About That...

Yeah, I know.

I make this announcement about coming back.

I come back, like..... twice.

Then I vanish.

~

I've been thinking for the last long while that it's time to change things up. And now that I've come back, then disappeared, and am now crawling back towards the mike.... I'm here to tell you where my head is at.

~

I'm applying to get into some craft/charity sales in my area.

I like the buzz of the crowd, the event, the new exposure. And I'm hoping to bust into some new markets.

~

Wanna know where I'll be? Check back here and I'll be listing my whereabouts, just as soon as I know what they'll be!

~

~

* that cute girl at the top with the shape of an "L" on her forehead? That's not me. When you run into her in the wide world, do not wave and say "Hey Joyce! Nice bags!" She might take offence. She's just a random google image.

Not that this diminishes her existence in any way.

Bidding

Isn't that funny and ironic? ha ha. Now look who's bidding, and in reverse!!
I'm going to get my auction voice on.

"And now 40-blahdy-jibbery-reebal-de-la-30-mimbidy-jimbady-- Sold? For ten cents."

Nah.

Ah well, in the words of a not-so-ancient prophet; "We all have our fifteen minutes of fame".

Now, back to the drawing board.

Neck ties: Survived until Thursday, Now $50.00

Do you ever wonder who came up with the idea of a strip of over priced fabric that a man ought to wrap around his neck, thereby magically making himself appear distinguished and professional?

Well, one of my most favourite things is the evolution of necktie fashion. I've been gifted some of the most outrageous and glorious ties over the years, and I never tire of giving them new life.

My brother used to be a real schlump. He wore ripped sweaters that he would sometimes mend with a rusty necklace chain. He never combed his hair, which was thick and full, long and curly.
He wore aged Levi jeans really well. He sometimes didn't come home for days and nights at a time and he scared the dickens out of all of us.

But you know what's weirder? When he grew up, he became a necktie guy.
And he looked just as gorgeous in a slate grey button up vest and tie and expensive shoes as he did in ripped jeans and "sonova beach" t-shirts.

Plus, he was a little less scarey.

So when September rolled around, and the time for bags returned, I thought of my brother. And I brought in my bag of tangled up, assorted neckties.

I delight in sorting them, studying their designs, mixing and matching them.

And I particularly like when I can incorporate them as shoulder straps. You might not believe this, but putting together a sewn shoulder strap is more time consuming than it appears.

Neckties look awesome and take very little time.

I'm just as fond of the inside of the bag. If you're a blog follower, you know that I go through couches like most people go through boxes of kleenex in cold and flu season. Mind you, these are couches of the $35.00 recycled variety, but I digress.

Several couches ago, some industrious woman had mended a tear beneath the cushion with the gorgeous fabric that you now see employed as the flaps underside, and the interior pocket. Sure, the couch made it's less than splendid departure at the local dump, but not before I rescued that sweet piece of patching fabric.

The blue-ish brown-ish print comes to you all the way from London, England. Lettuce, our friend over at Made 4 Aid, sent me a fabric care package. I dip into it from time to time and think fond thoughts of her. My sister actually got to meet her in a quaint English pub, but I pretty much don't travel, what with the amount of procreating I've done, the mortgage, the grocery bills and the whatnot.

This angle is meant to indicate the three pockets on this side of the bag.

Apparently, you just can't have too many pockets.

Here's a handy sales pitch. The $35.00 silk necktie is part of the deal! wha-hoo. Should you ever find yourself in a pinch without the appropriate formal attire, just fling this bag around your neck and -voila! Instant grace and sophistication.

bag = 11" x 12"

Six pockets total.

Sturdy body made entirely from discard upholstery samples. (thank you Alyssa!)

price: $80.00 Cdn

day old price: $50.00

I confess I'm not an island.

Shopping for clothes this summer (yes, I have two daughters in their teen years), I came across an adorable hoodie that employed its own zipper into a lovely tree. I didn't like the trendy price tag, but I couldn't get the image out of my head.

So, thanks to Boathouse and my cheap-osity, I've used that lust for possessions and created a zipper tree messenger bag.

Once I got going on the zipper theme, I just kept on the theme; adding them to the shoulder strap in entirely useless but pleasurable ways. Besides. A generous lady gave me a whole grocery bag full of zippers and I hate using those dang things in the traditional clothing sense of the word. Turning them into trees and accents is way more fun.

I once bought a bulky sweater at the thrift shop mostly because I really liked the buttons.

Now I'm glad that I followed my silly heart on that one, because they look awesome on this bag. Instead of the typical tie ends that you are used to seeing, I used a button hole and three buttons to allow you to adjust the length of the strap.

This set of pockets beneath the flap is one of my more intelligent ideas. I always use mine for a)keys, and b) cell phone.

That doesn't mean my battery is charged, or that you ought to phone me.

Years ago, I made a patchwork duvet cover for my dear friend Rosa Rabbit. Now, I'm not one of those fancy measuring tape kind of people. In the words of Anne Lamott, I find that to be a bit "show-offy".

So, I just throw things together, and when they're too long, I just cut them off. The funky little bits of patchwork underneath today's zipper tree are the remnants of just such an event. I'm glad I held onto that for all these years.

Here, I have turned the bag inside out to give you a proper view. I did something different in the interior side panel- I sewed in a handkerchief in pencil and pen holding lines. I myself am constantly scrambling to find those items in my bag. I thought maybe if they had homes of their own, they'd be less likely to vanish into thin air.

Then, each side holds two pockets each. These are the cargo pockets of my pants. They used to be my FAT pants. Over time they became my SKINNY pants. (I swear they just kept shrinking.... funny how all the pants in my closet did that very thing...)

This summer I said; "No More!" No more torturing myself with whether they fit or don't fit, whether I'm fatter or not. That resolution might have lasted for four or five minutes but hey-- it's a start!

It's a lot in one small package.

Speaking of small packages, I ought to measure this thing.

It's about eleven inches wide and twelve inches deep.

I poured a lot of myself into this darling, and don't want to sell her for less than $80.00 Cdn.

So, if that's cool with you, then please leave me a comment telling me so. In any case, leave me a comment because it's so nice to hear from everyone.

Messenger bag

11 X 12"

$80.00 Cdn

First person to claim becomes the bag's owner.

Bags 4 Darfur, September 2010

September brings a raft of fresh beginnings. Kids in piano, son out of elementary school and launching into junior high, and that inevitable cold wind that blows all the Canada geese clear out of here. And quite suddenly, I find myself propelled away from the garden and back to my beloved Bernina, churning out stuff that I didn't know I still had in me.

I've had a few months to think about what is going well, what feels tired, and where I am headed. I come to decisions very slowly, I find. As I've described in the sidebar "project" link, this whole thing really birthed out of my faith and belief in God. And that doesn't change. A lot of things all around me have been spinning and shifting in recent years, and that has prompted me to think a great deal about my faith, my heritage, my beliefs. It feels like so much of the walls have fallen down around me, and there's not much safety or security in "That's just the way its always been". So, I've thought an awful lot about Jesus, and what it means for me to profess to follow him. What remains after the tsunami roars through is pretty simple and basic. And here's what I know for sure: Love. He said that all his commandments could be summed up in one sentence: "Love your neighbour as you love yourself; Love God with your heart and soul and mind".

Sheesh.

Have you ever really thought about that?! It's pretty freaking hard to love some of the people in my very closest circle, never mind beyond that- to strangers! And you ought to meet some of the neighbours that I've had over the years- waaaaaay not the loveable sort. I actually suck pretty badly at loving my neighbours, and sometimes I don't even feel like meeting them. I just want to be anonymous sometimes, especially when I'm wandering down the street. I just don't feel like caring about everyone that I lay eyes on.

And of course, He didn't mean literally my neighbours. That's just barely a bite-sized piece. These days, it's obvious that the whole freaking world is our neighbour. We're the rich, spoiled kids living in the fancy part of town. The scum of the earth live in dumps somewhere out there in those weird foreign places. But dammit, they're our neighbours too.

I'm hopelessly spoiled and comfortable. In fact, I have so much stuff that I get annoyed and frustrated with myself. And then because I'm feeling anxious, I go out treasure hunting to find a little stuff to make me happy again.

So, I'm pretty weird and kind of messed up. But here's a little way of doing something for others that works for me and seems to use all my dysfunctions in a decently functional way.

Getting stuff.
Running it under my sewing machine and turning it into different stuff.
Selling that pile of junk turned into artful stuff-holders to people who want to do something decent for the world in their own little corners of comfort and security.

I hope to get less selfish as I go along, but here's what I know about choosing Jesus so far.
It's not about me.
Do something about the orphans, the widows, the poor, and the forgotten.
(He says a lot of other stuff about dying to self and selling all your possessions and other kinds of scarey radical freakish non Western ideas. I'm not going to write them down because they make me squirm)

Any hoo, that's kind of a ramble about what brings me back to this blogspot, selling those dingity dang Bags 4 Darfur. It's not terribly glamourous. It hasn't turned me into a Christian Weekly celebrity. (oh please. Don't think that I actually want that. I have a bad attitude, and my teeth aren't white enough). I haven't raised more and more money with each passing year.

But it is still the right thing to do.

My tenative plan this fall is to post bags on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays of particularly productive weeks. I'm thinking that the auction format has pretty much run its course, and that I'll go back to simply pricing items as I post them. (even as I write these things, I doubt myself on almost every decision) I'm looking forward to reconnecting with all of you-- my faithful baggies and baguettes!

xo re-joyce

September 20

September 20 !

September 20!

September 20!

September 20 is the day.