Getting more adventurous

I'm getting more adventurous on the inside.... of my bags that is!

I whipped up a bag the other night - I just love that I'm now getting to the stage that I can say that I "whipped up a bag" rather than "wrestled with a bag" or "struggled with a bag". It was for a dear Japanese friend's birthday. She's an older lady and loves red, so I chose a beautiful obi with fans on it.

With this bag though, for the first time, I tried something a littl more fun for the inside. I used some funky kimono fabric which I just happened to have that matched so well!

You get a hint of the lining as you open the bag....

And then (excuse the bad photo) you can see how it looks on the inside. I'm getting better with the pockets, but I'm still not finding them fun.

Luckily, I have some holidays coming up soon. I can't wait! I so need a holiday! For the first few three and a bit weeks, Wayne and I are off to Vietnam, Cambodia and will do a couple of days in Thailand before we head home. I've always wanted to hike up to the hilltribe areas in Vietnam and can't wait to see the textiles. Mmmm.. I think my backpack may be a little heavier on the trip home.... Before I go, I hope to go through some of my kimono that I have collected to have re-made into something else by the tailors in Vietnam. I'll let you know how I go.

After we get back, I still have a few weeks off, and I can tell you - I'm going to be so busy! I've just sent off my bag label design for a few quotes and really want to get stuck into them. I also plan to get a website up and running, have two books I'm working on at the moment (stay tuned for them - one is on Japanese motifs used in kimono design.....), I have some new card designs I'm working on and want to get stuck into scanning my film photographs to convert everything to digital and finally get a Flickr account running. We'll also be back in time for the last of the summer festivals, so there'll be some great photo opportunities. I just love having the time to do this sort of work, lately I've had so many designs and ideas running around in my head and no time to do anything with them. I start to go a bit crazy after a while.... I can tell you - all (non-creative) work and no (creative) time, makes Melanie a very crabby girl!