It's official... I am 31 years old today and proud to say it. I am blessed to have had this many birthdays to celebrate, and to have so many people in my life to share it with.

Thanks for building me Mom.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!
I woke up this morning to flowers and breakfast in bed, courtesy of my wonderful husband. Now I'm off to the gym for a workout, to the mall to buy needles and thread, and then home to sew up a storm. Tonight I celebrate with good friends and good food.

The Bad Robot and his Paternal unit have left the building. I'm going to take full advantage of the 2 silent moments that exit has given me, to BLOG.

I've been feeling a litte rough around the edges lately... not sure why. So until we figure it out I'm keeping myself busy sewing up a storm... in between building living room tents and watching endless episodes of "Toopy and Binoo". I found this fabulous old Australian mail bag and managed to get three bags out of it.



I absolutely love the color of the sack with it's gold print and black thread darns.

So it turns out that blogging is not what I thought it would be. When I started this whole thing I thought I would be FILLED with inspiration and have posting ideas coming out the... well you get the idea. On the contrary... every time I think of posting something I decide it's not worthy. Or, the bad robot in my life (a name he picked... not me) gets a fever and doesn't sleep for three days. Somehow he's still running around like a super hero and I'm like the living dead. I could barely motivate myself to sit down at the sewing machine let alone think of something profound to "blog" about. Once I did force myself to the machine I decided to tackle yet another zipper attempt. All of the things I have conquered in the world of sewing, fabric, and design... I still can't get a zipper right. Is there anyone out there that can give me a fool proof method? .... anyone?

I did manage to finish 2 more bags for the market tomorrow. One that was an old German feed bag with big print all over it. I have no idea what it says... hopefully nothing offensive. I lined it with ticking. It's so scrumptious I could eat it!

Well... I'm off to bed to dream of bark cloth... or maybe to nightmare of zippers. Either way, I hope to see sleep tonight.

P.S. I threw the zipper-foot into the living room today... I'm sure "bad robot" will find it tomorrow and think it's one of his missing pieces.

March 3rd 2009 was the day I left my job as a preschool teacher to embark on the greatest adventure of my life... motherhood. My son was 21 months old and had just gone through a heart procedure for a condition call "Pulmonary Valve and Artery Stenosis". It occurred to me that life was too short and precious to spend it at job where I was under valued and under paid, and not spend it with my beautiful, vivacious child.

To fund my adventure, I planned to create bags, totes, and clutches out of antique and vintage materials. After all... there are so many beautiful things already in the world to create with, why not give them a new life.

The previous summer my mother in law had given me a sewing machine... as I had been tossing the idea around for quite some time. My own mother (a freelance artist and antique addict), and father (a guitarist) had surrounded my siblings and I with a creative environment since we were babies. I've spent the majority of my life studying vocally in classical, and operatic music. As well as dabbling in other creative arts. So, even though I had no previous sewing experience, it came pretty naturally to me... I think its in my blood.

I had decided from the beginning that I wanted to use only environmentally friendly materials... decreasing my footprint. My mother's passion for antiques and previously loved items has greatly influenced my own taste. I get absolutely giddy over worn, dirty canvas, discolored ticking, bark cloth, and wood crates who's label's you can barely make out. If it looks like a disaster... I'll probably love it.

With the fear of my sewing machine getting cold, I'm back to work. Creating the next "Yah Bag" to add to my collection. I will be posting pics of all new pieces which will be available for purchase on etsy at www.yaheesplace.etsy.com.

Welcome to my adventure...