And a little bit of brown sludge in the water. I went to sleep last night to the ejoyable sound of a delicate sprinkle on the surrounding forest. It’s the rainy season down here and so far I have been enjoying some excellent ( in terms of 95 degrees, scorching sunlight, and the air so humid you would swim your way into the ocean just to dry off) weather, so I am hoping this torrent doesn’t last the prescribed six months as the guidebooks warn. Either way I have my trusty golf umbrella. Weighing in at two pounds, it proved the value of its occupancy in my pack today as I took a meandering walk along the shore to explore why oh why was the ocean turning brown.
Growing up in San Diego and surfing the coastline through my teen years I was constantly warned about the hazards of getting in the ocean after a big rain. San Diego is a large city you see, and generally it remains dry throughout most of the year. So when a storm does decide to let loose…all of the street sewers draining all of the road sludge, chemicals, pesticides, etc…plus all of the poop and pee from an untreated river in Tiajuana …tends to flow freely into the sea. Many a surfer has gotten a nasty ear or eye infection, diarrhea, general vomiting, hepatitis, cholera….well maybe not the last two, but you get the point.
So, you may be able to imagine how appalled I was when I came across this nice little stream flowing into the middle of the best break on the beach…and turning the waves an eloquent shade of amber-brown, complete with a bit of sludgy foam left stuck to the shore.
I got right to the edge to gain a better sense of what exactly this brown stuff may be. My nose gave no sign of alarm as I tried to get a whiff of its essence, nor did I projectile vomit – which is generally a sign that what you are smelling is of a more harmless degree.
Luckily for me I started a dose of decent antibiotics two days ago (due to a very intense throat pain, a sinus infection, and some type of pinkeye sickness…all bundled together)…. so I guess that means I’m good to go! As long as I avoid the submerged tree trunks in the breakers – a gift the rain gods left me overnight.
“Hey man, you wan’ some cocaine?”
“Thank you really, but getting chalked up wasn’t in my plans for the night”
“No, no, listen hombre…my good friend Charlie is just around the corner. Let’s just take a walk.”
“If this walk leads to more snow, I’ll pass. Had enough of that wintering in the Colorado mountains the past ten years.”
And so began my first night in Panama City, Panama. The first major stopping point on the long haul north for traffickers carrying blow, coke, snow, yayo, Charlie, white, flake, dust, toot…call it what you like and ingest it however you prefer. Snort it dry, wet, smoke it, cut it with flour, sugar or corn starch. Or…pass on it altogether to make sure you will stay on budget for your long journey South.
If you walk around the streets of old town in Panama City, called Casco Viejo, you will undoubtedly come across the National policemen in full combat gear with the infamous AK47 at the ready. On average, every third street corner has two of these guys along with heavy duty flak jackets and souped up motorcycles. After coming across perhaps the twentieth death soldier my mind went off on a tangent and pondered the significance of the abundant occupation on the streets. Maybe they are here as part of a required national service duty when they hit 18 and perhaps the country has so many recruits that they end up splaying them across the city…but I am pretty sure Panama doesn’t have an army or requirement to serve in the police. Hmmm. Maybe the government believes their presence will make tourists feel safer shopping, dining and discotecing. Or…maybe they are in fact posted on these street corners to intercept Colombian drug runners that land in the night on the nearby beaches…thus quelling the Lords from taking over the region altogether. Wandering around the fish market late one day I had a conversation with a local security agent that confirmed this assumption. Apparently security agents are everywhere and armed to the teeth…waiting for a surprise visit from the snow sleds of the south. In Casco Viejo, security is doubled up since it is also the location of the presidential palace…which I noticed is conveniently located right on the beach, you know – in case there is a late night craving for an eight ball. (White building in the image below)
Casco Viejo is by far the most authentic looking colonial era town I have ever seen. Parts of it look like they haven’t been renovated since 1615. Unfortunately, at the current moment, pretty much everything here is undergoing renovation and the peeling paint, rusted balconies and rotting wooden window panels are being modernized. That said – I still have a good feeling about this part of town, in ten years it will be one hell of a nice place to live, but for now watch out for Charlie and his boys, lest you get caught in a snowball fight.
Up by daybreak, I head west as far and as fast as the one lane road with an infinite number of oversized RV’s, commandeered by white haired retirees, will let me.
By sunset I reach the great Salton Sea. A sea much less inviting than the photos above will have you believe.
The temperature is still 102 degrees…and now I am wondering if I am cut out for the tropics as I keep hopping back into my car for a quick blast of a/c.
The image above is more likely what you will see here. This inland sea is dieing, though it was once very alive. Created by accident in a flood of the Colorado River into farmers’ irrigation canals, the sea has slowly turned into a toxic saline mixture. Fish die en masse and wash up on the shorelines. Fertilizer runoff from nearby farms creates huge algae blooms that process the elements and give off sulphuric gasses as a byproduct. So, as you can imagine, this place isn’t the most wonderfully smelling of campgrounds I have ever stayed in. Luckily for me tonight there is an offshore breeze keeping the fresh desert air in peaceful coexistence with my nostrils.
Why The Great Salt Lake of Utah works like a charm while this one rots away into gaseous sludge, we may never know, unless of course the lesson is to not f#!% with mother nature.
Day one. I am working my way through the deserts of southern Utah; a road trip home to San Diego before my flight leaves for Panama. The desert has a healing power to it that can only be understood by experiencing it in person. It is the silence, the vast emptiness and the sculpted red rock…a perfect place to begin the journey and allow space to process the decision I have made. I am spending the night on the Navajo reservation in Monument Valley…contemplating setting my sleeping bag down on to top of a nearby cliff if the moon ever comes up. Tomorrow, another 10 hours to the deserts of eastern California where I will have eaten my 5th peanut butter and jelly bagel, and will be looking forward to some Panamanian rice and beans.
Hindsight for the day: If you finally leave a place where you grew up in for 10 years, you will be wanting a drink that first night away. Just note that if you spend that first night on a Navajo reservation you may have to drive 62 miles back in the direction you just came, in order to find the only liquor store perched just outside the Res. It’s against the law to sell liwuor on these lands.
The clouds have passed, the rain is gone, and now it’s time to travel on. I have lived the last 10 years of my life in a town called Boulder, where the vast expanse of rolling plains and prairie land meet the Continental Divide. I came here as but just a boy of 18 years, looking for change, growth…and well, honestly – beautiful women (ok, college too). I believe I have found all three as well as a number of incredible and profound relationships that have helped to shape the man that I am on the path to becoming. In the ten years of passing time I have explored only a handful of life’s unlimited offerings, challenges and lucky breaks… and I am very blessed to have had good friends and relationships by my side for the ride. It is time now to go off and test the waters of possibility, a vast ocean of it awaits me and I am about to jump in head first.
I am off, gone, uprooted. My things are packed, I have sold off a good deal of my belongings and placed the rest in storage. The first stop on my journey without a single hint of end, will begin in a country called Panama. Those are my plans in detail as I now know them. I will travel as long as is necessary, photographing, blogging, and offering my hard-working spirit to those who may need it along the way. This is a journey about connecting with people through stories, food, culture, and hard work. It is a time for me to once again reinvent myself and be who I want to be…which right now can only be one thing – free.
I have let go of the fears of giving up a very comfortable and predictable life, for one of uncertainty and mystery. A life that is the same day after day does not work for me anymore. Instead let this be an interesting life, an unpredictable one that challenges me to my full potential.
The Mr. Lentz that you have known on this blog through woodworking, leather, and jewelry – will still exist, but alas I have had to put those things on hold for the time being. On the journey, I will most likely encounter other artisans whom I hope to write about and photograph as well. This will help me keep that passion alive, until I can one day stop in a place long enough to create again.
For all of you who have been a part of my life in Boulder, thank you dearly for everything you have offered me. I will never forget all of the good times and love we have all shared, and will miss you all dearly.
Queue tear drop.
…Now that a tear drop has fallen, it is about time for a laugh, let’s take a look at what I am packing for my endless journey through Central and South America…and perhaps beyond.
Going into this challenge of packing for an unknown amount of time with unknown destinations beyond Panama, I tried to focus on carrying as little as possible. As you can see from the photo above, it would appear as though I still can’t do without quite a few things, and quite a few more I am taking just for pure pleasure.
Here’s the breakdown:
#47 is my trusty minimal 35L backpack. One main compartment and one small zippered top compartment. It’s light, has small waist straps, and will fit in the carry-on section of a plane.
1. Packing cubes, used to compile similar items so that your bag isn’t a floating mess of randomness. This is very important with a one compartment bag like mine.
2. A compression sack normally used to squeeze a sleeping bag down to a manageable level. Here, I am storing all of my clothing, about a weeks worth: 2 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of lightweight underwear, 1 pair of boardshorts that will double as shorts, 1 pair of zippoff pants (lame looking, but hey – light as hell and they double as shorts), one pair of REI brand lightweight thin pants (I opted for these in place of jeans. There is no place for jeans in the tropics.) One regular cotton t-shirt for when I want to look like a normal person, one super breathable lightweight shirt, one breezy collared, pearl button short sleeve shirt, one very breezy long sleeved button up shirt (for the ladies), and finally one zippered hoodie. It is simply amazing how much can fit in that compression sack, though it must weigh in around 5 pounds.
3. Decent Columbia rain jacket.
4. Expandable full-size golf umbrella. No, not for the rain, but for the sun. You see when you are as fair skinned as I am with a propensity to avoid the sun at all costs…this extra 1.5 pounds will allow me to go on casual 2 mile walks in the heat of the day to get to some remote stretch of beach. Well worth it for the time being.
5. Stainless steel travel coffee press. Ok, ok, I know – what the hell? Before you begin your rants, let me explain a little fact about our friendly Latin American countries to the South. They make some of the best coffee in the world…but they don’t serve it in their own restaurants! In the majority of places you will be served hot water and a small container of Nescafe, yes I said that right – N.E.S.C.A.F.E. You could be all of three miles away from one of the top producers of coffee in all of Central America, yet the product being sold is worth so much that they will not waste a bean on the local market and instead ship it all away to other coffee whore countries. With this travel mug and occasional trips to the markets, I will be able to pick out local bags of coffee and make my own sumptuous cup whenever I want, then I might walk on down to the beach and enjoy it while checking out the surf. 2 extra pounds you say? Bah! Worth it!
6. Hand made Mr. Lentz Antiqued Leather belt from the Fugitive series.
7. Small bag of toiletries: travel toothbrush, floss, toothpaste, nail clippers (in the tropics – don’t use your teeth…lots of interesting sicknesses you can get), and hair gel which may get tossed.
8. Grab bag of advil, antacids, exlax, and a few anti-diarrhea pills.
9. Travel toilet paper, kleenex and purel hand sanitizer that doubles as disinfectant for wounds.
10. Bandaids, small and large.
11. Stuff sack of medications. I am taking Malarone down because I am a naive white person, and some levaquin for your random bouts of stomach sicknesses, and cyclobenzaprine which is a muscle relaxant that can also double as a sleep aid for 12 hour bus rides.
12. Sun hat made for surfing, with a flap that can come down to cover the neck.
13. Long sleeve rash guard to protect me from the sun while in the water.
14. Coolibar shapeable rim hat. Nothing like bringing some country down to the southern latitudes. I hate those typical traveler’s floppy hats, seriously they make me look goofy in the city – so I gave them up long ago and made some room for this awesome sun protector instead.
15. Silk bed cover. I have had this forever, and it has rarely been handy, but I sure was glad I had one when I needed it.
16. Eagle Creek packable daypack. This minimal and super light backpack will stuff itself into its own small compartment, and it’s waterproof.
17. Packable personal towel. At only a foot long this little guy is made of super absorbent material, and easy to pack.
18. Surf lock and cable. This device was created to help deter surfboard theft. A small metal clip will attach to the metal bar on your board where your leash attaches to. I switched out the key lock with a combo travel lock. I am looking forward to field testing it, though I always have had suspicions about the cable thickness and how easy it might be to clip it with pliers.
19. Mask and snorkel. In the tropics, reefs everywhere, warm ocean water…a must have item.
20. Swim goggles. Super small and lightweight sometimes I prefer these to the bulk of a mask and snorkel while swimming.
21. Nalgene BPA free water bottle. It is still made of plastic though and I am pretty sure 5 years from now some study will come out with yet another harmful chemical that leeches out of them.
22. Reef shoes. I have read that a lot of the surf breaks in Panama are sharp rocky reefs.
23. Reef sandals with the unfortunate addition of a bottle cap opener on the bottom. Someone tell these people that nobody wants to open their beer with the side of a sandal that potentially stepped in dog crap last Wednesday.
24. Shoes…I wish we all could wear sandals for life and with global warming, we just may be able to very soon – but for now I must carry this extra weight around with me for the few times I need to enter a bank. (Don’t try wearing sandals, shorts, or a ratty t-shirt into a Latin American bank, pure disrespect to everyone there (instead, imagine you are trapped in the 1940′s and wear appropriate attire).
25. Sunglasses and hard-case.
26. Not another money belt, but an even better idea: a money pouch that has a small loop for your belt to fit through, then it flips right into your pants hanging down a few inches from your waist. Position it where you like. Usually about 5 days into any trip I say F@#% it and forget about using the stupid sweat soaked money belt. If you are in a big city or otherwise unsafe area, it might be a good idea, though so is locking it in a locker in your hostel.
27. Hard zipper case containing a Samsung tablet computer and misc. micro sd cards to store photos. This is how I will be downloading and editing images on the journey as well as writing for the blog. By using micro sd cards I can backup my photos and drop the little chip into an envelope to be mailed back home and stored.
28. Another small stuff sack to help organize the electronics.
29. Lowe Pro camera case and Canon 5D with 50mm 1.4 lens. This case is just barely big enough to fit the camera, perfect for keeping it in my backpack or daypack and still have room for more items.
30. 2 camera batteries and one charger.
31. Lens cleaning kit. This may be overkill, but if I am going to spend a lot of time near the ocean – I will need something to wipe off the salty air residue that is bound to build up.
32. Universal outlet adapter.
33. A massive supply of earplugs and a very light eye mask. Life in hostels can get a bit noisy and ever since living on the plains I have gotten used to near pitch silence at night…guess I am going to have to adapt.
34. Trash bag. This will be handy in so many ways – backpack rain cover, impromptu poncho, wet clothing storage, pack cover while forging large rivers…
35. 10 feet of string. About 20 years ago I was a boyscout, don’t hold it against me. I already thought of the first use: sunglasses croakie.
36. Business cards. A quick way to give people my contact info to keep in touch or check out the blog, plus each card has different images of my leather and wood work so I can explain to people what I do.
37. Headlamp.
38. Iodine tablets in case I am in a situation where I can’t buy water and I am about to die of thirst. This happens more than you might think, especially around 10 p.m. on a Sunday night when you just licked the last drop out of your water bottle and the only place open will take you on a 8 mile journey through unmarked jungle trails. Also included are a few yards of duct tape wrapped around a tiny pencil. Want to quickly make your daypack look unenviable? Splash a bit of water on it, throw it on the ground and embed some quality dirt into its pores, then slap one or two pieces of duct tape on the back and tear the edges of the tape. Might want to use one piece to cover up that Patagonia logo as well.
39. Three very small pocket notebooks and three pens. If I could only take one thing on a trip, this would be it. Handy in more ways than I can explain.
40. Waterproof watch. I hate watches and stopped wearing them about 8 years ago when I realized that keeping track of every second of the day only adds to the apprehension that you are supposed to be somewhere or be doing something at any given time. Unfortunately this is exactly what it is useful for when you need to catch a bus, plane, or the last taxi back into town.
41. Hacky Sack. A quick way to make friends when there’s just nothing else to do. Widely regarded as a hippie sport, those of you that lack hand-eye coordination need not hate.
42. A deck of cards. I bet almost every single backpacker is carrying one, oh well me too.
43. A bottle of 30% deet and another of 50 SPF sunblock.
44. Small caribeaner. When you are traveling on a bus and want to doze off, use one of these to attach your bag to the seat, thus thwarting a quick snatch from your neighbor.
45. Crappy wallet with old library card and random business cards. I will be using this to hold my daily amount of cash. If I get mugged – they can have it and the $30 within.
46. PacSafe portable safe and combo lock. A lot of places in Latin America do not provide safes or lockers to store your goods in. I chose this version of PacSafe’s line to store just the most valuable items in my pack, then I can stuff it down into the pack, close everything up and lock the wire around a bed frame. I also have the PacSafe version that provides a wire mesh around your whole bag, but that is too easy to snip since the wires are exposed, plus it makes it very obvious you are locking up something interesting.
Now that I am looking at this list…I definitely overpacked. I am sure there will be things I ditch and other things I acquire along the way. Part of the idea of traveling light involves only packing for a few days, and essentially buying a lot of the very necessary items when you are on your trip. I went through Venezuela for three weeks with everything needed packed into a small school daypack. It was awesome, but of course I wasn’t as into photography then, and I didn’t pack specifically for certain activities like surfing.
Throughout my journey I will be updating a travel map to track my progress in the journey. Here is a glimpse below, starting in my hometown…and apparently at The Rifle Club!
So, this is it. Goodbye Boulder, friends and loves. I am off into the the unknown.
i can’t believe that my reader hasn’t been picking up some of your posts! i’m so sad to have missed the chance to grab some items from your shop before you closed down!
but, wow, what an exciting journey for you to embark on. free–ahhhh–i distinctly remember that feeling at that age. i think it’s wonderful that you are honoring that and embarking on this journey. i can’t wait to see this chapter of your life unfold and hope you keep sharing with us in blogaland.
here’s to meaningful connections, safe travel, and fun!
Last week I realized that there is a cloud of mystery that surrounds a lot of what us craftsmen and women do in our shops. Sometimes we just show you the end result, the product up for sale in our shop…and leave out the fact that it may have taken us days or weeks even to develop the final piece. In some cases we screwed up royally, making mistake after mistake. I decided to document the making of this super minimal rustic strap wallet that I recently created, from start to finish. I will show every step so that you the viewer can get a good sense of what goes into the making of something as simple as this little wallet. I will make sure to also insert every mistake I made along the way…even though I have made this item a few times before, some things are just out of your control…but that’s ok. That is what handmade items are all about, imperfections. That’s why this wallet doesn’t look like a machine cut it perfectly square, or an airbrush blasted on the dye in uniform appearance, or the stitching is so perfect you want to gag. Nope – this sucker is flawed in all of the right ways and I love it.
The first step in any of my leather work has been to start with a sketch of the design in a notebook. I will usually have a good idea of what the initial design will look like, then I will go ahead and create another 3 to 6 sketched versions of that design. Varying length, the way the strap attaches, different shapes, etc. Taking a step back from the designs I will then pick the one that calls out to me the most, based on the feel of the design, it’s functionality, and if that design can be realistically created with my tools and in consideration of the laws of physics.
Heading straight over to my drafting table, I will then take my sketch and create a life size template using found objects (in this case my credit card) for reference as to actual scale. I draw it out on thin white posterboard because it’s easy to mark, cut, and cheaper than leather if you screw it up and need to start over. At this point it is pretty important to get your lines straight by using a 90 degree ruler and your best judgement, but don’t worry if it ain’t perfect. If curves are involved I bought a set of ‘French Curves’ which are basically a few plastic ruler-like forms shaped into multiple curves that you can use unless of course… you happen to be Picasso.
After drawing out the template, I use a rotary cutter and a ruler to make the initial straight cuts. This works the best compared to craft razors or scissors, you will end up with nice clean lines. Above I am cutting out the main outer template and the interior divider that will go inside the wallet to separate the cards and cash.
Once the template has been set, I bust out the vegetable tanned pig skin. Vegetable tanning is a natural process of preparing and preserving leather by use of tree bark tannins. In the photo above I am tracing out the template onto the leather using a piece of tailor’s chalk. I like the chalk since it easily rubs off down the line, that way I don’t have to worry about pencil or pen markings.
The rotary cutter is used to cut out the exterior and interior pieces.
Next I need to figure out how long to make the strap. Since this is a piece that is a bit 3D in shape, the best way to determine the length is to use a piece of string wrapped along the approximate location of the end strap. I would add on another inch or two just in case, since it is always easier to cut leather off, then to try and put it back on.
Unknowingly at this point I am making my first mistake…the strap needs to be a tad wider to accommodate the hole that will be punched into it…that also needs to be surrounded by stitching for extra strength.
All of the leather being used in this wallet is shown above, ready for the next step.
I have taken the leather out to the shop for some punching and staining. A hole needs to be punched for the metal nub that the strap attaches to. I use an interchangeable leather hole punch to get the job done. The pig skin is placed on top of another thick piece of old leather to protect the hole puncher as it pierces through.
Before the leather can be stained, it is a good idea to moisten it first, and possibly clean with Saddle Soap. Saddle Soap is used to remove dirt and grease left by your oily little fingers…which can cause uneven stains. In our case I chose not to soap it up since I wanted a more uneven look anyways.
Even though the stain is eco-friendly, I still use gloves since it tends to stay on your fingers for another week…and since I am currently in the world of dating – that would put out a strange first impression as my hand raises the first margarita of the night to my lips.
The stain I use is called Eco-Flo and I typically apply it in a two step process. Here I am using a warm reddish brown coat as the base, then I go over that coat with a watered down black. The red gives the black a bit more vibrancy and life. Plus with two separate colors, you can make your item look a bit more worn in places. Remember – perfection is for machines and mass production.
I just realized that this is where I made a second mistake, which was out of my control. Unfortunately at this point my shop is not well heated, so when I went out to stain the leather in a frigid 19 degrees – the stain started to freeze as I was applying it. Then my hands started to turn black from frostbite. My eyes glazed over and my breath froze into icicles that slowly obstructed my ability to breathe…so I went inside and took a 24 hour break.
The next day was a scorching 34 degrees, so I went back out into the shop and finished the staining process. Above, I am applying a thin coat of flax seed oil to help condition and soften the leather.
Even though 34 degrees is enough to make me sweat…it sure ain’t enough to help the oil dry and soak into the leather. I decided to lay the pieces out in the sun for a bit until no oil came off to the touch. It is important to make sure the oil isn’t standing on your leather when you go to the next step of waxing. I have had problems before if you hurry this step.
A nice thin coat of beeswax finish is rubbed into the leather. Once dry give it a slight buff to remove excess wax and create a subtle shine.
Back to the draft table the leather is ready to be marked by an Overstitch wheel, for placement of the stitching on the back of the wallet – where the strap attaches. The Overstitch wheel creates uniform markings in the leather to space out your stitch length.
On top of a piece of cardboard to protect the awl, I punch diamond shaped holes into the leather.
The strap is ready for the first round of stitching. I like to use two needles attached to one arms length of waxed thread. Above and to the right is a stitching pony I built with scrapwood and a few dollars worth of hardware. The stitching pony helps free up your hands when hand stitching and is super easy to operate.
Here you can see another, pretty huge mistake. Somehow I ended up punching the holes for the stitches at the wrong angle than what was needed to make the strap go all the way around the wallet. Then as I was starting the stitch, my friend came in the door and began to chat with me. I was a bit distracted and ended up stitching the strap on going the wrong way and at the wrong angle. After completing the stitching, I realized to my horror, the mistake that was made. I did not stand there and wallow unhappily at my misfortune…instead – I immediately cut out the stitching, realigned the strap and carefully repunched the holes making sure I was not touching any previous punch marks. The result was that the mistake was pretty much covered up by the correct placement, and no one will ever be able to tell.
After you have stitched on the strap, end the stitch by going over the first two stitches again and then cut the excess thread off. Now the main compartment and interior divider is ready for placement. When possible I like to glue along the stitch line with simple all-purpose white PVA glue, which dries clear. This helps keep your leather in place while you punch holes and stitch through multiple layers.
The Overstitch wheel marks the holes to be punched along the side of the wallet.
The awl pierces through the leather and is caught by the cardboard beneath.
During the stitching process I loop the first stitch over the top of the wallet twice for added security. I then continue with a hand stitching method where each hole gets stitched twice, which adds an incredible amount of durability. If one stitch breaks years down the road, the rest of the stitching will still hold it in place.
After each stitch a good hand tightening secures the thread in place. When you get to the end of your stitching, again stitch back over the previous two stitches to lock down the thread.
In the final steps I then attach the metal nub where the strap will fix onto. I then stitch a rectangle into the strap where the hole will be punched to attach to the metal nub – making sure to fold the end under to give the user a bit more to grab onto.
So there you have it. A birdseye view into the making of this simple little wallet. I am hoping that this will be the first in many ‘Making Of’ series having to do with my leather and wood designs. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments section. This little sucker is available in the Mr. Lentz Shop in case you don’t feel like creating one on your own.
I love it too! While this is an excellent tutorial – it is just enough to make me realize that I could never make such a perfect piece of imperfection!
Also, the frostbite inducing 19 degrees and the sweltering 34 degrees? Never happening to this Florida born and bred girl!
Marie -February 16, 2012 - 7:22 am
Hi, I just wanted to say how great it was to stumble across this post. Your opening paragraph nailed it right on the head, and it’s such a pleasure to see how these creations come about. Thank you for sharing your process!
Seriously, leatherworking…as well as many other trades are just a learned craft. If you told me to make something like this 3 months ago I would have looked at you in a bewildered daze! Patience, persistence and…prudence?
The wonderful chocolateering couple from Ritual Chocolate took a turn for fame last month when Imbibe , a nationally published magazine focusing on fine food and drinks, featured their chocolate company on a few page spread. In the end we both won, as a few of my shots of them from last August’s photoshoot were accepted and printed right next to their story. Yeehaww! Keep making the best chocolate this side of the Pacific ocean Anna + Robbie!
I am truly a fan of last minute shopping (of course, only when shopping absolutely HAS to be done). So…I am going to assume a large majority of you out there are as well…and I want to make life easier for you. If you order from either the Mr. Lentz Shop or the Mr. Lentz Etsy Shop, you can enjoy 25% off all items, plus free priority shipping within the U.S. God save your soul and hopefully you get this done quickly, or else I wont have time to handcraft your piece. Generally speaking, order by the 8th for a good chance of an on time delivery.
Take some time off of your normal routine, go somewhere you wouldn't normally, do something you haven't done before, and get inspired. Thought of weeks past:
-Take risks with your art.
-Dig holes with the proper equipment, not with a bucket, and not at midnight.
-Build mistakes into your work and your work takes on character.
-Follow your gut.
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