The Great American Craft Off Contest - Where Artists, Designers & Crafters can enter their original handmade creation for a chance to win over $6,000 in prizes!

CONGRATULATIONS TO STEPHANIE B.,
OUR 2007 CONTEST WINNER
From the judges: Stephanie's jeans purse not only displays her quality craftsmanship, but it truly exemplifies what the Great American Craft Off contest is all about - from the use of recycled all American blue jeans, to the red, white and blue embellishments, we think Stephanie's American themed creation is absolutely top notch!"

FROM STEPHANIE: I am a twenty-one year old stay at home mother and army wife. My three month old son, husband and I live in Killeen, Texas, where my husband serves with the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood. Pride in our troops and pride in America is a way of life in Killeen. It is also the source of inspiration for my creations.

Though many of the members of my family sew and quilt, I just began making purses a few months ago. I wanted to develop a hobby that would give me an interest while my husband was on temporary duty in California preparing for his third deployment to Iraq this summer. My secondary goal was to generate some extra income.

I wanted to design a purse that would use both recycled materials and at the same time honor our troops. I started with the jeans purse, using recycled jeans and embellishing with patriotic trims and charms. I then made purses using BDU's (battle dress uniform). These are very popular because they were made from the uniforms worn by our husbands and decorated with yellow ribbon designs. I was even able to design the purses so that our husband's velcroed name tag could be part of the purse!

2007 CONTEST RUNNER-UPS