JOURNAL | Projects, Events and New Products

  • Now located in Portland Oregon

    On December 13th, 2023 I hit the road with all of my belongings and said bye to my parents, family and friends in Santa Barbara. Just for now, see ya next season kind of thing because Iā€™ll be back down to SB to visit the HOMER MAKERĀ @homermakerĀ store in Montecito sometime next month. So, I headed North on the 101 where I picked up Kiel JohnsonĀ @kieljohnsonĀ a long time friend and college buddy back from the Long beach state days now living in San Luis Obispo CA. heā€™s also down for a good road trip, especially if it involves what he calls, and I quoteā€™ ā€œa life chapter flipā€ which Iā€™m guessing is a reference to the thousands of books he reads every year. That man wakes up at 3am and powers through the pages like a soldierā€™s duty. Anyhow, it took a few days to get set up, but I now live and work in Portland, OR. And Iā€™m proud to announce that I feel quite comfortable here. As my mom pointed out, Oregon is in my blood. She was born in Eugene OR before her family moved to Santa Barbara a long time ago so we have lots of family in the area near Astoria. Portland is a great city and I canā€™t wait to see what develops here, so please reach out if you are in the area so we can connect!

    More updates will be coming in the near future, like: where will my design studio be set up? Will there ever be a retail store in Portland for Make Smith?

    All these questions will remain in development over timeā€¦ but in the meantime, the website is live and I am shipping products now after the Holiday vacation. Please feel free to check the website if there is something you would like to purchase, and just DM me and we can work it out. The above image is the first piece I've made in my new Portland OR custom leather crafting studio.Ā 

    Cheers!

    Steven

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  • Wickett & Craig Vegetable Tanning

    Ā "Veg-tanning is a natural, eco-friendly process..."

    We thought we would share a little history and shed transparency around the high quality English Bridal leather we use in our prodcuts. We have been using Wickett & Craig English Bridle leather for all of our belts, key chains and bag strapping.Ā Labor-intensive and incredibly appealing, English Bridle is a traditional leather with a variety of uses, from classic equestrian gear to high-end leather goods. Drum dyed and hot stuffed, English Bridle is smooth, flexible yet durable.Ā 

    Founded in 1867, Wickett & Craig is a world premiere vegetable tannery. A labor-intensive method that requires skilled workers, veg-tanning is a natural, eco-friendly process that produces deep-colored leathers of superior quality. Weā€™ve been perfecting the art of leather making for more than a 150 years. Watch the story of our company.

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    Wickett & Craig | Superior Leather Since 1867 from Wickett & Craig on Vimeo.

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  • On our workbench :: Large Leather Billfolds

    Ā  Ā  What's currently on our leather making workbench? We are currently making a ton of large billfold wallets from full-grain saddle leather. We use a super tough nylon thread to bond each layer of leather together. Take a closer look on theĀ product page to see the inside details.Ā Each wallet is made by hand in our Santa barbara county workshop out of top quality cattle hide from Napa hide house in Napa California. We pride ourselves in make a US domestic product from beginning to end. All ofĀ our walletsĀ make for a very special gift, but this one in particular is the most functional because of its large capacity pocket space and classic Americana style.Ā 

    "Each wallet is made by hand."

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    Large Billfold leather wallet
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