Monthly Homework Assignment: Purses and Bags

This month's homework assignment from The Professor was Purses and Bags. I didn't think I'd participate as I don't have an interesting bag collection. I typically choose bags based almost entirely on practicality.

When I'm carrying a bag for a length of time - walking around a fair, actively shopping in a store, searching in the library - I really like having a backpack. It frees up both my hands and allows me to move around without the annoyance of a purse falling off my shoulder or swinging forward to get in my way. But when I'm carrying a bag for shorter periods of time, a backpack doesn't work as well. It hangs funny when it's only on one shoulder, and digging my wallet out while standing in a checkout line is awkward. And, of course, I have to take off the backpack to get into the car.

For a long while, I had a purse vs. backpack debate with myself. I'd switch from one to the other, but both annoyed me. I tried a few different bags and disliked all of them.

Then, a stroke of random good luck! While walking past a Wilson's Leather shop, I saw a purple purse on a sale table. It wasn't my preferred shade of purple, but since purple leather bags are fairly rare, I was intrigued and stepped in for a closer look. It turns out the purse was the right size, had the outside pockets I like... and holy purple cows, Batman, it converted into a backpack! :o The 80% off tag sealed the deal. Finally, a bag I'm happy with!

it's a shoulder bag

presto chango; it's a backpack

It so happens that the new boots I got last week are a similar shade of purple. As everyone knows, a proper lady always has matching purse and shoes. I'm classy now!  :)

Lamp Fail. Boot Win.

I recently moved into a new office at work and inherited a small beige lamp left by the previous occupant

Beige. Yawn.

I'm not a beige kind of gal, so I added the lamp to my spray paint fest last weekend and turned it into a nice satin nickel (with plans for a black fringed shade). Alas, my fail streak continued and the lamp promptly broke. :(

lamp fail

However, this lamp fail is greatly overshadowed by a major boot win!  Last week, I saw TUK's purple Brogue boots on Coffin Kitsch.

purple TUK boots :)

I immediately placed an order with Sourpuss Clothing, who shipped it the very next day (nice!). The boots arrived today... and they fit! This is just short of miraculous for me, as I rarely find footwear that fits properly. The boots are roomy enough for my wide feet; I just need to punch holes in the straps to accommodate my super skinny ankles. The leather is pretty soft, so the boots won't need much breaking in. Boot win! :D

happy feet wear purple boots

Silhouettes

"Silhouette" is an interesting word, maybe because of the "h" lurking silently. Silhouettes can be of people, of course, but one can also create silhouettes of creatures large and small

The colorful frames shown below came from Michael's craft store. They were originally $1, marked 70% off, for a final price of 30 cents each.  :)

ignore the brown one

I spray painted the frames black and put in black-and-white print papers. The plan is to cut bat silhouettes for each one. In the meantime, I used some bat stickers I had on hand to give me an idea of what they will look like.

The larger frame below was already black - no spray paint required. It was $10. Not quite the 30-cent bargain, but not too bad.  :)