Aria Jae's Elephant Saver Fundraiser

I was inspired by an amazing little girl, 4-year-old Aria Jae, who is on a mission to save the endangered Asian elephant. She has loved Asian elephants since she was even younger and is the driving force behind "Aria Jae's Elephant Saver Fundraiser."

To explain a little more, I am copying a post by her mother from their official website:

"At 4, Aria believes she is capable of changing the world.  When she heard that her favorite animals were in danger, she didn't ask “if we could do anything,” she asked, “what we were going to do.”  And as her mother, I would be remiss in my duties if I didn't foster this belief that she CAN make a difference in the world.

Aria has decided to combine her love of art and her love of the Asian elephant and is designing some fabulous artwork that we hope to turn into cards to sell to raise money. As her mother I am incredibly proud of her and she has inspired me to do more also.  After talking it over with Lesley and Cady, Tansy Dolls has chosen to support Aria’s dream and is hosting an online auction to raise money for Elephant Family, a UK based nonprofit agency working hard to alleviate human/elephant conflict, preserve important wildlife corridors, and educate the world about the plight of the Asian elephant."

Isn't that amazing? I felt really inspired and decide to design and donate an elephant themed purse for their fundraiser. The online auction happens on March 13, 2012 and aside from contributing to a great cause, I know there will be a ton of one-of-a-kind and beautiful creations in different mediums. To learn more, please visit their website and consider bidding on something when the auction happens! 

Here is my contribution :) It comes with a removable strap and has a zipper closure in the back.

All Photo Credits: TM 2013 SMASHWORKS. All Rights Reserved.

A Pupae Twin Purse - The Venture Bros.

For a LONG time now I've been working on a costume for Dr. Mrs. The Monarch, one of the totally epic characters from The Venture Bros. I think I ordered the yellow wet look spandex around three years ago and just haven't had the time to actually start until this past christmas! Well the costume is about 90% done with just the final wig styling to finish and I knew I needed a purse to go with the costume (as per usual). There was no other option than to do a Pupae Twin (Murderous Moppet)! Vinyl and PVC with 4 d-rings in the back so I can wear it as a backpack or as a side purse :) Super happy with how this turned out! Hopefully I'll be able to do the other Pupae Twin some time.

Photo Credit: TM 2011 SMASHWORKS. All Rights Reserved. 

TOS Star Trek Tricorder Purse

Last year for Fan Expo I created 5 Star Trek - The Original Series skants for my lovely cosplay group of ladies! Inspired by my design adventures of converting 2D objects to 3D and vice versa, I decided to convert the Tricorder worn in the show into a "flat" purse!
Made from vinyl, holographic spandex, rivets and random materials for the embellishment details. The hardest part of this was screening the silver details on the vinyl. The paint didn't particularly like the vinyl and the butcher's paper I was using to make the outlines was not adhering properly or creating the seal with the fabric! Whewf. In the end it all worked out though :) So happy with this creation!

Photo Credit: TM 2011 SMASHWORKS. All Rights Reserved. 

Out take from shoot below! Pictures to follow of full costume :)

Photo Credit: Mert Demir TM 2011 SMASHWORKS. All Rights Reserved. 

Claude Purse from Bleach!

This was a purse that I started designing probably two years ago that got shelved for so very long. I finally had a chance to finish it! This is a Claude, a character from the anime series Bleach! The plan was to wear this purse with an Orihime cosplay but I'm not quite finished that yet. When I do, I promise to post pictures :) It zips up in the back and an actually hold a fair amount of things inside.

Photo Credit: TM 2011 SMASHWORKS. All Rights Reserved. 

Woven Purse (aka the devil made me do it)

This purse was a christmas present for one of my lovely best friends. Although I do love how amazing it turned out, it was one of the most ridiculously timely projects I have undertaken in as long as I can remember. I will never repeat this design! Every strip of faux leather that is woven on the front had to have it's edges hand glued so they looked finished. Additionally, those pieces aren't separate. The front is actually only TWO whole pieces with all the strips attached to them and additional pleated around the edges. Whewf, I feel exhausted just recalling the process for this post!


The dimensions are roughly 12" x 7 ", so this image may be quite misleading as I personally think it looks smaller than the actual size here. I used a dark purple faux leather and lined it with black cotton broadcloth. There are two pockets inside and a magnetic closure. There is also a small loop sewn into the back band so the purse has the option of a strap.

Repo Swap

For my most excellent lady acidtrix I got to do some costume pieces and 'inspired by' pieces for our swap, which may I add I was the recipient of an AMAZING Zydrate hand made sterling silver necklace & Repo Opera ring. She also made me a kick ass Pavi painting in my favorite colors and sent all kinds of lovely little presents on account of my birthday that weekend:) Best presents ever!

     

I designed spats based on Blind Mag's chrommaggia outfit, feathers included :) The base design is sewn out of faux leather and lined with cotton broadcloth.

 

I designed a Zydrate inspired purse using metallic blue spandex and backed it with pellon (its a very thick fusible lining that is AMAZING for purses and a good alternative to buckram because it is a little more flexible). The upper portion of the front (the twist top) and the skull are made with a thin textured faux leather which surprisingly wasn't very difficult to sew.

On the back side of the purse I picked up a thick synthetic leather and then everything was lined with black cotton.

Acidtrix was also working on putting together her fantastic Amber Sweet Zydrate costume for the next Repo event so I helped her out and made her the cage skirt. It's modelled after the Catherine Coatney that Paris wears in the scene, all elastic with silver d-rings and garter straps.

This is her wearing everything at a Repo screening! Her costume turned out amazing and her boyfriend is dressed as Pavi here, they made his costume including his kick ass mask they made from scratch!

I also made her a set of GENECO luggage tags that I designed as well. I had to illustrate the logo and artwork from a low res image because there weren't any available for download that I was happy with. I'm a stickler for details!