Hope & Envy

Over the past 2-3 years I have really started to pay attention to mens fashion. I'm not talking about New York Fashion Week runway style, or big box store button downs and denim with overloaded graphic detail. I'm talking about handmade goods, the heritage type of clothing. From denim to hand bags, ties to boots these are all still made in america by craftsman that use the finest quality material and extreme attention to detail. Raleigh Denim is just one of those brands. Courtesy of Need Supply Co.


Meet The Maker from Need Supply Co. on Vimeo.

Pre Birthday Bash

Ki loves hotels. He gets so excited when we get to go to a big city or a beach somewhere and stay in a hotel. This past weekend we surprised him with a little "get away" (only about 10 miles away from our house) for his birthday. There is a new aloft hotel in Leawood that is very trendy and really out of the norm for that area, I don't think I saw one Van Dyke Brown wall or Espresso colored matching tables or wrought iron spindles anywhere. Lots of cool decor and best of all....a pool.

We started the day at a holiday kids fest that had blow up jump play things, live kids music, and all the rude stroller pushing militant horribly dressed worn out suburban moms you could ever wish to see. He jumped and played and danced and got free candy and other swag and I kept a lookout for these evil four wheeled carts full of whiny children that kept running into my ankles.

Next stop was the hotel. As we pulled into the parking garage he got sooooo excited and said " YES! We are staying at a hotel!" We checked in, got our room, people watched for a half hour or so, went swimming for a while (really cool raised infinity type edge pool all the way around might I add), then got ready and went to one of his favorite places California Pizza Kitchen. Went back to the hotel and played some pool and then after about an hour or so and a 30 degree drop in the weather we remembered there was a new gellato place that opened up so we got bundled back up and finished the evening with some awesome gellato.

It was a fun day and he really enjoyed every minute of it. Happy Pre Birthday dude.

Hope & Envy

Here is another quality handmade video that is pretty inspirational. If you listen to what he says, he is basically self taught and builds each frame by himself. Only one person to blame when something goes wrong - that's quality assurance. Hopefully will be seeing more of Horse Cycles in the near future.

ACE HOTEL+HORSE CYCLES = this ... from Matt McClain on Vimeo.

The Midnight Hour Is Close At Hand

The Halloween bug has finally hit our house. Me and Ki decorated the other night....well more like I put stuff where he told me too. My niece and nephew visited a few weeks ago and I had the kids make these styrofoam and cheesecloth ghosts. I got the idea by walking past a Pottery Barn store and peeking in and saying "Are you freaking kidding me, I can make those!" They look cool when there is a light breeze and almost dark....MUUUAAAAAHHHHHHHAAHHHH!!! (evil laugh) The skeleton and spider are leftover from last year but the spider webs are a new addition and kind of fun to work with. Trick or Treaters beware, this is one scary house.

Last weekend we hit up the pumpkin patch. My wife's cousin and her husband own a ton of land in the river bottoms just outside of Jefferson City. A few years ago they started a pumpkin patch fully equipped with a corn maze, hay rides, livestock, sugary snacks, the list goes on and on. It has become a very successful adventure and they do a great job at keeping everything in order and running smoothly. We went out and cut our own pumpkins and loaded up the wagon and hauled these bad boys back home to KC. Thanks Kim and Jay @ Fischer Farms Pumpkin Patch. You guys are rocking it and it's a great vibe.

This year we decided to just paint the pumpkins instead of carving and I think they turned out pretty cool.

***EGO BOOST ALERT**** I did my annual haunted house painting...but seriously look at how cool Ki's pumpkins turned out.

Hope & Envy

Since I have started this whole blog experience and delved deeper into other peoples blogs and the way they live and work and play, it's a fantastic way to keep the inspiration levels very high. Some people like myself are still working day to day but really focusing on the after hours work and one day hoping to make the after hours the real day to day. I sometimes wonder if I watch too many romantic comedies with my wife, you know the ones where they dress impeccably and live in penthouse lofts in a big city and work in marketing or advertising, or my personal favorite where the guy basically spends his time in a workshop/barn building, cutting, welding, etc, and has the beautiful girl (my wife) drive her vintage Porsche into the side of the workshop. Again impeccably dressed and oozes a vibe of pure harmony and happiness. I strive for the day that my wife and son bring me lunch at my shop and check to see what projects are being built, or spending the day with my son building a school project, or just chilling with my impeccably dressed wife by the wood stove as snow falls (however this would not be the way she would want to spend a Saturday night.).

There are a ton of small business videos of really really cool people building and designing amazing quality handmade goods or products. This is one I ran across from Soulcraft Bicycles, a brand I have always drooled over. If you have the time give it a look, who knows maybe this will be a new segment here at the circus - Hope & Envy.


              


FROM STEEL: The Making of a Soulcraft from michael evans on Vimeo.

Up The Stairs And Take A Left

I have visited a few blogs where people have put together house tours and taken pics of their "cribs". Well our crib is nothing spectacular, however it is ours and I have tried to make it different and trendier than what I feel the other houses in the neighborhood are like. I get a lot of inspiration from blogs and visiting hotels and restaurants and bathrooms and bars, the list goes on and on. Our master bedroom is pretty minimal, but that's the way we wanted it. I do want some nice artwork on the walls and eventually will add a sliding track door going into the bathroom as there is no door into the shower and vanity area. The color is Modern Gray from Sherwin Williams with dark, almost black stain on the bed, dresser, and floating nightstands. Oh by the way I built the bed and the nightstands. I got the tree tapestry from Urban Outfitters and had my Mom "quilt" it to a bedspread we already had. The pipe shelf is a recently finished project made from threaded galvanized pipe sprayed a flat black. The wood for the shelving is from a shelf that my dad built me when I was in like the 6th grade. I kept the wood almost the way it was dismantled with all the years of use and patina it had acquired. I sanded a few spots and filled in a few dings and knots but mostly just used it as is. It's a nice compliment to the dark stains and clean square lines.

As normal the pics aren't that great of quality, but I'm a builder not a photographer. So any of you photographer types that want to take awesome pics for your portfolio or trade services let me know, until then then you get what you get.

Say Hello To My Little Friend

I have been wanting a deer or moose or rhino or some sort of animal head for my basement for a little while. The other day there was a post about making a cruelty free deer head out of foam board from http://www.manmadediy.com/. It has a template you can download and all the steps. Some people spray paint them, some people cover it in contact or wrapping paper, and some boring people like myself just leave it white. The tutorial showed using x-acto blades to cut it out, but I decided to fire up my Dremel Trio and route it out and then lightly sand the edges. Seemed to work out fine to me, I do however want to enlarge the template and make a huge on of these in some sort of crazy color or pattern.

Made Right Here

I remember first hearing about raw denim a few years ago and how this type of denim was worn day after day after day with no washes and an occasional soak to achieve a look all your own. The way the creases appear behind the knees, the way that certain areas fade before others, an that one little character adding dribble of coffee or bbq sauce that you promptly wiped off but know it's still there. It intrigued me and started a curiosity that I guess will sort of consume you if you let it.

I bought my first pair of raw selvage denim (Baldwin) about 2 years ago. I ashamedly admit that I just started "working" on them a few months ago. You see when you drop that kind of coin on a piece of clothing you want it to stay clean and non faded and non weathered, however this is just the opposite. You want it to be worn, you want it to be comfortable, you want it to be one of a kind. To me this style dates back to the beginning heritage of the iron workers, laborers, farmers, and all the other hard working trades that needed strength and integrity and durability in their wear and their tools. Sadly in this day and age we may not work as hard or demand that kind of durability in our everyday choices of clothing.

As curiosity takes over, you research and dig deeper into this culture and really start to appreciate all things worn and all things that are still handmade and fabricated in this mass produced world we live in today. It's nice to see it's still out there and pride is still taken in the products these tradesman produce. From shirts to belts, denim to boots, the list continues to grow as more tradesman are getting back to the roots of American handmade.

I happened upon this short documentary this morning that shows two guys ( Joe Gannon & Max Wastler ) whom I believe to be at the forefront of a long list of just really cool people that are bringing the American handmade culture to light. I'm excited to see what they have in store in future episodes. It's really eye opening and inspirational at the same time.

Thanks guys!

"Made Right Here" pitch spot from RICK PAGE on Vimeo.

Chalk One Up.

Remember me telling you about my niece and that sidewalk chalk art competition she was in. I got a call last night and it was her telling me she got 1st place. Funny thing is she calls and tells Misty " I want to talk to Uncle Mike! " Misty was absolutely in shock that she got skipped and didn't want to talk to her aunt and I was the one she wanted to tell. What can I say, us artsy people gotta stick together. Nothing like getting 1st place and some cash to get that creativity in motion.

Congratulations Rowan and thanks for inviting us to see it in person. I'm proud of you.

Artsy Weekend

This past weekend we went back to the homeland for what we thought was just a baby shower on Sunday but quickly turned into a packed day and a half.

We got a call from my sister in law saying that our niece was one of three to be selected to do chalk art drawings for an art and jazz fest on the uptown streets. They ranged from kindergarten to high school and then a few older area professional artists also contributed. It was amazing to see how some of these artists manipulated the chalk with brushes and water. Really cool.

Here is my niece showing off her artwork. I believe she called it Upside Down City or something similar to that.

This was one of the older participants. His use of shading was incredible.

Then there was this character. I had no idea what he created, however he was killing it in his bib overalls with no undershirt. Top notch artistry. 

There were tons of street vendors and of course Ki had to get his face painted which did turn out really cool. He sat there so patient and so still except for his hands which he kept lightly clapping in anticipation.

Here he is helping Gi Gi make a peach pie. A few of his teeth got wiped away after a few drinks and the classic shirt sleeve wipe

I guess Sunday wasn't all that busy. The guys hung out and watched football and let the boys swim while the ladies went to the shower. Oh and one more thing...I helped my brother in law make his first batch of American Wheat Beer. Very cool and involved process which smelled fantastic as everything boiled and cooked. Can't wait to bottle it up and enjoy it around a fire this fall.

We're back home and worn out but it was a lot of fun and relaxing at the same time.

Second Hand Catch All

I've been all fired up with using wood tones and reclaimed wood and rustic pieces lately. Is it a trend? Maybe. Is it me getting older and trying to be more mature? Ummm could be and it's cheaper and not as dorky as a yellow convertible Corvette. Is it a true appreciation for repurposing and breathing new life into materials and pieces? I think that's most of it.

The basement has been a second hand room for as long as I can remember. Meaning we get new stuff up stairs and the basement gets the leftovers. However lately I have learned how to make these second hand and repurposed pieces work together. I was going for a modern lodge feel with wood tones and lighter colors. Sometimes it feels beachy and sometimes it feels lodgy(sp?). This coming weekend I am picking up a deer skull with antlers attached that will definitely drive home that lodge feel.

This a Restore find that my mom found for $20. It must have been from a hotel liquidation because you can tell it was a totally mass produced piece. I sprayed it a gloss steel gray color and it serves it's purpose well. You can't tell in the picture but it has a cool brass raised bar on the back of it, it's just hidden by the TV. I also made that little cabinet underneath to hold DVDs and whatever else. I put in on those furniture sliders because I couldn't find casters small enough to clear the bottom of the cabinet.

I know these aren't true mid century butterfly chairs but those are hard to come by and super expensive. I bought new canvas cream colored covers for them and painted the frames black.

Just a random view of the room. You've seen the wood wall on previous posts.

This is my weathered american flag find. It looks cool against the reclaimed wood on the wall.

The two pictures on the wall were from my parents. I remember these being around forever. My dad always had them in any of his designated rooms - office, instrument room, wood shop, etc. The other two are silhouettes of a moose. It's gloss black on flat black and I just outlined them with a gray colored pencil.

This chest was in out master bedroom for years. It works as a keepsake chest. Marriage stuff, Ki's stuff, just important memories stuff. Works so much better in the room though.

Kind of tough to see this picture to show this table. I made it from leftover 4x4 fence posts. I would love to make a dining table like this one day, though I would have to rent a small crane to move it.

This is some sort of army back pack. Not sure what it was used for, but now it used to hold blankets. One of those is my baby quilt and one of them is a quilt that the Hope Lodge made my dad while he was at Barnes in St Louis. The other is just a cool southwestern style blanket.

Flag again. I just really like this for some reason.

Here is a coffee table that my was given to me. I think it was used as a chicken coop back in the day. It has a glass top on it so none of it hidden and you can see the hinges door on top. I put some small steel casters on the bottom to get it off the floor.

Hopefully the next picture will be the deer head. Can't wait to get that nasty thing on the wall.