October’s Featured Embellished Bag -

 

This months featured bag comes from Jamie Diaz of Warning Label Creations.  This being the month of Halloween I thought it would be fun to feature a “scary” themed bag.  Now, I agree, Alexander Skarsgard is not really “scary” looking.  He’s actually very good looking.  But I thought his character and the nature of the True Blood show fit in perfectly. 
I asked Jamie about her bag and what inspired her and this is what she had to say…
“I don't really have a process - I just see things and go, "Oooooh!" and then hoard them until I find something to match. I see potential in everything. Especially fabric. Who knows how much fabric I have anymore! I pretty much bought my house to have a place to put my crafting stash.

My inspirations are pretty varied. A lot of my bag designs are influenced by the subcultures that I like, heavy metal music being the biggest influence, followed by books and history (I'm an Anthropology major!). For this particular True Blood bag, I wanted something that was rich and exotic like Eric is in the TV show (although I personally prefer the books), so I went with a royal purple skull brocade, and lots of lace and ribbon and trim. Also, you just cant go wrong with Alexander Skarsgard, he's hot! They definitely got the right guy to play Eric!”
I have to say I agree with you Jamie about that last part.  I’m a big True Blood fan too.  And the bag is great.
If you’d like to be featured in next months post please contact me and let me know.  I’d love to check out your shop and your embellished bags.  You can email me at katydshandbags@gmail.com or send me a direct message on Facebook http://facebook.com/katydshandmade and don’t forget to include a link to your shop.  The only requirements are you have to be a member of Carried Away and make embellished bags.
P.S. No you didn’t read that wrong.  I did say next months feature.  My original hope was to do a weekly feature but with running my own shop, blog and day job I’m afraid I will have to limit my posts here to one a month.  I hope everyone can understand.  I do like doing posts here and love meeting and talking to other artisans.  Keep up the great work.

Bags of Bliss- Fall Fest Team Challenge

Bags of Bliss has submitted a Fall themed bag for our Team Challenge. Her Amanda Pouf handbag made with faux tortoise shell handles sports a brown and orange stripe pattern on the exterior and fall colored leaves and trees on the interior.

 

If you are thinking about submitting a bag for our October/November Team Challenge, submission are due September 30th (You can submit your bag through the end of November!)

The theme is "Fall Fest" and it has to be a bag that is handmade by you or someone in your shop. Some ideas would be any bag with a Halloween or Thanksgiving trend. Embellishment that is orange or black. Think bats, pumpkins, scarecrows, corn, gold, rust, fall colors, leaves, wood.

We have only had two submissions so far, so if you have a bag that is already in your shop that would fall into this category, please send an email or convo jandem so we can publicize your shop a little. Remember to include 2 good photos and a little description.

WittyJosefiend has submitted her 

Glow-In-The-Dark Halloween Wristlet 

for our "Fall Fest" Team Challenge. 

This wristlet is perfect for the fall season! Accented and fully lined with orange cotton, the main fabric features spooky, Halloween-y eyes that, yes, glow in the dark!

If you are thinking about submitting a bag for our October/November Team Challenge, submission are due September 30th (You can submit your bag through the end of November!)

The theme is "Fall Fest" and it has to be a bag that is handmade by you or someone in your shop. Some ideas would be any bag with a Halloween or Thanksgiving trend. Embellishment that is orange or black. Think bats, pumpkins, scarecrows, corn, gold, rust, fall colors, leaves, wood.

We have only had one submission so far, so if you have a bag that is already in your shop that would fall into this category, please send an email or convo jandem so we can publicize your shop a little.

Embellished Bag of the Week–Victorian Rose Bouquet Wristlet by hottiehandbags

This weeks featured Embellished bag comes from hottiehandbags.  When I looked at Susan shop she had several embellished bags to choose from.  I especially liked her Victorian Rose Bouquet Wristlet.  I loved the handmade rosebuds and thought they looked so elegant and this bag would be a nice touch of subtle color to a little black dress.  I asked Susan about her bag making process and this is what she had to say…

I design each of my Hottie Handbags as a piece of fabric art; akin to painting a picture. My designs are dictated by my mood at the time. I often choose the embellishment first and work the design of my handbag as secondary. Such is the case with my Alice’s Crossover Body Hip Bag and my Colorful Market Bag and Picnic Tote. Both utilize vintage bill of ladings transferred onto linen fabric.

All of my bags are multi-functional and designed for personal use and/or gift giving. The Colorful Market Bag and Picnic Tote is a great tote for a bottle of wine and a loaf of French bread for a trip to the country – or as a themed wedding gift. The Alice’s Crossover Body Hip Bag is a great security pouch for under a jacket, or you can show it off with your jeans and white tee shirt running errands about town.

I like to create with vintage embellishments – brooches, beads, baubles, buttons, ribbons, charms, etc. The richness of recycled upholstery and drapery fabrics, along with faux fur, faux suede, and faux leather are a great juxtaposition. This is especially evident in my Victorian Rose Bouquet Wristlet and my Linen Retro Tote Bag. I created pink polka dot rose buds, added vintage trim as the stems and wool felt for the leaves. The Linen Retro Tote Bag uses a bare bones handmade linen tote. I then embellished the tote with a large brown prop quality silk rose and an eclectic freehand wave of gorgeous linen weave fabric.

It’s all about having a great selection of embellishments to choose from when my creative mind gets going. An inventory of unique embellishments takes awhile to build, but it is well worth it when my creative dreams at night, can come to fruition in the morning just by reaching into my embellishment treasure chest!

Respectfully Submitted by:
Susan Krempa, cabteam Member
Hottie Handbags – “Handmade Purses with an Attitude”

Thanks Susan for letting us in on your creative process.  I look forward to seeing what other great embellished bags you come up with.

Embellished Bag of the Week - Zippered Pouch by sewartsy

Hi, my name is Katherine and I am so excited to be a new contributor to the Carried Away Etsy Bag Maker Team Blog.  Just a little about me and then on to the good stuff. 

I have been sewing for as long as I can remember.  I started in high school and instantly fell in love.  I didn’t really take up sewing though until I had my children and began sewing for them.  One thing led to another and before long I was making handbags.  I loved it so much and all my friends wanted one so now I  have a shop on Etsy, Katy D’s Handmade. 

So, when I was looking around Etsy for a bag to feature here I wanted to find something unique for my first post.  I have to tell you it wasn’t easy.  There are so many great bags and great bag makers that it was really hard to decide.  But I narrowed down my selections and decided on this Zippered Pouch by sewartsy.  I really liked Amy’s creative use of the zipper and beautiful fabric peeking through the solid (plainer) fabric.  I asked Amy about her little “zipper” bag and what inspired her…

“So I love fabric, obviously, but I'm also enamored with little embellishments and making my bags into artsy creations with buttons and crystals and appliques and the like. When I started playing around with this design it was because I was thinking those little zipper teeth are so adorable - not just functional. I'd seen those great little pouches that look like the teeth of an animal or a monster, and came up with the idea of creating an artistic "unveiling" of a beautiful or interesting print - kind of like drawing back a curtain! The inside is a regular, fully functioning zippered pouch, but the outside will make you smile!”

And it does make me smile Amy.  It’s almost as if a secret is being revealed.  Amy has other great bags in her shop too so be sure to check them all out. 

Thank you so much for reading my first post here on Carried Away.  I hope to post a new featured bag every Tuesday.  Please leave a comment and let me know what you think and if you would like to be featured here please contact me and let me know.  The link to my shop is above, just send me a convo.  You can also find me on Facebook and Twitter.  I would love to talk to you about your bags.

Tutorials

A few weeks ago we had some cute accessories for our dogs. So, it's only fair to have some projects for our cats. Enjoy!

Cat Bed by Craftgrrl
Suitcase Cat Bed by My Sweet Things
Cat Bed by RedThreadDIY
Cat Basket by iHannasBlog

Tutorials

Desk Calendar Tutorial by Rashida Coleman-Hale
Snappy Coin Purse Tutorial by Rashida Coleman-Hale
Pocket Mirror Tutorial by Rashida Coleman-Hale
Lunch Money by you guessed it...Rashida Coleman-Hale

Tutorials

Zipper Top Lunchbag by Blissful
Lunchbag by Bend The Rules
Lunch Sack by A Lemon Squeezy Home
Lunch Bag by Pink Penguin

Give To Others

These are the 3 organizations we have chosen to donate to.
If you are interested in donating any proceeds from the sale(s) of item(s) in your shop, you can check out their information here:

Kiva
Wateraid
Doctors Without Borders

Also, make sure that you edit your listings so that buyers know that part of their purchase price will go to these charities.

When you make your sale you can either donate directly on their respective websites, or you can wait until March, June, September, or December and we will pool all charity donations from all members and split our donations between all 3 organizations. Receipts of transactions will be available to all members and will be donated from "Carried Away: The Etsy Bag Makers Team"

If you have items in your shop whose proceeds you would like to donate, please email me with:
THE LISTING URL and at least ONE PHOTO
so that I can link to them on facebook and our blog so you get recognition and hopefully sell those bags! When you sell an item please let me know so that we can congratulate you on your sale. My direct email is jandem [at!] me.com

Tutorials

Reversible Coffee Cup Sleeves by CraftyStaci
Reversible Coffee Sleeve by The Cottage Home
Fabric Coffee Cozy by YouCanMakeThis.com
Quick and Easy Coffee Cozy by Every Nothing Wonderful