My Weekend Outfit

 

Vintage Gobelin Tapestry Skirt: Gondola Venice Old Town (US 6-10) by StarsWear

Vintage Embossed Leather Shoulder Bag, Bohemian Purse by StarBags

Sea Urchin Spine Earrings: Bohemian Dangle Earrings by StaroftheEast

Women Leather Wedge Sandals with Wood-Look Sole, Handmade Mexican Huarache Heels by ColoresdeMexicoMX

Newly Listed: Dragon Leather Bag

Dragon Leather Bag, Leather Scales Bag made with Vintage Findings, Scales Leather Bag by StarBags
Dragon Painting, Dragon Art, Fantasy Art, Fantasy Painting, Watercolor Painting, Art Print by TheColorfulCatStudio
Gray Day, fine art photograph, abstract, landscape, forest, modern art, wall art by GBebsPhotographs
Muted Minimalist Ocean Photography, Fine Art, Waves Landscape Photography Print Nautical by EyePoetryPhotography

Newly Listed: Bohemian Leather Knitted Bag

Bohemian Leather Bag, Knitted Leather Tote Bag made with Vintage Kuchi Tassel Charms, Boho Bag by StarBags
Seabirds Photograph, Coastal Seascape, Ocean Landscape, Beach Decor, Beach Photography, Coastal Seabirds by BreeMadden
Sand Photography, beach photo, wall art seashore print coastal photograph, Sandy Shore by CarolynCochrane
Seaside Simplicity, Fine Art Photograph Nature, Beach, Coastal, Sea Grass, Fog, Fence by mariegradypalcic

Flying Carpets

We have been busy with making a whole bunch of new pretties for the shops. And the past 10 days or so a lot of them had something in common which was the use of old tapestries and Kilims. We started with this coat which we made with a tapestry which was entirely hand embroidered!

The thought of cross stitching such a large piece makes me crazy, it clearly was done before internet or tv :) Unfortunately in time some of the embroidery got damaged so by the time we scored it, it was not usable for it normal purpose.

We found the perfect pattern with not too many parts which was necessary as small pieces wouldn't have worked with the material. We cut out the entire pattern and puzzled a whole while till we got all pieces with mirrored embroidery and all damaged parts were not used. The tapestry turned out perfect for it as we were only left with the tiniest piece of it and with this gorgeous coat which is available at our clothing shop StarsWear.

Many many years ago (about 30 to be more precise) my mother bought a whole bunch of Kilims in Turkey, this was of course way before we moved here and when we were still living (or maybe not me as this might have been before I was born) in Holland.
We are now slowly having them professionally cleaned and the ones in good state are once cleaned listed in our Vintage section of the Home decor shop.

Unfortunately some of them turned out to be damaged, making them useless as floor coverage but of course not rubbish. Throwing away hand woven pieces of kilim was not an option.

Even though this one had a big fat whole right in the middle, making it impossible to get a decent sized piece out of it.

But I remembered an old pouf in the attic which I brought down.

After sanding, varnishing and painting it in a soft pink...

It got some extra foam to make it higher so that the motives of the kilim would fit perfectly.

Tadaaa  pieces of Kilim + old forgotten pouf and this came out of it, pretty cool don't you think?

The brass feet got all cleaned up and shiny and it got a pompom trim for some quirkiness. The unexpected choice of pink paint is as you can see a matching color with the pink of the kilim and a little unexpected. The newly made pouf is now available here.

We had a few little pieces left after the pouf...

Which after many hours turned in to a pretty awesome bag!

We used a doctor bag frame, upcycled leather and two pieces Kilim.

It has an old feeling but still a cool newness, I love re-using 'useless' stuff it is so satisfying! Can you believe that we still have some pieces left? Those will most likely turn in to smaller purses :)
For now this one is available in our bag shop, StarBags.

An Artful Upcycle Project

Sometimes my mother comes with crazy ideas, ideas I do not appreciate (right away), some do not pan out but a lot of craziness turns out to be quite brilliant. This project is one of the good kind :)
I painted this oil painting back when I was going to my drawing course. It is not really the style I normally paint and was my first portrait, so it has a lot of room for improvement but it was just a step to learn. I thought about improving it but somehow never knew what to do with it and I didn't want to ruin it.
So here come mum's crazy idea: 'make a bag out of it'.
my first reaction was raised eye brows and probably scratching my head, but it eventually worked out.

Tadaaaa! It was a challenge sewing it. Unlike fabric, painted canvas is very sturdy and can not be turned in side out. It was pretty hard and each step took some figuring out but I am happy that I have a crazy mother, and am happy with the result :)

I've made it with leather details, and a baroque style lining, it closes with a zipper (I was glad that I managed that!), you can see more pictures and details in our bag shop StarBags.

I had cut out the canvas from its wooden frame, leaving me an empty frame which could have been used again by stretching new canvas, but I have attached vintage style map printed leather to it and am using it as back drop for some of my bigger globes :)
We offer this type of world globe printed leather in our supply shop, in case you want to make something like that too, but this leather is also perfect for upholstery, bags and more.