Happy Little Handbags

I think I went a bit overboard this past week. I wanted a break from hats and there was a neat modern handbag project in a mini mag that I'd recently picked up.

Monday's stream Saw me experimenting with different bits of thin leather. I learned that of the leather on hand, the thin suedes worked the best. So in this photo, only the mulberry leather bag (and the binder clip bag I made for funsies) were kept.

Tuesday I raided my stash of suede and pulled out three colors to play with. I also picked up some "bling" to make them spiffier. I also cut out several more bags in different colors and the card stock supports pieces. That took quite a while.

I thought it might be fun to use both sides of the suede so I could get different textures. Both of these blue bags are from the same piece of leather! :-)

Wednesday was a really long stream. I assembled 11 bags! The first red bag also got its decorations.

I had to call it quits around 7pm so I could eat something. Once I'd caught my breath, I did these two black bags quickly. Again, note the difference in the textures. Same leather piece for both.

So now I have lots of these bags. Not sure where all of them will end up, but I couldn't resist all the different colors. Sadly, the mulberry leather has the same texture on both side, so I can't get two different bags from that one. Also the other side of the leather that ivory bag (left front) doesn't have an appealing texture, so it's a singleton as well.

Thursday was mini group day. We organized more than we worked on projects. But we have 2 full Saturdays panned for this summer! And we've divided up this year's Festival dollhouse! So it was a productive meeting.

Friday I cleaned up many things downstairs. It was long overdue. And Saturday FH  and I watched the Derby with our neighbor. I made a cake that evening, but it's still setting up in the fridge and I'd prefer not to disturb it for a picture. If I can, I'll get one and add it to the post later.

For now, it's late (just barely technically Sunday morning) and I need to finish cleaning up the kitchen and go to bed. There is a "Welcome Home" party for "Little D"... who isn't so little anymore. He's all grown up and back from serving a tour of duty overseas. It's going to be a wonderful Sunday afternoon!

*** Edit: As promised, the Margarita Cake!
(That gel layer is tequila, grand marnier, margarita mix, and gelatin. Needless to say, must be 21 to consume in the US.)

Shamless Filler

It's raining and Daylight Savings Time has robbed me of a much needed hour in which to get things done. I've been fighting with a computer program that I'm determined to master and the last week has seen me out of the house more than in it.

So, today I'm going to show off a couple of paintings FH and I did last month. Our niece's school was doing a fundraiser for a trip to Puerto Rico and the four of us (her mother included) were actually able to paint together. Much fun was had by and and many cookies met their demise. 10/10 would happily do that again.

I love the way FH's sky looks like a burning sunset with churning clouds. The shading on his sand is most excellent as well. It's definitely about to rain here... the clouds in the foreground are building upwards and the sea is turning green. I can almost feel the wind picking up speed when I look at his painting.

I did a less stormy sky and created more of a cove. The little palm trees were just aching to happen while I worked. It took me forever to be happy with the water. I also went back and added shading on the sand after I saw FH's idea. It's calmer in my little cove.... night time is descending and wrapping the world in a blanket of shadows.

The highlight last week was meeting this little lady in person.

Her name is Kaya and she belongs to one of my favorite glass artists, E-Jipt. They were rolling through the midwest on their cross country move and I was lucky enough to be able to drive down to meet up with them. She loves to play tug of war and when E-Jipt is live streaming from his stupid, she sometimes gets into his lap and has screen time. Kaya has quite the following in the Twitch.tv community. Many regular viewers have suggested that he add another camera under his workbench so he can change the view to feature her when she is nearby.

So that's all for this week. I'm hoping to figure out the software I'm working with and get back into my studio tomorrow. We'll see if technology and I can reach detente.