December 23, 2010
The Artists’ Bags are Ready!
When we started tossing around the idea of an Artists’ Series of bags I never dreamed that they would be so cool! One by one, the bags have returned from the Artists’ Hands and they are all so beautiful and unique. It was a joy to receive them, a joy to see them sewn up, and a joy to add them to the SeaHope Partners website.
Please take a look at the gallery and enjoy! More bags will be added in the coming months and this Gallery will be in constant motion.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed and thank you to you readers for your good vibes, your kindness, your encouragement.
I know it’s almost Christmas but consider giving a bag as a gift. What a great present and what a great cause.
December 10, 2010
Hoodoo Voodoo
The Artists’ Series of SeaHope bags are fascinating! Recently, I received a bag from an artist in New Orleans…Barbara Trevigne. She makes beautiful custom voodoo dolls and this bag included a really cool doll. I felt the blank white sail of a bag didn’t do it justice. This doll needed a beautiful bag behind it! So I called my friend, Cherie St. Cyr, a fabulous local fiber artist. Cherie has already done an Artists’ bag but she was more than happy to help me out.
“Come on over!” said Cherie so away I went, voodoo doll in tow. Cherie and I spent the better part of a morning in her studio, adding Cherie’s beautiful hand-dyed fabrics as a background for the doll. The “Hoodoo Voodoo” bag was underway!
So now, the bag is with the sewing contractor. The doll is resting comfortably here at my house. When the bag is sewn, doll and bag will be reunited.
Check out the pics of the bag in progress! And thank you, Cherie, for your gracious help!
November 24, 2010
Water and gators and bags, oh my!
Wait til you see the bag pieces we’ve received from the artists! They’re being sewn up into bags right now and wow, are they cool! Can’t wait for you all to see them! They’re beautiful, unique, and one of a kind pieces. We’ll post them on the SeaHope Partners site for sale as soon as they’re ready!!
October 19, 2010
Artists’ Bags…
As we’ve been developing the SeaHope messenger bag we’ve been talking about the idea of having a special one-of-a-kind series of bags in addition to the fabulous bags you’ve been seeing on this blog. Hmmmm, we’ve been thinking…what could we do?? Our bags are already unique even one from the next but what about taking it one step further??
And then–Eureka!–it came to us!! How about asking artists to design one-of-a-kind bags?? And the Artists’ Series was born.
So we’ve asked artists in the Gulf and around the country to design these special bags. They might be painted, they might be beaded…we’re leaving the artistry to the artists! As the bags are completed, we’ll feature them in an online gallery on the SeaHope site where they’ll be available for purchase. Yes, they’ll be significantly more expensive than the other bags but they’ll be one of a kind art pieces.
So stay tuned…the awesome messenger bags and the Artists’ Bags are on their way!
October 5, 2010
Ahhhhhh!
The first round of bags has been delivered to the sewing contractor and there was an audible sigh of relief…
The SeaHope Partners website is just days away from being finished…
And it’s finally almost time to begin ordering bags…
And we have other surprises in the works for down the road…
So prepare yourselves…
THE BAGS ARE COMING!
(In case you’re wondering…that thing in the picture is a “Telltail”…used for gauging wind direction when sailing…just one of the possible details that might be on a bag…)
September 27, 2010
Production preparation
Our first bags will be produced here in Madison…we need to get them out there!! They’re so cool! We continue to work on the logistics of producing them in the Gulf area but that takes awhile so, in the meantime…
Over the weekend we needed to cut out all the pieces for the first 100 bags. Why couldn’t the sewing contractor do this, you ask? It’s way too labor intensive, cutting one at a time out of sails. We want to make the most of the design details of the sails and avoid heavily soiled parts. There are still blemishes here and there, the marks of a job well done by the sail…it’s almost like the details of its life in its markings, blemished areas, small flaws. We want the bags to reflect the legacy of these mighty sails and doing that takes time…lots of time. So I called out to my friends and asked for help. And they responded so beautifully! We worked all day Saturday, cutting and cutting and cutting!
And today I delivered all of the pieces to our sewing contractor and the bags will get started.
While we’re doing this, Michael out in Knoxville is working hard to get the SeaHope website up and running…it looks so cool! Lois did the design and she’s totally amazing. She also designed the Sewing Machine Project site and she knows the feel of our project so well. Wait til you see it! And once it’s up, we’ll be able to take orders.
And there’s more to come…
September 15, 2010
They’re almost here!
This is one of those cases where I wish time would speed up…I don’t always feel this way about things. I spoke with our manufacturer here in Madison and things are looking good…my guess is that we’ll have bags ready to ship by mid-October. As soon as I firm up these dates we’ll begin taking preorders so get ready!
We’ll begin with a limited release of 75-100 bags. They’ll be beautiful, they’ll be uber-cool, and best of all, the sale of these bags will help bring new hope to the lives of people along the Gulf.
Keep you posted!
September 7, 2010
Good Energy
Initial production of the bags is right around the corner…we’ll announce preorders for the first limited edition run quite soon so watch the blog and tell others! My plan is to get bags out there and into your hands while we continue to work on how to set up further manufacturing down along the Gulf Coast.
Thank you to everyone for your encouraging words and excitement.
September 3, 2010
While I was away…
Each day I take a peek at this blog and lately, I’ve been struggling with what to write. We’d hit a little bump in the road with the process of manufacturing these bags…my gut instinct tells me to get some made here in Wisconsin and get them out there for sale and then to work further on figuring out how to make them down along the coast.
I think the blip appeared when I spoke to the first manufacturer up here and was told the pattern was too detailed–they weren’t interested in working on it. I like the special details we’ve built into this design and rather than “dumb it down”, I’m holding out for a way to create this cool unique product.
From the very beginning, with The Sewing Machine Project and now, with SeaHope Partners, I listen carefully to the messages and try to recognize the right path to take. Whenever these hurdles appear, it causes me to step back and carefully reassess. So I have. The pile of sails remains on my porch, the pile of partially finished bags remains in a heap in my sewing studio….and I wait and catch my breath, and search for the right answer.
Today I met with a new manufacturer…quite an amazing operation here in Madison. Everything feels right. I won’t know for sure for another week but somehow it feels as though this is what we were waiting for.
Feeling this process of careful listening and careful movement along a path, I realize that this approach has become a way of life for me…a way that this project has taught me to live. I recognize the element of faith present in all of this and I find that it causes me to explore sides of myself that were previously unexplored as well.
We’ll get the bag out there dear friends…and it’ll be worth the wait.
All will be well.
August 25, 2010
Jump on the bus
Each person that sees this bag loves it and loves the idea…and the momentum moves us forward. I am sending off product photos and a project description to Good Morning America as well as the Today Show and the Early Show. Did a shout out to Ellen DeGeneres as well.
The website design is just about done. Wait til you see it! It’s so beautiful! It’s now in the “coding” phase and will launch pretty soon. There is so much learning to be done.
I need you to send out your good vibes! Share SeaHope with at least one other person today! Although I’m “behind the wheel”, I need every last one of you to send out your good energy to help make this project a success.
SeaHope Partners 
