a few new smallboys and one little something

look for these new smallboys in the shop first thing tomorrow morning. (the listings should be ready around 8am EST).

if you already peeked through my flickr stream, you may have noticed a little something different about the roundy-bottoms. well, two somethings-different, really.

first, i did not stitch madebyhank onto the fronts of them. i stitch the madebyhank freehand and sewing at the volume i have been, my little wrists just can't take it anymore. i know that it is an extra touch that makes a big difference, but i need to take care of my arms, because i only have the two, and they are pretty important for what i do. and for, you know, life.

on the bright side, they will go from the usual thirty-two dollars to twenty-eight dollars.

the second something different is that i added the smallest little d-ring onto the side of each, attached with either a bit of vintage trim, or a bit of cotton twill tape, depending upon the colors/fabrics of each. now you can add a little trinket of your choice, or perhaps a key or two, if you like, to the side of your roundy-bottomed zipper purse.

adventures in north phily

a lovely lady names marianne has been helping me a bit with some madebyhank tasks. she spent the better part of the first day helping me stamp shipping supplies and tags and cutting fleece (the stuff i sew into each of my creations), which was a huge help. this is kind of a big step for me, as i have been so hesitant to hand off tasks, even though i so clearly could use a helper.

earlier this week, her and i went on a whirlwind thrifting adventure in north philadelphia. since moving back south, i have not made it out to my favorite thrift stores. that was the one benefit of living in fishtown, i suppose. thrift stores galore within biking distance. but marianne (said helper) rented a philly car share, and we ventured out in the rain in search of treasures to transform into madebyhank creations.

i found handful of belts, some vintage fabrics and linens, some old leather (to possibly use for future wristlets?), a few dresses (not shown), and a visible woman (for $1.90!), and a few other little randoms. i was particularly excited to stumble upon some new vintage cloth napkins, to add to my growing collection.

more to come

i apologize that i have not been able to list the shoulder bags i promised just yet. there will likely be more in the shop on monday.

i did just list a few of these


and also a few zipper clutch a-go-go's




as well as one last classic tote in grey with green


and the last green with white as well.


i very excited to see alicia neal's show at b2 tonight, and that is where i am headed.

enjoy the rest of your weekend!

all is well that ends well

thank you everyone for being completely wonderful and for having my back on the silliness of the mystery shopper. i feel very lucky to be a part of such a nice little online community.

the mystery has been solved! it turns out someone accidentally left themselves logged in at the library and a bored teenager decided to have some fun. which is just silly. i have to admit, i was going through my list of folks who are not so fond of me, and wondering if any of them were un-fond enough of me to spend the time to set up five separate accounts, etc. luckily, that was not the case, so my mind is at ease.

a bored teenager, while a bit irritating, is not so disheartening as someone making a personal attack against me. i certainly used to spend hours at my grandparents' house going through those giant jc penny catalogues with my sister when i was a kid, writing up fake orders and creating imaginary grown up lives for ourselves. i suppose online shopping carts are the new jc penny catalogues, and it doesn't occur to the young folks that i am an actual person.

the sales can be cancelled through etsy, the fees refunded, and my sales count will go back to normal. that's the other thing-- i was feeling a bit dishonest, having drawn attention to my sales count when it hit 1500 recently, and it went up quite a bit more the past few days because of the false sales.

but all will be right in just a few days.

i decided to have dinner with a friend tonight, so i did not have the chance to set up the new listings in my shop. so please check back either very late this evening (i over did it a little on the caffeine today), or early tomorrow morning. and just as a heads-up, the shop will be open, but new shoulder bags will not be ready and listed until late tomorrow or friday. i just wanted to keep you posted.

why?

i think maybe this is my first post i have written while feeling very, very annoyed.

very annoyed indeed.

why would you put a melon helmet on a cat? and why would you place not one, not two, but SIX totally bogus giant orders from my etsy shop? if you are the person(s) behind this, and you are reading this, all i have to say is that i really hope that kharma gets you for real.

i have been sewing my little hank butt off trying to keep up with orders, and i even closed the shop for a few days to try and recover and have a little time to relax. i questioned these orders from the time they were placed, but am now certain they are totally bogus. it is not all that uncommon for someone to purchase items from my shop for the first time through an account that was set up that same day. often folks discover my shop through blogland or internetworld, and do not yet have an etsy account, which you are required to set up before purchasing from my shop.

but seriously, people. the orders total over sixteen hundred dollars and about 40 items. i am currently figuring out how to get my shop back in order and avoid this problem in the future, with the help of the etsy team.

i know i should not write about this, but this blog can't be all handbags and sunshine all of the time, because sometimes life isn't all handbags and sunshine.

if you are reading this and are one of the folks who placed the bogus orders, please be a bit more adult and contact me directly at katiehenry@madebyhank.net and we can talk about whatever the problem you have is in a more direct and helpful way.

geez!

that is the only four-letter word i will type, though i am thinking quite a few others.

has anyone else ever had this problem?

i should have the shop open again later tonight, and will have new items and shoulder bags ready and listed sometime friday.

a small game of catch-up

just a quick note to let everyone know that my shop will be closed until thursday (july 9th), while i catch up on existing orders and finish up and photograph some new items.

you can sign up to be notified when i re-open, by going to my shop page.

thank you for your patience!

coming very soon...

hello there.

just wanted to let you know that i am about to list four of these...







and also four of these...







in my shop!