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Former Assistant Principal Has Got A Brand-New Bag

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By ELIZABETH LEE BROWN, The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 28, 2007

Updated: 11/26/2007 08:33 pm

LUTZ - Kelli Anderson, a former assistant principal turned stay-at-home mom, spends her down time sewing biggies, minis and midis.

The names are what she calls the three sizes of purses she sells at www.stylishpurses .com - one-of-a-kind handcrafted handbags made in her Lutz home.

Purse sales mainly have been word-of-mouth or when someone stumbled onto her Web site. This year, however, Anderson is showcasing her handiwork on the local fall arts and craft show circuit.

She will be among more than 250 artists and crafters at this weekend's 28th annual Lutz Arts and Crafts Festival at Lake Park.

Anderson's venture into bags started at home.

Three years ago her youngest son, Jackson, started half-day preschool three times a week. She was left with an empty house and hours of free time.

"That seemed like a ridiculously large amount of time to have nothing to do. I asked, 'What can I do to divert the attention?'" said Anderson, who was an assistant principal at Adams and Williams middle schools and a former teacher at Franklin Middle School.

She decided on bags, and soon Stylish Purses was born. She was not the crafty type, so she had to ask her mother to teach her to sew.

When she launched the bag business, she sold a different product. It was a much larger bag, and she quickly found it was too big and bulky. She had to experiment with the size, shape and design.

"We kind of just kept cutting it down, smaller and smaller, until it was just right," Anderson said. "It's not too big so that things weren't lost and where you're not digging for an hour to find your things."

Her most popular seller has been the midsized midi bag.

The bags are accented with beaded handles and come in a hand-sewn dust bag. They are sold with matching wallets and feature magnetic closure snaps. Each one is labeled, stamped and numbered for authenticity and individuality. She has made up to 300 purses.

Anderson tries to offer bags in a variety of patterns and styles to cater to the tastes of teens, moms, and grandmothers.

At this weekend's crafts show, she plans to offer a collection of about 60 bags, as well as handmade wine bags and wine glass tags.

"I try to do a lot of different looks so there's a little something for everybody," she said. "My whole motto is to find your style."

Reporter Elizabeth Lee Brown can be reached at (813) 865-1502 or ebrown@tampatrib.com.

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