About my Collage Handbags

Good Lord, do I love making these!!!!!

So far i've made about six of these, so I feel like i'm pretty qualified to build upon Cindy W's tutorial and give you guys some tips! 

• The hardest part is sewing the round edges. This might help:
              

       

1. draw your corner on cardboard and cut out






2. trace your corner on the side of the collage that will be the inside of the handbag on the right and left top corners

        You might also want to use a straight edge to draw some sewing guidelines for putting it all together as well. 
• Don't put your stitches too closely together
• When they're finished, they are really durable, but if your stitches are too close together you can rip the paper and the sheet protector!
• For extra durability, sew on another sheet protector. I find that the best way to do this is to first put your piece in one sheet protector, sew one side to keep it all together and cut off the excess sheet protector on the side, so you can fit it all nicely into another sheet protector
• If you want to put a button on:
• fold your bag the way you want it, decide where to put your button. BEFORE SEWING IT CLOSED use a needle to poke two holes about 1mm apart. Use stretchy string to secure your button on the bag because it puts less stress on the material than sewing it on would!

What I've been Selling:

High Fashion/ Mod Inspired Black, White, and Red Handbag

Just Another Typical Colorful Sarah Piece (it's bright colors)

Lisa Frank Stickers Clutch!

This one is my new favorite. I'm selling it for more than the others on ebay because

1. I used a lot of Lisa Frank Stickers that are both pricey and rare

2. If someone finds it  and is as much of a Lisa Frank fan as me, It will be worth their money

3. I just love it and can't part with it for more than 10!!

What I did when I visited Alex!

So I didn't automatically sell my patch necklace like I had hoped, but I tapped into my savings and visited Alex anyways because I missed him so much! I didn't get to spend much time with him because he was subbing on the days I visited, but I took advantage of the free time and I spent the day using his acrylic paints for warmachine and painted some shrink plastic pendants. My inspiration henna designs and bright colors (no surprise there ;)


I broke out the glue gun today to glue them to the embossing paper to make the back look a little more sophisticated.
The plan:
1. put holes on two opposite ends of them
2. use purple wire to attach them/ make links with the wire

The beads were picked out by my mom. She came up with these rich colored small glass beads, my black seed beads,  some random black glass beads from an old necklace, and small wooden beads. I would have never come up with that, so i'm glad I got her input because  I think it will look really beautiful! 

New Discovery: Wire!!!!

I had originally bought 20 g wire for a Friendly Plastics Project but it's taken me a while to find the courage to try to make something pretty from them (they're kind of pricey, even though I have a ton, they're so pretty  I don't want to ruin them). I went through Raafia's jewelry the other day to get inspiration

These are pictures I took of her unique jewelry that I thought I could replicate with the supplies I already have. I really like the one with the beads on the wire post linked together. I started making this, but I ended up making a ton of earrings instead. They look really classy and unique, but I still want to try some of this other stuff.


Anyways, this wire is great, my brother bought it for me for Christmas in a bunch of different colors.l I like it because I can use it to make coil beads of various sizes which I think will really compliment my mixed glass beads! I'll post more pictures later. In conclusion, invest in wire

My Favorite Project Yet!

I am so so proud of this necklace!!! I had a big bag that my friend's mom gave me a while ago, but it got a huge hole in the bottom. It had these beautiful patches on it so I cut those out and used some for this piece. I started with the flower, I put a needle with several threads through it, tied a knot, strung beads, and then took another patch and sewed the end to that and tied a knot. The clasp at the back is a button and a beaded loop.


My inspiration for this was basically bus money. It was kind of a pain to make, but I figured it would look really nice when I finished and I wanted to have a good piece I could confidently sell for a decent amount. I really want to visit Alex but I need to be careful with my money, so I made this hoping to sell it for a ticket!


If you're interested, the starting price on ebay will be $10 and the buy it now price will be $20.


It took me about two hours to make.

New finds and New crafts

Look What I found in the basement!

Look what I made!

The one on top is for stacey, the one on the bottom I made to sell

I also painted my shoes, but i didn't spend a lot of time on them and I don't think they look exceptional, so I decided not to post ever little artsy thing I do because I do so much!!! 

I got 2 hits on ebay woohoo! for the shape earrings and for the button necklace! so basicaly i made $3.01 so far! thats pretty cool I think!

No more spending, time to make money!

So far i've spent $51 on this blog/selling art project. $50  is all i'm willing to spend on this project (maybe i'll spend more when I find more work, but probably not) I feel that the I have made good investments though. The only display piece that I splurged on was the bracelet display from ebay. Here were my choices
         
about 7 from Michaels                                 I won for $13 on ebay


I think that the hand display unique in it's elegance and will make my bracelets look more delicate.  The bar one I might invest in if I end up selling at the Mansfield Flee Market this summer.


I also feel obligated to show my botched converses that I painted since I spent so much time on them
1. I was rushing more (I got frustrated with the coarseness of the material and the multiple layers)
2. I wasn't in love with the colors (that and white were all that the kit had)
3. I didn't have thin enough paint brushes (so I couldn't make nice neat little designs to look more professional)

They were in pretty bad condition anyways, so I didn't feel bad calling it a fluke and buying a new pair of sneakers. My new sneakers I'm not in love with either (they're more my sister's style actually!) but they were only $13 and look nice and fit well. 

The print is really cute, but kind of plain for my style, so I want to take my white acrylic paint and put some little design on outer sides. I think I am going to get a thinner paint brush and do a henna-inspired design:

Awesome, I know. 

My First Item I've ever put up to sell online

New Spool cap for Sewing Machine

So My brother and I spent over an hour job hunting today and on our journey we ended up at a local sewing store. As I waited to get an application I thought Wait a second, this is exactly where I need to be!! The woman who runs the store keeps parts from sewing machines that are beyond repair and resells them to people who need them! The spool cap cost me $7.32. It turned out that this was not overpriced as I had imagined, so I was really happy I had a store so close by to get me


Right after we got home I started sewing a collage handbag project for stacey that I started a long time ago, but couldn't finish because all I had was my dinky hand sewing machine. [Note that for this project, I used the spray lacquer sealer (from my shoe painting project) around the edges so that they won't rip or fray (this project is actually pretty durable without the lacquer, but i'm paranoid so I did it anyways.)] Anyways, before I started sewing I wanted to test my machine on fabric, so I grabbed an old shirt from my fabric pile. And ended altered my qbert shirt from mod cloth 

Finished Shoes

Craft News Bulletin!

At the Painting Station:

hello kitty slippers are almost done, just need to dry, then some finishing touches, lacquer and ready to wear!

Sewing station Update

missing the thingy that holds the spool in, once thats fixed I can make a new little spool

Selling Progress

I unpacked my jewelry I tried to sell at the cafe, and I bought a necklace and earring display (necklace dispay $5.49, earring display $2.29 at Michaels)currenty bidding on bracelet display

And in Other News:

Michael's has a rewards card now! I'm not sure yet exactly what specific rewards you get, the website is kind of vague and I think the program may still be underdeveloped BUT i've been shopping there for years so why not get some rewards now!

Serious Late Night Crafting

Why is it almost 1pm and I'm just waking up?
Could it be because I woke up at 8 to go to the oral surgeon? Could it be because the oral surgeon destroyed my gums leaving it a bloody mess and slightly painful? (no malpractice I promise, just the way the procedure is)
I'm gonna go ahead and say none of the above.... It's because even after all the laborious unpacking and driving last night, I still couldn't sleep, so of course I crafted until 2 am.


I made this really pretty necklace out of old earrings (I thought they were a little bit too flashy for me) The pendant is a botched experimental project from friendly plastics, but it goes nicely with the piece I think.

I think that If i got a decent picture of it, it could be sellable. Unfortunately I am not going to because the majority of it is made from the earrings that my aunt gave me for christmas, and I feel like i'd be regifting or something, I'm going to enjoy and appreciate the wonderful gift she gave me!!!


Shoe painting also happened, they aren't done yet, probably need another coat...


thanks for reading!

Why today is good!

First lets just lawl at how even my messes from unpacking are colorful

all my colors make me feel so blessed :D

Even after driving 2 hours to haul 7 of these boxes (as well as other crap) down hilda's stairs to the car and driving 2 hours back (on little sleep too) I still have had this inspiration bug! I stopped at Michaels to buy white acrylic paint for my shoe painting project, and by george there was a SALE! I ended up staying for about a half hour carefully choosing the least expensive half off beads. At the end of the trip I only spent $17.97 (although i'm sure my parents would rather me not spend anything... don't tell them!) and here are the beads I got:

Can't wait!

And even after unpacking half of my stuff (for about an hour) I still had enough artistic energy to cut up my old jewelry that I made in like 8th grade to recycle into new works of art!

featuring, wood beads, paper beads, glass beads and plastic heart beads

For my fellow stingy beginner crafters, spending money is laame! But if you are in a slump and do decide to buy beads for inspiration here are some pro tips from yours truly

Sarah's Bead-buying pro-tips

• If you are getting beads for inspiration, don't buy them at specialty bead stores because they charge a lot
• DO buy beads at specialty bead stores if the person imports them and the are genuinely unique looking and if you have a specific idea of how to use them (then give the piece as a gift or sell it costing more) 
• don't get beads just because they look pretty, because sometimes they are plastic or have some type of coating or paint on them that usually wears off
• swarovski chrystal beads are beautiful, but pricey, there are glass beads that are cut similar and cost less
• don't be afraid to buy beads online (because shipping should be free since they are so lightweight)
• there are a bajillion types of materials to make beautiful beads, so when you're buying them get familiar with which ones are worth spending on and which ones aren't
• ie: glass beads are pretty common, so no use spending a lot on them, whereas dicrhoic beads are less common and sooooooooooo pretty

Thats all I can think of for now... I'm getting so tired, I think I need to make exercise more common in my life and get tougher... Thanks for reading, I'll post pictures of my shoe progress tomorrow!

Made room for crafting!!!!

In the steps of Yvonne, (the Case family's housekeeper) I "bullrushed" through rearranging my room. I moved my 2 shelves, my full bed, and 2 tables in 40 minutes. I wanted to have a good portion of my room designated for my creativity. I've dedicated a whole shelf to just supplies as well as 3 tables for different types of projects. Come on in!

This is a view of the bulk of my room. For our first stop we will go to the light brown wood table to the bottom left of the picture which is....

my drawing and painting table!!!!

not too exciting now because all of my other craft stuff is at Hilda's (I will retrieve it tomorrow) but note the paints, my sister got me a t-shirt painting kit that I forgot about and I will be starting my shoe painting project with these paints until I have money to invest in some acrylics! The black blob at the bottom is an opened up trash bag that I can use to protect the floor if I need to!

Across from the drawing and painting table is my beading table (round table under window)

I have all my beads at Hilda's, but I want to always have a project on there for inspiration! 

Next I will show you some of the shelf space i've used so far

This is my paper shelf, featuring: magazines (for collages), construction/colorful paper, shrinky dink paper, coloring books, and any other kind of paper I will need to use. The left is reserved for "archives" (past pictures that either I drew, or were drawn for me) 

This is my fabric shelf. I am really bad about hoarding old fabric. Drawers feature cut out designs from band t-shirts (all i wore in highschool) old tights with a cool print, travel sewing machine, and even a bag of fluff for pillows or teddy bears!

which brings me to my favorite part...

my moms (aka mine now MINE) sewing machineeeeeee

So now I get to go to bed in a bit so I can wake up to drive 2 hours to Hilda's and pack my whole room up. Then I get to drive home for 2 hours and unpack woohooo!! 

For what it's worth

I don't think that I'll be unpacking much, I want to focus on my crafts so I don't want too much out to distract me. What will distract me you ask?

1. finding a job

2. being tired (already feeling it from rearranging)

3. video games (been DYING to catch up on bioshock all year)

4. reading (i love to read, i miss it!) 

But maybe if I get enough people to read this blog and buy stuff I can be pressured into keeping up with it! Tell your friends if you enjoy it! Thanks for reading!

Dissapoint and Arranging

I am disappoint :(

I know that I need a reliable job this summer, I swear to god that I wholly understand this. I am going to do everything in my power to try to find one. These things are true. This does not mean that I can't attempt to make money off of my blog and off selling my crafts though. 

Why so glum Sarah?

I called my mom the other night to try to figure out how much money I need and to quell her concern over this matter, and the second I mentioned trying to make and sell my art, she immediately reminds me that this is not a reliable income and although it would be great if I could do this that I need to find a job. This really hurt me because 

1. I've been trying to apply everywhere and anywhere and I feel like she doesn't recognize this

2. She recognized that I was serious about trying to make money via my blog and pretty much shot it down right away in favor of other means of income

I just wish she'd take a more positive perspective on this venture, maybe realize that it is secondary, but I might be able to actually succeed. I'm just going to have to work my ass off this summer juggling finding a job and doing this. 

In other news: I am coming home (CT home) tonight and I've had this layout in my head of how I can rearrange my room to be more conducive to crafting. I have to box up some stuff and store it first, but once that happens I will have a few different little tables dedicated to different types of crafts. Ie: one for beading, one for painting, one for sewing. This way I can go back and forth between different media and not waste time setting up and cleaning up. I think it will be really pleasant! I will post pictures later!

About my projects

Inspiration

• i looooooove glass art and beads
• Friendly plastics!!! Linda Peterson is soooo fantastic
• Bright colors
• Lisa Frank OMG you don't even understand how much i love this artist
• Cut out and Keep 
• shrinky dinks 
• Clothes
• oragami

Essential Materials I have

• sewing machine
• wire: beading wire and 20 g wire
• TONS OF PONY BEADS
• tons of seed beads
• glass beads
• shrinky dink paper
• friendy plastics
• stretch string
• earring hooks
• super glue
• scizzors
• embelishment stuff
• fine point sharpies (just a few bright colors)
• colored pencils
• the internet

These are not the only supplies that I have, just the ones I feel are important in making the kinds of projects I like. I'm a fan of art you can use, (clothes altering, jewelery, decorating things) I also know how to knit and crochet a bit. 

Heres my wishlist:

• casting resin!!!!! it's really good for giving things a glassy look and for making them more durable
• yellow glass beads: I have tons of yellow seed beads but most of my glass beads are blue/ tourquoise, I would love to have different colored beads
• Acrylic paints/ paintbrushes: for this!!!
• necklace clasps
• black velvet hand style bracelet display and black velvet neck form necklace display
• metal beads 

I'm sure there is a bunch more stuff that I dream about, but right now thats all I can think of! I'm pretty fortunate to have what I do right now though and i'm really into recycling old materials and making the most of what you have! I also have a bunch of stuff that I've wanted to use but i'm not sure what I can do with them! 

What to do, what to do with:

• soda tabs!!
• friendly plastics
• old pajama pants (they're hello kitty and I can't bear to part with that fabric!)

If you have any ideas please let me know and you just may get a shout out on my blog!

Anyways here's the exciting stuff: Pictures of projects i've done lately! (like today and yesterday haha)

Old knee socks armwarmers inspired by inspired by salinabear

also inspired by salinabear

Beads made out of pages from thinkgeek (coated in clear nailpolish) 

I've been at this blog thing for about 2 hours now so it's time for me to sign off (for applying for jobs and making more of those beads of course!!!!) 

Thanks for reading!!!

Sarah