Colleen's Hedgehog Love Bag

I absolutely adore this cartoon inspired bag. A simple picture of a hedgehog with a thought bubble featuring a heart. It's perhaps the perfect design: simple, adorable, and centered.

Sean's CLE Bag

Austin, TX has become somewhat notable in the last decade for its "indie" music, lively night life, and eccentric attitude, all which helped the tourism board come up with "Keep Austin Weird" as its official slogan. Sean was in need of a new bag and thought Cleveland's under-the-radar scene deserved and under-the-radar slogan... Thus was spawned the "Keep Cleveland Less Than Normal" slogan.

NASA Hip-Bag

Ryan was looking forward to a LeBob James style Colorado-Ohio Bag but decided on something that was a one-of-a-kinder from my shop. He decided on the iconic NASA logo. The logo itself was intricate, but the stars were the most interesting part for me... Trial and error prevailed and I'm pretty happy with the finished product.

Green City Blue Lake Hip-Pack

Well, I know mother's day was forever ago now, but I finally got around to delivering on my promise to the best woman in the world (second best if you ask my girlfriend). She wanted the GCBL (an amazing organization that works towards environmental sustainability in making Cleveland a premier city again) logo which contained some colors that I am unable to source providing me with an interesting challenge. To solve this issue, I was able to find some great thread from Gutterman that matched perfectly, and some creative use of straight stitching allowed me to replicate the gradient color scheme of the logo to some success. I also was having an interesting time with the free-hand embroidered lettering which was a first. I'm so happy with the way it turned out and think it is worthy of the woman that wears it! I love you mom XOXO

Deluxe XL Full Moon Bag

This was by far the most complicated bag I have done to date and was finished just in time fort the August 1 opening at Melt. It features the double layer of Cordura on the base, and is the first to feature a stash pouch. It is so massive (21Wx16Hx11D) that it required 2 front pockets, side and bottom compression straps, and the X-Strap, a stowable second shoulder strap that, when used in conjunction with the leash, keeps the bag tight to the body and provides additional support. Finally, there is a piece of padding on the bottom strap and both sides feature stays, often found on backpacking gear, that allows the user to keep the additionl fabric close to the body when empty and provides some additional support when full by pulling up slightly on the shoulder straps. Also, this was the first time I really tried to draw with thread. The tree, wolf, and moon are all done freehand and (I think) turned out great!

Rising Cog

In Preparation for a show at my "Day Job," Melt Bar and Grilled, I got this little huni worked up. This is my "basic" bag to say the least. Gone is the padded strap, the double layer of Cordura on the base, and the exterior "easy-at" pockets. The nice part about losing the extras is that the price comes down considerably, and if you aren't a full-time cyclist the bag will treat you right. The sunburst wraps all the way to the bottom on the back of the bag as well.

Bird Hip-Pack

I really like city-scapes and birds and this HP encorporates both! The pink really pops against the teal and blue and the clouds provide a little more depth to the scene. This was the first to utilize a velcro belt that is fully adjustable and has a FC Portage Tree Logo on the belt. The logo is a piece of salvaged vinyl that I stamped with a white pigment ink and covered with an acrylic, spray-on sealer. I think down the road I will have someone screen the logo on the vinyl since the stamp is wishy-washy and the acrylic tends to be super sticky!

I made this HP for the

Business Cards

Thanks to Alex and Bobby the cards are done and back from the printer.
They are black on 100% recycled chipboard and the stitching, while
time consuming, really ties everything together.

MOTO Bag Revisited

So, the original bag I made for MOTO sold at the opening and I finally
got around to making a replacement. In fact, since they are so much
work to make I am making 2! Also, these twins are the first bags to
come standard with a U-Lock holster, a double layer of cordur on the
base, a D-Ring for your keys, and a super velcroed interior pocket to
keep things where they belong. Look for zippers in the not too distant
future.

Dave G's Squid Vicious Bag

By far the most complex design to date, I love the old school design
and I think it is turning out nicely, just a few details left before I
can move on to the actual bag construction.