Current Project-Purses

If you asked me, "what do you collect" I would say, "Lip Gloss, Purses, and Elvis memorabilia" ... in that order. I have a huge obsession with Lip Gloss and I have noticed that lately, I have this huge obsession with purses. Store bought, hand made, big, small, whatever... I like purses!!!!!!!
Recently I have been extremely attracted to VERY large purses. I like that I can carry everything in one bag, sometime even my 2 year old. :-) Well, my latest project was the Amy Butler Nappy Bag. Since my son is a toddler and we are transitioning out of diapers, I don't usually carry a diaper bag with me. BUT this bag is soooo cute, has a ton of pockets and is huge, so I decided to make one to carry as a purse.

I didn't make the changing pad that is included in the Nappy Bag instructions and I altered the pattern slightly. I added 2 locker loops on the inside of the purse; one for my keys and the other for my change purse, and I mitered the corners of the bottom of the purse. I mitered the corners because my biggest complaint about the bag was that the bottom corners were SUPER pointy, so that adjustment was purely aesthetic. It was really easy to sew,the instructions were fairly easy to follow and the actual sewing took me only a few hours. I am really pleased with the way my purse turned out. I even tested it out this weekend on our trip to the zoo(bottom pic), and it fit perfectly on the back of the stroller, which left the basket underneath the stroller open for a bunch of other things!!

I also have 2 other purse projects waiting for me. The first one is another Amy Butler purse, the Frenchy Bag. I was at work this past weekend and I saw a really great combination of fabrics that I HAD to make into a purse, so I picked the Frenchy Bag. I have the pattern, the fabric and the thread.... I just have to cut it out and get sewing.

The 2nd purse project is a little more creative. I was walking through Target a few weeks ago and found this pillow case (bottom right) in the college stuff that was on sale for $3 and some change. The best part about the pillow case is that there is a main floral pattern on one side and a basic coordinating stripe on the other. I immediately thought that it would make a great purse. So, I bought 2. I haven't decided exactly how I am going to design my bacg. I know that it is going to basically be a tote bag, but I am not sure of the exact size or if I am going to make the handles out of part of the pillow case or if I am going to purchase pre-made handles. I want this purse to be cute but functional, and I am still trying to figure out the best direction to achieve both.

*CHALLENGE!*

Things I want to accomplish before my next birthday... I just had one so I have almost a full year for my accomplishments. Lets see the first thing that I want to do is finish my uncle's painting (on right). I am almost done and I just have one element to add. I hope that I get it done before November, because I am seriously considering taking a trip to see him in CA. The second thing that I want to do before my next birthday (notice that I am avoiding telling you which birthday will be next) is start and complete the painting for my sister in law. She just moved into her own place and needs some decor... I have a lot of ideas, I just need to narrow them down. I also just started my Chicago scrapbook (see pics on yesterday's post) and I would really like to get that done in the next year. I hope that it doesn't take me all that long... but it took me 3 months to get started on it so it just might. I am hoping that in November when I take my trip, that my sis-in-law gets to go with... she is turning 21 that week and I was hoping to take her out in Las Vegas (my home town). With that trip I am planning on taking loads of pics and putting them together for her in a scrapbook and giving it to her for Christmas. Of course all of that depends on if she is even able to go on the trip, but I hope that she is and I really hope that the scrapbook works out... cause I think that is a GREAT gift. I also make all of my Christmas gifts, so I guess I should get started on that soon in order for them to be done by this Christmas. That's all of the artistic accomplishments that I want to make before my next birthday... it isn't a lot, but I am a pretty spur-of-the-moment person, so there is a lot that I want to accomplish that I just don't know about yet.