The Before

I've had this purse for at least fifteen years. I bought it at the Green Room, in Stratford, long before I moved here. Through the years, it has put up with quite a bit of rough and tumble handling. The leather exterior has been marked up so badly, I actually bought a new purse. After about two weeks, that new purse had parts of the exterior vinyl rubbing off. Time to donate it—so I did.

I'd held onto my marked-up original, just in case. Its design, size and colour are exactly what I've always wanted. I've tried using shoe polish to even-out the marks, but it never lasted for long and did not make much of a difference. I didn't know what else to try until I noticed a small red dot of acrylic paint near the top opening. I don't know how that ended up on there, but being an artist, it could have happened whenever I had a project going on.

I tried to scratch it off with my fingernail. It wouldn't budge.

That little accident gave me an idea…