Launched and now on tour... with giveaways!

 What a lovely night we had last night... launching The Better Bag Maker. 

 

 

Fabulous local Craft Book retailers CAN DO BOOKS were there with copies of the book, especially flown-in for the launch.

 

 

My 80-something Dad even made the trip in from out of town, along with several sisters and cousins and a niece. I felt a bit special. 

There were superstars of the textile world chewing the fat...



And crafty blogging chicks enjoying a catch-up in the non-virtual world.

All in all, I think that everyone enjoyed a good chat, a glass or two of something (or in my case, three attempts at a glass of something, but actually only about a sip out of each before they were lost somewhere). 

I had lots of 30-second conversations and scribbled jibberish inside book covers.  By the end of the evening, I could barely string a sentence together.... but had a lovely time.  And today, a little 15-minute powernap turned into 3 hours of deep, deep sleep.  I think I was a tad exhausted.

 

So, now that it's out there, THE BETTER BAG MAKER is having a little tour.  You'll be able to read reviews or profiles or interviews about me and the book (and I'll be guest-posting for Sew Mama Sew), and at each stop on the blog tour, there are opportunities to win a copy of the book.  (The book will be digital copy, except in the USA, where hard copy is able to be posted to the winners).

 

If you pop over to Blogless Anna's blog right now, you'll see how she fared with her first attempts at making bags (and she deserves a medal for working from an enormous pile of unedited manuscript notes and separate digital files of images).  If you leave a comment on Anna's blog post, you'll be in the running to win a copy of the book. 

 

From there, you can follow the trail -

 2nd June – Creativebug

9th June – The Littlist Thistle
23rd May - Sew Mama Sew
23rd June – Curly Pops
30th June – Lola Nova
8th July – Ink & Spindle
15th July – Kicki G Just Nu (in Swedish.. but you can translate it online)

 

 

 

Continuing my show-and-tell of the bags that I made while I was developing the designs.... above is the first (button-less) sample of the Galapagos Boho.  I have been intending to put a button on it for over a year now, because I think I'd quite like to use this one.  

 

 

Above, is the back detail of the Seoul handbag.  It was the only one where I changed NOTHING from the first to the last sample.  It worked exactly as I wanted it to, first pop. 

 

This Avignon Traveller is the one that is in the book - with a stunning hand screen-printed panel by Ink and Spindle.  I have the original version of this as my overnight travel bag, but I keep forgetting to photograph it.

 

 

This is the original Lahti Flight Bag, in a Heather Bailey print that I'd had in the stash for years. 

 

 

The second version of the same bag is the one that I use for a carry-on luggage when I fly.  You can see it in action here at the boarding gate in Portland, Oregon (this time last year).... along with a bunch of other bags, a purse and a kid, all made by me. 

 

Good luck with the giveaways, and happy bag-making!