Back to Makin' Leathery Things

I'm back to sewing and creating and all the happy that goes with it!  Lots of changes since we moved but maybe that is for the better down the line.  Now that I am finally settled in, I can get shit done!   Enjoy!

Yeah I've been busy......

I have a LOT more of these to come over the next couple of days.  LOOKOUT!!!!

Sick Days

I have one small child with a belly ache, so I am taking the opportunity to clean, and get some stuff made!  So far, I have these two beauties all set and ready to find their new homes, hopefully soon:), I have dyed one HUGE pale green handbag a darker shade of emerald green, and I am slowly doing my spring cleaning now, it feels good to be a little more organized and less chaotic right now.  My very distractable mind is having a really hard time with the free time that we have now.  So, cross your fingers for me that I can keep moving at this pace:)

Working on the Inside.....

The pennies are placed where the stamps will go

The stamps are done!

My first carved stamp!

All done?

Sometime last year I started contemplating having my lining fabrics printed with my own designs.  Then, I started remembering how much fun I had in high school with printing and painting on fabric.  So, I dragged out some plain white cotton from the stash that I collected from my mom a while back and started playing.  My first attempts were pretty gross.  Not much was happening except for mud.  I tried washes and dry brush and spray bottle painting and I was not impressed with any of it.  So I gave up and just kept collecting random pieces of cotton for my collection.  Then, I thought I would give fabric stamping a try.   So off I went to our local art store and got myself some fabric dye and blank stamps for the carvin'  and I finally got results I like!  This one is green with black hearts, and multicolored dots.  I think it's a mighty fine start, and a nice break from sitting at the sewing table too!

Just Messin' Around

So, I have bags and bags full of small scraps of leather and suede that have been waiting patiently for me to think of some exciting way of using them all up.  I think I've made a start.  I decided that I could not make it through the weekend without giving this new design a try.  I think it's a good start.  I love the colors!  This one is now up for grabs.  I'm thinking that I will be making a few more of these in various colors and sizes, some with snaps, others with buttons,  all kinds of cool new stuff!   Thanks for looking:)

So, I Missed April Too......

It's been a bit busy over here and I just realized that I haven't posted anything since late March.  Oops!  Well, today I have some new things to share and hope to have more ready to share soon.  I am busily working on leathery things and helping the kids make it through these last few weeks of school.  Then the madness really begins!  I will be hangin' here with the kiddos this summer trying to find new and exciting ways of entertaining them and trying to fit in lots of designing and sewing in between.  Wish me luck!

New Stuff to Share!

The start of a new neck piece and my first attempt at setting stones in leather, should be fun!

New Tie up card wallet in black and red

This one looks like a ladybug:)

New Things Finally!

I finished up a few new card wallets over the last few days and got them all listed in my shop and ready for their new homes.  We have had quite an interesting 2015 so far, lots of illness and not a lot getting done.  It finally seems like things are improving and we are down to one earache and cough, which is a whole lot better than what we've been up against over the last meanwhile. 

I have not had a lot of free time for much of anything so of course, nothing creative gets done.  Now that these little guys are all ready to go, I'm going to head back to the sewing table to work on my various projects (the most recent being a simple checkbook cover design) and get some stuff done!

I did get to hide my handmade valentines all about Arcata and it looks like they have all been found and given homes.   Since Valentine's Day has become a sort of blah, nothing special day around here for me, I was able to enjoy it more because of my little project.  I got to give some love and appreciation to my community and that makes my tiny, rotten heart happy.  I can't wait to make some more.  I'm thinking the next project is going to be something to do with dragons or monsters of some sort.  Probably in the same medium too.  Glue and pastels have been an awesome reintroduction to drawing and working on paper.  I am also kind of addicted to my metallic pastels and paints too!

Here's to having fun and getting stuff done!  Happy Friday!!!!!

Biege

My newest three just in time for the holidays in my Etsy shop now!

I am so blessed to have had such a variety of great colors of leather and suede to use this year.  As usual, toward the end of the year I run low on everything.  Now that I am sewing for two different places, I am using up even more leather and suede than ever!  I love it, but I am finding myself running into trouble with designing new appliques and putting colors together.  It is a challenge even with a rainbow of colors in front of me and now that I am limited a bit, it's even more of a challenge to find things that work together and look good.  I like to have a few pieces with more neutral colors on hand just because not everyone wants a bright yellow or purple wallet.  The tricky part is that I use up all of the neutral colors pretty fast and only have teeny tiny scraps to work with for the face of each wallet.  I think I may need to rethink my appliques a bit so my leathery goodness can stretch a bit farther.  2015 should be fun and full of new ideas!

Wallets, Wallets, and More Wallets

I'm trying my darndest to get lots of stuff sewn up this week for the coming holidays and so far, it's going pretty well.  I have decided not to stress too much and just enjoy!  I am coming up with some crazy color schemes and designs.  The billfolds above are two of my favorite color combinations for the moment,  Last year I had a thing for red, grey, and black, and purple, grey, and black.  Now it's these!  They are both looking for new homes and are available with FREE SHIPPING from my Etsy shop

Panic Time!

I just realized that the holiday season is upon us.  Time to PANIC!  I guess that will happen when crazy stuff comes up within your family, and that is all you get to concentrate on for a few days.  Now that it is all past, I get to concentrate on making some stuff!.............in a hurry!   I got three wallets done and listed in my Etsy shop yesterday, and today is all about a HUGE stack of billfolds that will be going to Funk Shui in Eureka.  I decided to not do any craft fairs this year just so I could concentrate on filling up my Etsy shop and keeping it that way.  I'm crossing my fingers that I can keep this energy going!  It feels good to be productive!  I wish my poor sewing machine agreed:)

Along with sewing, the kids and I have been making things for the holidays, mostly from what we collect outside.  Lots of leaf collages, stars out of sticks and twigs, etc.  It has been so nice to deliberately go out for walks in hopes of finding treasures to work with.  I hope to have some pics of our creations soon, I just realized how badly I have neglected putting up photos from the last few months.  We have been busy little happy bees and plan to stay that way. 

New in Red

I finished these two up this weekend and now they are waiting in my Etsy shop to go to new homes!  Can you tell that I really like how red, black, and grey look together:)  After a very busy week, I am back to cutting and sewing and gearing up for the holidays.  I have one more great big red pouch to sew up and then I'm on to some purple things and billfolds.  Wheeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!

Purple, Blue, Black, and Yellow

Many moons ago, my dear friend Kathy, who sends me lots of leather and suede in the most glorious colors and textures ever, sent me a HUGE school bus yellow leather trench coat.  I have made a few things with the leather but hadn't really found a good match for it in my designs.  Now I think I finally have!  These two are now available in my Etsy shop. I am hoping to add what I can to this years collection of goodies.  Thanks for looking!

New Stuff and Stuff

I am finishing up wallets left and right here and thought I would go ahead and list one today!  So here we go!  This one in red, rust, purple, and brown is now all set for it's new home in my Etsy shop.  It has been really busy the last few days but fun and busy which is my favorite.  A little bit of sewing, a visit to the pumpkin patch, helping in Ed's classroom, the school carnival, and getting ready for the very many birthdays that October brings us, not to mention Halloween!  Luckily, the kids both have their costumes already.  Just a little bit of fussing and fixing and all will be done for the big day!  I for see many fun times ahead. Happy October!

New Things to Share!

With the kids both in school now, I am finally getting a few minutes here and there to sew.  I've been down with some crazy sinus troubles since mid August so I am happy to be back to the sewing machine and making stuff.  I finished up these babies and they are all ready to go! 

Both kids are in school now!  Ed is officially in T-K  which is Transitional Kindergarten (for the the kiddos that aren't quite old enough for regular ol' Kindergarten)  She LOVES it!  Ciaran is with the same teacher for 2nd grade and LOVES it too:)  Now, my quest is getting myself making cool stuff on a regular basis as well as hopefully working as a substitute here and there.  It's all an adventure:)

Me and My Shadow

Or more like Us and Our Shadows.  We are back from a long episode of hellish gallbladder troubles, sniffles and colds, a couple little hopes and dreams that were squashed and some other stuff.  Now we are back and happily awaiting Summer.  We are having the most awesome warm weather right now so we are all feeling a bit antsy.  It's good!  Hopefully, we'll put that energy into our volcano project, our kite project, and our other adventures that are in the planning stages.  Off I go to sew up some wallets to fund all of this madness!

So This is what Happened.......

The crazy colors I was playing with turned in to these!  My newest wallet creations.  I really like this one, it's a bit smaller than the large pouch that I carry as my wallet, but still big enough to throw a whole bunch o' stuff in.  Lots of card pockets, a big slip pocket, and a zipper pocket.  I particularly like the teal one.  I also have one in red and one in purple to sew up once I am done with my latest custom order.   I  am also waiting on some interfacing and trying my hand at dyeing my own cotton for the lining of my wallets.  I happened to inherit a bunch of cotton fabric from my mom and am thrilled to be playing with some dye soon.  Yay!  and Thanks Mom!

Grey, Green, Purple, Blue, Lavender, Brown, and more GREY!

I am working on a new wallet pouch thingy and I came up with some combinations of colors that I really like.  They are weird, but I like them.  I've got some pale green, grey, purple, and bright blue, I think I may have puked with this one a couple of years ago, and the picture doesn't make it look very interesting, but it really is!  (To me anyways)  The second is a sort of dusty teal with more grey, lavender, and dark brown, and I love it!  I made a custom wallet in the same colors for someone just  few weeks ago and was not completely sure if the colors would work, but they did and I really like it now.  So much that I am making a few things for my shop with this same color scheme.  It's fun to play!  I am still loving red, grey and black, and grey, violet, and black too!  So you will probably see a few more of those combos coming up shortly.  I never thought I would like grey suede so much!