alchemygoods.com weblog

UC DAVIS SUSTAINABLE FASHION DESIGN SHOW

patrick — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:32:33 +0000

The Design Museum of University of California at Davis is having a Sustainable Fashion Symposium May 15th to July 13th, 2008. The event provides a wonderful opportunity to see and learn about all sorts of companies working towards sustainable fashion. We are excited to participate as one of the featured companies, and have provided one of our Urban Messenger bags for display.

As a matter of fact, the blog for the event has a post specifically for our Urban Messenger bag, which we find really exciting.

All of this began in October of 2007 when we had a request from the museum for an Urban. We gave them one, and agreed to let them hold onto the bag for their permanent collection. We were thrilled at the honor, and proud to be able to contribute to their exhibit.

Check out the show and tell us what you think.

ALCHEMY GOODS WANTS YOU!

patrick — Thu, 08 May 2008 20:44:27 +0000

Alchemy Goods is a Seattle based company which produces messenger bags,
hand bags, and wallets from recycled materials. We manufacture all our products locally with
a focus on sustainability and quality service.

We are seeking motivated help to assist with production of our one-of-a-kind bags. This job is a gateway to unleashing your creative potential, gaining new responsibility, and growing with our burgeoning company.

Read the job responsibilities and qualifications below, and contact us to set up an interview.

Work Description
- Process recycled materials
- Manufacture bag components
- Work with local businesses to procure materials
- Advance quickly to gain new responsibility, new opportunities, & increased pay
- Hours from 8 AM to 4:30 PM
- 40 hrs/week
- Compensation depends on experience

Your Description
- Good with your hands, mechanically minded
- Not afraid of dirty work or physical labor
- Environmentally conscious
- Attentive to detail
- Enthusiastic, highly motivated, with a strong work ethic
- In possession of a valid driver’s license and clean driving record
Send us your resume and a cover letter by May 23rd: jobs@alchemygoods.com

ALCHEMY GOODS AND GREENFEST 2008

ben — Sun, 04 May 2008 18:11:29 +0000

Last weekend our fair city hosted Greenfest and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Alchemy Goods was right in the thick of things at the Green Festival where we spent the weekend introducing folks to our made in Seattle recycled bags and accessories. We met and talked with lots of folks at over the weekend.

This King 5 News story features Eli talking about the last two years of changes for our company and the growing “green” economy. They have some video of our booth and our workshop.

Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now, gave an inspiring talk that I attended. She is one of my personal heroes. It just happened to be her birthday and after her lecture, someone from the audience presented her with a brand new Alchemy Goods Messenger bag. (It wasn’t me, honest! I wish I was that thoughtful!) Initial reports indicate she’s loving her new bag. We certainly hope she enjoys using it for a long time. All in all it was a great weekend. We even tested some new products in our booth. We got great customer feedback on all of our products, too. I can’t wait for Greenfest Seattle 2009.

REUSE FEELS GOOD AND MAKES CENTS

Administrator — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 06:42:02 +0000

Seattle’s Mayor Greg Nickels, recently proposed a tax on all disposable bags used to tote your goods home from the grocery store. The twenty cent tax, for either paper or plastic, is a somewhat hefty fine considering these items were once free, and that the average Seattleite uses around 600 per year.Simple math says this fee equates to a flat tax of $120 per person per year. Though there are certainly equity issues here that need to be addressed, we here at Alchemy Goods are happy to see this sort of issue thrust into the public eye.

As big fans of reuse, we know not only the environmental value, but the peace of mind and the darn convenience experienced when shopping with reusable bags. It makes the trip home from the store and the grocery unloading process enjoyable. It saves the space used for storing throwaway bags, and keeps you free from worrying about catastrophic bag failure.

Now that it might save money too, the trend could really take off, and we think it spells happy shoppers. Kudos to Mayor Nickels for this proposal, and if he needs a nice grocery tote, we can help.

WORKSHOP MUSIC

patrick — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 16:14:37 +0000

In these last few days our radio had been pegged into one of the great aspects of Seattle lifestyle. KEXP. This may seem like such a small inconsequential detail. Quality, free, diverse music is available over the FM airwaves here in Seattle. Luckily, quite a few of our production tasks can almost be “dance-y”.

Each activity we do certainly has a rhythm to it. Whatever it may be: material processing, sewing, customer service or footbag breaks; KEXP certainly helps the day. Good stuff in the shop today, though. More Zipper Pulls are done; Wholesome totes are QC’ed and a fresh batch of ReOpeners are on the way.

INNER TUBE DRIVE AT SEATTLE BIKE EXPO

ben — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 00:15:44 +0000

One of our dreams here at Alchemy Goods is to live in a city where no one throws away their old inner tubes. To help realize this dream we’re always thinking of ways to spread the word about tube recycling. Our latest scheme is an inner tube drive and raffle at this year’s Seattle Bicycle Expo, March 8-9.

The Bicycle Expo is two days of bicycle bliss with exhibits and presentations from all aspects of the sport. And Alchemy Goods will be there collecting your old tubes. Here’s the fun part: every tube you bring in will enter you in a drawing for a brand new Alchemy Goods bag. You write your name on the tube when you hand it to us and it becomes your raffle ticket. At the end of the show, we’ll draw a tube from the recycling bin and contact the lucky winner.

We’ll also have a map showing all the bike shops in Seattle that recycle tubes with us so you can find your neighborhood tube recycling depot. So come on down to the Seattle Bicycle Expo, bring an old inner tube, win an Ag bag and go home happy!

ALCHEMY GOODS IN AMERICAN CRAFT SHOW

patrick — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:53:36 +0000

Did you know that the population of Baltimore, MD, is 651,154 as of the 2000 census? Did you know certain E. A. Poe published his second book, Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane and Minor Poems, whilst living with family in Baltimore? And did you know that we will be there live in living color for The American Craft Council Show Baltimore? The show is February 22-24, 2008.

It is a long haul from our shop in Seattle. Our fearless leader, Eli, will be wandering out to our East coast front solo.

This is really a great honor for Alchemy Goods. The American Craft Council Show in Baltimore is a juried event. This means that a panel decides whether one may show one’s wares at the show or not. Out of the 90 applications, we are one of the 17 New Wave Craft Artists that made it into the show. Our booth will be in the New Wave Craft Artist section, and it’ll be interesting to see who else will be in the this area reserved for up and coming folks.

Conventions and shows alway yield a very busy workshop weeks prior to the event. Just recently we attended the Urban Craft Uprising event, and the Thread Show. Both were stellar events. We always hand out a ton of our recycled business cards, and since we make those right here in our shop, we’ll be busy putting those together.

Since the trip is so long, Eli will be creating a custom booth for use at the show. Our usual booth will be streamlined and customized just for this event.

We will have all of our merchandise at the show to peruse and buy. The dates and times for the show are:

Friday, February 22 (10 am - 9 pm)
Saturday, February 23 (10 am - 6 pm)
Sunday, February 24 (10 am - 5 pm)

Admission Information

Buy Tickets Online
$14 per person
$20 for a two-day pass
$25 introductory new membership at the Show only
Children 12 and under free
American Craft Council members admitted free — JOIN NOW

Hope to get to see the show.

MOST IMPORTANT SET OF RULES. EVER.

patrick — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 03:57:18 +0000

Out of all the places that I have worked, Alchemy Goods does as much as it can to keep a workplace like these.

Anyway, Banner Folds! Get’em while there hot! Banner Folds here!

CLOSING OUT 2007

patrick — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 18:43:32 +0000

One through fifty. Four hundred thirty-seven to eighteen thousand six.

And a half.

We just finished the end of the year inventory count. We had found this year’s inventory audit to be not so bad. All of the counting takes time and a bit of patience, but things have become organized again, and that is nice.

Accordingly, at the end of the year we like to give some thanks and love to the folks that work with us. Alchemy Goods is more than just us folks in the workshop. It is our retailers and suppliers, too. And our blogger (who sometimes pats himself on the back).

So we made these excellent postcards, to give a little thanks to our business partners, and let them know about all the recycling that is happening. Ben and Eli worked on this project together. It was really neat to see the this move from idea to reality. AG worked with a local screen printer to create ‘em.

These post-cards were created out of off-cut vinyl. We have been squirreling it away all year for just such a project.

See, we even hold onto to the bits that don’t seem to have any value. And then we make it our job to give it value.

This job rocks.

WORK IN THE WORLD

patrick — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 07:27:13 +0000

Work consists of so many different things these days. I have only been here for about three months now. The initial feelings of coming from the professional world to the production world have dissipated, but the excitement when I see a bag “in the wild” is still there.

Living in Seattle commuting on bicycle, one sees a lot of messenger bags. I have had days where I pass five people in a row, all sporting our bags. Then there is a dry spell, and I see none for days. And then one just pops out at me from the crowd. That is a nice feeling.

I had my camera, so Bene becomes model. The pictures are kinda blurry, but our messenger bag is so obvious. At least it is to me. The reflective tape is so recognizable and distinct.

These pictures were taken near Seattle Center. That is Ben. He and I were on our way to the Urban Craft Uprising last weekend, and when it started snowing.

The reflective tape is so recognizable. It is neat to see and be apart of a changing world.

Happy Holidays.