Colorado artist Ellie Paisley has added another cannabis collaboration to her portfolio, partnering with a hemp-based backpack maker in Colorado Springs to create a line of colorful bags and psychedelic pins.
The artist's signature style can be found for a limited time on the satin interior of Dime Bags’ best-selling backpack, the Hot Box Mini Backpack, and she's created new pins and patches for Dime Bags, as well.
“We wanted to offer our growing female demographic a unique bag and interior design that they would adore. Ellie Paisley's work was the perfect art to feature because of the feminine feel and the vibrant colors she uses. As an added bonus, it also has little nods here and there to the smoker side of our fan base,” explains Dime Bags CEO Timothy Felkner.
A longtime cannabis user, Paisley says she's been advocating for marijuana legalization and users' rights with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) since 2011. In the past decade, she’s traveled across the country collaborating with music festivals and galleries to showcase her cannabis-themed, kaleidoscopic artwork.
Paisley eventually settled in Boulder, and her work can be found in Denver as well, most notably on the walls of a room at the Marijuana Mansion, the 130-year-old house in Capitol Hill converted into an artful, historical hub for the local pot scene and tourists.
Her latest collaboration features backpacks in magenta and yellow shades, each one with an odor-proof bag inside to keep skunky stashes hidden. Paisley's Dime Bag patches and pins come in such styles as melting rainbow hearts, fanged flowers and her infamous Eyenapple design, which is featured in her upcoming comic book, set to debut later this year. (An option to purchase the complete ten-piece set is available, and includes a poster designed and signed by Paisley.)
“It’s just such a cool product, being recyclable, especially,” Paisley says of the biodegradable hemp material. “Crafting an interior lining print that used my iconic technicolor paisley, vibrant flowers and hearts, colorful little honeybees and my now iconic ‘Eyenapple’ was not only fun to do, but exhilarating to see in Dime Bags' popular Hot Box.”
Paisley's pins and patches will be offered at retail carriers throughout Colorado; the Hot Box Mini Backpacks will be sold exclusively online.