Local crafter opens store

Sugar Loaf — Michelle Wilson recently opened Bomb Shell Bags Etc. in Sugar Loaf. She is selling handmade totes, purses, wallets, backpacks, jewelry and beach bags. Everything she sells she has made herself, cutting and sewing the bags at home and at the shop. Wilson was born in Woodbury, and her family can be traced back at least a 100 years in Orange County. Her mother grew up in a house in Woodbury which now is the site of the old middle school. The town made her grandfather sell the land so they could build the school. He worked for the Harrimans at their dairy farm. Wilson learned to sew by working at the Renaissance Festival in Tuxedo. Eventually she followed the fair around the country to all its different stops, learning her craft and making costumes for the fair. The system was mostly barter and she learned many things. She started making bags about five years ago and after much preparation has finally found a spot in Sugar Loaf.