Reading and beading..........

These are my latest two library books I've enjoyed reading........both about the southeastern coastal waters and towns and people! If you love the ocean and beaches and good stories, these are for you, too...........my fantasy life is to live like the eccentric old lady in the big old "cottage" right on the sea's edge. She rides a bike to "town" and dresses in long, loose vintage clothing with beaded and embroidered scarves and big hats; and spends days abed among fluffy pillows reading to her heart's content! Ahhhh......
we old women can still DREAM, can't we???!!!!

And this is my latest project: an embellished evening clutch/purse using vintage bridal satin from old dresses........this is the front. Click on the photos so you can see the white-on-white beads and sequins! The scattered tiny dots on the front are little pearls, and on the back I used Swarovski delica crystal glass beads..........love the sparkle!
This is the back of the purse, using pieces of the daughter's debutante gown from the 1960s. (This is a commission piece for an elderly friend who, like me, cannot bear to part with gorgeous vintage needlework and fabric and handmade thingies!) Now her grown daughter will have a meaningful surprise birthday gift soon, and it will bring back memories of her southern heritage as a debutante at the ball many years ago!

The lining is just a white-on-white design cotton fabric, and I used little pieces of white "hook-and-loop" for the unseen closure under the flap. This was a joy to work on, because my favorite part of any project is the fun of digging through my stashes for just the right embellishments, and seeing it all come together. Of course, it's especially nice when the customer first sees it and says, "Oh, how LOVELY it is!" Thank you, my creative muse... now we're off to try our hand at painting glass Christmas tree ornaments like I did for many years awhile back. With the economy bottoming out, I'm having to resurrect all my latent talents and pray my hands don't shake and my eyes hold out, because Christmas is coming! And Santa needs help!