Adjustable strap- preview for Karin ;)

I always get a smile when I see someone who has a purse of mine wearing it every day- seriously makes me feel so cozy inside! Karin has hers strapped around her little body each day we pick up our kiddos from Kindergarten but it is time for a replacement!

She bought these beautiful fabrics and said I could arrange them however I want (woo hoo!) and I set about making a pattern for her needs. In addition to the three small pockets in the front of the bag I also made an elastic pocket on the back side of the bag. The inside is lined with elastic pockets on both sides.

Karin's current purse has a messenger strap so is hands free but this time we made the strap adjustable so she has the option to make it a shoulder bag or a messenger bag. I loved making these straps!!

Karin- I hope all of the details make it a perfect fit for you!....a good enough fit that you want to use it every day just like your other one ;). You are so sweet!! Xoxoxoxoxo to you!!

holly

Erika Messenger preview for "J"!

"J"- I loved making this for you! You are such a sweetheart!!!

Love,

holly

The Julie Wristlet (with convertable messenger strap)

This is another custom bag from Mary's purse party that I had so much fun making! Julie wanted a wristlet but also needed a messenger strap (genius!!). In order to make sure there wasn't a ton of bulk where the two straps met, I added a loop to the messenger strap that she can slip her wristlet strap through when needed. Then either strap tucks away smoothly!

It was a pleasure meeting you Julie!

xo- holly

The Julie Wristlet is $55

Preview for "D" The Erika Messenger bag

This is the back, also lined with pockets!!

Here is a preview for you "D"! Thank you so much for letting me pick!!! I always have a great time when I can "go crazy" ;). I hope it's dark enough to keep it nice and clean with 4 kids at home! You have been fantastic- thanks again!

holly

The Erika Messenger bag is $55

The Erika Messenger Purse and a preview for "R"!

Currently this is the same design that I am carrying and it is PERFECT for me. This one has been tweaked a little from my own- it's much smaller, and pleated a little differently, and good heavens there are outside pockets on the front AND the back! Mine is a well refined work horse of a purse and I packed all of it into this smaller version as well. It's a messenger strap, elastic outside pockets for easy grab and store, it's sturdy, structured-simply fabulous.

I made the smaller version right before Christmas for Erika- her sweet sister took tons of care picking adjustments just for her! I always enjoy seeing how much love and thought is put into people custom ordering a bag for a loved one. Erika's was the last purse that I made before I almost fell flat on my face with exhaustion the day before Christmas and I never did get a chance to even take pictures of hers because it was such a rushed time for me. Lucky for me her super cool friend, "R", liked the purse she was wearing and ordered one and now I have pictures!

"R", I got this in the mail for you yesterday- you were so much fun with work with!! Thank you!

xo,

holly

The Erika Messenger is $55

The Gail Messenger Bag (with a pocket for your nook!)

This isn't a bag that I made to sell (although it is for sale of course! ;))- it's a gift. I'll tell you the story behind it because it's so wonderful!



The first time I met Gail was at the St. Tim's craft show that I did about a year and a half ago. She is a close friend of my youngest son's godmother, Pam. I loooooove Pam!!! Pam and Gail sat with me all day. They chatted, helped me with the kids, kept me company and helped my nervousness- their presence was great.



Gail lives just down the street from me so I've ran into her at the pool and visited with her again at some of Pam's parties.



One night back in January my husband had surprised me with much awaited tickets to George Strait. My taste in music runs the gamut but George is heaven to me. Peaceful. Pure. Reminds me of growing up in San Antonio and reminds me of starting our family. I've been dying to see him for the past few years.



So, finally, we have a date night and we are going to see George. But George came with Reba and Reba sure sang for a long time! The night cost us almost $400 between tickets and our sitter and parking, etc. etc. I thought we would get back in time for my sitter to still drive home before curfew (she is 16 so can't be on the road after a certain time) but I turned out to be WAY off. George wasn't even on stage by the time she needed to head home so I swallowed hard (then swallowed more of my beer) and decided to leave. Money lost but I still got a date with my husband!



Pam was at the concert too and she promptly called Gail (remember that Gail lives on my street). By this time it is close to 11pm. Gail didn't hesitate. She got up, came up to my house, relieved my sweet babysitter and stayed with my children, reading her Nook, while they slept until past one in the morning.



We were able to watch almost the entire performance....sweet, simple and absolutely freaking awesome.



I don't know that many people who would leave their homes late at night to help someone they hardly know! It will always be an example to me!



Gail- I would make you a gazillion purses for how darn sweet it was of you to help us out!!



Gail's messenger bag is 9X9X1. The flap closes with a magnetic snap. Inside is a cozy, padded spot built just for a Nook like Gail's.



$55

Crossbody and shoulder strap on the Multitasker style

This bag I actually made over the summer for a client named "M" who wanted both a shoulder strap and a messenger strap. She enlarged the Miss Karen's Multitasker so this is almost but not quite the diaper bag size and the messenger strap is removable. I adored her adventurous sense of color!

The Miss Karen Multitasker with these specifications and size is $58

Yvette's Small Satchel bag!!

I have been dying to make a purse for Yvette- I love her wit (see her blog at http://yvette-unedited.blogspot.com/) and totally adored talking to her when she was writing an article about my business (see http://www.examiner.com/x-10270-Pasco-County-Parenting-Examiner~y2010m3d5-Artistic-Pasco-mom-creates-a-stir-with-oneofakind-handbags). It really has been a pleasure getting to know her more recently!! I had never exactly "met" her though so I couldn't really surprise her with something.

When we talked about her style she gave me something that I don't usually get......hobo, hippie, not fru-fru, urban, didn't need a large bag (seriously- rarely hear that. It seems like we all always need more space!!) just enough room for her book (she has time to read!! she's a goddess to me already!) so I was completely intrigued and was more than excited to work on it!!!

My style is more similar to hers than "girly" but still not exactly like Yvettes....the hardest and most fun part of my "job" is making MY style mesh with YOUR style and I was more than ready to see what I could come up with.

As you can see, the bag has a long messenger strap that will be ultra-comfy and hands free. This is not a heavy bag that you can fit the world into...it is sleek and functional.

I have been really looking forward to mixing these fabrics for the past several months but I never found a project that totally fit but i felt inclined to take a chance on Yvette- when I walked in to meet her for lunch the day that I gave the purse to her I knew in an instant that my instinct was right!! She was going to knock this purses socks off- she was SO cute and yes, very urban-hippy in an exotic, gorgeous kind of way. I was SUPER happy with how well it "fit" her and I think she feels the same way!

Just a little FYI- I still work from patterns sometimes but more and more often I make my own patterns. This bag is 100% Yvettes! Thank you so much Yvette for the inspiration and your magnetic personality. I hope there are more lunch dates to follow!!

xoxo-

holly

Yvette's Small Satchel bag is $42.

It's been a while since I posted and I'm in the mood to talk! Natasha, gorgeous trim and adjustable straps!

I have talked about Natasha before in posts....seeing as she is undeniably addicted to bags and dresses for her daughter I will definitely be posting about her again! I LOVE Natasha. I totally met her through business and I know that sounds kind of weird but I'm crazy about her and how thoughtful she is and how easy she is to talk to- she is my kind of chick!! Here is a quick example of the caliber of person that Natasha is......

-She ordered a purse for her close friend as a gift.

-I wanted to use it as an example at my recent party (can't wait to blog about the party!).

-She happily lets me keep it as an example and comes to the party to support me and pays for it at the party.

-We plan to meet at a mall at a later date to finally supply her with the purse.

-She drives to mall- I drive to mall. All of our kids are with us at the mall.

-I bring all of the purses for the other friend I was meeting at the mall in a giant bright blue Ikea bag.

-Totally forget Natasha's.

-Twice I have jipped her of the "paid in full" purse (and hello- I remembered the other purses but not hers??!!).

-She giggles, I can totally tell she doesn't care at all for her inconvenience because she is just cool like that.

-Has to meet me AGAIN to get the purse. Never once even batted an eye at my craziness, was completely supportive and even brought my daughter gifts at our meetings.

But I hear the friend likes it a lot, and in my eyes, Natasha hangs the moon. (she also has her masters, is a teacher, has a very cool mom that makes cute bows for anyone with daughters out there and a precious 4 year old little girl)

On to her order.....the first bag is one of my most ordered items. It is a very roomy tote and Natasha knew the style of fabrics she was looking for. She was loving the funky gold/bead trim that I have been playing around with recently and I was really happy with how it turned out.There is not that much of this trim left and please remember in the fabric world- fabrics, trims, handles, etc. can come and go faster than you think. The good thing about that is it makes your item extra-special. Anyhow- get the trim while it's hot if any of you want it used in your bag! Since this "bag" doesn't have a name/label yet I am going to get really creative with this one and name it after my rocking friend- The Natasha Tote.

The second bag is my Miss Karen's Multitasker with one huge difference- an adjustable messenger strap. This was a new one for me- messenger strap, no problem- adjustable, not really a problem.....just new to me, so it took me some trial and error to figure out. Now, you can make your strap as long or short as you need depending on the situation. I made another one for Natasha's friend "M" but I am bummed that I didn't take pictures of it. "M" is so seriously cute that I can't stand it and she makes my bag look incredible!!!So, if any of you ladies would like to add Natasha's adjustable strap to a purse for you let me know- I should be able to add it to almost anything. Thank you Natasha for requesting it!

Hmmmmm- I have so much more to post but I'll stop talking for now. Xoxo Natasha- you are a gift girl.

Natasha Totes (the purse on the top of this post) are $45

Miss Karen Multitaskers with an adjustable strap are also $45

Preview for "A"!!

"A" has TWINS! How do you make a purse good enough for a girl with young twins? I was able to meet with her at KidzClub while our children played and I got a glimpse of the giant backpack full of gear that she carries with her. I was so happy that she picked this style because it has such great outside pockets and I really think it will meet her needs. Can you see how there are two giant pockets on each side of the outside? Plus the big one in the middle and I lined the entire inside with pockets as well. TONS of space. "A" also wanted her bag to be a crossover so she has her hands free when needed (I'm such a fan of the crossover myself- I can carry baby "M", carry toddler "L" too and hold the big guy's hand while STILL having my purse attached to me- I'm sold!). So I made the straps extra long for her and it fits just perfect on your side.

Another great thing about "A" is that I had made a purse very similar to this for myself (but I keep holding onto it for inventory and examples) so I am clearly crazy about these colors and fabrics and you gotta love it when someone is on your style wave length!

I hope you like it "A"!! Thank you!

$42

Jen A's travel line!!!

I have more ideas than I will ever possibly get to in my lifetime but the GREAT thing about working out someone else's idea is 1- it's not mine so it comes from a different perspective and 2- I actually DO it because someone pays me to :). Jen A. also had the "seriously classic, seriously gorgeous" post purse made all to her specifications and she is my new partner in purse making crime! She gave me such a awesome compliment when she ordered even more bags from me and said "I think I'm addicted!". Loved, loved, loved it!!

Even more exciting is that she got inspired to pick up her knitting that she learned a while back and she MADE me a scarf to say thank you for her bags!!! Reciprocating with handmade items.....hello, can I say heaven for me?? I love her even more by the second!

Onto this actual bag.....she is taking a ski trip and had a list of things that didn't work for her while she was traveling with her young son last time. She knew exactly what she wanted so I got all of the measurements she was wishing for and we poured over fabric together and this is what the final result was. A crossover, hip bag roughly 8 inches tall, 8 inches across and 3 inches wide. There are pockets inside for her phone and small items that she needs to take with her and small pocket outside (but still covered by the flap) to keep her ticket in and her ID. It closes with a big flap and a magnetic snap which will hopefully be very easy to access her essentials in the rush of the airport.

I have been asked many times for specialty bags for travel and I am hoping with Jen's input I will have an entire line of patterns for you to chose from. Stay tuned for the toiletry bag that I am almost finished with as well for Jen- it's so darn cute, I can't wait to see it completed! Since I am entirely UNcreative when it comes to making up names for my bags this whole line will just be Jen. A's travel line and this specific one is her Essential Hip Bag.

I can't wait to work my organic scarf Jen!! Even if it's 70 degrees I am still totally wearing it, I'm not waiting until next winter :).

The cost on this is $45.

A convertible strap purse for Lara!! Learning something new every day!

Once again, I get a new request that gives me a little epiphany on what I can do with handbags! When I was going over Lara's "old (pre-Laci Jean)" purse with her and getting her feedback on what she loves and what she would change about it she told me the most important thing was having two different lengths for her straps. One had to be long enough to use as a crossover and then one that she could just yank over her shoulder. Hallelujah! I had never thought about that myself. When it turned out undeniable cute I was even more thrilled!!

The fabric she chose rocks too- I was only going to use it on aprons but it has a great retro-modern thing going on when I used it on this purse.

I was so excited that Lara ordered a bag from me (secretly hoping we could trade services because my kids will love me if they get more KidzClub trips!!!) because I respect her so much for all that she does for her community and local moms. I participated in the KidzClub Holiday Market Night in December TOTALLY at the last minute....I truly was a mini disaster and asked Lara if I could get in on it I think the day before the event. Then I couldn't drop my stuff off at the appropriate time and I even arrived late but not once did she seem annoyed or make me feel unwelcome. She is always warm, helpful and totally supportive. I am sure she understands that running your own business while raising children is like climbing Mount Everest backwards but man, she makes running hers AND helping others at the same time look easy!!

You are a great source of inspiration Lara! Thank you for everything-I truly loved making this for you!!!

Lara's purse is $42 without the crossover handle and $45 with the addition of the extra handle.