There are so many things needed to have an awesome summer day - books and magazines, sunscreen, water and maybe even something a little extra to make that water delicious. Fanshawe alumnus Jennifer Burland may have created the perfect handbag for all your summer needs.

Burland entered the Crystal Light Designer Purse Challenge, which invited design students from across Canada to create the “ultimate handbag” based on creativity, uniqueness and feasibility of design. Designers also had to look to flavours of Crystal Light - a fruity-flavoured powdered beverage mix - for inspiration.

“I chose Tangerine Grapefruit,” Burland said. “The purse challenge required you to design a purse that was fashion-forward, functional, represented the flavour you chose, and could carry a water bottle and three Crystal Light single packs.”

She submitted her colourful design of a handbag that folds into a studded clutch, a short biography and a paragraph explaining what her bag was all about to the contest. Her design was selected by judges for the top eight.

“All the top eight contestants had to go to the Ryerson lab (in late June) and construct their bags,” she explained. Competitors had a day and a half to turn their sketches into reality. Models strutted their stuff with the handbags at a June 21 fashion show at Toronto's Design Exchange. Burland's design, which featured stingray leather in hot summer hues, was selected to be one of the top four designs.

Canadian supermodel Stacey McKenzie was one of the judges at the fashion show. According to Burland, McKenzie said her purse was “really fashion-forward and trendy for the summer.” She added the judges also liked that the purse can transform from handbag to clutch.

Burland has a passion for fashion: she graduated from the Fashion Design program at Fanshawe in 2009 and now works at Super Cool Kids' Clothing in Toronto as a Junior Technical Developer. This was Burland's first fashion competition outside the classroom.

“I haven't designed in a long time. Here and there I have small projects, but I really just do it for fun, just to exercise my skills and do something that I really love doing.”

The four top designs are open to be voted on by Canadians. The winning designer, who will be announced in August, will take home $5,000, and voters have the chance to win one of the finalists' bags filled with $1,000 worth of gifts. Vote at facebook.com/crystallightcanada.