Handmade Inspiration

I happened to see this in another post this morning and really liked the vibe and the way he showed pure enjoyment of his handmade craft. Towards the end he talks about being hit in the recession and how it turned out to be a blessing and being able to do what he loves day in and day out. Check out Chris Hughes and his quality products here http://artifactbags.com/ and check out the video too. If I'm ever in Omaha I'm definitely going to check this guy out.

Artifact bags are handmade in my Omaha, Nebraska workshop using a combination of hand tools and vintage industrial equipment. I use the finest American sourced waxed canvas and leather and offer a lifetime guarantee for all my products.



My friends at Turnpost just made this video with the help of the talented Django G-S (Love Drunk Studio). Special thanks to local folk legend Simon Joyner for allowing me to use his song “I Will Find You” from his album The Lousy Dance.

The New Face Of An Old Brand

Remember when you where a kid and you went into little country stores or farm and home stores with your Dad? Remember seeing all the farmers, laborers, and plain old hard workers sitting around a table sipping coffee talking about the current events? Remember what all of them were wearing? I can guarantee it was 99% Carhartt. Well worn, each stain probably told a story, some jackets, some full coveralls. Well I remember it like it was yesterday and while the quality and durability has not changed, the times and era have.

Enter Carhartt WIP (work in progress) The designs and fit are a little more modern fitting, the stores more modern but with a reclaimed heritage feel, and the clientele....well lets just say we don't sit around and sip coffee and talk about current events anymore. All in all we are still hard workers, just in different ways. The new era of Carhartt wearer still cares about the durability but puts a little more emphasis on the way it looks. I'm sure the old timers may laugh and scoff at the way Carhartt is worn today, but they can rest assured that it is still the same old brand just evolving with modern times.

Check out this awesome video at a new Carhartt WIP store to see what I'm rambling about.

HBTV2: Carhartt Work in Progress E1 London Store from HBTV on Vimeo.

You Never Forget Your First

Ki has had a wiggly tooth for the last few weeks or so and he has been so anxious about it, asking lots of questions about how it will come out, will it hurt, bleed, etc. Well last night my Mom came into town and we went to Olive Garden for dinner, which was lovely (any old school fans out there?). After a round of bread sticks and toasted ravioli, the little chocolate Andes mints were delivered. Ki immediately tore into one and during his first bite, out came his first tooth. You would have thought he took his first steps all over again. We became the giddy, overly eccentric parents taking pictures and causing an over the top obnoxiously happy scene. He did good though and after the initial shock wore off, he got a little nervous about the tiny bit of blood and tried real hard to regain his composure. I got up and took him to the bathroom to rinse his mouth out and word had already started to spread around the restaurant. Every waiter/waitress, greeter, patron that we passed asked "Did you lose your first tooth?" and rewarded him with more chocolate mints. It was a really funny ordeal and really made me proud of him for how he handled it and graciously reaped all the chocolate rewards.

Now he has a quirky little lisp and he sucks in his bottom lip through the opening. I left this morning before I heard the final figure on what the tooth fairy left for him,but I'm sure he made out pretty good.

There's a tooth in his hand, it's just small, if you look closely you probably still can't see it. You get the idea.

Before bed, excited for the tooth fairy, you would've thought Santa was on his way.