Do you have talent?

Second Sunday in OTR will be hosting a talent show next Sunday.
Enter to win prizes or maybe even be discovered!

1st Place $100
2nd Place $50
3rd Place $25

Sign up for talent show at http://www.secondsundayotr.org/

Love theatre? Stop by the  Drama Workshop's booth and check there upcoming season.


Second Sunday is always a blast so hope to see everyone there on August 8th.

Creative folks

For some reason I am always drawn to the jewelry counter when I go shopping. I am more apt to buy a new piece of jewelry than a pair of pants. When I get a new piece of jewelry I end up wearing it everyday for a month or so and then I forget about it. I wish I wasn't such a fickle jewelry wearer.

Here are some really cute jewelry up cycling ideas from some fellow bloggers.

Emu's Upcycled Ring Pull Bracelet

Ring Pull Bracelet

Jewellery Made from cereal boxes

Cheerios Bead Necklace

For the love of Dogs

When I was a kid I wanted an animal so bad. My neighbor would say, "I think your parents will get you a pink pony." I never got that pink pony, but I did get a dog named Benji. He was a scruffy terrier mix that I loved more than anything in the world. I thought that I had this special bond with him that would never be filled by any other dog. Since Benji I have had a handful of other dogs, each one just as special as the last. My current puppies are Tito; a crazy, confident, easy going Setter mix. I got Tito when he was only 10 weeks old and was he ever a handful. I felt that I had a toddler except for the fact that I could lock him up in a cage. With lots of training classes and diligent work, Tito has become one amazing dog. I couldn't ask for a better baby. Tito's best friend is Curly a Border Collie mix. Curly was my first dog as an adult. I adopted him in 2000 and we have grown together through good and bad times. He will be 10 years old later this month. Where has the time gone?

 Tito and Curly posing for the camera

My dogs are a big part of my life and I like spending time with them so I am always on the lookout for dog friendly venues. Cincinnati is starting to really embrace our furry friends. 

Here are a couple places we frequent:

1. Neons in Over the Rhine - This bar has a beautiful courtyard great for lounging with your fluffy friend. I really love the sign on the front door that says "Dogs welcome".

2. Findlay Market - Good spot to enjoy some lunch outside and listen to the street performers play guitar or sing. Doggies have to stay outside but there are plenty of outdoor vendors to browse with your pups.

3. The Comet in Northside has a couple of tables outside to eat and drink. I took the dogs up there on Sunday. We hung out with some friendly people and had a grapefruit soda...yum. Poor dogs just had water.

Does anyone else know of other places that are dog friendly?

Happy customers

We love our customers. Just wanted to share some smiling faces with you!

Summer fun

We have had so much fun this summer and it has only just begun. Here are a few pics.

Hula hooping is a great break during shows.

Messenger Tie bag

  Lately, I  have been working on bags made out of ties. This one is a huge messenger bag that was made for my hula hoop instructor, Brianna. She wanted a bag that would fit her laptop and still have room for books.

I really get attached to these bags. Sometimes it is hard to part with them. With that said this is my favorite tie bag. The pink makes it just a little feminine but not over the top. It fits just under the armpit and holds a good amount of stuff.

So if you have some ties in your family that just sit around in the drawer, send them my way. I will create a fabulous, everyday, useful bag for you!

Hope you enjoy the tie bags....

Aprons in nature

These are aprons that I made back in February. Originally, we were just going to make upcycled aprons but it kind of got put on the back burner once we started making bags.

 

I just got the aprons back from a teacher that wanted to try them out in her classroom. While she had them her photographer husband took some pictures.

photos by: Tim Stegmaier

Purdy on What I wore Today

We will be hanging out at Second Sunday in OTR on July 11th. Festivities will start at 12 and go until 5pm. So come down and celebrate your Global Groove, drink some beer at Neon's beer garden and stop by the Purdy booth to say "hi".

Special thanks goes out to my super friend, Kasmira, for featuring my bags on her blog What I Wore Today this week.

Ugly Pants Equals Cute Purse

Over Memorial Day weekend I was shopping at my local second hand store where I found an interesting pair of pants. The pattern was very loud and crazy, not good for pants, but perfect for a purse.

I was showing my mom all my purchases and she said, "I really like everything but I am not sure about these pants."

I said "Don't worry, it will look great refashioned."

Inside of bag is made out of a men's button down shirt and black lace trim is from a skirt.

Waste not

Every time I cut out a new pattern I put my scrap pieces of material in a basket instead of throwing them away. Just waiting for the moment when I think of something great to do with the pieces. I normally am not a pack rat but since I started Purdy I feel like I need to keep anything that could possibly be reused. So on Monday, I sat down on my floor with my material pieces, hoping for some idea to pop into my head. After folding and pinning and cutting, I had a prototype.

I wanted to create some decorative embellishments for my bags and I thought the scrap material would work. I rooted through the scraps for long slender pieces. I used these pieces to create my new design.

I would call this my first official purse. Everything I have made up to this point has been more of a multipurpose bag. But this is definitely a purse. Personally, I don't like to carry a purse, but I used this purse last night and found it to be pretty comfortable. Maybe I will convert from bags to purses.

Fun Stuff

I do a lot of research online looking for inspirational ideas. Over the past couple of months, I have found some really interesting and creative ideas. Here is a couple of great ideas I have found.

Plastic, as we all know, takes approximately 1000 years to decompose. That's a long time. I found this tutorial on how to make reusable lunch bags. I made a sandwich bag following these directions and it turned out very cute. Unfortunantly, I have yet to use the bag for some reason.
http://createstudio.blogspot.com/2010/02/kitchen-on-go-tutorial.html

Scented Vinegar....I thought this was very interesting. I use vinegar to clean my house and kill weeds outside.
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/chicago/how-to/how-to-make-scented-vinegar-rinses-home-hacks-109446m/chicago/how-to/how-to-make-scented-vinegar-rinses-home-hacks-109446

Put your old t-shirt to use with this t-shirt dress tutorial. The finished product looks great. The title says t-shirt tote but it looks like an oversized button down shirt.
http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/diy-couture-tshirt-dress

Second Sunday Pictures

Today was the big street fair on Main St. There were tons of people out shopping even with the humidity. We met lots of furry friends at our doggie water bowl.

I got my first hula hoop from my friend, Brianna. She even did some hula hooping demonstrations for everyone.

Can't wait until the next Second Sunday in July!

Second Sunday June 13th

Come visit our PURDY booth this coming Sunday on Main Street. We will have lots of exciting upcycled stuff for sale.

Lots of new stuff

I have been working non stop on new creations. The designs that we currently have are so fun and I love making them. The best part for me is that each one is unique.

This is my favorite new design. The original design was for a grocery tote bag made out of t-shirts, but I didn't like the final look. Basically, it looked like a t-shirt with the arms cut off. So I played around with a couple of designs and finally came up with an over the shoulder tote bag.

I incorporated a large side pocket from a trench coat on this shoulder bag. I use the pocket for my cell phone and business cards!

I made this shoulder bag out of a London Fog rain coat. I thought the tag was cute so I used it as part of the bag.

The camo bag is so fun and versatile. The inside is a dark brown material for the shell and the bottom is camo. The front pocket is good for organizing your bag.