holy s-h-i-t.

just a quick note to say

thank you

thank you

thank you

i kind of feel famous, or maybe like i won the lottery. or maybe like a famous person who won the lottery. or maybe i feel like i feel when i am winning at the kenny rogers slot machine (see photo above). i have bit of a kenny rogers slot machine problem- it's a good thing i have only been to atlantic city twice since in the past seven years.

but enough about kenny rogers.

thank you, all of you. the past few days have been completely insane, in the very best possible way. and also, i will eventually make it through my inbox, which is currently exploding! it may take a day or so, as i am also trying to cut-sew-iron-tag-list-repeat at the speed of light, so please be patient as i read and respond to each of you.

geez, i have been thinking so much lately about how there should be new phrases for thank you, i'm sorry, and i love you.

i have just always thought it strange that three of the most generic phrases in this language have such sincere meanings.

i have had way too much coffee.

NEW!

the three-pocketed zipper clutch a-go-go







these are a few inches wider and a bit taller than the original roundy-bottom. the front is one big zippered and lined pocket! and there are two roomy pockets inside. these work great as a clutch on their own, or for keeping bigger bags organized.
for the first batch, i made a few tough ruffles, and a few in mixed vintage fabrics.



... and two of them even have roller coasters on them!


ps- thank you manny for taking such great photographs for me.

featured and blushing

madebyhank is etsy's featured seller right now!

thank you everyone!

stop by the shop. i will be adding more bags over the weekend, as they are finished and photographed, so check back often!

please

dear summer,

please, please, come back to me soon. i miss you so.

love,
hank.

for a friend

my friend benna turned six yesterday. i was her nanny when she was a wee one, back when she was just starting to talk, and now she is reading and she rides the school bus and i sort of can't believe how long it has been since we first met.

today she is hosting a make-your-own-sundae party, and i had so much fun making this crazy bag for her.


i mixed tons of vintage prints and raided my button collection.


i made sure to include some extra pockets, for various trinkets and treasures she might find along the way. two exterior pockets on the front, under the flap. two on the back (with a little madebyhank button in the middle), one on either side of the side panel (one in heart print, one in pink polka dots), and four big ones inside.


i topped it all off with bright pink piping and vintage floral print lining. and, of course, a matching pencil purse.

** my friend enzo also turned three yesterday, but i can't post photos of his birthday surprise just yet, just in case he happens to read my blog before i have the chance to deliver his gift. you know, because three-year-olds read blogs.

the best

dear everyone,

thank you for your support, words of encouragement, and for taking the time to write me so many sweet comments and emails.
i am one lucky girl.

love,
hank.

ps- i am stitching and stitching and will keep you all posted about the upcoming shop updates.

the thing about me

so, there are actually quite a few things about me, but this is the one i would like to talk about.

the thing is, i am a human. and right now, i am dealing with some things that are not very happy in my real life. so even though things in my handbag life are going very very well for me, i am not quite so productive as i would like to be right now, and so i apologize. not for being human, but for not having nearly as many new bags in the shop as i would like.

i am not quite ready to write about the unhappy things in my life on this blog in detail, so instead i will keep it all sunshine and handbags and talk about some excellent things that happened this past weekend, that i have been meaning to share for days.

first, we will talk about friday. i was not quite sure what kind of turn out to expect for the opening reception on friday for the show i am part of at the bambi gallery. there were so many other events going on(for those of you who do not live in philadelphia, we have an event on the first friday of each month, where many of the galleries in the city have openings for their latest shows, and folks go from gallery to gallery and check everything out), and so many of my friends had their own openings to go to. it was packed! and i only personally knew about ten people, so i was able to meet lots of new people, which was both exciting and a bit socially overwhelming. and most of my pieces are already sold, which is also very exciting.

and then there was saturday. oh saturday. i loved saturday. i have to say, after putting the final stages of the work for bambi together, helping install the show, trying to make a collection of bags and things to sell at the craft fair, and run an etsy shop, i was a bit of a zombie by the time saturday rolled around. i hadn't slept more than a few hours or eaten a decent meal all week. but it was so fun! kaitlin and jim were there and darla and laura, to name a few.

and i finally met margaux! our paths have been so close to crossing for quite some time, and i am so glad they finally did. and now i am the very proud owner of a beautiful bone ring. i have had my eye on her pelvis necklaces for quite a while now, but i do not really wear necklaces, so i was so happy when i saw her rings. maybe i will still buy one of the pelvises and just hang it on my wall and and it can make me happy every day. (pssst... margaux is kind of a superstar and there is an etsy video of her book making process)


above: said bone ring. (margaux's photo)

i went home with a whole bag of treasures. the bone ring, a ladies are complicated print made by darla jackson herself, about 30 tiny vegan donuts made by the north portfishington cookie company, a drawing/collage made by the very sweet heather sundquist, prints and a little book made by kris chau, underpants with a ship on the bum from laura mckinley, a stuffed revolver made by katie marlowe, a james ulmer print, some small prints by kaitlin mosley, and some very fun polaroid portraits.


above: ladies are complicated by darla jackson

aubrie costello put the first real makeup i have ever worn (probably since i was a ballerina like 15 years ago), and hibbard nash was taking 4x5 polaroids with his fancy camera, so kaitlin and i posed for a few.





that is me on the right in the first one. i thought it would be a good day to use the bunny mask a little. i was right.

deadbeat blogger

geez, i am a deadbeat blogger these days, and i sure am sorry.

i have been super busy, that is for certain.

what have i been up to?

sew much! (that one's for pete miller)

i have been sewing and sewing and sewing. i finally finished up the newest set of sewn drawings for my show at bambi this friday. it took at least fourteen times longer than had expected/hoped, but i got to hang out with candace, and she is a super cool lady. and we ate really good really bad snacks and also went on a very dusty and moldy top secret adventure.

the week before last i got to spend some time with mike elias, who is on my top five best dudes of all time list. we drank a lot of coffee and a lot of beer and told lots of good stories and laughed a lot and we went to the whispering wall for a bit, which is a magical place. he and his wife have a baby on the way, and i am very excited for them. and also very excited that i finally have someone to pass the very best very tiny shirt ever on to. this shirt was 45 cents at the thrift store and it is a tiny collared button down with teeny little bugs of some sort that have classy little vests and top hats and they are holding umbrellas. so good. and it was never even worn- it still has the little paper tag that says it was originally one dollar and ninety eight cents.

manny bought me tickets for christmas, so we went to see ira glass at the kimmel center and i loved it. have i ever told you i am in love with ira glass? it is very true. i am on the lookout for a new place to live, and my first gift to myself for my new place is going to be this print. i really want the original painting, but it's a bit out of my budget right now.



i also had a whole lot of fun last night with some old co-workers and friends that i do not see nearly enough these days. we danced a lot. it was good. i needed a little fun.

so much more happened since my last post, but i have to get back to work! i added a new batch of zipper purses to my shop about an hour ago. find them here.






i will have more shoulder bags in the shop soon, i promise.

look for some new spring colors in the shop also to help you think warm thoughts!