then we made shirts

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:18:47 -0800

Remember when we had this awesome idea to make shirts with our designs on them? Shirts that are super comfortable. Shirts we’d sell to friends everywhere?!

Then we were like “Oh so how do we actually make them?”

Enter our new friend Scott Ellis of Blue Button. Non-profit owner. Man on a mission for teens. Screen printer extraordinaire. New mentor and friend.

When I say that Scott is a generous person, it’s a total understatement. On a Thursday night in November we drive to Spokane to meet Scott. He’s going to show us how to mix colors, teach us all about water-based inks, and so on.

We tour the shop. He jumps right in. He’s mixing this, mixing that, pointing to a can of something rather, saying ‘jot this down’ and we’re just bobble heads taking in all the knowledge.

Hours pass. We all go home around midnight.

Next day, we meet with Scott around noon. We get to meet Erica, Scott’s lovely wife. Scott and Erica tell us about this awesome two-week trip they have planned to Spain, Paris, Texas, and so on. Oh and by the way, they leave TOMORROW MORNING!

Instead of saying no to us, to our self-imposed deadlines, our over ambitious goals and going home to pack, prepare, find glasses and a passport, they stay with us. All day and all night. Teaching us, laughing with us, getting our hands dirty, really putting the labor of love into these shirts.

2:30am. Time to go home.

Exhausted, but we made new friends and started really learning to love this new craft of screen printing.

We learned that plastisol inks (the kind that sit on top of shirts and crack) are nasty.
We learned that water-based inks are so flexible and good for us, for shirts, and the environment.
We learned that most of this craft is a lot of trial and error. LOTS. This is perfect for us! We don’t want shirts that are factory perfect. Each one has unique, handmade character.
We learned that if you want something you can do it, learn it, find people to help.

We have so much more to learn to become master printers and selfless business owners like Scott and Erica. Printing this first batch of shirts has been a true labor of love – slightly surreal, fun, lots of learning, and worth it.

Hope you love them too. Happy New Years, the store opens this week!

What are the odds?

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 07:41:47 -0800

[Donald] Okay seriously, what are the odds that taking any sort of large financial gamble will pay off? How many people have decided to start their own business only to have it come crashing down, showering tons of “what the hell was I thinking” debris down over them and their families? The answer… more than you think.

I am going to go out on a limb here and say that most people are currently working at a job that they would consider to NOT be their ideal one. Sorry, I know this may sound like a lot of rambling non-sense, but I needed to get these thoughts out. Anyways, my point is that no matter what shitty job in whatever shitty town we may end up, the grass will always seem greener. My theory, it probably is! Who says we have to sit around taking orders from other people. I wanted to be my own boss and risk the embarrassing failure of it all. Life is too short to think about the things we should have tried and the jobs we wished we had.

So here is the skinny with LoudLion. We sell shirts. Hopefully, other things too in the future. Oh, and I am a freelance graphic designer for the time being. Jonna (the better half) still works full time, but hopefully someday won’t have to. This may seem like a strange and silly business to start up, and most wouldn’t see any true potential to make a go of it. But we do. I have wanted to make this happen for years and never had the courage to do so. One fine day I met a girl, the stars aligned (shutup it’s true) and I was finally able to open up. Her backing me on this dream, and sharing it with me is what made it all possible. Honestly I don’t think I could have done this on my own. This is our dream now and hopefully someday we can look back and say that this was a our risk to take, and we kicked its ass. If not, at least we will have a shitload of shirts to wear!

Exciting times are ahead, and we hope to share it all with everyone. LoudLion, coming January 2012.

[Jonna] Better half he says. Too kind. Honestly, we’re just a perfect combination (also shut up, it’s true). I’m a constant dreamer, wisher, gazer into other supposedly greener yards. Without Donald’s determination and fearless risk-taking, I would probably spend most of my time spinning in circles. So, together, we’re taking a risk. We love t-shirts, love working on stuff we enjoy, love simple, fun, quirky designs…so here we go. I’m so proud of Donald. Busting his ass day and night on freelance design and shirts. And like he said, the best part of this is that we’re learning what it means to take riskstogether, to support each other in our dreams, to believe in each other, to learn new skills, and to live our life together without regrets and ‘should haves’. Our dream is to live life on our terms, having fun along the way, with time for friends and family. Thanks for being a part of this.

By: Donald Jorgensen & Jonna Wysong