Lisa’s wonderful bag making book has been released early or at least is in stock on amazon earlier than the stated publication date so of course I had to order a copy as soon as I saw it yesterday – before they realised their mistake!

It arrived this morning with the postman, and it’s everything I hoped for and more.  You can find my review on amazon, or if you’re lazy, just read it below:

You might question how a book of only 160 pages can call itself a “bible” but don’t, because that’s exactly what it is!
It has everything you need to know in order to make your own bags from the patterns included in the book and to understand how to put your own ideas together to create your own bags should you feel inspired.  I’ve been waiting (not so patiently) for this book ever since Lisa Lam announced on her website that it was happening, and as soon as I saw it listed on Amazon, I took full advantage of the “look inside this book” feature to see exactly what was in it, so I knew what I was getting.  Having purchased some of Lisa’s bag making kits and PDF patterns previously I was concerned that there might be some overlap/duplication with the patterns included in this book but I am happy to say that all 8 of the bag patterns in the book are new and not available in any of the kits or PDF patterns available from her shop.  In other words 8 brand new designs for some fantastic looking bags are contained within this compact bible of a book.
As I had already checked out some of the images, I knew which ones I couldn’t wait to make as soon as my copy arrived, and as soon as the book was showing as being in stock I ordered it.  In particular, I can’t wait to get started on the Oversized Fashionista, the Organised Office, and the Great Getaway bags, but all the bags look fantastic.  There are plenty of photos of the bags and photos of key stages and techniques, as well as photos of basic equipment and fabric swatches to ensure you can identify everything you need when you go shopping for them.  Plus full size patterns for all eight bags in good strong paper and not tissue paper, which let’s face it is a bit of pain to use and doesn’t last very long, so kudos to Lisa for giving us patterns that will last!
I’ve seen a lot of bag making books before, bought a few, decided against a few, but this one is definitely a winner and one that I will keep on my sewing table as a handy reference in between all that bag making.
Final comments:  It’s a great book, one of the best sewing books I’ve seen in a while and definitely of the same high quality that I’m used to as a U-Handbag customer and U-Handblog visitor.  If you have seen U-Handblog’s tutorials then you’ll know what I mean.  If you haven’t then please visit immediately after purchasing this book and you’ll see the wealth of information available there as well as becoming hooked on bag making and Lisa’s very friendly style of blogging.  The U-Handbag shop has everything you need to make your own fantastic and unique handbags like the ones included in this book, and it’s been a fantastic resource for me over the past few years as she sells some unique bits and pieces to make your bags truly special.  Thanks Lisa!

Review

Buy the book:

Behold, Japanese fabric I bought yesterday and received today from U-Handbag:

And fabric I want but is currently out of stock.

This is a strange one for me as I generally wouldn’t normally like this kind of thing but I find that I actually do.  It can only be fabric lust strikes again.

Finally added the Crafty Book Addicts community on LJ.  You may not be aware of how much I like to plan things, but I really like to plan things.  So instead of planning, I decided just to create it now (instead of sleeping) and worry about the fine print later.  that’s what happens when I don’t go to bed at a decent time!  So if you are a Book Addict (ie person who loves books) and a crafty one at that, then please go join up.  You must also be a member of the Book Addicts Book Group since we are a community for Book Addicts (and there would be no point if you weren’t now would there) and you must be crafty.  See the community for more info.

Zazzle has *finally* sorted out their email notification system and I got 267 emails from them today :p  Oh joy!  Every email I should have had since it “broke” arrived in my inbox this morning, and they just keep coming, so quite possibly it’s still not working quite right, as I know for a fact I have not had 32 new orders today lol but they keep insisting I’ve “just made a sale” *head spins*  Anyway, nice to see some emails instead of nothing.  Now I don’t have to keep checking manually to see if anyone has bought anything, or commented or “joined my fan club”.

Christmas mail delays are irritating me no end.  I am waiting for presents I ordered online to arrive in time for me to post them elsewhere, and I am (and this is a BIG worry) waiting for craft supplies to arrive in time for me to make other presents *chews lip*

Speaking of Christmas, I currently have negative money, and I found out today that I might also not have any heating for Christmas.  It is beginning to sound a bit like a Dickens novel, but I rang the oil company today and due the the “Christmas rush” they might not be able to get to me by Christmas!  Who’d have thought there would be a Christmas oil rush, it’s not exactly like a gold rush I suppose *strokes chin*  Anyway, should there be no heating, then I may be offline due to it being too damn cold to type, or sew or knit or read books.  I will be hibernating or perhaps moving me and the kitties in with the rele’s.

I bought one of these last night in the supermarket because a. I liked the colour and b. it was pretty cheap. It occurred to me once I got it home and examined it that this would be quite an easy craft project to do yourself.

All it seems to be is a simple box file covered in fabric on the outside and paper on the inside and padded on the top. You just need to get hold of a new or old box file, some fabric scraps, some paper – maybe the thicker handmade paper – and something to pad the top with and a little ribbon for the side and fastening. It could be a gift and also a box for a gift.

Photos under the cut/more tag
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Well this is what I was working on last night and a bit of today.  It wasn’t fun, it was very fiddly and I’m not sure I want to do it again.  However I do have three of the little suckers to do /fail  

It may be small but you can still pack quite a few things in. It’s made of cotton fabric which is padded and the lining is black cotton. The frame is silver coloured and opens like a fish mouth, see nice and wide so you can find your lip gloss. It actually looks quite pretty in a dinky sort of way but it was the purse from hell to get done last night or maybe I was just tired having been up since 5.45am.  Now that I’m finished, having both slept and eaten and posted about it, I am considering making another one.  Good grief what’s wrong with me.

Actually I decided to start knitting a teddy for a change of pace inbetween the bag making, washing-up, studying, fabric cutting etc.  That has been a lot more restful so far.  *sigh*

I saw this a few days ago and I think he’s really cute.

Check it out here at the Etsy DarkSide Team LJ community There are some cute photos of the little guy and while you’re there why not check out what else the community are making. There’s a cute little pink monster that’s just adorable.

Reposted from EW.

Bettie Page, the 1950s pinup credited with helping to spark the next decade’s sexual revolution, died in Los Angeles yesterday from pneumonia. She was 85. In honor of the passing of this treasure from a bygone era, an excerpt from EW critic Owen Gleiberman’s review of the 2006 biopic, The Notorious Bettie Page:

“It has often been said that Bettie Page, the legendary ’50s pinup with the pert features framed by those famously severe black bangs, was the rare American sex goddess who was equally at home projecting the image of a good girl or a bad girl. Frolicking, naked, in the ocean foam, her leg extended with playful pleasure, she was all dazzle and sunshine: the girl next door who said yes yes yes. In her scandalous underground bondage photos, where she posed as a dominatrix with a whip held high, or as a masochist with a ball in her mouth, she vamped like a pussycat from hell, her eyes narrowing with mean delight — or widening in mock terror. Yet the mysterious alchemy of Bettie Page isn’t just that she could turn on a dime from light to dark, saint to sinner, virgin to vixen. It’s that she was somehow able to project both qualities at once. In the bondage photos, so shocking for their time, her warm, spirited, peekaboo vibrance doesn’t disappear; it’s there just beneath the surface aggression of her poses. As for her all-American cheesecake shots, they have a quality of delirious, laughing abandon, as though she were winking at the she-devil inside. What Bettie Page conjured — always — was the promise of pleasure without limits. She was a one-woman orgy in centerfold form.”

Good night, Bettie. Although it’s a cliche, there really is no truer summation than to say, they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.

More Bettie Page:
Movie review: The Notorious Bettie Page
Book review: The Real Bettie Page: The Truth About the Queen of the Pinups
Bettie Page weighs in on Notorious biopic

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