... hello, my preciouses-eseses...

“Purses are like friends…

you can never have too many”

After reviewing The Oxford Book of Death bag, Autumn from Bibliobags sent me a thank you message which included the offer of 20% off discount on anything in her shop including custom orders “if you ever want to shop again”… Clearly she knew that she had met an addict and all I needed was a little enabling.

You see, I have never had one go-to handbag that I use on a daily basis. Sometimes I even go out with one handbag and come home to change the bag for the next event. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that I haven’t found *the perfect bag*; it’s just that I find *the perfect bagS*. I would love to psychoanalyze myself to see from where my handbag addiction derives but it could go from my love of containers (faux books to other knickknack holders) to even having a few people in my life be copycats. I know, I know… imitation is the best form of flattery blah, blah, blah but one of them was a family member who at one point in my life bought the same planner and the same handbag as I had because she liked mine… or thought she could form her identity by taking mine noted my therapist but this is all another story. We all have skeletons and this one needs to stay in the family coat closet. Skeleton secured, my need for handbag options just may have stemmed from this… or at least that is the excuse I’m sticking with today.

 

I suppose my favorite book is Dracula. I read it annually; I teach it; I reference it all the time. I adore all things vampires and ol’ D is my boy! I already owned two Dracula book clutches before I requested this custom order. All of my book purses are quite different and as the Bibliobags bookmark reminds me, “every purse has a story.” Each of mine does. The exciting part of this custom order was that I helped create it. I thought Autumn was going to let me select the book binding (Reader's Digest version in purple) and then she would take over the rest of the design. Nope, she actually said it made her life easier that I was so specific in what I wanted. I thought I was being bossy; after all, she is the artist. I knew that I wanted a red and purple color combination. It’s always been my favorite color combo. I also wanted the bag to be fun. While The Oxford Book of Death bag and my Alchemy Bone-Casket Handbag completely make me laugh, not everyone shares my humor which is interesting since I tend to lean more toward the whimsically macabre look over anything else. I select the handles (red bamboo) and then I selected the fabric (I chose Vampire Movie Night because I find it funny that vampires are watching what I can only assume is Dracula on the big screen). Autumn even let me select the color of the zipper (red because it went with the stripes on the popcorn box). So here is the finished product and I absolutely love it! It’s silly and fun, and I can’t wait to take it to the movies!

The second bag pictured comes from Pinup Girl Clothing. It's called the "Coffin Up Some Cash" purse. I've been on the wait list for this bag for some time now so last week when I received the *back in stock* message I jumped on it even though the reviews noted that one couldn’t fit much in the purse because of the shape. I actually think it’s much more spacious than most of my bags so I’m delighted. I also adore, although it is hard to see in the picture, that there are red flecks in the patent leather.