Ok- so, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth. In between working on some new
loverlies, I've been driving back and forth to Philly (3+ hour drive) for a photo shoot. Keep an eye out for the new Sesame Place advertisements- you might just see little
ol' me. :) It was fun playing around with the kiddos and meeting the characters, but I do understand why they say to not work with animals or children. :)
My sister's birthday was last month and I had a glorious idea for her birthday present. She has a love for all things 1950's- particularly I Love Lucy, Elvis, and Marilyn. So, I went to the planning board, checked out my wool stash, and voila! This is what I came up with:
Isn't that gorgeous?!? That's not all, my friends- you can't have just one Warhol-
esque Marilyn- you need at least two! Here's the other side:
I didn't want to give it to her, quite honestly. I LOVE IT AND I WANT IT! She absolutely adores it and has proudly worn it everywhere- she's a great billboard. :)
I got the inspiration from Becky from
beck's blog. If you haven't seen her stuff, you should- she's amazing!
This was the first time I felted Tunisian crochet- worked really well! It was also the first time I put a zipper in a purse:
SQUEE! I had to figure out how to do it all by my lonesome, but I did it. I don't know if it's done the "correct" way, but it does work and actually came out decently. The lining is absolutely beautiful. It has a shiny silver backing to it that makes it shimmer. It also makes it a bear to hand sew!! Seriously- sewing those handles and the lining into the bag was probably the hardest thing I've done- I went through 2 needles! But, it was worth it- so gorgeous. :)
Here is a
pre-felting pic so you can see just how big this sucker was:
Yeah.
Freakin' huge.
The great thing about felting is that I didn't have to weave in the ends- I HATE doing that. So, the ends felt up, producing a rather disturbing image:
Yowza! I guess she is post menopausal and needs a
Tweezy or something.... Possibly a nose hair trimmer, too....
HAHA! What? Moi? Juvenile??? Never!
My cat loves all things crocheted and felted, but was extremely fond of Marilyn:
You can see the material with the silver backing in that pic, too. :)
I took this purse to the vendor party a week and a half ago- everyone loved it! I showcased some of my purses and scarves and made a couple sales!
Yay! One lady bought a scarf and an Erin bag.
The original was sold at auction for the
Loudon Therapeutic Riding Foundation, so this was the second one I made.
This next project is one that I actually started on this last fall- it's a continuation of my love of watermelons. However, as I've said, when there is something wrong with one of my WIPs, I put it away until I can figure out what the heck it is. It could be because of a color combination that just isn't right or, for a purse, it could be that I haven't quite figured out how to finish it- wrong handles or lining or....something. That's what happened with this little guy....I wanted to finish it soooo bad, but....I just couldn't figure out what to do about the flap! Should I put a silver embellishment? Do I line it so the magnetic clasp doesn't show? WHAT DO I DO?? So, there it sat....for months. Until I had the utterly brilliant idea (or at least something I could live with!) of using a big black button- a ginormous watermelon seed, if you will. Ahhhh. Once I figured it out, I could bring it out of hiding at long last.
A lady who attended the vendor party loved it! She contacted me a few days after the party and ordered it off of
Etsy-
yay!!! She also ordered one of my scarves on
commission in a color scheme I didn't have showcased. All browns- very pretty! Counting the Mom bag I sold to a lady at church, I've sold 4 bags (including the one donated to auction) in the last few weeks.
YAYAYAYAY!!
So, there you have it! In between the various trips to Philly (including the
one with my church a couple weeks ago), I've been working like a mad woman on my bags. My anniversary is this Friday, so my hubby and I are going on a small 5 day get-a-way- WOO
HOO! I'm working on a travel bag design- hopefully it'll turn out well....and hopefully I'll finish it before our trip! It's another
reallllly HUGE bag, but it's all
pre-felting, so hopefully it'll be the size I'm hoping for once it's felted. Crossing my fingers!
