Last Day of Work

It's June 30th and today was my last day of work. I worked as an art director for an internet portal/isp/browser company for the past eight and a half years before being laid off today. I'm going to miss my friends, but am really ready to leave and have my 'summer vacation' before figuring out what to do next. Look for lots more projects here soon!

Wool kimono fabric bag

Phew! I just finished up this latest bag. I used some wool kimono fabric I got a few months back. I think it turned out really nice. It will be interesting to see if the large button closure is effective. The button is carved bone from India. I love the inside of the bag. It has pockets for all of the stuff that drives me crazy by getting lost at the bottom of my other purses.

Beach Bags

My lucky sister is currently in Italy for a wedding. Before she left, I whipped up this beach bag for her. It's a modified version of Amy Butler's nappy bag. It has less pockets, and I sewed Velcro pocket covers on two of the interior pockets in order to keep her wallet and other important items from falling out onto the beach. I also added a key ring. I've added the key ring loop to a couple of my latest bags. I'll be able to make nicer versions of this after my order from Tall Poppy arrives.



My sister's bag turned out so well that I whipped up a second version for me to take on my beach vacation. I love the fabric I used for my bag, and it came in really handy on vacation.

Wood Type Impressions

My friend, Mark Kusek, has created this wonderful DVD filled with wood type impressions bitmaps. The images are made from actual, hand printed wood type. Mark bought a type press and did the whole thing in his basement. The type is wonderful, and is a nice break from using a standard font. I was playing around with a few photos of my daughter, Quinn, and came up with these two images:

Days at the beach

Last night I shot a few photos of two beach bags that I made for vacation so that I could post them today from work (did I mention that I don’t do much ‘work’ at work these days?) but I forgot them at home. Grrrr. I’m going to have to settle for posting two photos of my little monkeys at the beach.

Here's Xander, he's three and a half.


And Quinn is almost two.


The beach vacation was amazing. On the third day Xander told me that he never wanted to go back to that old house in Ohio. He's out of luck on that one.

I'd like to start sewing some summer clothes for the kids, and am looking for advice on where to get some nice patterns. Anyone?

Happiness in the mail!

I came home from work today to find that the fabric I had ordered from Japan before leaving for vacation had arrived. Take a look. Too cute, don’t you think? I love the colors in this one. It is from a child’s kimono, and therefore has a bit of staining and a few small holes. I’m not sure what to use it for yet. I’m waiting for inspiration to strike. But I think it will end up as some form of shoulder bag.



The sour-puss expression on the dog just makes me smile!

Ah, my first blog post! I've been reading tons of crafty blogs over the past few months while waiting to get laid off. I work for a company that told us four months ago that we'd be laid off on June 30th. They are paying us double to stick around until then, but haven't given us any work to do. It's bizarre. But it has given me plenty of time to sit around and think up fun projects to work on when I get home at night. So, for the past several months I've become a crafting-maniac. And I’ve been very inspired by all of the creativity I've seen from people online.

In another week, I won't be able to bring my projects in to work and show them off to co-workers. I need a new outlet! So here it is, my first blog. I hope you enjoy it!