Well, this is it!!! I'm loving it in my Bijoux fabric.
All that's left to do is sew the lining closed and make a removable hard bottom for the bag!
Then I think I need a weekend get-away and so do you! London, anyone?
The Holiday in London Pattern is available here.
My Loss of Brain Cells? Your Gain!
I wanted to give-away one of these Springtime in Paris Pocketbook kits during the Sewing Summit, and wouldn't you know it, I totally forgot. I'm 42 years old, and apparently my brain has reached it's capacity, thus anything extraeous spills over. It's problematic, really.
The good news is, because I didn't give away a kit when I meant to, and I love to give stuff away (always better than winning), I'm thinking I'll give the kit to a blog reader. I'm sure you agree this is a good idea.
The kit holds about 3/4 yards of fabric combined, interfacings, a zipper, a magnetic closure, ribbon, plastic canvas and a Springtime in Paris Pocketbook sewing pattern. I'm offering up the kit in the orange Paris Apartment fabric colorway in the 14" size.
(This cover was the alternate that didn't get printed... in case you are wondering.)
What you need to do to win is simply leave a comment here. Your comments are numbered. I'll be picking a winner using random.org on Friday, no later than 8PM PST.
Thanks for entering!
And now, for your viewing pleasure, a silly little video I made for Sewing Summit. This video played prior to class starting as people walked in. I wanted to get the party started, you know. I also plied students with chocolate. That's the secret to a good class. Silly songs and chocolate.
The song on this video is called My Pocketbook ... iTunes. I think they have a bunch of great kid's music.
UPDATE: OCTOBER 14, 2011 8:10PM PST
AND THE WINNER IS...
#31, Lisa
If this is you, hit contact at the top of this page to send me your address!
COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED. PLEASE DO NOT COMMENT ON THIS POST.
Hey all. I'm working on the Beachside Holiday quillt today. I expect to have this pattern done by the end next week, the latest. Also, I need to know what you think... I'd like to make some videos for this blog... I plan on working on a fabric collage video first... what other tips, techniques etc would you like to see demonstrated?
In the meantime, I've just created a "handbag supplies and KITS" page on my website to kick off my very first magazine kit, Strip Ease.
I hope you'll check it out... Quilts and More Fall '11 hits stands today! And I will have a supply of them on my site by next week as well.
In the way of really cute handbag supplies, I just got these last week... I think they'd be perfect on this bag, don't you? They come in lime green, red and light blue.
Teaching. It is one of the most satisfying things that I get to do. I feel really lucky that I'm getting to do quite a bit of it this year. The past two Wednesdays I taught my Patchwork Rose handbag from Inspired to Sew. There were four students and each left with a finished or almost finished bag which was really exciting.
Each student did their own version of the original in beautiful fabrics. This one is Sheila's bag. I think the mix of fabrics made it really interesting to look at.
There were the original velvet roses...
And then Laura Fraga who is a designer and expert at hand applique decided to do a different kind of rose on her bag. These are her roses made with bias trim and sewn on by hand. She showed us how to make them. They are apparently a traditional flower that is done on Baltimore Album Quilts often. If she gives me permission, I'll do a tutorial. I just love the pristine look of these.
Here are a couple finished bags. This is Connie's. I love her smile. She was super-excited to go show it off at school pick-up after class.
And here is Nancy. I love the Victorian feel of her bag.
Nancy also brought in a tree inspired by the one in my book but smaller that she is working on. It was so exciting to see it take shape!
Next class up is the container garden pillow at Cotton Patch in Lafayette, CA. Can't wait. See my sidebar for details. Psssst. It's the same as the pillow I made for my mom (two posts down).
I've met some really wonderful people through Twitter, and when I asked for help testing patterns both on my blog and over in Twitterville, the response was incredible!
Thank you all for your hard work, your fabulous notes and wonderful photos!
Here are a few of the creations made from my Full Bloom line of fabric...
This Green Living Market Bag was made by Rebecca Makas:
And another Market Bag from Lori Porten (I ended up using this as the pattern cover):
And this State Street Tote was made by a local friend, Anita Monery:
Wonderful, huh?
My first attempt at creating my own videos, this is a look at how the spring closures work on my handbags. They are available on the Alison Wristlets and Frannie bags. Both are available here.
Yes, it's for real. I have created and listed new bags on my website. There is only one of each bag. So get 'em while they're hot.
I'll now be going into hiding and working on sewing patterns. Some day in the not so distant future there will be an array of sewing patterns and kits! I'm working on it. Promise.
Here are a few of the newbies.
Tum dum... tee dee... What in the world do you wear with this in the Fall? I'm making new rules... are there rules anymore? No. no. no. no. There are no rules. If you are not in a completely cold climate where it's snowing and sleeting and something like this might get ruined, then I think it's perfectly acceptable to wear bright yellow, pink, green, blue and red all year.
Available here.
Natalie! Congratulations and thanks for writing!
And thank you all for the wonderful support. It means so much to me!
Truly, really, I didn't know you were there. So glad you are. I'll try to be as entertaining and enlightening as I can for 'ya. Plus, I have more give-aways to come. That's fun! I like giving stuff away.
Have a fabulous weekend!
~b
Hello again. Hope you'll take a peek at the Bari J. store this week. I get a big goody-goody gum drops feeling every time a get a new load of handbags. The one below is in one of the Fall/Winter fabric that I'm pretty excited about. I can't wait to see the rest of the cut velvet pieces. There will be some messenger bags, clutches and more coming soon. It's somewhat of a departure from what I've been doing. Plus, more stuff that makes me jump up and down...I've got patent leather straps and bottoms on some. This is the first piece to arrive... An Ilisa Clutchette. Wee... I'm having fun.
Here are the other totes to make their way to the website today... A Lori Tote:
And a Stephanie Mag Bag...
More is arriving every day.
PS Don't forget to enter to win a handbag below...
Oh, what fun. It's been a good time writing this blog. You may have noticed I do a lot of that... Since May now, and here it is, my 101st post. It's because I like the sound of my own voice, don't cha' know? Sometimes as I write I am actually talking aloud. This is something my daughter pointed out. Actually, the truth is that I talk all day long to myself here in this studio. I had a teacher that once told me, "Bari Palles!" (my maiden name), "Talking to yourself is a sign of insanity." This was the same 6th grade teacher that told me that if my head wasn't attached it would be long gone. Nice lady, huh? (Side note: Miss Hugh if you are out there... I'm still angry about the 6th grade, it was not fun, and that's on your shoulders, lady!) Wow, I feel better already. Moving on... I've gotten way off topic here... what was I saying?
The point was that I have a gifty for you for tolerating my rants and actually coming to visit often. I like that when I look at the statistics I see that a lot of people are visiting. How nice is that? (And, how vain am I for caring?) Please feel free to talk to me through that little comment button below. I like to think that I'm not talking to myself. That poopy teacher really did a number on me, didn't she?
So, ya-da-ya-da-ya-da...Here's the dealy-doo: Just leave a comment on this post sometime before August 17th. On the 17th, Miss Anna or Miss Emily (they'll have a big argument over who will do the honor, so I'll have to think about that one) will pick one of your names out of a hat, a jar, a basket (you get the idea) & I'll let you know who won.
Now, Oh-My-Goodness, don't let me down. Please leave comments or I'll think I am going insane sitting here talking to myself.
What will you win, you ask? This lovely Lara Hobo (petite size) in Pink Damask Corduroy with a French Ribbon Brooch (adorned with a vintage enamel pin) to go with it. Okies, get at it. Write me a note!
XO & Thank you for reading.
~b
Still scrappin'...
I'm 'a havin' fun in the studio tonight. The husband is at a poker game, so there's no one to answer to and somehow or another I have quiet kids. It's a good thing too, because I actually have a lot of work... fun work, but work none-the-less. This is part of a handbag I was messing with tonight. I hope you can see the layering in the photo. It actually has a lot of depth in person. I started with a floral print & began cutting flowers out of another print and layering one on top of the other. There is also a lot of bunged up thread bits... I'm thinking of throwing in a word or two (maybe from a selvage?) somewhere secretly to see if anyone notices. There are also two vintage brooches hanging out in this little garden. I hope to have a lot of pieces similar to this one for a show I am doing in September. Stockpiling now for Fall and Winter. Loads of fun, but my husband has started to call my studio "The Cave". And he asks when the "bear" (ha ha, never heard that one before) is coming out.
The Ackerman's have done nothing today. I did walk the dog for an hour, so that counts as something, I suppose. Other than that, we woke up late, late, late and ate, ate, ate. My husband makes mean biscuits and gravy. We were going to get to the laundry, the yard and all that... but we didn't. There was some flipping of magazine pages on my part, and books on my kids parts. I created a huge wish list at Amazon.com. Including...
This,
this,
and this.
I have nothing to report. So, instead of telling you all about the wonderful things we've been doing (ha ha) I'm going to show you some of the "wonderful" things I (me me me) have already done. You see, the preamble to this little report, although true, has just been one great big excuse for me to post more about me, me, me, me, me. I'm very important ... to me.
I'm actually really proud of these girls. A slow news day always provides an opening for me to indulge. Hey, it's my blog!
OK, that was so painful, that I have to show you the work of others I've been admiring... who today? Oh, I know, I need to show you this work I saw in London (yeah, it was OVER a year ago, but you're gonna' love it,trust me!). These wire creations are the work of Cathy Miles. I happened into the Chelsea Crafts Fair unwittingly as I wandered around by myself all jet-lagged (husband was working which was a blessing because I got to do whatever I darn-well pleased which included quite a bit of fabric and art gawking). I stood long enough at Cathy's booth to probably make her nervous. I was very intrigued and just the slightest bit goofy from travel. I'm sure she thought I was insane. This one below is on a great big canvas. It says "Greenfinch glowers at competitor on the the fatball". The writing on her pieces gives you the idea that she has a great sense of humor. She probably needs it with crazy Americans like me stalking her at various venues.
Tonight I was able to work on some things that have been haunting me as I fall asleep at night... that's what the pad of paper next to my bed is for. Except that when I read it in the morning the "creative genius" that I have in the middle of the night is not nearly as genius. Usually it's just ramblings and often my writing is completely indiscernible. This is one of the non-sequiturs that has come up over and over again. It's what I do instead of counting sheep.
A deep breath...A whole slew of handbags went marching out the door late this afternoon. I had meant to have them out by 9am, but, stupid me, I stayed up until 2am last night. This means that the girl who never oversleeps (at least not in my life with children unless I am super sick) overslept. I didn't wake up until my 9 year old jumped on the bed at 10am scaring me half to death. 10am! I don't think I've slept that late in 11 years, since my Anna was born.
This episode had me off kilter for the rest of the day, flying around in my nightgown getting things done. But that group is gone (I bid them a fond farewell, tears and all.) and on to the next group which is due next week. Can't complain. It's all good. BTW, if you just have to have one of these handbags, you'll need to check in with Elizabeth at Daphne's Cottage. She holds claim to them. I don't know if you'll be able to pry them from her, but you can try.
That said, I'm sick of talking about me and want to mention an artist I "bumped into" on the web. Shannon from Miss Fickle Media wrote a comment on this blog. So of course I linked over to her Etsy shop and I must tell you I was blown away. I love what she does and put in an order right away. And honestly, I'm sort of a browser on Etsy. So this is saying something. I ordered one of these with a "B" of course. And another that I can't remember because I had a really hard time choosing. The one below I really like too though!
In other super fun news... you may remember the post I wrote about "needing" espadrilles. I did end up buying an unimpressive pair later that week. However, to my great surprise the owner of espadrillesetc.com whom I mentioned in the post came across what I wrote. She is actually from San Francisco... such a small world. AND, she offered to send me a pair of espadrilles as a gift. Really, I can't get over the kindness I have found with the network of women on the internet. It made me think of this post from Anna Maria Horner about kindness which brought me to really unexpected tears. I haven't told you how much I love Anna Maria's work. I know most of you know of her, but if not, I hope you will get to know her work. Also, you HAVE to look at the photos of her home on Flickr. OH MY GOODNESS. You'll just die when you see the colors. IN-CRED-IBLE! Anyways, I am trying to get to a great big THANK YOU to Laura from espadrillesetc.com. Gracias.
That's enough gushing for now, I suppose. Except it is late and my internal clock is way off so I could probably go on for hours. Nothing a dose of benedryl can't cure, I suppose.
Holy Moly! I just picked up a slew of handbags & am now quite overwhelmed. I'll be posting some of them on my website in the coming week. The rest, sadly, are sold. I hate saying goodbye. Here are just a few.
If you've been to Playa del Carmen, you know that the downtown is mostly filled with little shops that sell woven blankets and tunics... all of which I loved. It also has several Starbucks, a Lacoste Store, beach shops, and many sunglass shops. You know, your typical tourist area. However, I happened into a store called Studio 9. There, owner Alexoudia (I hope I'm spelling your name right, it's hard to read on the back of the card. I apologize if I'm not.) has filled her shop with handmade skirts, dresses, handbags, paintings and more all of which I fell deeply in love with. I went ga-ga over a company/artist called Macu. You've got to visit their site. Unfortunately I can't read the Spanish to know if it's one artist or a collective ... I'm just not sure, but I KNOW that you are going to love it.
This is the piece I ended up buying. I added the little rose pin on the upper right side... can't leave well enough alone, can I?
(Contact info for Studio 9: 5ta. No,238, Play del Carmen, Mexico. Tel: 984 803 3040.)
In the way of other art that I found in Mexico were these really great bowls. I loved the array of colors we kept passing. These were at Chicha Nitza. Are they made in Mexico? I couldn't get a straight answer from the vendor, but I think that was the language thing. Why oh why didn't I take more Spanish???
I think I might be happiest when I am working...
Chirp.
Just some things that came in today. The Isabelle messenger will be available on my website later today or tomorrow!
Thanks for stopping by!
Well, my girlie bailed on me for lunch so I'm CRAVING sushi now. Of course you want what you can't have. I guess I could have gone by myself, but that's no fun. So I worked like I should have anyways... And good news... a really fun strap for the Isabelle Messenger was born. Ahhh... what you can do when you don't have a lunch date!
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