Most handbags contain a collection of essential personal items and what could be more personal than your own handmade purse? They are an extension of the body and a form of personal expression. In this workshop participants will alter colorful tin containers to create their own original handbags. We’ll focus on fabrication and soldering techniques for tin and iron wire to create handbags ranging from sophisticated to sassy.

• Bench pin
• Steel bench block
• Small ball peen or chasing hammer (for riveting)
• Fine point sharpie marker
• Center punch
• Dividers – click for recommended divider.
• 6 inch steel ruler
• Jewelers Saw
• Tin snips (scissor style) from Rio Grande – click for recommended snips.
• Chain Nose pliers (2)
• Round nose pliers
• Wire snips
• Pencil
• Sketch book

1. Tin cans with painted labels, bring at least 5 to 10. They can be cookie tins, cracker tins, coffee tins, etc. You can verify that the can you are planning to bring is tin by touching a magnet to it. If it doesn’t stick, it is not a tin can.
2. Two-dozen 4/0 saw blades
3. Three-dozen 6/0 saw blades
4. Three-dozen 8/0 saw blades

MARLENE TRUE is a studio artist and metals instructor living in Virginia. She has teaches workshops at many venues including Penland School of Crafts and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts. Her work has been in exhibitions at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston, and is included in the collections of the Museum of Arts & Design (New York) and the Enamel Arts Foundation (Los Angeles). Marlene has her B.F.A. from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville and her M.F.A. in metals from East Carolina University. A trip to Italy ignited her interest in handmade bags. www.marlenetrue.com.

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