, click on the poster to enlarge.

Fair Ophelia Bags

people have been asking me what kinds of bags they can order, so here are a few examples of the fair ophelia bags...

pleated bag, this is the largest version, but i make them in various sizes

the pleated bag in use...in a very messy studio.

coffee sack messenger bag, sized for a laptop

small coffee messenger

shoulder coffee purse

i have done custom bags in other designs, but those are typically a one-time deal, unless requested.

i have been busy designing a coffee clutch purse, a unisex wallet, wristlets, and other goods for the Indie Valentine show.
off to work...

The Franklins

angela

michael

whitman

fair

James sent us the pictures from his visit. There are a lot of good ones, here is just a taste.

scary yet cute

this is one of the strange things my step-dad buys to amuse us. fair actually wore it for a few minutes and we couldn't help but add the buckshot rifle. god bless the u s of a!

they both like it...

i just received this photo and was surprised to see the resemblence of the cats. i didn't even know Alexandra's cat was black... it makes the bag even better.

Cat Bag

my cousin finally received her bag, so i can now share it with all of you. i free-motion machine stitched the flap design. at first, i was a little concerned that it was too halloweeny, but i think it's perfect for a cat lover. it seems to have attitude.

indie valentine

i just found out that i will be part of this year's Indie Valentine Craft Show. Yeah!!!! and my god the work that must be done. i will give more details later... until then, here's the official site:

Indie Valentine

weekend with na-do

cooking up some oatmeal

drinking up some tea

i finally had my girls' weekend, despite a head cold. we decided to hold off on chicago and stay in town. it was a whole bunch of sleepin' in, tea in the early afternoon, way too many movies (Grandma's Boy, Sweeney Todd, Hot Rod, UltraViolet **horrible, even with Milla to look at**, and Foot Loose) and we ended it with a walk through the Botanical Gardens. Na-Do is the only other person that I can watch really bad...but oh so good 80's movies and some just plain stupid ones with and do it five times in a row. If it hadn't been for Mr. Johnny Deppe and a crazy 70 degree day in January, we would of attempted the madness once again. but instead we went for a walk and took advantage of some bag wearin' photo ops...

this is another example of a bag i made for myself, but na-do ended up with it. it's the first pleated design... i bit longer than the one's i've done lately.

my latest messenger bag

this weekend was just what i needed...i heart na-do.

it's been a while...again...

i found out that the next semester does not start until the 21st of the month... i somehow thought that i only had a three week break... so i have been taking a lot of time making my own creations, along with the many custom orders. i feel like i am in constant need of more fabric, mainly browns and reds, but after organizing my solids...

i realized that there is more potential for bags than i thought. i just made two large pleated bags and posted them on my etsy. I also just finished an order from my manager, at The Vine

she gave me free range on the fabrics and i had fun using some of my "grandma" hand-me-alongs. I have been using a lot of the swatches given to me too. it's really the only way i would be able to make a bag out of designer fabrics.

we received a surprise phone call from our crazy portland friend james this morning, telling us that he would be dropping in tonight. yeah! he does this every year around Christmas, when he drives from portland to wiscousin and back... stopping to visit on his way home. another piece of portland, stabbing us in the heart... i just talked to another portland friend today and we reminisced about going out to breakfast. gourmet craziness for $7.00, served by a tattooed angry artist, feminist, musician. i really have not found anything comparable and as cheap, here in st. louis. we are missing you portland!
well, off to drink wine, eat stinky cheeses and home made pumpkin bread from a coffee can.