market rice bags photo shoot

I thought it would be fun to share what goes on behind the scene here at roma during a photo shoot (yes, all of that mess!). About a month ago I did a photo shoot for my Market Rice bag. For my day job, I'm in charge of the product photo shoots so it was fun to use some tricks that I learned. Overall I think the shots turned out great, the two below are my favorite.

new material!

I found some more fun material this past weekend. A lace table cloth, floral sheet (which I'm debating on keeping for my bed), a geometric pastel curtain and a bunch of web, leather belts. I'm feeling rejuvenated with the Spring sun and I'm excited to start sewing again!

old business cards?

What to do with my old business cards (I still have 200ish left and can't just throw them away!)? Cut off the bottom and stamp on new info!

still getting ready!

Roma purse party tomorrow night, Wednesday 27th, 7pm at Shelly's house.....come it will be fun!

I've been working away, excited to show you all some new product. I'll be taking some pictures this evening (hoping the sunset will provide some warm light). So check in tomorrow morning for some product speak peaks!

getting ready

I've been working hard the last few days cutting patterns, getting ready for the purse party this Wednesday the 27th (come it will be fun!). I'm excited to sew more this weekend and celebrate Easter. Yahoo for Christ resurrection, grace and love!

be there!

This is just a sneak peak at all of the wonderful bags, clutches and coin purses that will be available for sale. Remember, all are one of a kind so once its found a home, it's gone!

50% of the nights profits will be donated towards the Thailand mission trip. Come and stop by and have some fun! Feel free to contact me with any questions!

inside tag

I'm totally loving my new stamps! I'm going to use them as the inside tags. For my zippered purses (I'm still working on a name for this product), I just stamp straight onto the interior of the vinyl. How sweet looking is that!?!

facebook!

Yes, roma is now on facebook. I thought it would be a marketing idea and a fun way to reach out and build a community. Befriend me here!

new hang tags!

I ordered some custom stamps for my new hang tags and they arrived today. I'm super excited! Plan is to use shipping tags and then stamp on my roma info. I wanted something crafty looking but simple and clean. What do you think?

new products!

I've been working on some new products for roma.

Here is my new zippered pouch/coin purse/clutch/accessory case (still trying to figure out a name for it). Originally I wanted to add a wristlet and make it more of a clutch but I just wasn't feeling it. They are super cute, crafted out of car vinyl scraps, found ribbon and buttons. Each one is one of a kind. Approximate size is 10" x 5" x 1.5". I'm working on my inventory and will hopefully get them posted on my Esty site opening in May!

Enjoy!

{ thankful thursdays }

Score!

I went to my mother-in-law's church's garage sale a few weekends ago and totally scored some goodies! Ribbons, lace, belts, yahoo! So excited to start making some bags this weekend!

I'm so grateful that one person's junk can be another person's treasure!

weekends rock!

What a delicious weekend we just had!

Ben started the weekend off right by sending me "just because flowers at work". I love it when he does that!

Ate yummy food all weekend. Saturday breakfast sausage, eggs and tartor-tots (above picture is actually my roommate's breakfast, it looked much nicer than ours). Slow cooker cook off with my brother, which I won! Tons of raw veggies and salads. And homemade cinnamon rolls from a local diner topped with 2 dark chocolate raspberry truffles from See's candy. I love good food!

I also spent a ton of time sewing my new zipper clutches. I'll post pictures of them this week. I'm super excited to get them up on Etsy and start raising money for Thailand! Below is a process picture sneak peak!

roma's mission statement

I'm working on refocusing roma (because I have creative thoughts flying in all directions!) and decided to come up with a mission statement. Here it is, what do you think?

Roma bags offer the opportunity of participating in an environmental revival.

We believe that waste can be reborn into beauty with a purpose in life.

Roma develops handcrafted products from the waste of the community, with the philosophy that waste can be reproduced into a functional item of beauty.


For more info, check out my about page. Link is on the left.

labels

Below is my old label. I ordered a stamp and would either stamp it on the interiors or stamp it on extra material and then sew it on. I feel like I need something new, something fresh, unique, and sustainable. I did some research and found these. I enjoy the simplicity of them and the ease of sewing them on to the product.

My old Roma label.

JennyN designs leather bags that are simple and elegant. Here is her label she sews into the interiors of her bags.

I love Scout&Catalogue! I love the jewels (the wing) that she sews into most of her pieces.

I like the side stitching on this tag from Forest Bound. It would be fun to add some color with the stitching to a label like this.

Packaging - Brown paper bags

 I love the simplicity in brown paper bag packaging. It's so fun to play around with, decorating with colors and textures. I also love the sustainable idea behind it: reusing. As I look into developing packaging for Roma, I found these crafters and their beautiful brown bag packaging worthy of noting. If you want more info and fun images please check out the following links with posts about the importance of packaging.

Mint    Pink Stilettos   Paperstitch

{ Girls image credit Holly Holderman }

Yellows and grey are currently trendy and nice. I like the complimentary white doodles. These are reused Trader Joe's bags.

Creator Lisa at a creative mint

 Simple.

via Scrap Shoppe

This girl has got the best packaging ever! Danni from Oh, Hello Friend is so talented. I recently ordered a watch necklace from her { love it! } and I received this cute little box like in the image above, which of course I'm saving. For more packaging ideas please check out her blog!

Love the bag, lace and twine.

via Style Canvas

Good and nice Christmas packaging from Lovely Morning