Making a Comeback

A few years back I sort of abandoned this blog for a new one that was part of my website, and it seemed like a good idea at the time.  Well, I feel like I don’t update it very much and I think I will be more active over here, so I am coming back!  I spent a long time trying to get things back on track after my cancer treatment a few years back.  I have now been in remission for 3 years, and just had a clean scan last week.  I feel like, for the first time in a while, I am on my way back up.  I have been going to community college for the last 2 years and applied to schools this year and got into San Jose State for Industrial Design.

I am super excited to start this new chapter in my life, and all this good news has me thinking maybe I should get back to blogging a little more.  I used to enjoy sharing my leather creations, and although my business has gone through some tumult due to my health issues, I am proud to say that things have been going really well lately.  I have moved to focusing more on shows, and getting my products in shops and it has really allowed me to expand into more avenues that I have wanted to for a long time.  So, in a lot of ways, I am at a point that I thought was impossible 3 years ago, and it really just hit me that this is the case.  I still make a ton of knife rolls, but make an equal amount of purses, bags, satchels, and am starting to make stuff more stuff that is in my own wheelhouse, like art supply storage and such.  I have had the luck of having my last semester at community college be mostly made up of art classes and it has really made me realize that I need a better balance in my life.  This thinking is what led me to go back to school in the first place.  Making leather goods is something I love to do, but it has never quite brought me the financial or emotional stability that I need to reach at some point.  So, I am headed to school to do something new, but right up my alley, and I think it will open up a whole world of possibilities that I didn’t even know existed.

Along the way, I will be moving, and trying to find a good way to move my leather business with me.  This may take a couple of overlap months, where I will still have my shop in San Luis Obispo, but will be just producing goods to stock my site while I am up at school.  Any  artist communities or group/shared workspaces in the bay area?  I would love to eventually get into some kind of group set up over my current lonely set up that tends to lead me to feeling isolated.

My hope for the future has been restored, after 6 years of generally sucky ness,  and I feel good about it.  From now on I will probably be posting a mix of leather work like I have in the past, as well as fine art work, such as printmaking, as I am about to pull the trigger on a small etching press!

I have been really excited about some new products that I have been working on lately, mostly these awesome little pen rolls:

 

They are 8.5″ tall and 15″ across when open and have a 4″ x 8.5″ zip pouch and four slots for pens and tools.  I will be releasing a version with a snap instead of a wrap soon as well, due to some customer feedback, but I will keep the wrap version because I like the simplicity of it.  I have been working on a smaller version that isn’t quite perfect yet as well, so look out for that.  These are in my shop at JAWLeatherGoods.com now for $80.  Makes a great gift for your artist friends!

Thank you everyone who have been customers in the past, I really appreciate all the support for my products that I have received over the last 9 years, it’s been a crazy ride, on both work and life sides, but it seems like it’s all sort of coming into focus finally.

-Jonathan

SLOcally Made 2018

Hello!  Just an update to let everyone know that SLOcally made 2.0 has begun in downtown San Luis Obispo!  The pop up is located at 1003 Osos street and is open this coming friday through sunday, then starting next thursday, will be open everyday til xmas!  This is the perfect chance to support local makers and do your xmas shopping in one easy place.  Supporting local businesses is even more important around the holidays, as it is so easy to just go to Target, or order online.  Supporting local business really affects the community in a positive way.

So anyways, go to http://www.slocally-made.com to find info about vendors, dates, and other info.  I will have leather goods in there all december long, so it is the best place to find my stuff!

 

-Jon

Inspiration

Times have changed in the online leather working community.  Over the last several years, so many great blogs, tutorial youtube channels, and helpful people sharing great content on how to do a whole range of challenging leather working techniques have changed the whole landscape.  Easy access to quality tools and leather have blown this craft up into an accessible hobby for many, many people.  Almost 10 years ago, when I started leather working around 2009, there was just about none of this.  There was really one online resource to learn about leather craft, and that was Leatherworker.net.  A wide range of folks, from hobbyists to professionals, shared their projects, tips and tricks, and deeper info about machinery and where to source quality leather.

When I bought my first leather sewing machine, a Juki LU-563 compound feed walking foot, Leatherworker.net was pretty much the only place where I could get any info about which machine to get, how to fix it when it broke, and pros and cons of different types of machines.  This was huge, to be able to ask questions, share projects and get feedback, and help others with their questions made it feel like a real community.  Nowadays, there are so many different blogs where you can learn how to make high end bags, wallets and other projects that I couldn’t have dreamed of back then.  So, I just want to give thanks to everyone who has put in all the work to figure all this stuff out and post videos, blogs and all kinds of amazing resources that I have subsequently used to grow my craft over the years.  It is now so easy to get great leather, tools, and guidance that it is easy to forget how in the dark things used to be.  I still browse the “Show Off” section of Leatherworker.net once in a while, just to see what folks are up to, and it’s great to see new people finding leatherwork info and feedback the same way I did.

Leather knife rolls

just an update since its been awhile.  I’ve been going through all kinds of crazy stuff lately, but am very happy to say that I am in remission from Hodgkin’s lymphoma!  It’s been two frustrating years but things are finally looking up.  I will be working on some new stuff and updates to my site and shop.  Keep your eyes peeled for a new 7 slot roll coming sometime in the next couple months for around $220.  It’s been something I get asked about a lot, so it’s about time.  Thank you all for your continued support, and I hope to really change things in the jaw Leather world over the next year or so.  

Thanks again for buying my stuff!
-Jon

Good stuff

   
    
    
 

Leather Bags

Got a few messenger/carryall bags sitting around the shop that I haven’t been able to list in the shop yet!  Ill be adding them to the shop this week, but feel free to email me to grab one if you want it!  There will be more than these too coming:

First is a bag made entirely out of some beautiful shrunken bison leather.  The particular cut features a very cool area of the hide on the flap, it has a ton of texture, and looks very rustic.  About 14.5″ x 11.5″ x 4″, with attached shoulder strap.  Unlined, and features two large pockets on the front, and two more large pockets inside.  $225

Second one is made of mostly reddish brown Horween Chromexcel.  The gusset is a softer oil tan leather and strap is oil tanned cowhide.  Dimensions are about 15″ x 12″ x 4″ with attached shoulder strap.  This one is pretty large and can fit a lot of stuff, has two pockets outside and two pockets inside.  $275

I have one Large knife roll available in shrunken bison leather.  I may be adding this item to the shop, and will only have a couple, so if you really want one, shoot me an email!  Same set up as my regular 10 slot roll.  $289

And lastly, this is just a really cool custom bag I made for someone recently.  Full shrunken bison lined with heavy canvas.  Zip top under the flap.  This was a really cool project.   Just throwing out there what I can do custom.  If you are looking for a custom bag, shoot me an email and we can make it happen.  Something like the bag pictured below costs around $400-$450 depending on the size, this one was large.

My email is JAWLeathergoods@gmail.com, get in touch!   Visit JAWLeatherGoods.com too, I made  new site that is still in progress, but looking better!

-Jon

Food Network Magazine

My roll was featured in Food Network Magazine this month in an article about Gabriele Corcos and his lovely wife Debi Mazar, who host the show Extra Virgin on The Cooking Channel.  Gabriele is a very cool dude, and I thank him very much for making this happen!  Check out the whole article here: FN Magazine Feb 2015

In other news, things have been changing all the time with me health wise.  My last post was quite a while ago, and I was on the road to an autologous bone marrow transplant… Well that never happened.  I lost candidacy at the very last minute due to some new progression seen on my scans.  So now, I am on a new drug (called Afinitor) that will hopefully lead to an Allogeneic (donor) bone marrow transplant sometime in the nearish future.  I learned that I have several potential donor matches in the registry, which is great news!  I will go ahead and update when I know more, as after the transplant I could be off work for up to a year.  Thanks everyone for their support over the last year and a half especially, it’s been a very challenging time for me and everyone’s patience and kindness has helped a lot.  Take care everyone!

Also, I have a brand new website at jawleathergoods.com!  its not actually that different, but it’s a little nicer, and I will be adding new stuff to the shop soon, which I will post here.

Oh and also also, I am now on Tumblr.  I dunno if any of you are, but I will probably post more there than here, so follow me there at jawleather.tumblr.com.  And if you don’t, also follow me on Instagram, at jawleathergoods.

-Jon

Back to work!

So jeez, the last two months have been seriously crazy!   About a week before I was supposed to go to UCLA for a bone marrow transplant, I had a scan that showed disease progression through the chemo that I was doing, rendering me ineligible for the transplant for the time being.  Last week I started on a whole new type of treatment, which is a targeted antibody therapy that is very new, and really cool actually.  The Hodgkin’s cells have a certain protein on the outside of them that the antibody attaches to, and delivers a poison.  The idea is that it only effects Hodgkin’s cells, so there are fewer side effects than traditional chemo.  It seems to be very promising for Hodgkin’s patients with chemo-resistant disease like me.

Anyways, the shop is back open, and I really have no idea when or if I will be headed to UCLA.  Should be here working for at least a couple months, so hopefully I’ll be doing Christmas orders this year!  I have a whole new shop, it’s now at jawleathergoods.bigcartel.com.  The “SHOP” link on my website is changed and will link you there as well.

Thank you all for the support over the last year!  It’s been crazy, and I have some cool projects coming up that I am excited about.

I have some wallets at blow out prices too that are up on the shop, some waxed flesh chromexcel ones, and one last tumbled red horsehide one for the time being!

Some new stuff, and news

It’s been a while since I’ve updated things, and I have some new stuff for sale, and some news.

For the last three or so months, I’ve been preparing for a bone marrow transplant, and it seems that everything is finally in place to proceed. I just finished up a bunch of tests that are the final deciding factors for moving forward, and I should know this week what is going to happen.

Right now, it looks like I will probably start my last round of chemo this next week, and then head down ten days after that to UCLA to begin the process. This means that I will be gone for about 6 or 7 weeks, and when I get back I will be in recovery mode for 3-6 months.

So basically, as soon as I find out when I’m actually leaving, I will be closing down the shop for at least a couple months. I’m not sure how long I will take to get back to work after, but most people say about 3 months.

I would like to thank everyone for their continued support of my little company, and all of the supportive emails and messages of kindness.

Anyways, in the mean time, I do have some cool stuff to sell, and have listed a few things on ETSY, not on my site yet, but I may later today.

So for now, check out JAWLeatherGoods.etsy.com, I’ve got two zip top briefcases that are very very nice, one green waxed canvas, and one super thick brown canvas, priced as $220 each.  I also have a few clutch type pouches that are also great as pen cases, in two leathers, brown chromexcel, and amazing shrunken buffalo.  

A few leather knife rolls available

So I’ve now started treatment, and things are going pretty well!  I will be periodically adding stuff to my shop that is already made and ready to ship.  Basically, I will be in the shop here and there and since I can’t really commit to making things to order, this will be the only way to get stuff for probably the next few months.  These will be sort of “special” stuff, using different leathers and trying to make some interesting, more unique pieces available.  I will do my best to add new stuff every two weeks or so, mostly small knife rolls and probably some wallets.  

To start it off, I’ve been trying out this tumbled cowhide over the last couple months, and I’ve sort of fallen in love.  It is super thick, yet super soft with a distinctive pebble grain.  I’ve got brown and black, just a couple rolls of each color available.  The brown has a strap made of dark brown horween chromexcel, and the black rolls strap is made of heavy duty oil tanned cowhide.  Makes a hell of a knife roll!  These are available for $119 each, and have the same set up as my normal small roll, except that the black ones actually have an extra inch of overall width, and slightly roomier pockets.  They will be available later today at jawleathergoods.com/shop.  Feel free to email me at jawleathergoods@gmail.com with any questions!  Also, keep your eyes peeled for other cool stuff, I’ll do my best to keep it interesting.  

Help support me through my cancer treatments!  Thanks so much to everyone who has sent kind and encouraging emails, you all rock!

 

-Jon