Spring Clutch

Well, it's suppose to be in the high 80s today in lovely Sunny Florida, which means that Spring must be here for most of the rest of the country.   The change in the weather has me thinking about Spring Accessories and hence the Lantern Bloom Clutch.  (This girl can be found  here.)

I have been playing around with this pattern and now that I have completed a second one of this clutch, I already have plans for some improvements. Look for a rounded gussets to add some depth and I since I am craving to start working with eco-friendly fabrics, I will start using a heavy canvas in natural to add some rigidity to the bag.

As you can see from below, I spent last  weekend cutting lining and attaching the interior slip and zippered pockets.

Fabric Swatches

Lately, I have been getting numerous requests for custom orders and questions regarding possible fabric choices.  Therefore I have decided to add a page of Fabric Swatches which can be found here under the category of Fabric Swatches.  While it's not a complete photo list of my current stash, it will at least give the folks at home some options.

These two delicious fabrics will be appearing in my Summer Clutches Collection (soon to be in my shop).  It's a wonderful Cotton/Hemp fabric and the two colors shown are Butter (above) & Sea Spray (to the right).

Celebrate Earth Day

It's Earth Day.

On the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, my goal this year is to be a more responsible member of the planet. 

Here's a list of some simple  things that I did that you can do too:

• Paint: I didn't realize how much painting we have done in this house. When our city was having their annual "dump your paint" day, DH pulled all the nearly empty cans of old paint from the garage, we were surprised about the amount we had laying around. The nice thing about the recycle paint program is that the company that receives this donated paint, in turn recycles it into new paint that they offer for free to the residents of our City.  They have a Cafe Latte color that I have been eyeballing....

• Electronics:  I think Best Buy is running an ad right now to drop off old laptops instead of discarding them in the garbage.
• Old Cellphones:  When we clean out one of the old night tables in our bedroom, I found old cellphone batteries (one was from the old Motorola Brick!).  We took these to our local mobile company who has a battery recycle program
• Printer Ink Cartridges:  Most office supplies stores will give you $$$ off for returning empty print cartridges. 
• Eyeglasses:  After learning that reading glasses were not cutting it anymore and I started wearing progressives (nice word for bi-focals?), I realized I still had a collection of old glasses.  There are many charitable organization that would love to receive your old glasses.  I wrote about it here.

I Am Procrastinating

I am procrastinating.

I should be working on the Spring Clutches, but I am having my morning coffee, watching  CBS Sunday Morning, blogging, surfing on Etsy and due to an incredible craving for Re-fried Beans, I am also cooking.

I know they don't look great now, but once they've been mashed with a little oil, onion, cilantro and chili peppers...  

I am also digging this Golden Dripping Ring Holder ring holder from JDWolfePottery's Shop.

 

I had hearted a blue one they had on their site but it had sold out before I could buy it.  Now as I am in decorating my bedroom mode, I am thinking this one may be better...can't decide...I want one on my nightstand  to throw my everyday jewelry in, this way I don't have to worry about my new furniture.

My sister is correct, if I do not stop letting all these distraction - um distract me : ) then I will never grew this business.

Celebrate Mom

I can't believe that the month of April is more than half over.  As April slips into May that means Mother's Day is around the corner.

This year the wonderful folks from IndieSpotting & my Shopping connection approached us to participate in their annual Handmade Mother's Day Gift Guide.   (Yes, that's our Floating Pebbles Pendant Necklace - 2nd row on the right.)

If you have never visited these two great sites, be sure to do so, you'll find lots of cool things that you never knew you needed!  IndieSpotting is a favorite as it's a collection of great finds created by artisans like me.

April 2010 Projects

Just returned from a lovely week in California. Spent time with family via the first Family Reunion and walking along the sunny California coastline with DH.  Perhaps it was sand or sitting by the beach drinking Mimosas that has me thinking of Summer.  While the temperatures in CA were between the low 40s to 70s, the temperature in Florida has been creeping into the 80s, which we Floridians lovingly call Spring.  Either way the beach and warm weather has me thinking about new projects as I have been itching to get creative again.

Last year I made a Clutch for one of my sisters (which I never did get a picture of) and since she received so many complements...
Therefore, last night I started digging through my fabric stash, as I am thinking about making some Clutch handbags using bright cottons and warm linens.  So far I picked out two linens and fabric from the collections of Anna Maria Horner, Laura Gunn and Valori Wells.