Last week my wallet was stolen. I won’t go into it here, how a guy actually watched the store and planned, how he went straight to the workroom the one time I was busy with customers in the front, or how he grabbed my wallet and ran out the backdoor. Neither will I get into how much loosing a week’s pay has fucked me up, or how I couldn’t pay the mechanic because my credit cards have all been frozen (those sweet Swedes told me to come pay them next week). This is about my new wallet.

rainbow wallet front rainbow wallet inside

rainbow wallet detail That’s right, I keep a picture of me and Rick Steves in my wallet.

In concept it’s actually quite similar to my old wallet, but now that’s a non sequitor. The seafoam green vinyl has been in my stash for a couple years; I got a big piece for $2 at a Joann’s in Ohio. I love the color but it’s tricky to work with! The sticky plastic doesn’t slide through my machine at all, so I wind up facing it with tissue paper and tearing that off. The extra step gets tedious, but it seems to work. Anyone else have any other methods for working with a non-slip material?

The rainbow is a variety of fold-over elastics from Fabric Planet that I stitched onto some white ripstop nylon. I really love the way it shimmers through the vinyl! The loop is an awesome metallic elastic we have at the store; I will be putting a chain through it to clip onto my bag (which wouldn’t have prevented the theft, but it helps me keep track of my wallet).

rainbow wallet detail rainbow wallet detail

Now I’m wishing I had used another color strip so that the wallet would be a bit wider, but as it is it works pretty well for me.

In other news, I’m about to head back to NOLA for March, so postings may be a bit sporadic until April. Laissez les bonnes temps roulez!