Cute Wristlet for the bare essentials - Made with Tim Holtz fabric

This is a cute wristlet I made for my sister.  It's large enough to carry your cell phone inside as well as lip gloss, sunglasses and a couple of other essentials. There are also card slots inside for carrying your ID and credit cards as well as an interior zippered pocket. #handmadegifts #handmadebag #baggageclaimpurses #baggageclaimshop

Flip-Flop messenger style crossbody purse - Just in time for summer!

Here's my newest bag. I love the fun novelty print!  My customer (my cousin) requested a print with flip-flops on it.  I found this adorable print and she gave me the thumbs up on it. It is super roomy with 2 cargo pockets with flap closures on one side (outside) and a large slip pocket on the other side (outside). The outside slip pocket is large enough for a large iPad. The interior has a zippered pocket on one side and the other side has two separate slip pockets. One of those slip pockets is large enough for a Smart Phone.

On to bigger and better things - I now make custom handcrafted purses! Wow.

I have been away for quite some time. I didn't realize how long it had been. I've moved into a totally new endeavor in my life and am LOVING IT!!  I now make custom designed handbags and purses. I know, right?!  

How did I decide to start doing this, you may ask?  I can't really answer that specifically. It just kinda happened.  Last fall (Nov. 2016) I was slated to go on a Bahamian cruise with my husband and another couple. My husband and I have cruised many, many times, but this was going to be the first cruise for the other couple.  I decided to sew a couple of things for the cruise. One of the things I wanted to sew was a cool shirt for my husband. (It was epic, but of course I can't seem to locate a photo of it right now.  

The other thing I wanted to make was a personalized tote/beach bag for my girlfriend going with us. I designed the fabric and personalized it with some things that were sort of 'inside jokes' between us or just other things we would talk about. She loved the tote!  Doing more sewing than I had in years and in particular, sewing that tote bag made me want to sew some more!

Long story short - I got into making purses and handbags.  I have my own Etsy store now. My brand name for my little creations is "baggage claim".  I love it! It has been a huge success so far. Most of my business has been in the creation of very custom purses. Since I'm also able to design the fabric for them, that has really opened it up for VERY customized purses! Pop on over to my Etsy store if you'd like to purchase a cool custom purse!

Awesome looking recipe - I gotta try this

Mozzarella stuffed meatballs prepared in a crockpot. Um, yes! It looks very easy and tasty! Thank you Tasty! (on Facebook)

Halloween Contest Winning Costumes

So, now that it's October, I'm thinking about Halloween and some of my favorite past costumes.  I'm still undecided as to what I'll be going as this year, but here are some of the old costumes.

Last year my husband went as the Worlds' Most Interesting Man. I thought he pulled it off pretty good!  I made the sign to 'frame' him, which really MADE that costume. People were having their photo taken with him all night.

 

I went as a cupcake. I even made my hat that looks like a cherry with it's stem. On top of the red wig, it looked like a cherry on top. I'm wearing a name tag that says "Hello, My Name is Cherry". It was so much fun! People were trying to eat me all night long! I have a tutorial that tells how I made it. (It's not a very good tutorial because I didn't think of that when I was making it!)

We won the costume contest! I like to go all out for our costumes!

Cutest Kid Ever

Okay, this kid (who happens to be my great niece) is so stinkin' cute and photogenic!  I  just love her quirky ways. This was taken at her first birthday. I just love them and had to share 'em!

Rooster Zen Tangle Doodle Art

After my lobster doodle became famous (haha), I was requested to do a Rooster Doodle. Let me explain. It is well known in my family that I DO NOT collect chicken figurines. It's a long story, but I have a few chicken items from childhood - an antique chicken soup tureen that used to belong to my mother, a chicken candy dish that me and some siblings bought for our mom many years ago, and another item that escapes my memory at the moment. Anyhoo, I had them displayed together for a number of years on top of a small hutch. I made it clear that just because I was displaying chickens, didn't mean that I was a collector and to definitely NOT to buy me chicken things. Of course, that just opened the flood gates for my hilarious family to buy me chicken stuff at every turn. One brother and sister-in-law got me a small plaster/plastic rooster as a joke. Out of spite, I've made him my travel companion. He as traveled the world with me and I have the pictures to prove it! He's like a traveling gnome - he's just a traveling rooster.  In honor of dear little Rooty...here's my Rooster Doodle.