Hot Trends--No It's not Vanessa Hudgens or Brittany Spears

I mosied on over to my favorite auction website and the future secondary home of my handbags. I stopped by because I had to leave feedback for a seller. I was greeted with the the what's hot page that has the current featured items. Much to my surprise the advertisement was for one of this Fall's hottest items: Animal Print. I guess I should not have been surprised, as this was forecast to be a hot item this season, as it has been for quite a few seasons. In fact animal print seems to be timeless! You can pick up this season's fabulous handbags, jackets, skirts, blouses, and dresses in a variety of animal print colors and skins. There are some really cool and interesting looking animal prints this year for all ages and trust me you won't find these animals roaming at your local zoo either!

*Click on Post Title and highlighted words for links to access some of this season's animal print choices.

About Vera Bradley & Others

Vera Bradley I believe is one of the designers who really helped pioneer the use of fabrics other than vinyl, leather, and leather-look in making handbags. Her bags are mostly quilted cottons. She has allowed people to understand that a nice quality handbag can be made out of many different textures. Other designers who use odd materials to produce interesting handbags: ~Whiting & Davis for their use of metal mesh in their handbags ~Ecoist for their use of recycled materials such as candy wrappers. They have some really cool bags. ~ Wendy Stevens for her use of sheet metal and leather combination, her bags look like works of art you want to display them in a museum. (You can purchase one if you can afford it ;) at www.guild.com If you like to do your part whether it is helping the environment, helping tsunami victims, or helping African women crafters make an income, these are some companies whose products benefit these causes: http://www.ecoist.com/ www.eco-handbags.ca www.laga-handbags.com www.lucuma.com www.ethnicsupplies.co.uk/

Too much hype? Maybe, but don't sweat the technique.

I just figured I would say this. When someday, hopefully soon, I am able to start selling some of my designs online, I am not predicting that I will be the next Isabella Fiore. Not everyone will like my designs. That's why there are so many designers out there, because different people like different things. I just hope I will have enough people who like them, that want to buy them, so that I can make a little extra money on the side. I am humble in my aim, and if it turns out better than I expect, then that is great; if not then I know I have tried to succeed at least.

Breaking Free

Every since I was about 12 years old I have kept a sketch book with designs of clothing I wanted to make, but my idea to start designing and producing handbags started in 2002. I saw an emergence in the handbag industry where alot of stay-at-home moms and just regular women were producing whimsical looking handbags and the consumers were loving it; being able to buy something that was quirky,that only a few other people owned, or maybe no one else owned it at all. I saw some people making good extra income doing this, and I also saw people who made it their sole-source of income, and became quite successful with it too. The problem was, some of the results were not that appealing, while there were some skilled seamstresses out there, some sewers' bags looked homemade and others lacked originality and designer quality. People figured if they picked a cute fabric, that was all that was necessary. Nothing set their bag apart from the next person's. I would see some people who would purchase Licensed and Trademarked fabrics, such as Philadelphia Eagles, or Mickey Mouse, and make a bag out of it; nothing special just a sack with the logo all over it and turn around and sell them online. Not only was this Trademark infringement*, and if caught you can be subjected to various penalties, but the bags were, in my opinion boring, because they lacked any design elements. I decided that I wanted to get in this market too for extra income, but I wanted bags with a uniqueness all my own. I wanted different designs etc. so I started sketching; anytime the mood struck me; whenever I saw something that would inspire me, I would sketch it quickly; on receipts, candy wrappers, you name it. I did not want to lose the idea. Eventually I started keeping a miniature sketch book with me just for my handbag designs. But alas as I said back then I was stuck at my main humdrum low-paying job and I was always trying to work as many hours as I could to keep afloat (although it wasn't working). I just ended up burnt-out, still in debt, and still could not afford to go back to school. So my idea of having a side business...was pushed aside. Turning Point: Last year after being fed up with our old neighborhood, but realizing how hard it was to be able to move, I kept telling my older sister (who was visiting at the time) "SOMETHING HAS TO GIVE, SOMETHING HAS TO CHANGE" I repeated this to her several times. I felt so completely suffocated. That is when I heard 2 things that made me start taking action. The first thing was something I was always familiar with but somehow I felt Like I was hearing it for the first time when I actually listened to it. There is a Canadian singer/songwriter named Dawud Wharnsbury Ali and he has a song that tells a little about some of the lessons learned from the story of Yusuf (arabic translation for Joseph) in the Quran (sura/chapter 12). One of the verses from the song goes: ["The words of Allah* are clear to the world, With Hardship Will Always Come Ease." "The beautiful story of Yusuf has so much to fill our lives." "A lesson in forgiveness and brotherhood we cannot compromise." "The power of patience and the fire of hope, must burn in the hearts of the wise."] ---After listening to this song once again it was like I had finally heard what he said at that moment. I actually paid attention to the words. The second thing was as I stated earlier in a previous post, I went to a business seminar with my mom and one of her co-workers, and the speaker asked the audience " Why are you working to make someone else dreams come true? Because when you go to work for someone else, you are working to acheive their dreams." It was like I was being hit in the head with a big "Duh!" sign. After really reflecting on these two things, I started to slowly make changes, I pursued the post office job, and after letting that go, even though everyone told me I was crazy for doing so (see earlier post "How did I get to this point?" for my reason), I decided to get more serious about my handbags while still holding down my job at Wally World, and while I am not progressing at a rapid pace, I am making movement, which is something I have put off for awhile. I am emerging-slowly but emerging nonetheless... Note* most Licensed and Trademarked logo fabrics, state that you are only allowed to produce goods for home and private use and not for resale. Allah--arabic term for the creator of all existence. Can be loosely translated into the english term GOD

Not Your Ordinary handbag/What's in Your Closet?

Be & D handbag USD$695.00 Be & D handbag USD$3300.00 Bottega Veneta USD$2780.00 Isabella Fiore handbag USD$625.00 Isabella Fiore handbag USD$655.00

Some handbag designers I like are: Le Sportsac, Whiting & Davis, Moschino, Be & D, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Lulu Guiness, Cole Haan, Salvatore Ferragamo, Bottegga Venata, Micheal Kors, and Paul Frank.

Two other more notable designers are Liz Claibourne, because when I was growing up my mother would always mention her as a designer, she has very classy items that are not as extremely expensive as some other well known designers. But my all-time favorite designer whose work I think is the most innovative and orignal is Isabella Fiore. She combines folk-style, class and an artistic vision that can be a little over-the-top for some designers, but she pulls it off nicely. I think that these designers are some innovators in their field.

*Disclaimer---Since, as I have stated previously I am not rich, I have never purchased any of these designers' bags (with the exception of Liz Claibourne), and any that I may own were given to me. Even if I were rich I hope that I would not make it a habit to spend thousands of dollars on an article of clothing or accessory, when there are so many other worthwhile causes that I could spend the money on.