Dark & Stormy

"It was a dark and stormy night. And the moon had gone behind the clouds. And the captain called his crew to the deck and said, 'Mate, tell us a story.' And this is how the story went..."

(Repeat.)

And that is how the story went, as told to 5 restless kids by my dad, while we were stuck inside our summer cottage at the beach on a rainy day. The ultimate Dad Joke. I'm pretty sure that we all bounced off the walls and finally just went out in the rain and got completely wet and sandy after that.

And of course, the "Dark and Stormy" phrase has a whole history, from the opening of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time, to becoming the inspiration for the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest (which I personally think that Steph should enter, for her story captions), as well as a dark rum cocktail, but for us it is also the title for our latest series of bags which feature the artwork of Ami Mesner of Arteriors and We Dream in Colors.

Ami has painted a series of very dramatic seascape paintings, featuring a historic ship facing down some mighty seas. The original set are painted on glass, with upcycled and custom finished frames, and are available here.

Our Dark & Stormy bags feature prints of Ami's paintings on the outside, with our Rush Hour pattern liner, antique brass hardware and a black cotton strap. It's a swashbuckling bag, perfect for lovers of maritime museums, historic ships and gothic, nautical tales.

As a book pairing, I would recommend the C.S. Forester's Beat to Quarters (the first Horatio Hornblower novel). There's a really exciting naval battle fought in high seas.

Horatio Hornblower battles the Natividad and his feelings for Lady Barbara all at the same time.