Other Stuff

Hey, all you baggies!
I have not forgotten all of you faithful supporters. Your purchased bags hang over my "studio" door. I have not gotten to the post office due to our sub-human temperatures. When skin takes longer than three seconds to freeze off, me and the kids go for a walk and mail some bags along the way. These days, just opening the back door to let the little cherubs in, usually costs me an extremity or two.

That being said.... I WILL GET TO THE POST OFFICE SOON.
Okay? Okay. Thanks.

Now scroll down for Thursday's bag.

Polkaroo

We've seen something like this before. It gives me such pleasure to work with these fabrics, a sweet donation from a Winnipeg reader. How come some people are just so darned thoughtful?! Most days they make up for those other people who annoy me. But I digress.

I topped it off with two awesomely vintage neckties. Can we bring back these outrageous neckties please??

The body is constructed out of what must have been a pretty raunchy bedspread back in the day. Can you imagine feeling soothed and rested sleeping under a bright gold, fuzzy piece of crazyness? Those seventy's types must have been a real riot to hang with. If you could put up with all those bright colours without seizuring...

Strawberry fields forever? Well, at least on the inside. You can tuck your rubbage or your bags of money in behind a strawberry pocket. The other pocket doubles, as I used a shirt pocket as the front. Use it for your passport or something important, like breath mints.

Whatever you do, for crying out loud, bid on this bag. Or leave me a comment. What else do I have to look forward in this frozen land with a houseful of poopers crawling around?

particulars: measurements: waist 11", hips 11". Impossible ideals, I tell you.

Price range: $45.00 to $50,000 and not a penny over.

This is the last bag this week. Next week is February, and to give myself something to do, I will start posting four bags per week. I'll start on Monday.

Hey! You! Get back to work. I see you there in your cubicle, stealing a glance at the bag of the day. But before you go back to your spreadsheets, throw me a bone.

Miriam

Africa Day.

........A living woman had been mistaken for one of the dead. As the cart moved off towards the graveyard, someone noticed her arm twitching. They called out in alarm and the cart stopped. She was separated from the corpses and laid on the ground. It was the sight of that dead woman living that dragged me back to my senses. The womanès name was Miriam. She had lost her husband, her father and two of her children. Her third child had survived, and he desperately needed his mother to live, for he had no one else in the world.

I bent over her prostrate form. I felt for her pulse. It was faint and she was barely breathing. I checked for any signs of injury but there was none that I could see. It must have been simply the shock and the trauma that was killing her. I put my head close to hers, and started to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. After each breath I pressed my weight hard onto her chest. I did this for half an hour or so, her little boy holding his motherès hand and willing her to live. I had to save her! For his sake aloone, I had to...

Suddenly, her eyes opened. She gazed around herself, as if she was coming back from the dead. As soon as she realised that she was still alive, she started to scream and scream, and scream. She was screaming out the names of the dead. Why hadnèt death taken her, she wailed. Where was the sweet release of deathÉ I tried showing her that her little boy was still alive, but she was beyond reason, in a place where no one could reach her.

The one person whose life I had saved actually wished that she was dead.........

("Tears of the Desert A Memoir of Survival In Darfur" by Halima Bashir)

"...... Miriam - the woman I had brought back from the dead - stayed with us, along with her little boy. Each evening she would cry and cry, and everyone would cry with her. Her pain forced us all to remember, to return to that terrible day again and again. But no one resented her for doing this. She was living inside her pain, and our greatest fear was that she would never get out....."

Much thanks and gratitude to Lee who donated this wonderful piece of batik that he purchased in South Africa. The strength and beauty of this image is something that I saw and wept over while reading the oft quoted book above.

On the inside, the green fabric with brown circles comes from Tanzania. The side panels and back of flap are from Barundi.

The bag itself is large.

Pockets in each side panel, and two on the inside.

Bids start at $45.00 Cdn, and the auction will close at 8 pm, cst.

Safari

Well, we're back into another week.

This bag combines the soothing pallette of beiges and tans with a splash of raspberry colour. The elephants and the jaguar are heading in the same direction, and we can assume that wherever they are is warmer than here. (Can you tell I'm growing weary of the indoors?)
I used some neckties to form the shoulder strap- always a personal favourite. Other details are the lovely abolone buckle and the fringey bit along the bottom.

This is a fair sized bag- large enough to use for books or as a diaper bag.
In February, I am going to be posting four bags per week. I think it will help to make the winter go away and the days of green grass, walks to the park, and sandy, sandy feet from the sandbox.

Also, after reading "Tears of the Desert", I feel compelled to do more. If its true that everyone is our neighbour, then there's a lot of casseroles that we ought to be cooking up for the hungry. A lot of coats and blankets we ought to be sharing.

I deeply appreciate the people who come to this site and participate in this project. Without you, I'd just be an itchy woman in a room jam-packed with reclaimed fabrics, wondering what the heck. As it is, we can combine many elements of concern to do good all around us. You all keeping me at the sewing machine keeps me happy. And that's just a small part.

Bids start at $45.00 Canadian, and carry on from there until 8 pm, cst.

Mirage

Mirage. It's what my alarm clock looked like this morning. And not in a romantic way.

Hence, I included the blurry picture on the right. It sort of captures the thing- me, bleary. The bag? blurry.

I'm all right now, I'm munching on flax bread toast with crunchy peanut butter and grandma's homemade plum jam, and I'm into my second cup of java. All is well in my world.

"Mirage" is also the name on one of the fabric care labels from the pieces I used on the flap of this bag. I pieced together several small sample pieces (fancy sample guy) for a beige on beige effect. I always enjoy removing the care labels and reading about the piece. This one says: "Jacquard woven in Belgium. 51% linen, 49%viscose, moire finish.". Pair that with a furry piece off a thrift shop throw cushion; Some ancient buttons, a few of granny's hankies, and a tone on tone beige body, and you get Mirage.

I'm going to let you in on one of my top marketing secrets this morning. Think of it as a sort of tutorial, if you will. You notice that I included a photo of the inside of the bag, containing one of my favourite breakfasts: red river cereal. On the right, you'll see a box of Raisin Bran.

Here's the secret: I use these boxes to give the bags some shape for their early morning photo op. Yesterday was a Two Scoops kinda day. Today, more of a Red River.

I bet you feel like you've been let into some sort of secret club or something.

I used that bit of encouragement from the other day to continue my hacking up and sharing of the hankie stash. I do have an impressive stash, but some of them seem so wonderful- too wonderful to risk someone not loving them.

One more top secret: This bag is Mirage... But it is not a mirage! (oooh, she's clever today...)

This is truly a handbag size (10 by 12 inches)

Bids taken until and including 8 pm cst, blogger time.