Author: denise

I have done beadwork for over 25 years and got so interested in jewelry design that I took two metalwork classes at Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts in Gatlinburg, Tennessee from wonderful teachers Deborah Lynn Gold and Marjorie Simon. I can't choose a favorite medium. I love sculptural work and adore forming and fabricating metals, but three-dimensional beadwork is more colorful. I sew a lot! Lately I've been making lots of purses and wallets as well as upcycling used clothing into new items. Lately I've gone back to sewing and refashioning cast-off clothing–mostly men's shirts, into girls' clothing. I also enjoy making handbags and wallets. They are really fun to put together–like a puzzle.

Joe Pye Weed

My Joe Pye Weed is looking good and the butterflies agree. There was a silver-spotted skipper and a fritillary on the beautiful blossoms today. It really loves all the rain we’ve had. I’m glad something does. 

I love the heathery mauve of the blossoms. Subtle beauty.
These grand stalks are still standing after a terrible storm here yesterday. Doesn’t the fritillary butterfly stand out nicely? There is so much beauty in the world.

The Rest of the Purse

I finished the Gabby Bag and took it to Locally Grown Gallery in Oak Ridge yesterday. I love how it turned out. The navy blue linen is perfect for the city-scape cotton fabric. It has two zipper pockets, one inside and one outside, and two slip pockets on the inside.

This is the back of the bag with the zipper pocket showing. I get my zippers from zipit on Etsy. She sends the cute zipper charms with her zipper orders and they’re very economical and they’re YKK zippers! Love zipit.

This pattern is nice. I like the instructions and the result. The only problem I had was getting the box corner right, but that was my “skim-the-pattern-instructions-and-hope-it’s-right” attitude kicking in. It was a pain having to rip out the seams after I caught the side seam’s top-stitched edge on the bottom in the stitching for the squaring of the corners. And it’s spelled out very well in the instructions, even giving an illustration of what it should look like. I’m blaming it on all the rain we’ve had and the gloom which has me a little lethargic lately. 

We had a little visitor to our yard this week. He or she was so cute! 

Little ‘possum going to bed. 

One & a half more

I have two more purses to show off. Sort of. The first one is the Boronia Bowler Bag by BlueCallaPatterns. This is a well-written pattern and the purse has a nice feel. It went together pretty fast. It has lots of pockets and opens really wide. The shoulder strap is detachable. The only thing that confused me about cutting the pattern was the outer and inner pattern piece is cut from the same pattern piece, but it is really different. I would like to see it as two separate pattern pieces. I’ll probably print and cut out a separate piece if I make it again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Boronia Bowler Bag

The second, the Gabby Bag by Emmaline Bags, is not quite completed yet. I  had to order zippers that match. I didn’t like the ones in my collection for this. The blue is too bright, not navy like I wanted, and the sizes vary. I usually have whatever I need. I guess it’s time to replenish my zipper stash. 

The outer bag is on the bottom in the picture, the lining in the middle and the trim is the navy linen above them. The stripe is just my ironing pad. I love my ironing pad. I keep it right by my Juki. My spare cutting mat is underneath it so I can scoot the pad out of the way and cut off wonky edges and other things. 

Switching topics completely.

I took grandson T to visit the handicapped turtles again Saturday. My two friends love him and he loves them–especially since they have turtles. He got to feed the turtles and put them in tubs of water. The turtles love the water. The male box turtle, Boo (short for BooBoo), kept his head underwater for several minutes. That’s how he drinks. Boo got his name because he was injured and pretty sick when my friend got him. He sometimes gets his head stuck inside his shell because of a deformation caused by this injury.

Cleo & T.

Cleopatra, Cleo for short, was a rescue. She’s not a box turtle, but so far no one can identify her. She was a pet who was neglected, not given enough light while her shell was forming and the edges of her shell aren’t there. I’m glad my friend is taking care of her now. Cleo seems happy and even a little feisty.