A bittersweet goodbye

The first gallery that I began selling at, HeART the Gallery, closed its doors this week as the owner, Mike, is taking a break from running the gallery to write a book on his art. This is a great opportunity for him and I wish him the best of luck on his new journey. Mike assured me that he wants to as a gallery owner again but for the time being, he wants to focus on his book and art. Mike showed an interest in selling my artistic bags in his gallery and always complemented my skills for color pallets and designs. This closing brings up my previous bittersweet farewell to Happy Delusions, the first boutique that I sold at. Owner, Mary, wanted to pursue other adventures and has been doing great.

I am happy for both owners and couldn't be more grateful to have met them and the opportunity to sell at their amazing establishments.

On another note, I know another person pursing in writing a book that I think everyone should check out. Nathan Vass is a King County Metro bus driver and currently has a blog about his bus route adventures. He his also in the works in writing a book, inspired by his blog. If you're ever riding the 358, be sure to say hi to Nathan!

Current collections expand from inspiration and demand

My two current collections, Checker and Formal, have been doing great. A demand for different styles/sizes motivated me to make more within each collection. After taking some professional photos for catalogs and the website, I realized that each bag should be little more special. I decided to start naming bags after the people that have inspired, supported, and motivated me. More collections are still in works but here are my current collections.

Checker Collection: The Crissie and Kim.

Checker Collection: The Crissie, the first Trizanh bag. 

Checker Collection: The Kim, a smaller crossbody bag.

Formal Collection:
Upcycled ties and dress shirts make these bags truly one of a kind.

Formal Collection: The Ryo, larger bag with an adjustable strap.

Formal Collection: The Yolanda, a clutch with a cuff link closure.

Formal Collection: The Yolanda, beautiful and classy.

It's been almost half a year!

Time sure does fly by... I didn't realize that my last post was almost six months ago. I've been busy with re-bulilding and re-branding Trizanh. Making a new website with amazing photos from Rodel Studios, working on catalogs to take Trizanh into the wholesale industry and setting up a studio space to have a photo area to take pictures of my online store.

Holiday season is creeping up and custom orders are starting to come in for personalized, one of a kind handbags as gifts. I love making personal handbags because they are more special and have a story behind it. I haven't been sewing as much due to all the "admin" work but I plan to jump back on the machine in my new work space. The bags have also evolved... to higher quality production and into different styles. Excited to see what will happen after these new and big changes!

Cross body Checker bag

Up until recently, the Checker Collection only consisted of one style. I made a Checker case for my new tablet, and with my recent interest in cross body bags, I was inspired to make a cross body Checker bag. I made the first one, a prototype, to see how the design looked. I immediately fell in love and in the past month, I have created more to add to inventory. Pictures will be posted soon of the new addition to the Checker collection and I'll be dropping off new inventory to stores next week.

Two opposite sides of Washington State

I recently visited Spokane for the weekend, about five hours away from Seattle. I came across a store just outside of downtown Spokane called Glamarita. Right away I recognized the long dresses in the window made out of ties from Etsy and Pinterest. Upon walking in, I saw purses made out of ties that I saw on Etsy. I had not realized that the creator of these amazing garments were from Spokane. We met and exchanged contact information while sharing our background and experiences.

Shop owner, Ronnie Ryno, has a vast collection of amazing works that she has created. Be sure to check out her shop if you're in the area.

Purse cupcakes?!?!

One of my favorite cupcake shops in Seattle is The Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company. They make an amazing assortment of flavors and their recipe for frosting/cake is scrumptious! The owners and their baking crew welcome new ideas and finding ways to explore their creativity in flavors and designs of cupcakes. Their daily offerings are always a delight but below is a picture of a special order for a shoe fanatic.

For a special occasion, I might have to call up The Yellow Leaf and request cupcakes made into handbags! Be sure to follow the "yellow leaf road" for updates on their daily selection of cupcakes.

Stick a pin here, a pin there

One can get lost in the world of Pinterest. One click and repin leads to another and another and another; there is no end. Sometimes I find myself repinning the same thing by accident, which is fine because it means I really like that pin!

A friend is using Pinterest to find ideas of her wedding and another friends is using it to find baking ideas. Who would have a thought that a social media pinning board would catch on the way it did! For me, I like finding pins that relate to my creative side of how I make purses. So far I've found so many interesting ways to use ties and so many cool things that people have knitted. I wonder what the next phenomenon will be in the world of social media...

Addicted to fabric

Even before I began the Trizanh brand of purses, I have always been obsessed with fabric. I would find myself walking through the fabric section looking at all the different types of fabric bolts and imagine what amazing crafts and creations could be created. I usually found myself in the quilting fabric section because I think I was a quilter in my former life.

The array of color pallets from the bolts and how they are display in a rainbow of fabric is fun to look at. Since I don't quilt, I have always found a reason to buy quilting fabric to make random things. Now that I use quilting fabric/cotton prints to line the Checker collection with, I have a good reason to always look at the current inventory and the sales table.

When I opened the business account for Trizanh, I went on a shopping spree to buy all types of prints and colors but I had to stop because I needed to use up my current stock of fabric before buying more. I recently went over my stock of fabric and now it's time to go shopping again. I'm so excited to visit the local quilting/fabric stores to see what they have in stock for this crazy fabric hoarder.

Happy 2013

2012 ended on a couple of difficult notes but in time, and with strength, things start to look up again. With the first term of graduate school starting, making purses has fallen down the list. However, with the new year I plan to pick up and continue the projects I planned for Trizanh.

Building an online store, through sites like Etsy, will only help expand Trizanh to all the purse lovers out there in the world. However, producing quality photos and maintaining the online shops are a lot of work but this is something that shall be accomplish this year. Running my own online shop off Trizanh.com will be another step in the e-commerce world so for now, sites like Etsy and ArtFire will suffice.

Creating the Sew-Do-Ku Collection is an on going project and this year will be another year of experimental crafting. Just when I think I figured out one part, another part doesn't work. This collection will be worth every sweat and tear I've put into it.

Boutiques that sell handmade goods are what help professional crafters launch their brand. This year I plan to find more boutiques to give some purses a place to call home.

Thanks again for all the support and love to this crazy purse maker and be sure to check back for more adventures in the world of Trizanh!