In this (sort of ) second edition of My Friends Are Doing Cool Stuff! I’d like to brag and rave about my friend Ann Howell’s ridiculous creativity. You may remember the (sort of) first edition post about making dumplings with Bit+Grain.
A few months ago, I won a giveaway online for the first time ever. EVER! A handmade, hand-painted leather evening bag created by my friend Ann Howell. (And yes, I trust this wasn’t rigged.) These clutches are graphic, bright, and fun – they are each a “statement piece” if you will. They stand out with any ensemble and come in a multitude of patterns.
Also, she truly works her ass off to crank them out for each order (because, you know, she actually makes them by hand).
True Story from a Few Weeks Ago:
As you may or may not be aware, I spend many a lunch break at Whole Foods attempting to catch a breath of fresh air and not die of stagnation behind the dual computer screens in my office almost every day. My laptop in hand, hoping to blog a bit, I headed out of the building for one of my usual sessions in the sunlight on their patio. As I rounded the corner, I walked directly up on a young lady bent over in her chair… sewing? But what caught my eye was one of the (impossible to miss and easily identifiable) patterned handbags on the table.
Hey… is that…?!
Well I looked a little closer and it was, of course, Ann Howell (thank goodness, because at this point I was pretty close to this potential stranger). She was posted up at my usual hangout sewing one of her bags on HER lunch break – great minds, you know…
It turns out our office buildings are located pretty close together. So we shared a table, caught up, and funneled our precious remaining time away from work into our respective creative outlets.
Ann Howell and I went to undergrad together (she was even in my pledge class, but please, let’s not call us “sorority sisters,” yuck, I hate that) and she’s always been ridiculously creative and artsy. She paints wonderfully. I believe she was commissioned (well, asked nicely) to paint some artwork for the walls of the sorority house.
Her first “line” of evening bags, entitled Lipstick Studies, was a mix of bold patterns of black, white, and pink. Upon magically winning her online giveaway, she let me pick the bag I wanted. I opted for Crossbones, the white bag with black X’s. I’m a bit of a minimalist. (But upon further inspection, I’d like to note that I’d also gladly accept her “Pink Lip Pallet” with several shades of pink and red.) All of these bags are super cool, and I got lots of compliments on mine at the last wedding I attended with it (the bag wasn’t my date, but you get what I’m saying).
Launch Party
So this past Saturday, to celebrate the launch of a new line of clutches, a fun jungle-themed batch, Ann Howell invited a bunch of peeps to her place for snacks, fruity cocktails, and the option to pre-order a new bag of your choice.
(I was also super-excited about the chance to try some crazy-flavored cotton candy from her sister’s company, Cotton Queen, but sadly, the Queen was temporarily under the weather for the evening. Another day though! I think it’s a genius idea.)
Strolling through Ann Howell’s home makes you feel inspired and loved… and also crazy jealous that you will never think up such creative decor ideas or paint such incredible mixed media art. Or maybe that’s just me. Dammit.
Add some cocktails and my camera to that mix and here you’ll see the resulting creepy-stalker blog post tour of Ann Howell’s home, wedding photos included. I hung out by the bar area/art studio for a while (shocker) and was wowed by her taped-up pieces of inspiration on the walls… as well as college stories told by her father, the bartender.
A bookshelf arranged by color. Why didn’t I think of that?
And obvi I took pictures of the food too.
Spotted: A pineapple top and a guest carrying “Classic Stripey” to the party
The new clutches were available for pre-order to party attendees in the pattern of their choice, with the option of a linen fabric liner and a zipper this time around. You could also throw on some “tassel swag” as she calls it, if you’re feeling fancy.
I’m super proud to have friends that are such entrepreneurs and so intrinsically motivated to pursue art while finding a way to make it lucrative. Ann Howell works full time and then finds the time to paint, sew, and run a website to fill orders in her spare time. Her first line of clutches was even featured in Raleigh boutique, Furbish, so she’s also found time to pitch the idea to local businesses.
Not to mention the fact that she throws a solid cocktail party to promote them. Such skills!
Nope, this isn’t a sponsored post. I’m just super impressed by my friends and hope you are too! I received my free bag by the magic of the Internets and I love it.
So glad that the ONLY two times I’ve worn that jumpsuit are times I’ve appeared on the blog… I OWN OTHER CLOTHES.
Ha! I just noticed that. SURE you do.