Seven More Bags

About two months ago I was contacted by Dale at Dale's Floral Designs in Warsaw, Virginia (about two hours away from where I live).  She had bought one of my zippered purses here in Williamsburg a while ago--it's the frog purse I blogged about HERE--and she liked it so much she wanted to sell my bags in her store.  Her little town doesn't offer much in the way of shopping, which is probably why her floral business is doing so well that she is expanding, and she wants to carry gift items, like my bags.

Since I am not actively marketing my bags at the moment, I didn't have anything to offer Dale in the way of a catalog to order from, so she decided to make a trip to a fabric store to look for fabrics that would make good bags.  She knows the themes that would appeal to customers in her area, but she admits she didn't really know what she was doing when she was choosing fabric!  She's more of a flower person!

Dale sent me seven different prints and asked me to make one bag from each.  I used her fabrics for the front and pockets of each bag, and used coordinating fabrics from my stash for the accent stripe on the front, the lining, and the back and bottom.  Here they are:

Hummingbirds, horses, and cabbage roses

Ladybugs, rosebuds, tropical fish, and crabs

I love them all!  Dale, you did a GREAT job choosing these fabrics!

Cats and Dogs Rule!

This is just my opinion (I have no scientific data to support it) but I think that the vast majority of people love cats or dogs, or both!  That's why my friend Susan and I have just opened sign-ups for a new swap on Craftster called "I Love Cats or Dogs".  If you are already an established member of Craftster, I invite you to sign up.  If you're not, go ahead and start your Craftster profile so you will be ready for our next swap!

I'm excited to craft for this swap, and to see what everyone else makes, because there are so many different directions in which the crafters could go with this theme--we can use any medium, and make any item that we think our partner would like.  In the picture above you can see several cat pincushions/stuffies I have received in swaps (thanks wendiek, onegroovyday, and pjr107!), plus the beautiful painting of my favorite cat ever, Toulouse, which my daughter made for me for Christmas two years ago (thanks, Jenna!)

I've always found that dog and cat-themed purses (like the blue one above, and the two below that I just made this week) sell very quickly at craft shows and the local store that carries my work.  People just love cats and dogs!

Right, Q-Tip?

Right, Suki and Sake?

Right, Juniper?

RIGHT!

GIVEAWAY--Day #7

Alas, I now come to my very last day of this gigantic Seven Days of Giveaways.  I am posting early this morning so you don't have to keep checking my blog all day!!  I have enjoyed the excitement of all of you who have posted comments; this has been a wonderful celebration of 100+ followers, my blog's one-year anniversary, and my birthday!

Congratulations to yesterday's winners, Eclectic Dreamer and B Greene (again)!

I saved the best for last:  today, the first person to leave a comment (and email me your mailing address) will receive one of my zippered purses!  This one has cupcakes and plenty of pink on it.  You will also get one of my wool felt tie-on pincushions, and a couple of Martha Stewart party items.

The second person to leave a comment (and email me your mailing address) will win these three Michael Miller fabric fat quarters (thanks again for donating these to my giveaway, Susan) and a funky little zippered pouch with an underwater scene on it (below).

To all of you who follow my blog and read it regularly:  THANK YOU!  I have fun writing this and showing you what I'm working on, and I truly appreciate the comments you leave because they let me know that this blog is actually being read! 

I will now return to my regular schedule of posting something every-other-day.  See you on Sunday!

Valentine Purses

I just finished these Valentine's Day-inspired purses, and not a moment too soon!  The ladies who own these will only get about 3 weeks of use out of them this year.

I made these at the request of a regular customer (Debbie, who also ordered wintery blue bags from me).  She and her daughter, who is a school teacher, both like to carry seasonal bags.

I made four for them to choose from.  Debbie's daughter specifically asked for something with chocolates on the fabric.

I know which ones are my favorites, but I don't know yet which ones they chose (they will pick them up at the store where I sell my bags and other things).

When I called Debbie to tell her the bags were at the store, she concluded the conversation by saying "We will be wanting St. Patrick's Day bags too."  Luckily, I've already ordered that fabric!

Wintery Blue Bags

Now that we are well into December, my crafting has shifted from Christmas-themed to a more general winter theme.  Coincidentally, I had some special orders this week for purses that are blue and winter-themed. 

Lee Ann, a regular customer of mine for many years, LOVES bears and teddy bears, so when she called to ask for something wintery that would go with blue jeans, this is the first fabric I thought of, since it has bears on it.  It has a wonderful back-woods, log-cabin feel to me.

But I wanted to give her more than one choice, so I made this bag too.  The fabric has different stripes of wintery scenes:  snow-covered houses, bare trees, and big silver and white snowflakes.

At the same time I was making these two bags, another regular customer, Debbie, called to ask for snowflake bags for herself and her daughter (Debbie ordered the Christmas bag and school-themed bag I showed you a couple of weeks ago).

I made these two bags for Debbie and her daughter, and then showed all three pictures to Lee Ann.

Much to my surprise, she chose the second bag with the bare winter trees!  It really is a great fabric, with touches of metallic silver sparkling all over it.

Just as I sat down to write this post, Debbie called to say her daughter had just picked up the two snowflake bags (I had left them for her at the local store that carries my crafts) and they both LOVE them!  She said they plan to get bags for every holiday and season!  That means I need to start looking for some great Valentine's Day fabric!!

Show and Tell: New Bags

Most of the time when I am sewing purses to stock my booth at the local store called Country Treasures, I go about choosing fabrics somewhat haphazardly--I have a handful of designs that sell well, but I don't want to limit myself to just those, because then the booth looks boring; so I try to find new fabrics that I think will have broad appeal.  Sometimes they sell immediately (like the single Halloween purse I managed to make this year!) and sometimes they sit, and sit, for months before the right person comes along to claim them.  Sometimes that person is me!

I like it when I get a special order for a purse (even if the order is unusual, like the solid black bag and  solid brown bag I've shown you before) because I know it will will go straight to its new home and will make someone happy.

I know the holidays are approaching, because I recently got an order for this bag:

Red and green and holly--this purse's owner will bring the holiday spirit with her everywhere she goes! 


This customer also ordered a bag as a gift for her daughter, a school teacher.  This is the front:

 and this is the back.  I love the graphics on these bright fabrics.  The cursive writing fabric, near the bottom on the front, and at the top of the back pocket, was an unexpected gift from my awesome friend Susan (aka, The Sloppy Sewer).  It works so perfectly with the theme of this bag.  Thanks, Susan!!

I love the fun print on the home dec fabric I used for the lining.  Yes, that's a pocket on the inside, too.

Debbie, I hope you and your daughter love your new bags!