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!

a st. valentine's day art + craft fair

who:
A. Jason Ross www.artemas-quibble.com
Ali Williams www.alimwilliams.tk
Alicia McCarthy aliciamccarthymassage@gmail.com
Amber Martin Leister amartinart@yahoo.com
Aubrie Costello www.aubriecostello.com
Beth King
Callie Konane Rickards www.konane.etsy.com
C. Roberts Thomas
Darla Jackson www.darlajacksonsculpture.com
Ellen Rockower ellen.rockower@gmail.com
Elsa Shadley www.warsaw.etsy.com
Emily Wren
Esther K. www.estherk.net
Heather Sundquist haveaheart@gmail.com
James Ulmer www.jamesulmer.com
Josie Newman
Katie Henry www.madebyhank.etsy.com
Katie Marlowe www.lucysvintage.etsy.com
Katie Van Vliet www.katevanvliet.com
Kris Chau www.krischau.com
Laura McKinley www.lauramckinley.typepad.com
Luren Jenison www.wooloo.org/luren
Margaux Kent www.theblackspotbooks.etsy.com
Melissa Nannen www.flickr.com/photos/talula1227
Nicole Cook
north port fishington cookie factory
RA Friedman www.steampunkphoto.com
Savannah Roberts
Tim Dowlin

what:
a place for buying tokens of love (art, journals, live portarits- both photographic and by the hand, jewelry, stuffed
curiosities, and other desirable unnecessaries)

when:
saturday, february 7th from noon until 6pm

where:
An olde warehouse in Port Richmond, Philadelphia
3237 Amber Street Studio 3-3-A

why:
because myself and several awesome + fun local artists will be selling their wares and fun is sure to be had by all.

please stop by for a bit if you can!

shop update!

i apologize for not posting much lately. i have been super busy trying to put a shop update together, and am also still working on the sewn drawings for the bambi show.

i started updating the shop yesterday, with some new smaller zipper purses in valentine's colors. i just finished adding the rest. they are going fast, but right now i have a few new totes (perfect laptop size!), a new batch of roundy-bottomed zipper purses, and lots of pencil purses. most of the ones i added yesterday are already sold (!), but there are a few smaller zipper purses in greens and aquas.

the bambi project, a few clutches, and a porcupine in my throat

i apologize for being a bit of a deadbeat blogger lately. i have been hard at work, i assure you. i am working on a new batch of my sewn drawings, which will be part of a show with katherine kaminski in february at the bambi gallery. i am very excited to work with candace (she owns the bambi gallery), and katherine, whom i have not yet met. i am not at liberty to reveal what she will be displaying, but it is very large and sweet and often found in the forest.

here is a sneak peek of one of my pieces


i will share more details about the show soon!

i am trying to also keep my etsy shop stocked, but because i have limited time to finish my work for bambi, this is proving to be a bit difficult right now. i finished up a few clutches and added them to the shop this morning, and i will try my best to add more bags soon!







i am also trying to keep myself healthy, because yesterday i woke up with a small porcupine in my throat. you know the feeling- achy everything, heavy head, no energy, fuzzy brain...
this does not make for a very productive day of sewing. and because i cannot get sick right now, i decided it was best to rest and drink lots of orange juice and tea and also watch stomp the yard, of course. if you have not seen this, please do. the battle scenes are so good. and it is kind of hilarious, because they are super tough dudes and they are dance battling each other. also, please watch rize, which is the documentary about clowning and krumping. rize is so much more amazing, because these are just regular kids, and their moves are incredible.

oh, you didn't know? i am a bit obsessed with dance movies. and completely unashamed.

i will post about future shop updates when they are ready.

and i hope everyone is enjoying 2009 so far!