Pretty in Pink

Last week I received an order all the way from Australia! Way back in March I made a little tote and matching purse for a customer in Australia, but it needed to be delivered to a special birthday girl here in the UK.

Now the same wonderful customer wants a bag and purse for her little girl.  So I worked hard this weekend so I can get the present to Australia in time for her birthday in just under 2 weeks. 

The lovely Amy Butler Mint fabric goes so well with the pale pink lining.

I added a felt flower to the bag and purse to finish them off.

I hope she likes them! 

They will start their long  journey this morning – fingers crossed she will like them!

If you would like a similar set for the little girl in your life feel free to email me using the address on my contact page!

Made for Dancing

A very good friend of mine is currently doing her PGCE to be a secondary dance teacher. In the ten years since I met her, dance has been her true calling and she is going to be a superb teacher.  She approached me to make her a bag big enough to carry her dance stuff as well as some A4 folders – oh and it it needs to be funky!

I love people asking me to make them a bag, especially when they have a basic idea that we can build on. She settled on using the lovely blue twill and is matching it with this great fabric:

This is Flower Child Sorbet from one of my fav shops, Fabric Rehab.  The webshop is fantastic. Fabric orders 3pm Wednesday and on my doorstep Thursday morning!  Means I can get the bag before my friend heads back to the big smoke on Tuesday evening.

She needs loads of pockets to keep things safe as well as enough room for all her things so this project is going to be loads of fun designing.

Keep checking back for progress updates over the next 2 days.

Linen Hearts

In January I made a pencil case using linen and Amy Butlers’ lovely Cherry spotted fabric:

I sold 2 of these lovely pouches, one overseas and one to just down the road in Stroud. The customer from Stroud emailed to say she was so pleased with the pouch that she had decided to use it as clutch. 

Last week she got in touch again to order a custom made bag to match the clutch.  She had settled on my Victoria design and wanted the exterior in linen with the lovely spotty lining.

I finished the bag and sent it yesterday, so she should be getting a lovely parcel this morning – fingers crossed!

The heart ‘balloon’ matchs the one on the clutch and the lining is in matching spots with a zippered pocket:

I hope she likes her new custom bag.

And the winner is….

Thank you everyone who entered my ‘Name that Bag’ giveaway.  So many lovely names for the new bag design!

As you can see there were loads of ideas!  I decided to put all the ideas on paper folded over.  I used a bag to jiggle them around:

Then I used a passing monster to pull one out:

And the winner is:

Well done Chris.  Your make-up bag will be posted to you soon!

Thanks so much for entering my latest giveaway

Custom Order

On Sunday I had a lovely message on Etsy asking if could possibly make a birthday present for a little girl in London.  The message was from Australia! 

So I have made a lovely little bag and purse which I have then wrapped.  I have put a card in with a lovely message from her friends in Australia.

A pretty little bag and matching purse.  I have added a felt flower because the bag is for a 4 year old.

I picked some girlie wrapping paper for the little girl. 

I hope the birthday girl enjoys using her new bag and purse!

If you life outside the UK and would like a similar service please get in touch!

Chloe has gone all French General

A couple of weeks ago I was sporting my new Chloe bag in brown corduroy and red spots, when a friend said she really liked it and could she order a bag.  Finally yesterday, Jane and I managed to get together and we went through my stash of fabrics.  I think she thought I was joking when I said I had a fabric stash…..

Jane initally said she wanted spring colours: orange, yellow and green.  I have a lovely piece of fabric from Fabric Rehab that I thought would fit the bill.  We went through the stash and whilst Jane loved the fabric I had picked out for her, she fell in love with a totally different colour scheme! 

Having choosen her fabric and bag design Jane skipped out of the house very excitedly saying “No hurry Anna, but when do you think it will be made?”  No pressure there then!

I started work on her new bag today and I am really pleased with the results.  So pleased I had to share it with you ( I hope she doesn’t mind me showing the whole world her new bag!).

To start with I wanted to put some machine appliqued flowers onto the bag.  I used the lovely outer fabric and co-ordinated lining to do this:

I appliqued the flowers onto the bag and embroidered on the stems.

When Jane visited my work space she mentioned she love buttons and played around with my jar of buttons.  So I found some vintage buttons to finish off the flowers.

Vintage buttons finish off the flowers.

The next step is to put on the top panel and small handles:

The panel and then the small handles are sewn on.

The lining and pocket were then added.  The finally step is to attached the co-ordinated longer handle, which will have to wait until tomorrow.

A picture of the bag on my work chair.

I really love this bag and I hope Jane does too.  What do you think?

A Funky Sale!

On Friday I got my first internet sale on Etsy!  I was so happy I was jumping around the living room!  My boys didn’t quite know what was happening but joined in the victory dancing anyway!

So here is my first internet sale all wrapped up and ready to go to America:

My first Etsy sale packed up and ready to fly off to America.

Hopefully it is the first of many sales.

On another note I have been working on my machine applique and embroidery.  Here is my first attempt:

Pretty blue heart bag.

I have had a go at writing on the bag.  Not too sure about the results…

Close up of the Love is.

Close up of Funky Bag.

I am going to keep working on it. What do you think?

Celebating one month of funky diva!

To celebrate funky diva designs being available for 1 month I am going to be giving away this cute make-up bag.

To be in with a chance of winning the make-up bag all you have to do is give me some feedback about my bags.  So let me know what you think, both positive and negative, by posting to this site.  Entrants from around the world welcome

I will pick a winner on Friday 27 November so I can send it out in time for Christmas. 

Thanks for helping me to celebrate!