Bling, Bling

 That comfort zone is quite a distance away now, as I try my hand at leather crafting. I used a Leather Kit to sew my own Messenger Bag, but it was SO BORING. No embellishments, no trim, and the edges were just cut leather. The crafter in me refused to call my messenger bag finished at that point. I'm the type of card maker who has problems with white space.
So I brought out some supplies: adhesive jewels, strands of pearls, strands  of beads, leather cement and jewelry glue, gold and silver cording, etc. I visited designer purse websites. Hey, if you want to see crazy blinged-out purses, just Google couture accessories and handbags. You'll go nuts (and laugh a lot. At least I did!)
I decided on my own pattern based on my supplies. I really wanted to finish the edges of my bag, so I went with the strands of twisted metallic-colored seed beads. The leather cement worked better on that. It stuck well, and was still flexible. I had more of the same strands, and my strap was created by linking pieces of leather that looked like figure eights. I found I could weave the same beaded strands through the entire length of my strap. One end went down into a side pocket so that I didn't have to worry about cutting it and having all these seed beads flying off. At the other end I attached a key ring and created a tassel from gold cording (see photo below).

Once the front flap of my bag was open, a blinged-out phone pocket is reveled. I also added strong magnets and covered them with shimmery paper. The bag will stay closed and the added metallic paper will stay on. The bag has three compartments inside,  and the width of my purse is 2 inches. That edge at the top of the inside there bothered me enough to place a strip of adhesive jewels to finish off the look.
I received the leather kit from an organization called Help Heal Veterans. They receive donated money and craft supplies and kits and offer veterans several kits at their storefront. I've volunteered my time to teach a card making workshop there for veterans that was well received. The staff often make and display samples from the kits that are available, and I noticed that there was no sample for this messenger bag, so I offered to bring it to the store so they could display it.
If you have any extra money and are looking for a new place to help out, check out Help Heal Veterans. You can go online, and many VA Hospitals will have a HHV storefront located nearby. I came in one day looking for a little relief from taking care of my hubby while he was living with ALS. I can never thank them enough for their support and their offerings.

Challenges I am Entering:

Please forgive me, I scheduled this post for the 20th, then forgot to come back and link it to the challenge blogs!

Ike's World Challenge Blog- Out of Your Comfort Zone (Leather craft AND Jewel/Beadwork)