Second of Three New Bags

Here is the second little bag of the most recent trio I have been working on. I used a bit different color scheme than usual. I had full sun to work with today- so there really is more depth of color and texture in this piece than shows up well in the photos. I used Stewart Gill Alchemy paint with some of their FABULOUS glitter, merino wool, cotton lining, beads (of course!) and another braided cord made using the Kumihimo disc - I am really getting to like using it more and more - and am now glad that I splurged on buying it last Fall!

The closures seem to require the most thought for me when I make these bags. They need to be heavy enough to keep the top down, yet small enough not to weigh down, or clutter, the look of the front. I had considered using velcro - but at this point have not yet felt that the look would be quite right. Currently, I use a suede loop for the holder which seems to work well as well as look decent. On this piece I used a nylon coated jewelry wire for the beaded section of the closure. I would have preferred to use a thin leather or suede strip- but the holes in the beads I wanted to use were too small. I thought that Nymo thread , even doubled , might have worn thin too easily with these particular beads. These are the tiny little problems that makes each one of these interesting to make and gets me wanting to make more.

I have decided that I am going to make somewhat larger bags for the next group - maybe a passport holder size - or even a little larger. These cases have all been more or less geared to the various different cell phone sizes and IPods. I am hoping that people will eventually be interested in buying one .... just because I love making them ! This trio of bags is heading to Liz at Artist Cellar to see if she can use them in some way at her booth in an upcoming show. Thanks for liking them Liz !