I designed a tool carrier a few years ago and have perfected the design as I have made more of them. I had numerous requests to make them to sell and I finally got around to doing that this summer. The one I was using was from a previous edition. While cleaning out my sewing room, I ran into a roll of SewPaintable canvas. This is canvas that was developed to allow you to paint or draw on it and to sew it as well. I decided to make myself a truly unique tool carrier (incorporating the latest pattern). I drew on the canvas and colored it with Prismacolor permanent markers.

The carrier is designed to fold up like a book for easy transporation to workshops or to be packed into a case for traveling.

There is a flap to keep the tools in place while traveling. The best part is that the carrier will stand on its own on your work table, allowing easy access to your tools, keeping them handy.

More shoes - seems like these are very popular. My Mom requested that I do a pair for her for her birthday using the colors I did on my friend, Edie's shoes. Here are the ones I did for Mom.

Edie's Shoes

I love the whole idea and concept of bartering. Last summer my friend Edie had a fabulous polymer clay bead that she had done in colors I don't normally use. The piece really spoke to me and I wanted it badly. Edie wouldn't name a price, but I kept after her & she finally decided to let me have the piece if I would agree to do her a pair of shoes. What a great idea to swap art for art! Here are Edie's shoes.

Sneak Peak

Here is a sneak peak of the two tote bags I drew to donate for the Opportunity Table for the Enchanted Doll Artist Conference that I'm attending later this month. The first tote is a beige tote with a pocket. I used Prismacolor Permanent Markers on this tote. The second tote I did (because I had so much fun doing the first one) is done on a white canvas tote with Tsukineko Fabrico Markers. Both totes have been protected with ScotchGuard.

These totes with either be raffled or be silent auction items to raise funds for the conference. Doll artists can carry lots of doll making supplies in these colorful totes adorned with doll faces.

Lisa & I started a tradition (though not required) last year when we exchanged handmade gifts prior to attending the Enchanted Doll Artist Convention. She made me a fabulous handmade book that I use to chronical my EDAC journey and I made her a traveling tool case.

This year our dear friend Vicki is joining us (for more fun!) and I made the three of us purses to carry. They have polymer clay faces with beading around the faces, done on rayon batik. We'll be able to carry our wallets, cell phones, room key & lipstick in these lightweight bags.

I got the idea to do us traveling sewing kits for our pins, needles, etc. I found some canvas fabric and drew the faces (just like I did the shoes) and colored them with Prismacolor markers. I then used heavy duty iron on interfacing and backed them with felt. I sewed bias binding around them & added ribbon to tie them.

I also found some great luggage tags at Michaels and personalized them for us with our images.

We are all very excited about attending the conference next month! More about it later.

I saw some shoes at a local store that were kind of cool, but more than I wanted to spend and the designs weren't exactly what I wanted. However, it did spark an idea so I went in search of plain white canvas shoes. I found the first ones at Target and later at Walmart. My friend found hers at DSW & the slipons I got were from Old Navy. Once I obtained the canvas shoes, I went to town. I normally sketch a light pencil outline prior to adding color with Prismacolor Permanent Markers. I do the detail lines with a Sakura Micro Marker (and some other ones that I have that are no longer on the market). When my friends saw the first pair, the custom orders started flowing in and I'm having a great time doing these shoes. Later I'll show you the tote bags I did as a fund raiser for the doll artist convention I'll be attending next month.

Once my friend Lisa saw the shoes, she had to have a pair, so she commissioned me to do her a pair. Since we are attending an art doll conference this summer, I did doll faces on her shoes.

She loved them! Here are both the front & back views of her shoes.

Our friend Vicki is also attending the convention this year and wanted a pair of shoes of her own. She doesn't care for the lace ups, but found a pair of Keds slip ons that she liked. As Vicki is a master gardener, I did her shoes to reflect her interests.

The first image is at the start of the process, with one shoe detailed and the other with just the color.

One more image showing the side. Once I did the shoes for Vicki & Lisa, I loved the slip on style and also the doll faces, so I found a cheap pair of slip ons at Old Navy and did my own doll face shoes to wear at the convention.

Start of doll shoes without any of the detailing - just the basic color laid out.

Finished shoes with detailing.

Lisa had the idea that the shoes might look good just black & white. I wasn't sure, but the last pair I did was a different canvas. It wasn't working doing the pencil lines first, so I laid in the basic lines with the permanent detail markers. I figured I would do all the lines & detailing first and then add the color. Picture shows shoes in progress. Once I finished them, though, everyone seemed to love them as they were - so I'm leaving these black & white. I'll be selling this pair.

I've always been fastinated by faces, especially ones with character. No faces seem to have more character than the American Indian. Throughout the years I've done various famous Indians in different mediums. The first one was permanent pen on fabric. My favorite is the one I painted on a wooden box for my husband - I entered that one in the State Fair of Texas and got best of show. The other one is painted on a jacket that I did before a painting convention.

Snow! Yes, it snowed in Texas this year though not until March 5th. These were the largest flakes and the heaviest snow I've seen in over five years. This is the view from my back door. It had only been snowing about 30 minutes at this point. It continued to snow for another 2 - 3 hours. Of course, this being Texas, it was gone by the following afternoon except for the north side of the houses and any snowmen that were built. I think it was around 70 two days later. Got to love our weather.