Slowly But Surely.......

I am reaching my goal, slowly but surely!  I've finally got over fifty items in my Etsy shop and a WHOLE BUNCH of others left to list.  I am still sewing but it's all winding down.  I seem to always fall about a week off of my goal but I'm not holding that against myself.  I'm getting it done and I feel good about that.  I have finished up all of the billfolds, snappy billfolds, and larger pouch wallets.  Now I am furiously sewing my way through a stack of tiny envelope wallets and those will be followed by the last of the small coin pouches and heart shaped coin pouches.  Wheeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!  Cross your fingers for me that this week will be an easy one with very few bumps and such. 

In other news, our apartment is a complete wreck!  It seems that cleaning and organizing is just about impossible when you are gearing up for the holidays with leathery goodness.  My floor is littered with small bits of leather, thread, and lining materials.  Linus, our new kitten seems to like that a lot, he constantly has something to play with, and he's been really good about not getting into everything I am working on.  He's a good little guy and very patient with his new family.  If the kids had it their way, Linus would never be without  a lap to sit on and his feet would never touch the ground.  It is pretty darn cute to watch them shower Linus with love.  Other than that, we are gearing up for the holidays with a few projects to work on here and there and I'm getting ready for my next craft show at the end of the month too!  Lots of fun stuff to look forward to, and I'll hopefully have some pictures of all of our various adventures:)

I'm makin' lots of stuff!

It's been busy around here the last few weeks.  I managed to make it through Edolie's birthday AND Halloween without pulling all of my hair out.  I also managed to finish up a stack of 23 billfolds and am furiously sewing through a pile of coin pouches to be done in the next day or so.  Fun times!  I am desperately trying to get a lot done and listed in my shop to reach my goal of at least 50 items in my shop and a few extra for my upcoming show at the end of the month.  I'm crossing my fingers it will all come together:)  I decided to show off the first three billfolds that I finished up for my Etsy shop.  Now I'm off to do a little bit of cleaning before I hit the sewing machine again.

Attack of the Wallets

I am making lots o' things to prepare for a couple of events that I am doing this holiday season.  I started with a stack of billfolds and came up with these (and more to come soon) and now I am on to coin pouches and larger wallets.  I love being able to work again.  I actually make myself work at night now, I can't see worth a darn but I am actually getting stuff done and it feels good.  It's also nice that my goal for the year has been to simply work enough to fill up my Etsy shop so I can concentrate on some metal work and other wild accessories in the new year.  I hope to heck that happens!

Well, back to work I go...............

Step by Step

 The Beginning of Billfold Making- Sketching out the design on the leather.

 This big pile of leather is the billfold faces all cut up and ready to be glued.

 The billfold faces after they've been glued and interfaced.

The finished product.  All ready to go!

How it All Begins

This is what a stack of billfolds looks like before I start cutting and gluing.  Each appliqued area is hand drawn out and then cut out by ME!  Then it's all about finding pieces of leather and suede to glue on to compliment the design.  Then interfacing the whole lot of them,  then sewing the appliques, and then putting the whole thing together.  Seems like a lot of work but it goes relatively quickly.  This is how I will be spending my day while I wait for phone calls and such.

New!

 My Newest Creation, a mix of my itty bitty messenger bag and My large envelope wallet.  This is the first of the batch and I get to call it mine:)  Only so I can see if it's something that will work well for what I designed it for.

 A close-up of the applique design this time purple, orange and olive green suede!

 The contrasting front flap interior in purple suede(goes so nicely with this particular shade of teal

 The exterior of the bag

The interior featuring three card pockets, one zipper pocket and two large slide pockets all fully lined in a paisley cotton print.

And there it is:)  I feel so accomplished!  It's just one of many things on the table this week.  Including a stack of billfolds all ready for cutting, gluing, and sewing,  a wristlet that just needs a zipper and a button to feel complete, and, a cuff from the same teal suede that needs some stitching and a handmade button to make it happy(and wearable)  Here's hopin' that this week some work gets done.

A Little Time Alone!

My two um "latest" billfold designs that I accidentally forgot to list way back when, hope you like them!

Mark took the kiddo to run errands so I get to hang out and relax for a few. I have decided to split my time between making a new cuff and perusing Etsy for new tee-shirts. I am itching for some interesting clothing right now! I hope I find something I can't live without. I hope to have the new cuff up and listed by Monday. I am really having fun with it:)