Please give a warm welcome to Olivia!

Let's hear it for my latest Diva! This one is not for sale. It is a gift to a special woman in my life....my mom! This Diva's name is Olivia and she was born on the first full day of summer...June 21. This gal definately has several facets to her personality (purse-onality?). Being born in summer she loves outdoor activities but especially ones that include a beach chair and an umbrella! But note that she is no stranger to the finer things. Her rich purple silk exterior is a hint that she actually descends from royalty. There is one exterior pocket lined with a fun Laurel Burch silk fabric that features chubby cats of bright colors including red, pink, purple, yellow, blue and green. The pocket is accented with custom purple silk piping. Above the pocket, standing guard is a red cat (Laurel Burch) button with purple polka dots and blue whiskers. The interior is the Laurel Burch silk cat fabric again. I wouldn't have been able to use the Laurel Burch fabrics in a bag to sell because all her works are licensed...but as a gift to my mom it was perfect! The straps on this bag are 16" long making Olivia a wristlet. Mom, I know it will take a little getting used to...but it will save your shoulders!

Now a little side note about this bag. I have made over 400 handbags in the past 8 months(all by myself!)But I hadn't made one for my mom yet. I kept looking for the perfect fabric. I ordered some silk a few months ago but it wasn't what I had in mind. My mom's favorite color is purple. So a couple of months ago I got a nice purple dupioni...but I couldn't find something fitting to use for the lining! Finally, almost by accident I found a silk scarf by Laurel Burch on fabric.com and decided to order it. It was perfect because mom loves cats and this scarf had some pretty colorful cats on it. I cut it up but was short of being able to give her all the pockets I wanted her to have. So production was delayed again! I then went to ebay and found the same scarf from a seller in Hong Kong (less expensive than fabric.com even with the shipping) so I ordered it and waited....and waited! It took three weeks to arrive. But atlast I had the perfect elements to put together for my mom. You see, my mom is a beautiful woman. She is every bit a "lady", but she also has a fun side as only her close friends could attest to if she hadn't sworn them to secrecy. Mom, I hope you love Olivia and find lots of fun places to take her. She has already been to Hong Kong and California who knows where you two will go next?

PS...I love you. Make sure to look inside because there is an extra gift just for you!

Kealakekua

For now the bag I made yesterday is just a prototype. But in case I decide to make more, I decided to name it. I name most of my Coffee Bags after areas in Kona (since this is Kona Coffee Country!) For instance, the Kukio Bag is a beach bag and is named after a beach resort that is only about 8 miles from my house. It is one of my favorite beaches on this island. There is sand, palm trees, grassy areas, kiawe trees, clean bathrooms with showers and it has a protected cove that makes for safe ocean swimming! I rarely "swim" but I like to be able to cool off in the water without being pummeled by waves. So that is my Kukio Bag!

The Kainaliu Bag is named after a wonderful little town "up mauka" (towards the mountain). It has turned into quite an artsy little community with some fun shops and galleries. Of course Kimura's fabric store which is something of a landmark can be found in Kainaliu. My husbands family had a service station there for about 40 years. They just closed it down last September so that my dear 88 year old mother-in-law would retire! She is such a hard working woman.

The Kealakekua Bag is similar to the Kainaliu bag but it is larger. So since Kealakeua, Hawaii is close to Kainaliu, Hawaii...but larger.....well, that is how I came up with this bag's name! I have to make it simple for ME to remember, too!

I decided (probably against my better judgement) to show my new bag next to a real live woman so you can see how big it is....THE BAG! No comments about the beautiful witty, charming woman (yes, it's me!) So without further adieu...

Tell me what you think. Does it help to see the bag on a person? Sometimes I forget that you may not be able to see the size of a bag when it is in a light box or hanging on my plumeria tree.

Finally feeling better so made a new bag!

Hi gang!
I have been sick for almost two weeks and haven't felt very creative AT ALL. The doc said it is just a cold (which makes me feel like a whimp!) but I have just been really tired and had a nasty...some would even say "irritating" cough! (sorry honey!) But I must be getting better because yesterday I spent the whole day sewing. I am trying to come up with a new bag. My sweet cousin, Karen, got me to thinking about a slouchy bag out of the coffee bags. After about 12 hours in the studio, I was feeling pretty defeated. It takes a lot of tries to come up with a great new pattern. The one that was created yesterday unfortunately does not fall into that category. But it is all a learning process. Before I could quit for the night I did come up with a twist on the Kainaliu bag though that I DO like. It has more pockets and bigger ones. I also put a cellphone pocket inside for convenience. It has the magnetic snap, cotton webbing strap and I lined it with some palm tree fabric that has been taking up space for a couple of years on my shelves. I need to pack it around and see what works and what doesn't! I like the size of it. It is larger than most my bags and I added a gusset so it holds more than the regular Kainaliu. It measures 16" wide and about 13" tall.

They're Here!

So today my favorite mailman rings my door bell and hands over the purse hooks I have been waiting for. They are even lovelier than I expected! The black one is a flocked velvet with silver embossed flowers on it. All the crystal ones are really beautiful too. There are 12 Swarovski crystals embedded in the ring that surrounds the faceted face. I am really pleased with these and I think they make a great match for my handbags!

Bag accessories coming soon!

I just wanted to let you all know that I am still working on my SasakiBags.com website. I have a little html glitch that many of you have noticed when you go to my homepage! But the folks at Yahoo are working hard to resolve this little irritant.

Meanwhile, back in paradise, I have just ordered a product that I know you are going to love because it complements my handbags beautifully! I will soon be offering high end purse hooks, purse caddies, or whatever you choose to call them. I recently went out to dinner and had the age old dilemna of where to stash my handbag. Putting it on the floor is just nasty! On the table and I fret about a water glass sweating and spotting my silk bag! So I decided to search and find that there are some fabulous solutions out there. They should be on my site by the end of the month. I will let you know when they arrive! If you have any favorite colors, just let me know. For now I have taken care of my "purple" gals and also have on order a gorgeous black and silver neutral and a random selection of other popular colors.

Emily

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Emily is an "everyday" handbag and was made with a fancy embossed denim fabric in a dark denim blue. There are two exterior pockets accented with custom piping and lined with an Amy Butler fabric.

There is a detachable sage green heart shaped pin in an alligator-embossed faux-leather with silver-toned paisleys. It can be removed and worn on a jacket or anything else you can imagine.

The handles are manufactured dark denim blue faux leather 13" straps that are accented with antique gold toned hardware. This bag is a wristlet.

The closure on this bag is a gold-toned magnetic snap.

The lining is an Amy Butler print (blue gothic rose) that has paisleys and flowers in tones of green, brown, rust, yellow, peach, and blue.

There are two interior pockets with custom piping to match the lining.

Emily was born on June 5 making her a Gemini. She is a casual down-to-earth gal who loves picnics on the beach and horesback riding.

"Holly"

The exterior of this bag was constructed of a shimmering lime green or chartreuse dupioni silk. There are two exterior pockets lined with a vibrant Amy Butler paisely print with shades of green, blue, burgandy, pink and brown. There is one exterior decorative metal button.

The handles are 17" long making this a wristlet.

The interior is the same fabulous Amy Butler print cotton as used inside the exterior pockets. There are two interior pockets that are accented with custom green silk piping.

This bag closes with a gold-toned magnetic snap closure.

I have named this bag "Holly". She was born on June 4 making her a Gemini. Holly is vivacious and as determined as she is beautiful. She will be the perfect punch of color for any neutral outfit you may wear or pair her with other brights for a bold look.

size:
9" tall
6" wide