Zola Jones Blog by Jason Loper

New wallet

2009-09-24T22:06:00.000-05:00

New Zola Jones wallet with key ring
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Home

2009-09-03T22:21:00.006-05:00

Tee hee - I was going to blog about the redesign of the office closet, but Apartment Therapy beat me to it.

Thanks to Susie @ Apartment Therapy for writing such a flattering description to go along with my photos!

Read the story here: www.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/before-amp-after-jasons-closet-office-094845

Where oh where has Jason gone?

2009-09-01T10:00:00.002-05:00

Don't worry, dear reader(s), I haven't totally abandoned the Zola Jones blog. I have, however, been very busy putting the new fall/winter line together. So I'll be back ... with photos of new bags and house projects and more!

Custom Bag

2009-08-11T20:35:00.002-05:00

I had a request for a custom tote with zipper. And I outdid myself.

Gray leatherette with red leatherette accent on the brown zipper. I think we're seeing the first of many of this new kind of Zola Jones bag!

We Don't ...

2009-08-04T21:31:00.002-05:00

I had almost forgotten about this song. We Don't Have to Take Our Clothes Off by Jermaine Stewart from 1986. I used to dance my 11-year-old ass off this song in my bedroom. Because that was my favorite activity then ... dancing to songs off the radio. Wait, I still like to dance around. Just ask The Mister. He's experienced a move being busted a time or two.

The World on a String

2009-07-30T13:18:00.000-05:00

This is little Zola Jones's new favorite toy - a shoestring.
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Um, Like, Tote-ally

2009-07-21T16:21:00.003-05:00

I finally got the new oilcloth totes photographed and posted on etsy.

My thanks as always to my wonderful model Emily. If you're not reading her blog and buying her goods, you're CRAZY!

I also did a limited run of oilcloth Square Peg bags. This blue gingham is the first to make it to the Zola Jones etsy shop - the others are available at the brick and mortar shop for now and should make it to etsy by the end of week.

I Saw the Sign

2009-07-18T15:48:00.001-05:00

Using frames and paper I had sitting around the store, I made signs for the Zola Jones booth at the Chicago Sidewalk Sale. Stop by Daley Plaza Tuesday and Wednesday to see me!

Up close you can see that I've stitched part of the sign together. Because, you konw, that's how I roll.

Hi Ho Hi Ho

2009-07-17T17:22:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow this will become three new bags.

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I'm Looking at the Man in Window

2009-07-07T21:15:00.004-05:00

Here are a few photos of the bags I've been working on over the past couple of weeks. I've fallen absolutely head over heels in love with oilcloth.

I started with shopping totes before moving on to Square Peg bags. I've been carrying this red gingham Square Peg for a week and I LOVE IT!

So we took a holiday . . .

2009-07-06T11:32:00.003-05:00

I'm coming off a wonderfully relaxing holiday vacation. My friend Amy visited from Detroit for the weekend so I decided to close Zola Jones for the 4th and 5th. The plan was to spend 4th of July on the beach. Then the 4th turned out to be a rainy, 60 degree 4th of July. So the 4th became a movie day. First up was a matinee screening of It Happened One Night at the Music Box. What better way to spend a rainy Saturday morning than immersed in a 1930s romantic comedy? And young Clark Garble is pretty easy on the eyes too!

That evening we also took in Public Enemies, the new Johnny Depp film about John Dillinger. I was looking forward to this movie for a few reasons - it was filmed in Chicago, I like Johnny Depp, and my friend John Hoogenakker has a small role in it. Unfortunately I had a frustrating distraction throughout most of the film. Someone had thought it appropriate to bring a toddler to an R rated movie about a gangster. And you know what? I don't think that's approriate at all. The child was of course bored and restless and the people who brought her spent most of their time telling her to shut up and go to sleep. Did I mention that these inappropriate folks were sitting right behind us? When I saw them coming into the theatre, walking up the steps to go the row behind us, I was so not pleased. But of couse the previews were already rolling so it was too late to move. They didn't totally ruin my viewing experience - ok it kinda did but whatever - but I'm glad I saw it on the big screen because the hi-def film was kinda cool. Very realistic. Although I'm not sure it was totally fitting of a period film.

Sunday was a gorgeous day so we spent it at Hollywood Beach, which turns out to be the gayest beach around. Which meant that The Mister and I and our straight lady friends had plenty of eye candy. Of course, being a whiter than white white white boy, I am sunburned today. But it feels great after this cool early summer we've been experiencing in Chicago.

And now I have today to work from home before getting back to Zola Jones for normal store hours tomorrow. I've been working on a great line of oilcloth totes and Square Peg bags for the past week or two. I hope to get pics of them on here and the bags available on etsy this week.

How Much is That ____ in the Window?

2009-06-19T08:15:00.000-05:00

As you are no doubt already aware, I have a shop on etsy, a great online source for all things handmade. Well etsy has also been a great source for finding new products for the Zola Jones store.

One of the newest products I've picked up for the store are these great knit coffee cup sleeves.

Say goodbye to the waste of those paper sleeves on your morning coffee and say hello to a fashionable way to keep you hand cool as you clasp your hot cup. Made by waysideviolet, a downstate Illinois artist, these reusable sleeves are priced at $12 and are available at Zola Jones.

Beautiful People

2009-06-17T13:50:00.000-05:00

On our drive back from Iowa last week, The Mister and I heard Simon Doonan interviewed about his fabulous life as Creative Director of Barneys and his new(ish) BBC sitcom Beautiful People. And thanks to the wonders of the internet, I just spent the morning watching the first three episodes of this amazing show.

OMG this has to be my new favorite show! Every little thing about it speaks to me. A 'slightly fey window dresser' recalling his life as a 'slightly fey student in Reading circa 1997'? Now that's what I call entertainment! What I think I like most about the show, in addition to the humor and the honest portrayal of an effeminate boy's treatment by his peers, is fictional Simon's tight family unit. His parents, noticing that he's a bit different from the other boys, nevertheless love and support him in all ways. And that's always nice to see. And it's something I wish we saw more often.

You can watch Beautiful People on the Logo network if you have cable or at logoonline.

Thoroughly Modern Thursday or A Night Out in Chicago

2009-06-16T19:57:00.001-05:00

Last Thursday, on one of the Art Institute's two free evenings of the week, I met my friend Abby downtown so we could take in the new Modern Wing. By the time we got to the museum, after meeting and then eating, it was close to 7:45 so we were only able to do a quick run through the museum itself before it closed at 9:00.

What I was most excited to see was the architecture of the museum itself. And the bridge that connects the Modern Wing to Millennium Park. The bridge is not only a great connection to the park from the museum, it's also a great vantage point for taking in the beautiful design of the new Modern Wing. And walking down it - literally, the bridge is a down slope into the park, almost like a long gradual slide - you can feel the bridge wobbling. Maybe wobbling isn't quite right. Vibrating I guess.

After taking the bridge down into Millennium Park, I was once again reminded what a great public space it is! And I just have to say again, these fountains have to be the best pieces of public art EVER! Every time I visit Millennium Park, these fountains are being enjoyed by hordes of people - and in the summer months they are filled with children running through the water and standing under the "spitting" fountain.

I also dig that from a distance, they look like giant televisions of lighted faces in the middle of a park. It's not until your up close that you can see it's a fountain.

Maybe next time I go down to the Art Institute, I'll actually look at the art!

Baby You Can Drive My Car

2009-06-15T22:12:00.002-05:00

Sssh. Don't tell The Mister. You promise? OK - well - I've fallen in love. But it's purely physical, I swear. Well maybe I should just introduce you. Then you'll understand. Dear reader, this is my new love, the Volvo C30:

Oh isn't it goregous! It's the boxy safety of a Volvo with a sporty edge. There's a white C30 parked along my route to the store and every time I see it ... well, I want it!

Meh, it's a wonderful dream. But I'm really just as happy riding around in this:

Tiny Bubbles

2009-06-08T16:19:00.000-05:00

The Mister and I are off to Iowa to pick up our marriage license. Then tomorrow we'll have a little ceremony in a magistrate's office tomorrow at 4PM. Tonight we'll be enjoying this bottle of champagne in a bed and breakfast.
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I Just Want a Bit Part in Your Life

2009-06-03T21:15:00.005-05:00

There was a special guest star at Hump Day Craft Night tonight . . .

Oscar. He and I got along famously! I find myself gushing over animals like some people do over children. When did that happen? Please stop me if I become one of those queeny guys with a teacup poodle wearing a tiara in his pocket. Says the man with a store named after his cat.

Nevermind.

OSCAR!

In the Closet

2009-06-02T16:57:00.005-05:00

OK, I'm finally ready. I'm ready to come out to all you readers. So here goes.

I, Jason Loper, am finally coming out ... as a dumpster diver! (I think you're already aware that I'm a big ole 'mo!) I love to troll the alleys of Chicago looking for little trash treasures. This has been a fact I've hidden in the past, lest I come across as trashy but in these tough economic times it's chic to recycle to why not admit it! And, as you see here, one man's trash is another's store display.

I came across these drawers in the alley near the store on Sunday. The dresser they belonged to had seen much better days and the drawers were stacked up separately from it. As I rode my bike past, my eyes noticed the great 'cat-eye' handles on the drawers. I knew I had to have them. So I balanced a few on my bike and The Mister on his and we rolled them to the store.

Before I got the drawers into the store, I knew I'd use them as shelves. I do have a lot of bags and other handcrafted goodies around so, you know, I'm always looking for new things to use for display. And these drawers are perfect for just that.

I have four more drawers - it was a big dresser! - that I will either use as-is or I'll paint and line them.

Ding Dong the Bells are Gonna Chime!

2009-05-28T17:10:00.003-05:00

After travelling to Iowa to submit a marriage application with The Mister, the video is especially poignant.

Boys Keep Swinging

2009-05-26T14:11:00.001-05:00

This is a photo of The Mister as he completes the marriage application at the recorders office in Iowa City. It may not mean anything in our home state right now but . . .
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Y M C A

2009-05-21T16:41:00.003-05:00

On the mornings when I ride my bike to the store I go past a Catholic elementary school. Today, as I was riding past, there was a group of kids in the parking lot, all dressed in their white shirts and navy blue slacks and skirts, being led by a female teacher as she danced to The Village People's YMCA, which was playing on a portable boombox. I laughed at the sight - these Catholic elementary school kids doing the YMCA dance, led by a dumpy middle aged teacher.

And then as I rode along I processed the moment a bit more and began to recognize the unique cultural shift YMCA has made in the past 30+ years. In the 1970's it was a throaway disco song sang by a group of cartoonish men. The very gay and sexual nature of The Village People, which was a celebration of the disco era's sexual liberation, also gave YMCA a different kind of meaning. And now in the early aughts, YMCA is a wedding song, often heard at sporting events, and even taught to Catholic school kids. The song has shifted from a sexy, disco, uber-gay hit to an innocent, dance-along ditty.

I guess that's progress.

Man

2009-05-21T11:14:00.000-05:00

There is something in a man's genetic make-up that makes big machinery fascinated. I spent fifteen minutes marveling at the man driving this fork lift as he maneuvered to pick up the giant concrete pipe. As did every man who passed the store - including a forty-ish man and his ten-year-old son.

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First Day in Sandals

2009-05-20T10:14:00.000-05:00

And my toes are loving the fresh air. Gotta love an unseasonably warm day!

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Mr. Biscuit Strikes Again

2009-05-19T21:04:00.000-05:00

This week's craft night snack - cheesy herbed biscuits. And of course wine. Lots of wine.
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Mama Can You Hear Me?

2009-05-11T06:41:00.001-05:00

Hosting an anniversary sale at Zola Jones the week before Mother's Day turned out to be a great idea. Sons and daughters and husbands took the opportunity to pick up totes and clutches and wallets as discounted gifts.

Of course, it's not as exciting as this: