A Clutch Bag

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One of my friends got married back in April. She planned it for quite some time and also asked for some help when it came to the decorations. But that is another story that I will tell you about later.

Of course, when I started thinking about my outfit for the wedding, I thought that I could make my own dress and accessories. I know, I still have faith in me like that. But after a few projects, I came to the quick realisation that it would never happen. Therefore I went to the shop and found a cute little black and white dress. All I needed were the accessories. The only thing was that I got so caught up in the decorations for the wedding that I never found the time to do all the things I wanted to do. Time just flies when you work on top of crafting! And there I was, two weeks before the wedding with just...a dress. I was determined however to do one thing myself: my handbag. I also went for (what I thought was) the simplest option...a clutch bag. I bought some fabric: black leatherette (or faux leather) and some red satin. Made my own measurements for the clutch bag and got started



After two failed clutches, the third attempt was the right one, but I still have a lot of work to do in order to master the art of sewing a zipper on something.

I really love the effect on the leatherette like it is reptile skin:

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And it goes perfectly with the red lining too:

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This clutch had a lot of success and I can now add it to my list of finished projects :-)

I shall let you know about the wedding decorations at a later time so until then, take care!

A book

A little while ago, some colleagues came to me and asked me to decorate a book they had bought for a colleague who was retiring.

They had bought this notebook for people to sign/leave messages for her but they felt like it looked too much like a wedding book.

It was a challenge for me because I had never covered a book: I'm just used to make jewellery with my fimo. And to add more stress to it, I only had a few days to do it!

But just like Barney Stinson would say..."Challenge accepted!"

I drew a little draft and showed it to them and they gave me the go ahead.

I decided to go for an old leather look.

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I then made little details on it to make it a bit more realistic. The thing I might do differently if I was to make one again is the finish on it. I varnished it which gave it a glossy look. Looking at it again, I think a matt finish would have been better to complete the "old" look.

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But as this book was going to move from hands to hands to be signed all around the workplace, my main concern was to protect it so she could get it in mint condition.

There is also a little bookmark to go with it.

I have had some very nice comments from people who found out I had done it. Some even thought they had bought it like that so I guess I've done it right, no? :-)