Etsy spotlight: BiblioBags

I first met Autumn when we both lived in Savannah, GA. I was newly married and I think she was too, and we went to church together. That was such a fun time in my life--there were more than a dozen young married couples in that ward, all of us transplanted from different places, all of us hundreds or thousands of miles away from our extended families. Most of the husbands were either in the military (like mine) or going to SCAD or one of the other colleges in the area, which meant they were often gone or busy with schoolwork. The wives either worked (like me) or went to school or stayed home with their new babies. We became each other's families for a little while.

We moved from Savannah to Colorado six years ago but I was able to reconnect with Autumn through the wonders of The Book. She recently started an etsy shop called BiblioBags and I love what she makes so much that I wanted to share it with all of you.

Autumn makes book bags. Not bags to hold your books--bags made from books! Autumn takes new and vintage books and transforms them into the cutest darn purses you've ever seen!

Little Women purse with handmade cameo button

Since most books aren't thick enough to make a purse that would hold much, Autumn modifies and reinforces the spines to make them wider and stronger. The books are lined with coordinating fabric and she even includes pockets to hold your cell phone and credit card slots.

1960s Secretary purse

For many of the purses, Autumn has even sculpted custom closure buttons made from clay to match the theme of the book, like the nautilus shell she made for her 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea bag:

I adore this Audrey Hepburn bag. Isn't her photo styling cute, with the Audrey-esque skinny black jeans and black ballet flats?

Audrey Hepburn book purse

But I think my favorite is this adorable Nancy Drew clutch. This should be no surprise since I recently posted my love for Ms. Drew.

In addition to the book bags, Autumn also makes cute 3-D paper sculpture greeting cards (she's offering free shipping on her cards right now!) And if have a beloved book or want a unique gift, she even accepts custom orders. Go check her out!