In Production

The Holidays are approaching, which means that I am in full on production mode.  As an artist, I am usually  invited to participate in a few art and craft sales around this time of year.  As a painter, I don't readily have a whole lot of inventory that can be sold at such sales.  Patrons are looking for gifty purchases under $50.  Most of my paintings are over $100.  These do not sell at art and craft sales.  Because of this, I have gotten creative with what I have to offer.  

Last year I bought a ton of interesting picture frames from Goodwill and framed a bunch of prints of my original artwork.

sampling of framed prints

I sold quite a few of these over the Holidays and since then, but I still have a lot left.  I didn't feel like doing the same thing again this year, so to add on to this lot, I decided to take up one of my old past times - sewing.

I used to try to make my own clothes, but was never very good at it.  I was, however, good at simple sewing, like making pillows and tote bags.  About 6 years ago, I made my first bag for a friend of mine as a gift.  She's been carrying it around every day for 6 years and this is what it looks like today.

It's been well loved, that's for sure!  She asked me to repair it, which I intend to do, but in the meantime, I made her a whole new bag.  It was frustrating at first, working the kinks out of myself and my sewing machine, but once I got the hang of it, I wanted to make more.  After going through my massive fabric collection, I came up with some great patterns that I could mix and match to make a butt load of fun bags.

Here's what I've made so far:

I can't wait to make more!