Here's The Menu: Dumplings or Rice

Wherever vacations take us, we're always on the lookout for great vintage stores, and once we find those stores, anything's possible. That's how we came to learn about designer Cynthia Caldwell's "rice" and "dumpling" bags and lots of other whimsical creations.

Caldwell's pure-fun purses frequently incorporate vintage or recycled fabrics and/or vintage patterns, and we found a few pieces of her Crow 7 Bags line at Encore vintage in downtown Portland, Maine. Owner Rita Prout-Farley has incredible stock (521 Congress St.; 207-775-4275) and excellent prices, and this has to be one of the best vintage stores in New England. It's a must stop if you are anywhere near Portland.

Rita's stock includes Caldwell's larger bags, done in assorted vintage faux leopard prints, and that's how we learned that the artist was sewing the summer away on Peaks Island, before she heads back to home base in Arizona this fall. You can also see her latest work at Archipelago (386 Main St., Rockland, Maine), and at Art by the Bay,  South Maine Community College, on Sept. 16.

Now, about the rice and dumplings: Caldwell's "Rice-Cycled" purses use Bombay rice bags, and the one above also incorporates vintage velvet in a python print. Her "dumplings" are small, soft, round purses with loop handles, and they are based on a 1940s design. For fall Caldwell is doing dumplings in all kinds of vintage furs with velvet trims.

If you are nowhere near Maine this summer or fall, you can see a few of her pieces at www.etsy.com. Under "advanced search" plug in the name Crow 7 to see her page. You can also reach Caldwell at crow7bags@hotmail.com for more information about those furry dumplings, rice bags and many other designs.