Leather Work

Today was the final day. I got the last few pieces I needed to get done, done and spent sometime finsihing up my last writing piece for the project. I also finsihed my cutting/display board and it looks great. Iz spent my final moments with Jill and Rulli and thanked them for helping me. I am glad the project in concluding and excited to present tomorrow.

Hours Daily (3), Hours Total (58)... Today I worked on a few different things, it looks like I will have three waletts and protoypes to show at Express fest. I need Spencer to laser cut the board for me so I can also have that ready. Jill and I thought it would be a good idea to show the protypes to shwo the full journery. Tongiht I worked on finsihing up the skiis that I had built in my ski building class. This connects due to the hands on expiertial learning piece that Proctor does so well. I look forward to wrapping up and putting my best effort forward.

This past week was not as productive as I had hope due to travelling away from campus. I did not know I would be going to Louisiana when I had first started this project so had planned like I was going to be on campus for 2 weeks. But what I did learn this week was being able to adapt to learning on the go. When going into small shops you have to keep an open mind to someones startegy to doing things. It is important to hear people out and let them help you shape your buisness while taking their advice. Early in the week I got enough and good honest work done to set me up for the closing parts of next week. Creating art with leather brings me peace and happiness. As I work with the supple material, cutting, stitching, and shaping it, I find a sense of calmness and joy. The smell of leather, the feel of it under my fingers, and the sound of my tools create a soothing environment where time seems to disappear. It's fulfilling to see the transformation of the leather into beautiful d...

Hours Daily (3), Hours Total (55)... Today I was travelling home. Not only was I thinking about leather working. I thought about how this project was going to conclude. I started reflecting on my time at school, and how this project sums up my time at Proctor. The fact the school has allowed oppurtunity for me to start my own class, the fact that you are supported on the way there, and the fact that I enjoyed every second of the time I have spent. Sums up what proctor is about. I wish I had created a Instagram or something because the content creators on Instagram in the leather world have much sucess. Making cool videos is a big part of what the small buisness world is about.

Hours Daily (2), Hours Total (52)... Today was my brothers graduation so work time and work was very limited. As I work my way back to campus I have a plan to have 3 wallets, my custom board, and my custom bag done. The website looks good as the bio, and portfolio start to be filled in. I look forward to getting back with Jill and finishing up the last few things I have. I kept an eye out for some more leather shops. I wish I could have found a custom have found a custom boot shop to take some picture but everything was closed due to LSU graduation anyways I look forward to getting back.

Hours Daily (4), Hours Total (50)... Today I spent some time going around and looking at stores that focus on using eather. This led me to a cowboy boot store called Tecovas. Originally the company started out making boots in Texas and has quickly expanded nation wide. They found a way to use several different types of leather, from cows, to gators. They are now the pinnacle of boots in America and went from being a little shop to the global market. I found there process of marketing and how they obtain customers interesting.

Hours Daily (2), Hours Total (46)... Today I was travelling to Louisiana and did not have much time to work. What I did due was work on updating parts of my website look more pleasing to the eye. While I am In Louisiana I hope to check out some small leather buisnesses, or a few shops that do similar work. I think it is important to get a greater outlook on what it means to own a small buisness and how it is no easy task. I look forward to getting back on campus and getting some more of my own work done.

Hours Daily (6), Hours Total (44)... Today was a big step forward as I completed my first transaction. My good friend Jack "Wheezy" Shor wanted a wallet, I told him "I know a guy". So there I was producing my first custom wallet for a friend. I felt accomplished and happy to see the smile on his face. ON another note. I made progress on a few wallets today and am in good shape for the finish product. I also worked on the cutting board. I decided after being laser engraved I was not satisfied with the boards un-evenness. So I decided to take it to the wood shop where I planed and joined the board to make it flat. I then brought it back to Spencer to laser cut. The next steps will be putting a fresh coat of stain and a final coat of finish.

Hours daily (6), Hours total (38) I woke up early this morning a drove back to campus to go and meet JIll. I finsihed the bag I was working on and started puting together some pieces for the card holders. I am having a little bit of a change in plans for this week. I am flying down to Lousiana on Wednesday for my brothers graduation. I am going to take the time and go see small buisnesses and maybe even a leather shop. I want to further my understanding of the process and also what it takes to own a small buisness. My website is up and running and I plan on adding more of my work to it. This week will be fun and a hybrid of what I had been doing the week prior.

32 Hour Week One Total: Throughout the course of my project, I have made significant progress and encountered various challenges. One notable achievement was the completion of a customized wallet for a fellow student, which involved seeking assistance from Spencer to laser engrave the design. While there are some minor finishing details to address, I am pleased with the outcome. Starting a small business single-handedly has proven to be a demanding endeavor, requiring me to take on multiple roles. However, I am determined to continue pushing forward, with my next steps including the production of more card holders and the completion of other ongoing projects. Another area of progress has been the development of my website, which has now reached a stage where it is presentable to a broader audience. I have been actively working on various art projects, both completing existing ones and embarking on new ones. Notably, I focused on finishing an old cutting board and a bag that had been...

4 Hours, 32 Hour Total... Today was big for my project as I finally have a finished product. I had a fellow student at school ask me to make him a customized wallet, I was in for the challenge. I sourced some help from Spencer at the school where he let me laser engrave the wallet. As you cann see in the picture below it came out great. There are some minor finishing details I need to achieve but it is looking very good in my opinion. Small buisnesses are not easy to start because you are a one man show. My next steps are making some more card holder and finishing the other projects I have started.

Daily Hour total 6, Hour Total 28... My website is finally in a spot where it is presentable to a greater audience. I have works of art I have been working on, other art that I want to do. Today was spent finishing old projects and starting up new ones. I worked more on the cutting board today. I put a nice stain on it and am also finsihing up a bag I had been working on. I need to decide how many pieces I want to have done by the end of next week and decide what I want to present at Express Fest. Tomorrow wil be spent doing those things, and I will hopefully have a good plan going into next week.

Hours 4, Hour Total 22... Today went a little differently due to me having a doctors appointment. I started working on a cutting board that is going to have leaver straps. I plan on epoxying the board, which is a recycled cabinent door. That brings me to where my passion for leather work started. I am not the most artistic person, but this fall I took Jill's recylced art class, where I started making these little card holders out of old material. Through that I started my own art class where I made things like bags and started proto-typing wallets. It came with many challenges as finding proper supplies is not easy and there are no stores locally. Overall this project came from me taking a chance on an art class.

6 Hours, Total 18 hours... Today I started in the lab, working with Jill. I finally finished the wallet and started working on my following two projects. First, Jill showed me a recycled cabinet door which I plan on turning into a cutting board. It will have leather straps for the handles, and plan to epoxy the board. The other project I am trying to get done is a small satchel/bag that I started working on a few months ago and am close to finishing. My work was productive today, and I am setting myself up for the next few days. I am also working on finishing up my website with Coach Rulli.

6 Hours The day started off just as yesterdays started. I spent the morning with Jill as I continued to work on my leather wallet. I left a little bit early to attend a meeting I had too, but right after that I headed towards Rulli's office. I focused a lot on getting my website ready and am getting close to finishing it. I still need to go back and figure a few things out but am definitely learning the Wix software. Hopefully tommorow or tonight I can finhishi up the wallet and get it on the laser cutter. The first two days have been nice, and work is getting done! Link to my website (Not Yet finished): https://warrenan0.wixsite.com/andy-s-leather-co/portfolio

 Day 1 (Hours (Morning), Hours (Afternoon), Total (Daily): 5/8/2023 3.5 2.5 6 Andy Warren May 8th, 2023 The day started off at 8:30 am where I began to work on my first wallet. Jill and I had done some work previously to set my self up for senior project. Hand stitching has proven to be quite time consuming, and not easy due to having large hands. The process is repetitive but will be nice when I have a finished highly customizable product (laser cutter) in the end. I have also spent some time setting up a website, hopefully I will be able to provide a link tomorrow where you can learn a little more about me, why I am doing this senior project and most importantly my work portfolio. I finally my mentor Ben Rulli, will me advising me on my website and how to do it, and learning lessons on creating a small business.