For Moi.....

In the year that I have been doing leather work I have only made myself a belt, two necklaces, and one cuff. I always think of things I would like to make myself but I get caught up in making things for others or for my etsy store. even if I really like it I feel guilty keeping it for myself with the chance I might be able to sell it. I decided to make myself a purse and I totally love how it turned out. Here are pictures I took before I dyed and painted it. I will show you the finished product soon.

I chose a Lotus flower because A)they are beautiful flowers but B) they have a lot of symbolism and meaning behind them. They represent change and growth among other things and I feel like those are two things I am definitely walking in at the moment.

There is really nothing like making a functional item by hand. This purse took me many hours to complete. All the tooling, mixing paint colors and dyes, lacing the thing (was sort of a nightmare-I had what looked like leather dandruff all over my clothes.the fibers were flaking off as i was pulling the lace through each hole). There are just so many steps involved but I got such great satisfaction when i went out today to run errands and brought along my new bag to carry my things.

I am working on a small clutch purse for my shop with a similar feel to it. you will see that in a few days.