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.

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.

Use coupon code on checkout: 25HEARTS

Godspeed.

There it is…a faint buzzing. Nothing but a slight tickle on the side of your thigh. Or perhaps the sound of receipts jingling in your purse. It awakens a not-so-primal anticipation of anxiety. Something needs your attention immediately. It’s your phone and you are about to lose the call. But let’s say you are wearing the sleek, thin, and very High Plains Fashion… Leather Holster of the ongoing Fugitive Series. A quick draw and the phone is beside your ear. Instant convo from the side of your hip.

Built with a high grade of top-grain vegetable tanned leather, custom dyed, conditioned with olive oil, and waxed to a subtle sheen. The leather contains the original scratches, dents and brand marks that the cow received throughout its life on the high plains. Miss Dara Lynn West is the lovely model dawning both Fugitive Series items – the Holster and Antiqued Belt.

With the slightest flick of a finger, she releases the security strap and draws out the phone. This frame has been slowed down to 1% of its original speed to highlight the action.

The interior contains a hidden strap of thin pigskin to hold the phone in its place.

Designed as an ambiguous item of necessity.

Now available in the online shop.

In the midst of Winter’s grasp I decided to take a short break from December’s ultra busy ordering season and head to my other other favorite place in the world…The Canyonlands just outside of Moab, UT. Apparently the timing was right – I arrived the night before a full Lunar Eclipse. After 6 hours of driving, I pulled up to a ‘decent’ motel where I was assigned a room directly above an obsessive and erratic t.v. watcher. On the Ranch I am used to near pitch silence with the occasional call of a coyote or hoot of an owl, so when the t.v. viewer from below decided to turn on theirs at 12am I was… let’s say, slightly disturbed. Luckily, as lame as this might sound, there’s an app for that. It’s called Simply Noise. Put it on your phone and you will get access to a medicinal white, pink or brown noise. Anyways – enough about technology that is infiltrating our lives, and more about nature – which a lot of us are seeing less and less of these days.

If you ever want to hear the most silent silence that is possible outside of a vacuum chamber…head out to the desert. Get away from the roads, and kick yourself out of bed at least an hour before sunrise. That’s what I did on the morning of the Lunar Eclipse. With no time to spare I threw everything into my car and headed out of town towards a place called Dead Horse Point high on the red rock cliffs overlooking the desert. Upon arrival I loaded up on m&m’s and a bit of diet coke (official last-minute road trip breakfast) and stepped out of the car into 10 degree weather armed with my camera. These cliffs are truly spectacular, you can walk right along the edge and peer straight down a vertical drop of over 1000 feet to the canyon floor. Sometimes the edges are balancing on thin layers of cracked earth that slowly split with the freezing and thawing of rain water.

After having watched a Lunar Eclipse in the West and a breathtaking sunrise in the East…I figured that nothing could possibly beat that experience – so I hopped back in my car and headed for The Great Salt Lake to watch the sun set.

For those of you who do not know – The Great Salt Lake is a massive inland sea of saltiness up to 7 times the salinity of the ocean. Its deepest point is around 30 feet and the only creatures living in the lake are a small type of brine shrimp. Wild buffalo still roam out on an island in the middle of the lake, and every year in the spring thousands and thousands of seagulls from the coasts of California make their way out here to nest and fill up on shrimp. When the chicks hatch and are old enough – they make the journey back to the coast only to return a few years later to repeat the cycle. Standing on the shore of this lake, I felt as though I was looking out on an ancient sea. The landscape is surreal, the smell is similar to the ocean, the tide moves so quickly that you can actually look down at your feet and watch it rise.

As the sun set on this day of solar awareness, I was at peace – cold…but happy.

Sometimes a photographer will only pick the very best images to show, highlighting those perfect moments where sun, wind, angle and pose come together. Well, I will have you know that this does not even begin to tell the whole story behind a real shoot. Sometimes the model gets an accidental sand blasting in the desert…or swallows a fly…or just simply can’t hold the pose because I am making some weird face behind the camera. Below are just a small handful of these moments, and now that I am making them public – I think I might save quite a few more from this year’s shoots for the benefit of you all.

^^Apparently the photographer occasionally opens his free eye to get a better sense of the shot…inflicting pose-altering facial movements.

^^While shooting Ms. West in The Great Sand Dunes the wind would occasionally gust to 65 mph, blowing her off balance and down the dune.

^^A rare glimpse into the pre-shoot preparation session.

^^The 1980′s came back and so did the strange bodily awkwardness.

^^Models will occasionally point out large and potentially dangerous wildlife headed in our direction, thankfully giving enough time for a quick retreat.

^^After a few hours of holding serious faces, the Ritual Chocolate couple couldn’t take it any more.

^^Summertime in Colorado can mean an occasional bug making a dive-bomb into your mouth. This shot captures the initial taste.

The Year of 2011 was a significant one for me. It was the year I decided to take one step back from the computer and two steps into my newfound passion of woodworking. It’s the year I decided to put doubts and second guessing aside – and just go for it. In 2011 I began to know myself as a photographer, artist, woodworker, writer, dreamer, thinker, pilot, rabbit breeder, illusionist, spanish speaking surfer, and lover of all things made by people who make things the way they want to make them. 2011 was the year of taking yourself back to the traditional arts, the hand made, the imperfect creations. In that year I inspired myself to work with wood, electricity, leather, jewelry, and more. I can only hope that my dabblings have helped to inspire you as well and spread your creations to your neighbors too. Below are some highlights of the past year…

Perhaps the most significant part of the entire year…my inspiration that would drive the majority of my work… The Redwood forests.

And of course, I emerged out of the Redwood forests into my very favorite and inspiring city of all – San Francisco. San Francisco played a big part in driving my Beast Series of Jewelry…due to numerous visits to local trendy taxidermy/art shops.

I started up my jewelry shop, that has quickly become quite a success – thanks to all of you!

A jewelry giveaway to celebrate my fans… with a second place prize of, yes, a fish for my tank!

The Friends Making Art Series was established, with my Sis The Welder Girl being the first, as a way to highlight artists far and wide creating quality work.

A follow up Friends Making Art Series with Ritual Chocolate…the finest handmade chocolate you will ever lay taste-buds on.

Tinkered with the creation of a cigar box guitar, a fun project indeed.

Electricity from the wind!

A few new creations make their way out a bit late in the year.

Possibly the best photo I have ever taken.

A rejuvenating road trip/photoshoot with my Best Friend Dara Lynn West. As well as her first of many modeling experiences.

A good start for the Beast Jewelry Series photo shoot.

A Russian themed photoshoot to celebrate that absolutely butt-cold freezingness we are currently experiencing out in Ranch Country.

And… a sneak peak at an upcoming post. Shot in my other other favorite place in the world, just outside of Moab, UT.

Cheers to a new year of exploration to you all!! May 2012 be full of surprises.

The snow is piling up here in Boulder, it’s cold, and the local reservoir is frozen solid. That typically means it’s time for a Russian themed shoot out on the frigid ice during a mild snowstorm. So… as the Russians say it best, С Рождеством Вас поздравляю. Счастья, радости желаю! (Take my Christmas congratulations, I wish you happiness and joy!)

Thank you to the wonderfully spontaneous Deni who quite last-minutely decided to tromp out to the frozen tundra and freeze her butt off for this shoot.

The Fugitive rode through the night. Darkness toppling from desert mesa to galloping horse. Only the twinkling of starlight led the way West. A land of lawlessness on the horizon and lawful accompaniment in pursuit…left in the dust behind. There was but one thing holding this harbinger of disorder together… his trusty belt. Trodden through sage brush and tumbleweed, it kept his britches on waistline. Not losing an inch nor tearing a pinch, the Fugitive’s trusty leather belt has survived the ages. Mr. Lentz now makes a historical re-creation for everyone to enjoy. The fine piece of leather pictured below started as a raw piece of vegetable tanned hide. Cut to size, punched, edge beveled, beaten, lacquered, beaten again, burnished, conditioned with extra virgin olive oil, and waxed to perfection. Now you can enjoy a piece of history around your waist… welcome the Fugitive Series by Mr. Lentz. Now available for direct orders through the online shop.

My sister, the badass Weldergirl, makes belt buckles. So it naturally occurred to me, in sporting brotherly competition, that I should make some as well. Luckily we work in different mediums, she wins in metal, and I win with wood… so I guess it’s cats game. Just kidding… I have been wanting to create these buckles since I started to gain an interest in leatherworking. One of the easiest things to make with leather is a belt – minimal cutting and sewing. It’s a good way to learn some basics if you are just getting into things. Naturally belt buckles should follow, and yes I was inspired by my sis who made the belt buckle that I wear pretty much every day. Below I have fashioned 9 new designs as part of the Belt Buckle series for this season. Seven with the Redwood theme and two of Beast. Each buckle has been carefully handcrafted with attention to fine detail. The wood is strong and stained from an all natural and non-toxic concoction of vinegar and walnut husk. Of course the moss is all natural and has been dried and preserved to maintain its color. These creations are now available in my shop where you can buy from me directly. Each one is made to order, so yours will be created specifically for you. Check them out.