Great News

That photo uploading problem that I had some months ago with blogger has since been resolved. Now there is no need for two blogspots, and a bright friend of mine did us all the giant favour of exporting this blog back into the original blog: Darfur Project.

Please check back there for updates on the project and plans for the fall and winter- coming soon.

$14,063.00

(waiting for a few more cheques to come in. I will be holding onto remaining bags until the funds come in.)

(Still feeling kind of lost, but simultaneously enjoying the fact that there seems to be time for reading and even showering. Want to return to raising funds. Want my back to stop hurting. Want those e-mails back in my inbox....... Hope God gives me great direction, and Soon!! Meanwhile, please give your support to: Made4Aid. It promises to be stellar; and I am excited about it.)

She Wanders Back Onstage.... Looks Around Awkward-Like

hmmm... a Joyce without a bag blog is just a bag. I mean just a Joyce.

It's going to take me a little while to find my "new normal". Right now I'm working on two bags for my church's youth group fundraiser-- they are headed to Los Angelos for some do-goodin'.
(psst... anyone hungry for a bag? Meet me in Hespeler Park, Sunday after church. Youth slave and stuff auction happening...)

Meanwhile, I theoretically have enough time to actually put away laundry, instead of leaving it in piles here there and everywhere. Boring. More interesting to actually read a few other people's blogs; a privelege that I've done mostly without during my year of baggy-ness.

When all the payments come in (thank you one and all who've sent- much appreciated); I shall do a tally and present it here. I will also leave a link or somepin' somepin' for people who would like to be contacted when I find myself. Er. I suppose that's a little old and tired for a has-been youth of forty-one. (and three quarters...) More like; when I find a fabulous, irresistable new direction for bag fundraising.

Miss you all.....

The Last Three

Bloomin'. Leave your bids here.
Polka Party. Leave your bids here.

Doin' The Happy Dance. Leave your bids here.

This brilliant idea came to me from my personal manager, a lovely reader with great ideas and inspirations. Instead of posting one a day until Friday, she suggested putting the final three on line, and seeing how close to a final tally of $14,000 we could achieve.

Feel free to puruse the posts of the final three bags. If you choose to bid or comment, leave your bids at the post of each individual bag, and leave your comments anywhere.

Get it? Got it.

good.

Polka Party

Some of you will remember this polka-dotty wonderfulness from a previous post where I waxed eloquent about a lot of fabric from Kim Z. Well, I couldn't let the hiatus begin without using a piece of it, now could I?

I paired it up with a velvety soft taupe/mustard coloured upholstery sample; some cool green curtains for the lining, and a strip of my mother's tablecloth for the strap.

For texture and awesomeness, I added some buttons to the dotty bits.

This is what I'd call the ideal Festival/Yard saling bag. It's small, but large enough to hold your essentials. This bag measures 7" x 9". A pocket beneath the flap is perfect for your keys and phone, and two pockets inside can hold your gold and your diamonds.

This bag is part of the final three. Leave your bid here if you are interested, and the party will shut down at 7:00 am cst, saturday, May 30.

Bloomin'

Here is another piece from Kim z, combined with some pieces from Valerie C. I couldn't not use these-- they are just that delicious.

I made a mid-sized bag. It's the size of bag that I find myself using most of all- it holds my wallet perfectly, plus some other really important stuff.

Pocket-o-rama.

two inside, and two under the flap.

Three delicious buttons to finish it off.

This bag measures 9" x 11".

Part of the final three; leave your bid here if this one tickles your fancy.

This party shuts down on saturday morning, 7:00 am cst, May 30, 2009.

Doin' The Happy Dance

A personal favourite; this tea towel turned messenger bag.
Paired up with a soft brown, it really is delightful.

A pocket under the flap for your immediate needs.

Actually; a set of pockets. I see that I divided it to hold a) your keys and b) your phone (if you're one of those really important people who must be available at all times)

I divided the inside pockets a little differently on this one as well. One side has a large pocket, adn the other has two small pockets, plus a pen compartment.

I think they are doing the happy dance. I'm sure that in their world, it's green and summery. They don't need to wear shoes or anything.

This bag measures 12" x 13.5".

As part of the final three, this bag is up for auction until 7:00 am cst, Saturday, May 30, 2009.

Leave your bids here.

Ghana

A tote bag made with fabric from Ghana, circa 1972.
Two handy pockets on the exterior.

A lovely mountain scene. If I knew my geography, I could tell you what it represents.

But I don't.

Let's just say that its not the Duck Mountains.

Pretty.

The bag turned inside out so that you can see the great pains I went to for functional pockets.

Two on this side, and a large one on the other side with a button closure.

Sorry about that sideways picture. I'm cramped for time right now, so that's just the way it'll have to do. Think of it as pilates, and twist yourself around.

This tote measures approx 16" x 14.5".

I'd like the bids to begin at $25- Cdn.

As usual, the auction will remain open until tomorrow morning, Wednesday, May 27, 2009 at 7:00 am cst.

Ode to Spring

Well, we actually got spring this weekend. And it was glorious.

This week is the bag blitz. Five bags in five days. And then that's it. Farewell, adios, ba-bye. (at least for now. I'm sure this isn't all going to lie down and go away. It just needs some rest, is all.)

You could pack your happiness in the loveliness of this orange butterly quilt.

And your bits and baubles in those apron pockets.

This bag measures 12.5" x 15".

Bids begin at $35.00 Cdn. The auction closes at 7:00 am cst tomorrow morning, Tuesday, May 26, 2009.

That's number one of five. The final five. (for now)

YES

.... there will be more bags before May 29. In fact, the master plan included bags for yesterday and today. But then there was the expected and unexpected that came along and gobbled up all available time. And just to burst another bubble: I'm not one of those midnight oil kind of Proverbial women. Nope. Come 10:00 pm, I can barely keep my eyes open; even if I tried using straight pins to prop them up for me. And for the last long while; I just can't manage being one of those 5:30 am people either. Not even 6:00 am.

All that to say that this week kind of fizzled out- BUT next week I predict a bag blizzard. A blitz. A grand hurrah.

Five bags. Starting Monday and concluding Friday.
You can bet your bottom dollar.
(Hey! What a great idea! ;)

Hiatus

Summer fallow.
My dad told me that's what they did in the olden days to return nutrients to the soil of the land that grew our wheat and barley. Every few years, a field would not be re-sown in spring. Instead the soil would be turned over, and then be left to God and nature to restore itself in sun and wind and solitude.

Darfur Bags (the blog) was born in March of 2008. That's fifteen months, three-hundred and twenty posts, several hundred bags, and about thirteen and a half thousand dollars ago.

$13, 632.00 to be exact. With some more cheques on their way, I'm sure. (the cheque is in the mail, right?) It certainly took a village and then some to accomplish that. It has been a pleasure and a thrill to spin some straw into gold, and I've had the privelege of meeting some really special people along the way.

We've sold a lot of bags around here. And I've got enough supplies to make up a whole lot more. This is where the hiatus comes in. Time to re-energize those creative juices. Time to sew for the sheer (shear?) joy of it. What am I saying exactly? That after May 29, (next week Friday) this blog is going on furlough. I don't know for how long.

It's time to let it go and see where it leads to. That feels kind of sad and scarey but it also feels like the right decision.

What about all that wonderful fabric?
Well, I'm not about to quit sewing. What I'm looking forward to is the rejuvination that my sewing machine and my creative spirit are craving. Trying out some new stuff. Entertaining the notion of employing other venues. Letting go of fear of change, and finding a few minutes of freedom to remember the other parts of myself, my faith in God, and the possibilities that still remain.

When I have some brainwaves, or a long enough rest, or some brilliant epiphany; you can always find me at Chronicles of Blunderview. There's also a facebook group called Bags For Darfur that you're welcome to join.

The people of Darfur still need our support. I'm hoping for some renewal and the good that will come of it.

I can always be contacted at re-joyce@mts.net. (which has the same destination as brijoy@mts.net). Or you might just find me fallow in some prairie farmer's field. Soaking in the sun, the wind, and the solitude.

Apron Tote

Once upon a time, there was a bedspread; a set of kitchen curtains, a fancy apron, a striped dress belonging to Loretta, a hammock, and a tie-dyed smock.

They all got together and decided to become a unified front.
(and back, and inside, and strap, and.........)

That scalloped edge is from the apron. It goes nicely with the kitchen curtain.

Can't stop loving the chennille...

That's the bag inside out. What you actually see is three pockets- the green is large. Behind it, the apron piece forms another pocket, but there is a third, small pocket on the inside of the scallop. Nice for a phone and keys.

The scalloped apron edge forms another pocket on the other side.

Please start this auction with $25- Cdn and we'll see where things go until 7:00 am, cst, Thursday, May 21.

Tuesday Tote

What do you get when you cross a set of drapes with an apron?
Well a tote bag, of course, you silly.

Throw in a bit of ric rac and some soft pink buttons; you're on your way to a pleasant dream state. Or maybe a picnic. Or the store. Or the forest to bring granny some biscuits and jam.

What's better than an old button? Well, two old buttons of course!

On the inside, one large pocket is sewn down the center to form two. The other pocket spans the width of the bag. The exterior pocket is sewn down the center as well.

Bids begin this bonny Tuesday at $25- Cdn. The auction will close at 7:00 am cst on Wednesday, May 20,2009.