Auction Items

I am donating these items to a friend of mine for an auction that will raise money for her son's school. The necklace is a light transparent topaz heart on a sterling silver chain; and the bracelet is a variety of beads with a brown/ivory/amber/topaz theme.

CUTE!

This could be my new favorite! This bag is made from an old pair of cargo pants that were really cute - they just didn't fit right. They had cool stitching going up the leg, that is now on one side of the bag. The other side has a big pocket. I bought the pants because they were so cute, but in a couple years, I probably only wore them twice. The lining/accent fabric is a tapestry I got at a garage sale for dirt cheap (washed up clean, of course). I love the colors in it - berry, coral, peach, mango, orange; and it has a cool pattern.

Mary Poppins Bag

Finished another bag - the liner fabric on this one reminds me of Mary Poppins and her carpetbag. This bag is big and cozy.

Finished Products

The fun part of making a bag is the main body - picking the components for the outside and the lining; cutting up the pieces, sewing them together and then seeing how it looks pieced together. The hard part, and what takes the longest, is adding the final touches - like making the straps and the pockets, sewing them on, adding a snap or other type of closure... So I have several sewing projects that got through the body process, but then sit waiting for straps, etc. But I finally finished a couple.

The teal bag is from a skirt on the Target 75% off clearance rack - score! It's a nice, thick cotton material. The tan bag started with a thrift store skirt (all washed and clean); and is also really nice thick material. The insides are soft corduroy prints that I purchased. My goal is to use at least half "recycled" or "repurposed" materials for everything - or 100% if it's possible, which might be more realistic for smaller projects. The big bags take more material which can't always be scavenged from an old skirt or pair of cargo pants.

Works in Progress

Currently obsessed with sewing, bags in particular.

Just Beads

I love making jewelry out of my beads, but unfortunately, there's not enough time in the day to create them AND make something out of each and every bead. So my bead stash is growing and some poor beads aren't getting the attention they deserve. I think I'll post a few and see if there's any interest. These sets are available in my etsy shop at http://studio23art.etsy.com.

Isn't this cute?

I made a bunch of little medallion kind of beads the other day and I just think they're so cute. I'm not sure what I'll do with them yet, but I did make this necklace today using one of them. This one is black silver plum glass so it has a nice silvery shimmer to it - it doesn't even look like glass but more like a piece of metal. It has two cords - a thin brown leather one, and one strung with alternating aqua crystals, aqua seed beads and hematite spacers. It's between choker length and 16 inches. It's for sale in my etsy shop at www.studio23art.etsy.com for $28. By the way, this necklace is extra special because when I was measuring the two strands, the one with the crystals and seed beads slipped from my hand and every single bead but one or two fell off. I had to search the area for aqua, then restring it.