It is only February and with all the changes going on in the business it seems like a lot more time has passed. The internet has provided so many outlets that it is hard to find the one that will get our name and products out there the farthest!
Facebook- We have a business page attached to our personal business page. It pops up messages about our occasional eBay auctions, quick notes about business or orders etc...We aren't really sure people read it but by golly it is there! Here we are...
Twitter- Yep we have a twitter...KendallCustom is our name there and...well...it is really the same thing as Facebook, we are nothing if not consistent!
LinkedIn- This one is actually pretty cool! It even has some references on it. I keep telling everyone we have been open for a while but that page actually has some proof! :-) Go look me up Look here for LinkedIn
BUT WAIT!!!! THERE"S MORE!!
Website- Our Webpage
Webstore- KCB&D Webstore
Ok, now I am done. I have to ask your indulgence with our web page and store. For the entire companies history we have been a word of mouth service. We had a booth at the Aspen's Farmers Market and worked with some stores that sold our items... what I am trying to say is that our website and store is a work in progress, we have many more items, higher end items and custom designs but we are building as we go!
It has been a long week or two (340 ft of furniture trim for one of our clients!!) so I am going to go for now but I promise to have something more fun for next blog!
Amber
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Monty Python Never Worked On Leather...
...Otherwise they would have known that the Grail should have been a pair of pliers! That's right I said pliers or Osborn punches or good scissors or a simple piece of plastic with holes in it! Tools, people, tools!
I am one of several contract laborers that helps fill orders for Kendall Custom Braiding & Design and the biggest adventure I have been on involves good tools. My most valuable, pun intended, lesson has been that expensive tools generally means, "I will break the second you look at me!"
My adventure began with pliers and I was naive enough to think that with access to seemingly hundreds of hardware stores and the World Wide Web as well as my awesomeness at bargain shopping; would have me rolling in amazing tools and at the top of the game....
...
...
....
Sorry about the delay I had to stop a minute since it is impossible to type on a keyboard when you are rolling on the floor laughing hysterically at yourself. Moving along...
So pliers are easy to find, even needle nose pliers and as I entered my local hardware store I was walking with confidence. I felt on top of the world as I bought my first tool box and the smallest tipped needle nose pliers I could find. I was a woman with a mission in "Man's Land" and I was breaking the sterotypical boundaries of tool buying. I didn't need my husband to do it, I didn't even ask for help. I mean really, I as a woman don't like asking questions in three major places...hardware stores, gun shops and at the auto mechanics. Are you feeling me ladies? I paid for my purchases and walked out of the store with a bit of a swagger and climbed into my Jeep Grand Cherokee and began my drive home, jamming out to music and feeling very VERY cool. I walked into my home and proudly showed my family my new purchases...this was my first mistake because I never lived it down. But I am getting ahead of myself...
I sat down in my newly created workspace and began proudly putting all my tools in the tool box I had just bought and then sat down to work on my first project at home. I got my leather lace, my pliers and moved to put my pliers through the freshly punched holes...and failed. That's right they were too big. I sat there and stared already visualizing the reaction to my announcement that the pliers wouldn't work. I had to go borrow a pair from the shop; my swagger turned to a slouch, my confidence turned to humiliation but I like to look at the bright side...the tool box was still awesome.
To save other people the humiliation of what I went through, here are a few tips for you out there in leather crafting land...if you already know these please don't tell me...I do need a shred of pride you know.
Tip One: You didn't cut the leather wrong, you have to create an illusion of square, not a reality.
Tip Two: $25.00 heavy-duty leather punches will not punch through 4 layers of leather; however the $9.99 ones will cut through 7 layers.
Tip Three: Meat Scissors work way better than leather shears.
Tip Four: Everything is a potential tool.
Tip Five: The perfect tool will be discontinued the second you find it. There is only one Excaliber.
I kept those pliers, I even use them because I have learned that the trick to this occupation is improvisation. I did what any humiliated wife would do...I waited 6 months and then I took a deep breath and asked my husband to fix it. He did...with a metal grinder and they are actually my favorite pliers with the exception of Amber's pliers which we can't find ANYWHERE (Excaliber!!!). They are my Grail; and the quest is exhausting.
Sam
Visit us @ Our Website
Our Ebay Store
I am one of several contract laborers that helps fill orders for Kendall Custom Braiding & Design and the biggest adventure I have been on involves good tools. My most valuable, pun intended, lesson has been that expensive tools generally means, "I will break the second you look at me!"
My adventure began with pliers and I was naive enough to think that with access to seemingly hundreds of hardware stores and the World Wide Web as well as my awesomeness at bargain shopping; would have me rolling in amazing tools and at the top of the game....
...
...
....
Sorry about the delay I had to stop a minute since it is impossible to type on a keyboard when you are rolling on the floor laughing hysterically at yourself. Moving along...
So pliers are easy to find, even needle nose pliers and as I entered my local hardware store I was walking with confidence. I felt on top of the world as I bought my first tool box and the smallest tipped needle nose pliers I could find. I was a woman with a mission in "Man's Land" and I was breaking the sterotypical boundaries of tool buying. I didn't need my husband to do it, I didn't even ask for help. I mean really, I as a woman don't like asking questions in three major places...hardware stores, gun shops and at the auto mechanics. Are you feeling me ladies? I paid for my purchases and walked out of the store with a bit of a swagger and climbed into my Jeep Grand Cherokee and began my drive home, jamming out to music and feeling very VERY cool. I walked into my home and proudly showed my family my new purchases...this was my first mistake because I never lived it down. But I am getting ahead of myself...
I sat down in my newly created workspace and began proudly putting all my tools in the tool box I had just bought and then sat down to work on my first project at home. I got my leather lace, my pliers and moved to put my pliers through the freshly punched holes...and failed. That's right they were too big. I sat there and stared already visualizing the reaction to my announcement that the pliers wouldn't work. I had to go borrow a pair from the shop; my swagger turned to a slouch, my confidence turned to humiliation but I like to look at the bright side...the tool box was still awesome.
To save other people the humiliation of what I went through, here are a few tips for you out there in leather crafting land...if you already know these please don't tell me...I do need a shred of pride you know.
Tip One: You didn't cut the leather wrong, you have to create an illusion of square, not a reality.
Tip Two: $25.00 heavy-duty leather punches will not punch through 4 layers of leather; however the $9.99 ones will cut through 7 layers.
Tip Three: Meat Scissors work way better than leather shears.
Tip Four: Everything is a potential tool.
Tip Five: The perfect tool will be discontinued the second you find it. There is only one Excaliber.
I kept those pliers, I even use them because I have learned that the trick to this occupation is improvisation. I did what any humiliated wife would do...I waited 6 months and then I took a deep breath and asked my husband to fix it. He did...with a metal grinder and they are actually my favorite pliers with the exception of Amber's pliers which we can't find ANYWHERE (Excaliber!!!). They are my Grail; and the quest is exhausting.
Sam
Visit us @ Our Website
Our Ebay Store
Friday, January 6, 2012
New Beginnings...Good!
Sometimes running your own business and being a wife, mother, daughter, teacher, friend, volunteer and trying to be a good citizen can be EXHAUSTING. I mean really; waking up, drinking coffee, writing to-do lists, handling business paperwork, preparing daughter for school, teaching daughter, working on current project, taking new orders, designing new products, keeping up with contract laborers, phone call, phone call, phone call...Wow, I only made it to noon and I am already exhausted just typing it out; but you get my point. Some days I wonder, "Why in the world do I keep doing this?". It turns out the answer is simple...I love my work! Leather crafting wasn't something that I just looked at one day and said, "Hey! I want to do that!", I was raised around artists of all types. My mother reproduces Native American bead work and has done repairs for the Smithsonian. When I got in trouble when I was a kid guess what I got to do?
Then on the other side of the family was Dale Kendall, my grandfather. He started the Kendall Braiding Company around 1967, when he sold his first leather braided product. Grandpa Dale stuck primarily to cowboy tack: reins, saddles and so on. Then my father, Mick Kendall got involved and while he still did a lot of cowboy tack including chaps and chinks he started branching out a little bit more. Dad started designing and making purses, antler masks and furniture embellishments. He is still well known for his purses even though he is retired. Grandpa Dale passed away in 2005 and in 2006 the company was summarily handed over to me and I started Kendall Custom Braiding & Design. My dad, Mick, retired but still keeps his hand in with designing. The briefcase featured in our store was actually a gift from him to me when I took over the business (and I still use it). I use contract labor locally when I need extra help; I like to keep it in the community if I can.
KCB&D has really been about pushing the boundaries when it comes to leather. We still do some cowboy tack but we have surprised even ourselves with what can REALLY be done with leather. But not just any leather; good-quality leather and yes there is a difference. Most of our work is done completely by hand but recently we incorporated a seamstress so we could create some new products, but we do not mass assemble manufacture and never will. We fill some pretty large orders and still pride ourselves on quality, beauty and functionality. For these days, I think that is pretty darn impressive!
I started introducing home decor, pillows and exploring custom designing. We do hand-braided stair rails: say you have a 30 ft stair rail, we take it home and make either a 6 or 12 strand seamless braid in the clients choice of design, directly on the rail, then the client or us puts it back in their home. We have done leather stair runners for several clients and, yes, it is possible to do it without it being destroyed. Once again, it is all about the leather choice and care. We have even designed and covered kitchen cabinetry and a couple of elevators. We designed and created a leather coffee urn cover recently at the request of a client; for me it is really the excitement of the challenge of doing something new and making it work. See what I mean about pushing boundaries? We have also worked with designers to create custom leather walls...yep...walls. We have even had our purse designs on the runway!
Ok, now it is time for shameless self promotion...we recently started an Ebay store. Up until now we worked mostly with individual clients or stores and were pretty well known at one time at the Aspen Farmers Market. but now we want to branch out a bit more so here we are! I'll include links at the end of the blog so you can check us out!
Well, lots to do and this isn't getting it done so I'll sign off!
Amber
Kendall Custom Braiding & Design Ebay Store
Then on the other side of the family was Dale Kendall, my grandfather. He started the Kendall Braiding Company around 1967, when he sold his first leather braided product. Grandpa Dale stuck primarily to cowboy tack: reins, saddles and so on. Then my father, Mick Kendall got involved and while he still did a lot of cowboy tack including chaps and chinks he started branching out a little bit more. Dad started designing and making purses, antler masks and furniture embellishments. He is still well known for his purses even though he is retired. Grandpa Dale passed away in 2005 and in 2006 the company was summarily handed over to me and I started Kendall Custom Braiding & Design. My dad, Mick, retired but still keeps his hand in with designing. The briefcase featured in our store was actually a gift from him to me when I took over the business (and I still use it). I use contract labor locally when I need extra help; I like to keep it in the community if I can.
KCB&D has really been about pushing the boundaries when it comes to leather. We still do some cowboy tack but we have surprised even ourselves with what can REALLY be done with leather. But not just any leather; good-quality leather and yes there is a difference. Most of our work is done completely by hand but recently we incorporated a seamstress so we could create some new products, but we do not mass assemble manufacture and never will. We fill some pretty large orders and still pride ourselves on quality, beauty and functionality. For these days, I think that is pretty darn impressive!
I started introducing home decor, pillows and exploring custom designing. We do hand-braided stair rails: say you have a 30 ft stair rail, we take it home and make either a 6 or 12 strand seamless braid in the clients choice of design, directly on the rail, then the client or us puts it back in their home. We have done leather stair runners for several clients and, yes, it is possible to do it without it being destroyed. Once again, it is all about the leather choice and care. We have even designed and covered kitchen cabinetry and a couple of elevators. We designed and created a leather coffee urn cover recently at the request of a client; for me it is really the excitement of the challenge of doing something new and making it work. See what I mean about pushing boundaries? We have also worked with designers to create custom leather walls...yep...walls. We have even had our purse designs on the runway!
Ok, now it is time for shameless self promotion...we recently started an Ebay store. Up until now we worked mostly with individual clients or stores and were pretty well known at one time at the Aspen Farmers Market. but now we want to branch out a bit more so here we are! I'll include links at the end of the blog so you can check us out!
Well, lots to do and this isn't getting it done so I'll sign off!
Amber
Kendall Custom Braiding & Design Ebay Store
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