necessity is the mother of invention......

so is being on a very tight budget....

i plan to take a lot of pictures when austen and i go to washington dc.  i have a lot of camera equipment and it goes in a big backpack camera bag.  it's heavy and it screams "camera equipment in here, steal me".

i wanted something that was lighter, cuter and more purse-like.  so i searched the internet and found 

this epiphanie bag.

oh, so pretty isn't it?

however.....

$184.99...no thank you!

i saw the price and pictured myself with the backpack strapped to my back for 15 hours a day. and then someone stealing it from me.....

  i googled "camera purse" and found a couple very creative diy-ers who made their own camera bags. 

so i got creative.
10 minutes later i was out the door for my supplies....

i went to kohl's and found 

this

very fun purse..silver genuine faux giraffe skin....

on sale from $44.00 to $26.40 and with an additional 30% off coupon i had, the total cost was $18.48.
yes, please!!

then i went to joann's and picked up 

these supplies....1 inch craft foam, $6.99, fat quarter fabric, $1.39 each and batting, $7.50.  i also picked up some iron-on velcro for $5.50. i ended up only using the craft foam and the velcro.  total? 13.00.

turns out i needed more fabric for the project so i used fabric that i already had.

i measured the purse, cut the foam and sewed the fabric into little pockets for the foam.  i ironed on the velcro and had i known that i was going to be using the fabric that i did, i would have picked up white velcro instead of the black.  oh, well!!

i made side panels, slipped the padding into the purse and

used a breadcrumb container for a camera model.  i was making meatballs at the time

and was too lazy busy to get my other camera out.

and because i am lazy, tired, ingenious, instead of making the separator panels to make the compartments, i am using the ones that are in my backpack.  

total price of this project? 

$31.48.  

total savings?

$153.51.

mo' money to spend in dc...oh, yeah!!

and there is still plenty of room for another lens, my little wallet, digital cards, cell phone and a notepad and pen. and if i want to use it as a purse, the innards just slide out.
cool, huh?