It Is Good To Have Friends, Is It Not, Mr. Garibaldi?

I'd apologize for the gratuitous geek reference of the title but, let's face it: I'm not sorry at all!

Skelekitty & Skelemouse art quilt
©2007 Krissi Sandvik

Those of you who have been hanging around in the same circles I have for the past 6 or 7 years will remember that I started my "art career" as a hobbyist quilter in 2004 or so. That addiction quickly turned to art quilts in 2005 (which led to the very first Skelekitty image in 2007).

I have since changed my preferred medium to pyrography & acrylic on wood paintings, but in between there was a quick stop at fabric painting.








A a few months ago my friend, seamstress and bag designer extraordinaire, Brooke Heavey of Brooke Van Gory Designs told me she had a customer looking for something special for a diaper bag.
Her customer wanted a purple and green "tree of life" theme with a hand-painted look, but was having difficulty finding fabrics that she liked.  Since I had some experience with fabric painting, I was happy to create a couple of custom panels for this bag.

silver alcohol-based ink & acrylics
on black cotton 

Then I remembered...  I had a a "black calavera" panel I'd painted back in late 2007.  Not knowing what to do with this weird hybrid creation, promptly rolled it up and stored it away.  I figured now would be a good time to pop it in the mail to Brooke to see what she could make of it.

As usual, she delivered in spades, creating one of her signature "Expedient" bags in black, red and a coordinating sacred heart print with my calavera painting front and center as a HUGE pocket.

Wanna know how MUCH stuff this bag will hold?

Although Brooke is known for high quality custom diaper bags, this would be just about the coolest laptop bag, like... EVER.  It would also make an amazing gift for any traveler, college student, mom (or dad!). It would even be a perfect substitute for a DIY business owner who needs a briefcase but wants to make a statement that says "I buy handmade."

With that winter gift-giving season coming up faster than you think, you guys won't want to wait on this one.  While Brooke and I will certainly continue to create collaborative items, this bag will never be duplicated and Brooke's schedule is pretty packed through the new year.  Don't try getting a custom bag made in November.  It won't happen.

Oh, and did I mention that I'm tossing in a free 1" glass tile and resin art pendant with the matching design? 'Cause I am.

 And shipping's included.

Try getting something this bad-ass for under $100 at the mall ... go on, I dare ya.