New plan, new goal, new bags!

The business trip to San Jose was awesome and much needed.  Shar and I were very productive.  I love how our creative energies bounce off each other and spur us on.  Individually we have our own unique strengths, but together we form this brilliant, super creative wonder woman!  Though our face to face meetings are few and far between nowadays, we’re hoping to make it a quarterly trip.  I’m hoping Southwest has those promos again soon.  I know you’re wondering about highlights, so here they are:

• Oct. 16, 2009, our first meeting in person since Aug. 14, 2008! BFF's together again!  The Wonder Woman is emerging . . . We revised the line, created names for each bag, found a label vendor, signed up for Facebook, Twitter, Etsy and Ebay accounts and made plans to visit San Francisco’s fabric shops the following day.  Here’s a special shout out to my cousin Yvonne’s fiancé, Jason, for bringing us snacks to keep our creative juices flowing.  Thanks cuz!

• Fabric shopping day!!!  We visited Britex Fabrics, Fabrix, Mendel's Far Out Fabrics and Peapod Fabrics in San Francisco.  

Our famous route in the search for fabrics 

We expected it would be a long day (we wore comfy shoes and I even brought snacks!), but nothing prepared us for what lay ahead.  Who would have thought that we would have walked a total 8 miles by the end of the day?!  And it wasn’t just flat sidewalks, mind you, this is San Francisco where they apparently love their hills!  Up and down and up and down for six hours straight with loaded handbags. And we didn’t stop there.  The night was topped off with dinner and dancing at Poleng Lounge.  As if our legs needed the extra exercise!  In the end, we came up with only two yards of fabric from Peapod (the owner was a bit prickly).  It was worth it though.  Shar and I talked shop, received a few cat calls and experienced the city from a different perspective, all the while being thankful for having each other to share those moments with.

 (Left) Field testing The Traveler.  Just call me The Bag Lady. (Right) Thumbing through upholstery fabrics at Britex.

• Shar and I come up with some nutty stuff when we’re together, and making a duct tape dress form takes top honors for the year.  After realizing just how expensive a professional one cost, I decided to do some research to make my own.  This chick on You Tube taught me how.  Shar was my guinea pig. She thought I was going to use just one continuous strip of tape and wind her up.  Umm, she should have checked the video again!  

Take it from Shar, it’s very hard standing still for two hours while being wrapped up like a mummy.

There were some touchy feely moments (you can guess where), but Shar was a good sport and didn’t complain one bit.  We did a pretty good job, if I do say so myself. We didn't realize stuffing Charlotte would take all night, so there wasn't enough time to wrap me.  It'll give Shar an excuse to visit me in Prescott.

  Charlotte, our S & S mascot, all dolled up and modeling our totes.

• The lovely downtown Los Gatos.  We should have started our search right in our own backyard.  Nestled along the many sidewalk shops was a boutique called Natural Expressions of Los Gatos.  It was like entering heaven…the colors (Oh, the colors!).  It housed just the type of fabrics we were searching for.  I wanted to buy a yard of everything!  My mind went into overdrive just thinking of all the possibilities I could stitch up.  Not only do they carry fabrics but also all sorts of beads, wires, chains (anything and everything really!) to make jewelry.  I could have lounged in there all day.

Since I’ve been back, I made the finishing touches on a tote I started before the trip.  We’ve been choosing florals lately, so it was a nice change to see a different sort of pattern.  Perhaps I should rethink the combination of colors though.  I like them separately, but not so sure with them together. 

I also finished a sample of The Shoe Addict, one of the products in our line.  I’ve always put my shoes in a plastic grocery bag when traveling. You never know what got stuck at the bottom of your shoes and you don't want to pass them on to your clothes.  It was time for something a bit more stylish and green.  The fabrics for the final product are worthy of any shoe!

It easily fits a stiletto!  Mine is a size 9 with a 4.5 in heel.
So now it’s back to work.  Shar and I are still riding on our wave of energy from our meeting and trying to get things checked off our to do list.  It seems like it keeps growing, but we’re enjoying every minute of it.  Up next, The Diva!  I’ll let you figure that one out . . .   

San Jose Bound

Here I go again, off on another trip.  This time I’ll be visiting my two favorite girls: my best friend Shar and my fave cousin Yvonne.  Shar and I will go fabric hunting San Francisco.  It’ll be our first business excursion together as bona-fide designers.  The last time she went shopping for fabrics, she found herself driving around in circles and even wound up in the ghetto at one point.  This time should be different.  We’ll have her boyfriend, Tony, as a bodyguard, my cousin Yvonne as textile connoisseur and me as the excellent navigator.  All should be well.  Hopefully I’ll come back with tons of luscious fabrics to boost our collection.  Cross your fingers that we discover some real gems!   

Before I head out though, I’m still working on one more bag to bring with me to show Shar.  All the pieces are cut and they just need assembly.  Please, OH PLEASE, let me finish in time.  I still have a bunch of other things to do: finish packing, do a mani/pedi, cook dinner, drop by Goodwill and try to squeeze in making a makeup brush holder.  Oh yeah, and my shuttle to the airport leaves at 3:50 a.m.  Lord help me!

Best yet!

I’m SO HAPPYYYYYY!  This is by far the best tote I’ve made so far!  I’m so proud of myself. I pranced around the apartment with the handbag slung around my shoulder and modeled it in front of the mirror.  I’m kind of glad I had a solo celebration.  Anyone would have thought I was acting a fool if they saw me giggling, chattering to myself and striking poses.  

Reversible baby!  Two bags in one.  And it has pockets too!

True, I didn’t get to finish it last night, but that’s OK because I probably would have gone to bed around 6 a.m.  The handles took me a good while to get just right and closing the hole where I turn the bag right side out was tedious and slow going.  (Also, I took a break for dinner, watched an episode of Project Runway while I was at it and talked story with my roomy that came home earlier than I expected.)  Next time, I’ll try harder to aim for a one-day turnaround.  It’ll be 24 hours of straight sewing.  No TV.   No computer. Eat at the workstation and pee in a bag (just kidding!).

I want to stop, but...

I’m taking a break.  I started another tote in hopes of finishing it before my trip to San Jose.  This one strays from the original pattern in that it doesn't have metal rings and it's reversible.  I want to be able to show it off to Shar.  I’m confident it will be finished in time, but am I so ambitious as to finish it tonight?  I’ve never completed a tote in one day before and it would be a celebratory first.  But who would be here to give me a high five?  (Wes is in San Diego for the weekend and my roomy won’t be home until midnight.)  Enjoying a job well done alone isn’t any fun.  It’s so much better when someone is here to showoff my handiwork.  Anyway, I feel the strong tug of procrastination beckoning.  I haven’t eaten dinner yet or watched TV in six hours and the guilt of not popping in my yoga DVD is weighing heavy.  I know what I have to do…it’s the productive thing.  The night’s not over yet though.  There are a myriad of things that can distract me.  The question is, am I strong enough on a Friday night not to let them lure me away from my goal.

I'm baaaack!

The girl is back! It’s about time too! I know I said I’d be gone for three weeks, but the trips just kept coming. Might as well take advantage since I have the opportunity, right! I bet you were wondering if I was ever going to come back from my travels. Well, I’m home and ready to start again. Though before I do, let me just reminisce and share with you highlights of my trips to Hawaii, Philippines, Guam and Hawaii round 2 (I know, I love my home!) and road tripping to Vegas and all over northern AZ. You better get comfy because this is going to be a long entry and I want everyone to know what’s been keeping me away.

• First stop Hawaii to pick up my mom. Before entering our designated gate at the Honololu Airport, the customs guard asked my mom what she did for a living. She responded, "I'm a housewife." (Personally, I think she didn't say she was a farmer because she didn't want to raise the suspicion that we may be smuggling fruits with us. We weren't, but still...) He then turned to me and asked likewise. I said, "Same thing." As soon as I said that, I regretted it. I missed my chance to say out loud that I, Sherryl Tolentino Lane, am a designer! Ugh! I did have a small chance several hours later to redeem myself when the flight attendants passed out the disembarkation cards. There, in the small box marked for occupation, I wrote: Designer.

• My Lola Menang celebrated her 100^th birthday and we had an all day party for her. I also discovered that I have a great aunt who is a 102!!! The day after the festivities, my mom and I went zip lining in Tagaytay with Taal Volcano in the background. (It's not a highlight, more of a low light, that I wasn't able to find any fabrics to bring home with me.)

• Guam, such a lovely island. Too bad it gets such a bad rep from Hawaii locals. Despite the heat and humidity, it’s awesome! I suppose it helps that my brother, Ryan, was such a good tour guide. My mom and I were glad to spend time with him and meet his new girlfriend, Marina. She is exactly the kind of girl I’d want for my baby bro. I also went paddle boarding and rode a carabao named Betsy, which incidentally was owned by Joe, a local Chamorro who looked like Mr. T. Salamat po for showing my family a new way to eat coconut with shoyu and wasabi. So yummy!

My bro and Marina look so cute! She’s our newest fan in WA!

• I received a 50% Cole Haan discount!!! On my second flight home, I sat next to this woman with the most beautiful handbag. While she was settling into her seat, I kept sneaking glances at her gorgeous hobo (camel colored, soft, pebbled leather, thick rope handles, pockets at the gussets with smart tassels on the flap). Talk about lusting after it. It was to die! Turns out, she was a CH executive who noticed my own CH bag. At the end of the flight, she handed me a card, which I thought was her business card, but turned out to be an executive discount!!! I’m still reeling at the exchange! As soon as I deplaned, I called my cousin, Yvonne, and told her that we were going shopping. I bought a black textured wallet and black woven leather and suede hobo. It’s absolutely gorgeous! I love, love, LOVE it! (See, now this is exactly how I want other women to react about Sherryl & Shar handbags. I want them to salivate (I admit it, I did!) at the thought of owning one.)

I took a sly photo of her gem. This photo doesn’t do it justice!

• My honey turned 30 in August. We drove to Las Vegas to celebrate his milestone. Besides gambling, we went to the top of the Stratosphere and freaked ourselves out on Insanity The Ride and Big Shot.

• My cousin Trish’s wedding was beautiful and lots of fun. She was absolutely stunning! Besides the actual wedding, the best of times were hanging out with her and a few other girl cousins in the hotel room finishing up on last minute details. There was a moment when I thought, “Wow, we’re really grown up now. We’re all getting married.” I am truly blessed to be surrounded by such strong women in my family.

Tolentino Fashionistas: Yvonne, Trish & Me

• Witnessed three amazing sunsets from Sedona, Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. Each one was breathtaking in its own right. All I could do was just soak in the beauty and savor the moment.

I’m not the only with the travel bug. Shar’s been parading throughout Europe since the beginning of September. (I’m SO J!) I’m sure she’s gathered some research along the way. Maybe she’ll pick up on some European fashions that haven’t hit the US yet. I’ve been tracking her on FB and she’ll be returning home tomorrow. I’ll be seeing her in less than two weeks!

Now that you’re up to speed, let’s have a little show and tell with my latest projects. What, you thought it was all play? Well, of course, I did some sewing! I made two bags. I managed to finish one in between my trips. It took me a whole month to complete it with cutting patterns one day, pinning two weeks later and sewing everything a week after that. Also, it didn't help any that I temporarily moved my workstation to the dining room. The sewing studio is currently being occupied by a roommate. Nonetheless, I managed to pull through. 

The second one was almost a complete disaster. I have to admit, I was totally and utterly distracted while sewing. I made lots of mistakes! Some were so obvious that I could just kick myself! I did a lot of seam ripping and re-measuring and re-sewing. I blame the Real Housewives of Atlanta for my goof ups. If it wasn’t for their juicy drama and wild, ghetto shenanigans I would have paid better attention to what I was doing. (By the way, Nene is my favorite.) It would have taken me three instead of four days to finish this bag if it weren’t for them, perhaps even two if I was completely in the zone.

I curious to see a solid, but I think I’ll stick to patterned fabrics for the outer shell.

I’m planning to give one of these bags to my mom as a belated birthday present. I ordered a bouquet from 1800FLOWERS (BEWARE of this company!!!) a week before her birthday, but the delivery never made it. The bastards told me the day AFTER her birthday that the order was cancelled! UGH, I was livid! Anyway, never mind. Brush it off my shoulder. I decided to give her a Sherryl & Shar bag instead because I know she’s anxious to have one. Besides, it’s much more personal this way. I just have to figure out which one to give. The other, I’ll take with me when I visit Shar. Hopefully, I can finish just one more before I leave.