I've been designing purses for a few years now...with the emphasis on cold cast metal resin handles and embellishments. This piece of tapestry I fell in love with about twenty years ago and it's followed me from place to place. This handle and the embellishments are cold cast bronze...I made the originals out of polymer clay, made rtv molds of them and cast them in a mixture of resin, dye and bronze powder. When they are cured, I sand the backs and burnishe the front surface to a nice shine. This bag came together because of this show....I keep asking myself why I do not have a bag of my own to carry and show off what I do....so I sat down and put it together....and I love it! It's a tote bag big enough to hold everything I might need, and the handles are lightweight enough not to weigh me down...