Last year was a year of change. My family picked up our roots in south-central Montana where the mountains were an hour away and the high plains stretched out like a Louis Lamour novel. We moved to the Salish Mountains, west of the divide, overlooking the amazing Flathead Lake. From the window of my classroom (my "day" job), I can see the Apgar Gap of Glacier National Park.
The move did allow us one big change. We were able to better define our leather working space, which improved our workflow. Once the walls were painted, bathrooms were redone, and kitchen gutted (not counting keeping the kids happy with all major holidays), we are back to making leather.
We have two new bags finished for the new year with two updates to our classic bison purse. Pictures will be coming soon. I've also updated the bison minimalistic wallets to include a touch more stitching.
Stitching! Over the past year, we have tried everything. When I teach writing, I show my students that realizing strengths is more important than spotting weaknesses. Our strengths make our creative process special. For Beargrass Leather, our strengths are the hand-stitching and Sam's amazing eye. With that in mind, we are now stitching even more. It's the most time-consuming part of our process, but we wouldn't be making Beargrass goods without it.
Happy 2016!
~Beargrass Leather
View of Flathead Lake with fog hanging above the Swan Valley before the Bob Marshall Wilderness.