A Little Squirrelly

Change is as good as a rest. I've still managed to get work done on the stack of stuff that I promised to turn into bags a long, long time ago. And get this pink bag up on the blog.

And meet a new little daycare cutie- I can't wait to squish his cuteliness.

Thanks to guru mama for some of these swirly yummy bits.

There are bonus pockets under the flap of this squirrelly bag.

More pockets on the inside. Lots of pink. Mixed with green, for temperence.

Here's a shot of the strap. its got a fun blend of different fabrics, which looks great on an actual person's shoulder.

So if you are interested in getting a little squirrelly, click on the comment box. Leave me a comment (even if you just want to say "Hi Joyce! I was here! Have fun taking your boy to his appointment today!) Give me your price. If you really want the bag, keep coming back and checking because the highest bid at 8 pm cst will be the owner. Get it? Got it.

the boy needs an EEG. Gotta go.

Tuesday.....And Wednesday.... Spend your money on fried chicken or hiring me a life coach...

What does it mean when I feel like I should explain myself for not having a bag online for Tuesday,(or wednesday) October the something-or-other?! I've already decided that I don't need to explain, but now I want to.

My foot hurts.
My arm hurts.
My back hurts.

My head feels tired.

Besides, the kids have appointments of various categories this week, and its distracting me.
And I've been working on some bags that I promised to make many, many months ago.
Back in the day when I had a little time, and my foot didn't hurt. Or my arm, or my back.

Or maybe they did hurt, and I just can't remember because my head feels so tired....

ps... a little editing for Wednesday, just to keep you coming back! (actually, I am liking the direction that this comment box is going, and I don't want to lose it by doing a separate post...)
So..... here's the thing.
er.... um..... The dog ate my pattern.....
The kids peed on my fabric.... (nope, its not Friday)...

Okay, the truth now. It's appointment and phone call and daycare maintenance week. Three appointments this week, all of which require driving to the city; one which requires phone calls to cancel daycare for a whole day. (more of that to follow on blunderview).

The exit of a few of my daycare kids, and the entry of a few newbies. Which requires phone calls, vacuuming, dish-washing, and other frenzied activities to make this place look more like a child-nurturing environment and less like the drop-off bin of your local Salvation Army store. (mmmmmmmmmmm...... thrift stores......) It requires some paperwork (yuck), some follow up phone calls, some interviews, some parting of the seas, and some slaying of giants. After that part, it will require some energy to make the kids feel welcome, safe, satiated, loved, nurtured... And all that other good stuff. Which usually makes me feel tired by the end of the day. Well, tired-er than usual.

And those are my excuses for Wednesday.
But I AM NOT QUITTING!

I AM SO NOT QUITTING!!

Just working out some kinks, is all.
Carry on, speak amongst yourselves. I am all ears.

Hello, Molly!

This bag totally brings me back to Molly Ringwald in Pretty in Pink. Remember how she whipped up a pretty little pink dress to wear to the prom, out of some old rag?

pffffft.



Most of these lovely pinks came from gurumama. They are remnants from the wonderful baby slings that she makes.

Did I ever tell you a weird story something about gurumama, and something about Aqua Books, and something about a poet who likes mushrooms?Well, here's what happened. A certain man named Mike Deal was assigned to photograph yours truly for the Free Press. He went home and told his people, who in turn began to log into this very site. One day, the gorgeous redhead partner of Mike Deal won herself a bag on the Darfur blog. She had recently sent me an invitation to her book opening at Aqua Books, and so we agreed to meet at that very event for the great bag hand-off.I sat and listened to some poetry, and then we took a break for cake. During the break, a woman approached me to ask whether I resided in Blunderview, as she knew of the bag lady. She introduced herself and said that she also knew Svea, as their husbands worked together on town council. Here's where everything began to fray ever so slightly. Being a bear of very little brain, I didn't recognize from her name, or her husband's name, that we were indeed speaking of our town's mayor. (She may whip up bags from nothing, but her elevator don't go straight to the top)

It turned out that not only did she know Svea, and not only did I not know the name of our mayor, but this woman was also a fellow duhla, and fabric remnant runner for gurumama, and at that very moment had a bag of fabric scraps in her truck, just beside Aqua Books, that she was to deliver to me in our other life in blunderview. The town in which I don't know the mayor. or his wife.

How weird was that?

This is a messenger bag. Which means that its design is large enough to accomodate a binder or a laptop or a physics textbook. It's strap is adjustable. It has two interior pockets, two side pockets, and two bonus pockets underneath the flap.

Who will start us off on this fine Monday with $45.00? We'll carry on until 8 pm, cst.

And for those of you who felt sad about not getting that buttony bag from Friday; fear not. I have more in the wings.

The Singer

Bringin' back those buttony flowers. And just by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin at that.

I thought that today would be bag-less friday. I had to go to a massage last night, and from there straight to my kids' band concert, and then to my friends' for a cuppa tea.

But then I remembered that on warm, sunny days I would sometimes take a flap outside with a tin of buttons and sew all those delights on while the kiddies played in the sandbox. So, there was already a loverly flap just waiting to get sewn onto a bag of some sort.

So, I got it done, and here it is for your viewing pleasure.

All orange, and green, and pink, and blue.....

Chennille on one side of the strap, and Trinidadian batik on the other. Gorgeous. The inside pockets came from London, England. That sweet and generous Lettuce.

So, there you have it. It's "pee friday" which in daycare lingo seems to mean that someone will inevitably pee on my armchair, or in the playground, or on the trampoline before that magical hour of 5:30 pm. History predicts that these things happen on fridays.

I will hang this bag over my office door so that there is zero chance of it becoming contaminated.

Now, if you are squeamish like some people, (cough, cough, Kathy and ede) you'll likely go look for a Martha Stewart website now and study a thousand commercials on how to simplify your life.

*

Really, this bag is not about pee.

It's about something else, and just falls quite by coincidence on Friday, which is what makes me think about pee.

*

But I digress, and digress, and digress.

Bids taken, studied, considered, and never discarded until 8 pm, cst. By which time I will be on my second gin and tonic, and quite possibly a mohito. (sp?!)

Always Satisfied

yay! Another "binder size" messenger bag with some of them yummy neckties.

Need some warm fuzzies? She's purdy furry and soft. I remember when I was around ten years old, my mom sewed me a Sunday coat in that kind of fabric. I loved that coat.

It's sort of odd how all those patterns and colours can go together. But they do, honest.
Two shirts and Loretta's skirt form the inside. Wonder who this Loretta is? She's a blog reader who lives considerably north of us. She sent a giant box of clothes and things that she's been caring for since..... the '60's? (correct me if I'm wrong). There were some pretty awesome outfits in the lot. My daughters have looked pretty smashing in some of those darling bits.

Well, I hope you're not tired of the necktie theme yet. I feel like I'm just starting on that one myself. And the handbag idea- honest; I'll get to that. And the other bag style. Yup, the second set of arms is in the mail, they tell me.

(Sometimes when five or six children ask me for water AT EXACTLY THE SAME TIME WITH DOGGED REPETITIVENESS; I ask them if I've turned into an octopus yet. Do they see eight arms? Because at last count, I only had two.)

Somebody needs some sunshine, or a weekend, or an intervention, or a deliverence of some sort....

How about a bag?! 8 pm, cst. And pretty soon we're going back to standard time, which will make it fun all over again.

Rick, Rack, You're Back!

Simon Says: Bring back the rick rack!
Simon Says: And throw in some hand bag!

Today, a messenger bag. Hey! It was all cut out and everything, just laying there forgotten and abandoned on my carpeted floor. Nooooo.... that's not carpet. That would be the minefield that is my creative space.

Anyway, Loretta was feeling neglected, and she ought to have a little spotlight. Not everyone can pull off bell bottomed plaid fortrel with a 24 inch waist like Loretta. (its the interior pockets that I am referring to now, inc ase you have vision issues.



I know its silly, but I start to feel panicky when I can't remember who gave me which piece of fabric. It's not fair, because I don't remember to give my kids their allowances, pack their lunch on time, or make their myriad of appointments without fifteen reminders. Still. that floral piece on the shoulder strap came from...... Wait for it.....Nope. Its gone.



I do remember the other bits: Swirly piece- long long ago find at a yard sale near my mother's; flanked by psychodelic brown, yellow, and orange from our local gift and treasure shop (mcc); bordered by a table cloth from roo that her husband (wise, but none too bright) thought was hideous. Brown delicious body parts: Morris. A wonderful woman with back stage passes who tucks appropriate pieces away in a box for me, delivers said box to her daughter, who delivers to my husband, who delivers to me.

Silly as it is, I've never actually recorded the dimensions of a messenger bag on this blog. Somehow I've gotten away with it up to now. But.... All good things must come to an end.

13.5 by 18.5 inches makes up her slender but robust body. The point is that it should hold a medium laptop, a binder, notebooks, etc in case we have students in our company.

Simon says: Whaddya say? Get on your toes, because its nine weeks until Christmas.
Finalists: Make sure you get vigilant at 8 pm, cst.