Jana's Barbie Bag

This was one of my favorite items that I made for Christmas- one amazing Grandmother (their family lived in Germany so her grandma name is "Oma") called me and asked me to make a custom bag/purse/carrier- whatever- that her granddaughter could use to carry her Barbies to her house to play with. Seriously- the plastic, standard Barbie case from Target is cool and all......but handmade bag made just for you at 6 years old for your Barbies??? It doesn't get much more thoughtful than that!

I know this little girl very well and I love her to pieces- I also know her style well (and yes, even though she is 6 she still has her own style, trust me!) so picking fabrics for her was great fun for me. For the main fabric I went with my favorite designer, Anna Maria Horner, using her flannel that is insanely soft and yum, yum, yummy! I want to make everything out of it but I'm kind of hoarding it so finally using it in a piece was pretty satisfying.

Inside are 8 elastic pockets to place Barbies in.....a couple of them I made a teeny bit bigger in case there are some Kens in a collection since his shoulders are a touch broader. I used my daughter's Barbie arsenal to get all of the measuring correct! The front of the back has a nice, amply spaced zipper pocket for any of Barbie's shoes or clothes that need to come along. The bag has a flat, oval bottom so it will stand nice and very upright (kind of like luggage) for maximum playtime ease. There is still some space in the middle of the bag for any other accessories (like a Barbie scooter for instance). I made a sling handle for the easiest carrying possible.

Oma- Jana is one luck girl to have you as a grandmother for many more reasons than just your thoughtfulness! What a blessing for her to have you!!!

If any of you want to spoil a little girl in your life the Jana Barbie bag is $48

xoxo-

holly

Preview for Nikki!!! ;)

No- the finger in the top picture is not a mistake! I included it to show you that I'm so desperate for help right now to get all of my items done, packaged, pictured and delivered before Christmas, that my soon to be 4 year old became Mommy's photographer today. Poor thing- I critiqued the heck out of her but she willingly participated and I should have given her more praise because she did a fantastic job ;).

I keep saying that I don't have time to write long (and I really don't have time!) so I'll try to keep this short tonight.

I want to wax poetic about how Nikki is the coolest girl ever (!) and detail for you all of the reasons why I'm head over heels for her but I'll simply tell you that there are only a few people in the world who are like Nikki. Every time I get the chance to see her (she lives about an hour away) I spend the next week thinking about getting a moving truck, changing the kid's school, loading up our home and moving next door to Nikki because I want to be near her so badly!

So long overdue is my "Nikki Purse".....it's medium sized (looks a little deceiving in the picture because it's still roomy inside) and because of the dipped edge it opens nice and wide. One option on this is adding outside pockets which I did on the copper toned purse. I have been working on a "fluted" shape because I just love that curvy, romantic, look but then it is so hard to get into the purse so I scrap the idea. The dipped edge was the solution to the problem and like I said before, when you unsnap the purse it opens up really wide and you can get to everything you need.

Can't wait to see if it works for you Nikki- love you!!!!

xo,

Holly

The Nikki purse is $52

The Apron Dress

I have a crazy obsession with ruffles and apron dresses! Something about the combination of ease, utility and frilly layers is totally enticing to me. Just throw this dress on, tie it up in the back and run around without a care!! Comfy and adorable all in one.

Apron dresses start at $50 and go up to $73- one just like this is $68

Shop and Sip!! next wed. night december 8th

I have such a love for handmade things and well crafted work that my tummy still tingles when I see something awesome. If you want to know what makes my entire body tingle with excitement it's something beautifully made by someone I love- my children, the amazing children in my art class and my insanely creative friends.

So I am super excited to be able to post the invite to Shop and Sip! Hosted by two of the most favorite people in my life- Autumn and Yvette of Aqua76 (http://aquaseventy6.blogspot.com/).

Check out the adorable things that they make!!! Isn't their blog incredibly beautiful too??

Lucky for you I'm part of the party too and I have gorgeous new styles that I have been working on that are finally ready for sale. I feel like I have had a purse making epiphany lately and I'm loving every second of seeing how they come together!

It's local- it's a weeknight- it's girly- it's shopping and they have coffee there!!!....how can you resist??

xoxo-

holly

Yvette's Mini Bag

I promised myself I would blog at least one item a night to try and make a dent into everything that I would love to post but that is not coming to fruition.....so I feel quite accomplished this evening as I'm getting at least this post up! On the contrary, I feel quite a failure as I look around my house and see the endless amount of Christmas decorating that still needs to be done after spending a majority of the day on it. Although now that my two oldest kids are getting to the age where they can help in the decorating this seemingly endless task has also been one of the best days we have had all year.

I started making these mini bags several months ago when Yvette had an awesome idea to make camera bags for a Mommyista (http://www.themommyista.com/) event that featured photographer Courtney Vickers (who did the spectacular work on the right side of my blog!!!I I LOVE her!!!). I guess I didn't realize how many people would be at the event who had "real" cameras- not little point and shoots like my own that I can carry with me incessantly to catch EVERY detail of my children's lives. Needless to say I didn't sell any of the first batch that I made.....so they sat.

Earlier this summer we headed out on vacation and I thought I would take one of the little bags to use for myself when I wanted my camera protected on the beach and voile- this little beauty of a bag found the life it fully deserved!!

I fit my cell phone, my keys, my debit card, any cash that I need and my camera all in this compact case and it fits perfect on my arm- so perfect that I often forget it is there and worry where the heck it is. I throw this in my usual big purse and just grab and go whenever I only need my essentials and not my entire purse. It is heaven! It closes with Velcro- super easy to get open yet stays shut- and has a little front pocket for your license, cards and cash.

Now I sell a ton of these and I always wonder why it took so long for me to figure out how ingenious a little bag like this is!! These are great for Christmas gifts and very affordable too ;).

xo-

Holly

Yvette's Mini-bag is $18

The Marcy Satchel (in laminated fabric)

Ok- THIS bag takes the cake as the hardest bag that I have made as of yet ;). That being said- I was thrilled to have the chance to make it because it taught me a lot and I was super happy when it finally came together.

Marcy is a stunning girl who has her degree in fashion design (gulp) so she is more than handy with a sewing machine (double gulp). She has gone back to school- this time medical school (did I already mention that she is stunning as well?!! How can you be pretty, creative, driven and smart all in one? Not fair!!) and she had a great bag that she carried a CRAZY amount of text books in. She could stuff herself into her bag and it wouldn't be as heavy as those books. She loved her bag but wanted it to be a messenger strap style so it would be easier on her to carry and since she is well versed in fabric designers she already knew she wanted it done in Amy Butler's laminated Love fabric.

So I looked over her bag, took a ton of notes, made some sketches and set off to try to recreate it with her new specifications......all with the nervousness of making something for her when I know darn well that she can sew it herself.

This thing has pockets- lots of them. There is a big snap pocket on the outside and on the inside is a really cool flap that contains a small, zipper pocket and two little pockets for a cell phone or camera for example. There is another large inside pocket on the opposite side of the flap and the bag zips closed. This bag is wonderfully huge!! It is about 15 inches high and 18 inches wide at the top.

I was more than relieved when she was pleased with how it turned out ;). I am so excited that I have this large, wonderful bag to offer now as well!

Thank you Marcy!! Xoxo-

Holly

The Marcy Satchel is $75

The finishing touches on my favorite apron order!

I just wanted to post these aprons finished and all ready to go! I could have made 20 more ;)- LOVED it!!

full apron $34

half apron $27