Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Treasured Totes

Yesterday the magic mailbox held a package from my friend and exchange partner, Kristin Steiner. She did a lovely job of wrapping it-isn't that paper crow fun?



Inside was this gorgeous folk art red and cream bag made from upholstery fabrics. Unfortunately, the photos don't do the colours justice. It's dark and raining here and it's hard to get good pictures when the weather's gloomy.


On the front of the bag, Kristin made this pretty wool flower pin with a bezel in the middle which contains a picture of me as a tiny baby in my christening gown.

Inside the tote, Kristin used another photo of me (at age 2 or 3) to decorate one of the pockets. She added some text that says "It's all inside". I love that this is like a little secret inside the bag. There is also a typewriter key above the photo with the letter "L" on it.




The other inner pocket is divided into two smaller sections to hold things like a cell phone and keys. Kristin embellished it with this beautiful wide lace.



All round the outside at the top of the tote she created these fabric triangles and embellished them with buttons. They remind me of the banners I have made recently and I just love old buttons!




Inside the tote, she tucked some goodies. There was this package of vintage perforated paper that will be fun to work into future projects, a brass "L" letter stencil and a replica vintage tin of Whitman's chocolates. (Love the colour of the tin!!)

THANK YOU Kristin for making my tote so incredibly special and personal. I am so blessed to be gifted with the work of your hands. You really went above and beyond the call in creating something that is totally "me". It's extra special because you share my love of textiles-it shows in everything you did. I will be so proud to be carrying this around town and will treasure it always.

THANK YOU to all my artist friends who participated in this exchange: Barbara Atwell, Debra Cooper, Amy Huff, Liz Lamereaux, Deb Lewis, Caren McNee, Ruth O'Conner, Kristen Robinson, Liz Smith, Mary Stanley, Kristin Steiner, Kathy Strittmater and Kathy Wasilewski. It's always a pleasure to host when everyone does such wonderful work. Each of your totes was beautiful and unique and this project turned out even better than I had envisioned.

*Note: This exchange is scheduled to be featured on Art-e-zine as soon as it is complete. I will announce it here when it's available for viewing.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The purse that you received is beautiful! I love the way that Kristin brought so much of YOU into the bag.

This was, by far, one of the best and most enjoyable projects that I have participated in for a long, long time. Thank you so much for including me and for being such a fantastic Hostess!

Lauri said...

What a fantastic purse! I don't know which part I like better...the little inside pocket with your picture on it or the triangle banner type thing around the top. I love triangles that hang down from things...I don't know why! lol! In each of our old houses I've made triangle banner valances for different windows, and I'm about to make one for my "new and improved" studio window now.