ain’t it purty? i made the pattern up myself but used two craftster tutorials for help: messenger bag with gusset tutorial & zipper pocket tutorial. i wanted more of a tote bag than a messenger bag so i examined one of my mella bags and made it the same way, two pieces of fabric squared off at the bottom. i wish i had made the handles a bit longer but it’s still a pretty good first try at this pattern. i may have to make more!

oh, and the custom labels.. i bought some iron-on transfer paper from mcgpaper.com, whipped up a design in illustrator, mirrored it, then duplicated it as many times as i could onto an 8.5″x11″ sheet (allowing for the added length of having to sew them into the lining. i then printed it out at the highest quality setting on my printer and ironed them on to a piece of white interfacing (cheap at only $1 per yard). admittedly, 40% of the labels did not turn out because i moved the iron too much while pressing but i’m pleased with the results. one side of the label has my new bokufish design and the other reads “spend time idly www.bokufish.com”. bokufish, my other neglected domain, used to be a fluff site for my freelance life, but i’m giving up doing freelance as a side business. it’s just too much work and you never know when you’re going to get a horrid client that won’t pay and will be a pain in the arse for the rest of your natural life. in the near future, bokufish will become a playground for crafty projects and the chance for me to install a new CMS called textpattern. i’m looking forward to that redesign after i finish up a friend’s website that i have been promising him since there was snow on the ground.

my other crafty achievements as of late, include a cherry red baby umbilical cord hat from the first stitch’n'bitch book.

it was VERY easy to make and will look great on my friend jenn’s baby come winter. i also whipped up this case for my camera. yes yes, ANOTHER crocheted case which i seem to excel at lately.

i hearby dub thee “creamsicle case”. i used both orange and white red heart acrylic on this one. i wanted to make sure that the LCD on the camera was well protected.

ok, enough! i’m still working on the second sock and the honeymoon cami. my next projects (once ONE of the others is complete) are to cast on clapotis and make shriky dink custom zipper pulls. i have a million projects on my list! i hope to get them all under control when i actually get a chance to sit down and play with backpack which i just signed up for today. time? what time? there’s just no such thing as free time lately.