A Caring Teacher...

We were recently approached by a 5th Grade, Chicago Public School teacher who was tired of his kids not doing well on their tests. He came to us with an idea to help spark their unknowing craving to learn.
His idea was to give them an incentive to try harder. He mentioned that none of his kids were even getting over 25 out of 50. This bothered him, as he teaches them every day with no improvement.
He states, "I wanted to see if maybe I show them a prize, they might want that prize, and once one student has that prize the rest will want to have one also, wear them like a badges of honor." He also said that with two weeks they were doing just that, after the first student scored a 37.
He then had students coming up and telling him they were "going to study every night, and they were going to get that '50' button."

It's funny how just a tiny 1" pin back button can get a child to want to study and help improve a grade point average.
Congrats Mr. McCall.

Such Luck...

About a month ago Local Chicago Art and Skateboarding blog Such Luck got wind of our operation and asked us to do a series of buttons for them. The request was 33 each of 3 designs.
I was curious, and asked if there was some sort of Illuminati or Rolling Rock connection for the specific order of "33" pieces.
The answer was no. They just wanted 100 buttons, but only had 3 designs.
Fair enough. So we just made the order for 34 each, giving them 1 extra of each for a total of 102.
They're nice people over there, check them out.

This being a skateboard related post, I have enclosed this link to the Save The Turf website.
The Turf was a skate park that has been around since the 70's, but has been buried and unearthed several times, recently unearthed again, and the locals are trying to get it saved and make it an Historic landmark.
We have set up a Donate box on our site on the Left Hand side. If you are interested, you can donate on our site or on theirs.
Either way, all the money collected goes 100% to saving the park.

Buster Bear Clothing...

About a month ago we got asked by local Chicago artist Alex Cohen, if we could make some buttons for the opening of his art show in the downtown loop area.
He drew a page of images and asked us to pick one, and that all we do is change the color of the BB logo. We took it a step further and made one of them pretty unique.
Alex goes by the name of Turbo for his artwork, and he makes a line of one-of-a-kind shirts each with a different image, called Buster Bear Clothing.

Mall Grabbers...

Here is a graphic that we came up with to take a stand against people who hold their skateboards by the trucks, and not like a real skater.

The buttons are available for $1 each or $4 for a 5 pack. Inquire for larger quantities if wanted.
We also have this image and many others available for sale at our Zazzle store.

Outta My Hands...

Jesus Out Hands6inch, ©2010 Astrolab Studios by iSapien1956672
Shop for tshirts online at zazzle

Well, here we have one of our button images available on a shirt.

Some things are even out of the control of Jesus, you know like if it's an act of God, you follow a different religion, your own stupidity or something like that.

The above raglan jersey version is available for only $22.20 and is made from pre-shrunk, 5.5 oz 100% heavyweight cotton.
If you want it on a plain t-shirt it can be as low as $13.75

Wellborn Again...

Well, the folks over at Wellborn clothing are back with their 3rd round of buttons. This time we have the same graphic in 5 different color ways in Red, Blue, Green, Grey, and Black.

Word is that they'll have new Hats coming out in a few days to help keep the Summer sun out of your eyes, and look stylish.

Old Man Army...

"Aren't you a little old to be skateboarding?"
Not if you're familiar with OMA, that's like asking Brett Favre if he's a little old to be trowing a football.
These guys over at OMA are lifers of the (un)sport, started by two friends, Brian Bullis & Mike Furst, they wanted to spotlight the older guys who still rip today or just the older skater in general that doesn't ride and 8 inch deck/skateboard.
Every year they hold an annual OMA BBQ weekend, making stops at a handful of parks, mini-ramps, and pools per day in the Phoenix area, and a small get together of friends at the end of each night. The final day & main BBQ is held at the skatepark in Chandler, AZ. with fun, games, and a raffle for prizes.
We're glad to support yet another small DIY company and glad they chose us for this run.

Wellborn Or Die...

We would like to introduce Wellborn Clothing to all of you. They are a Chicago based company, with their eyes set on the global scale.

Started by two old friends who wanted to give back, and do something for skateboarding, Sean McGovern & Mark "Marfa" Capodanno have used skateboarding as a networking tool. Having been a part of the Chicago skate scene since the mid-80's, they have seen many faces come, go and stay, all the while maintaining the friendships formed at those spontaneous skate sessions and brief encounters from people on tour or just visiting for the summer.

True skateboard ethics, wanting to stay "core" and grass roots. Sean does the web and all the IT work, Marfa does all the, sales calls, customer service. Having worked in the Customer Service industry for 15 years & skateboarding for almost 25, they know that the best client is a happy client, and they're not happy if you're not.

Great durable product with grade-A soft print inks, every aspect of Wellborn is bought, printed and packed in Chicago, supporting other small businesses who are also "doing their own thing."
That's why we're glad that they came to us.

Factory 13...

Another addition we are very happy to bring to your attention is Factory 13 Experimental Skateboard mfg. out of California, relocated from the Midwest, Ohio to be exact.

Danny has always been a great guy, open to any possibilities or ideas with your board shape, and great customer service.
Considering he's the one doing ALL the work, we're amazed he gets it all done. A true D.I.Y. operation.
That's why we're getting these done for him.

He's made three customs, over the years, for the head of Astrolab Studios.
HERE'S ONE OF THEM and here's THE OTHER TWO
If you skateboard, or someone close to you does, get a Factory 13 to show them you truly do care.
It's like a skateboarders diamond.

Metal Cakes...

We are happy to announce a new addition to our family, Metal Cakes.

Over at Metal Cakes they fashion cupcakes after heavy metal bands, kind of like a Kuma's Corners of cakey desserts.

Headed by Kathy Bejma, she took her love for baking and black metal and married them into a sweet, decadent, evil union.

Follow Metal Cakes on Twitter.