Bags by Rubbertree: Checkbook case

 I love leather and I love handmade and when they go together something cool is really gonna come out. I'm talking about my new checkbook case which is made of leather and guess what, handmade! My sisters and I share the same admiration for things as mentioned and we patronize locally handcrafted products too so when my younger sister tagged us in Instagram with a picture of a yummy leather bag- we fell in love. 

Bags by Rubbertree is designed and made by Rubbertree Design Studio owned by Ruben and Trina Flores. "With backgrounds in industrial design and studio arts, 

their design method is grounded on a shared aesthetic 

and a dedication to materials, technique & process.

All items are hand-cut and hand-stitched by the couple." 

Website here.

Some of their products:
(photos grabbed from their website)
www.bagsbyrubbertree.com

This is the design that my sister ordered but in a different color, when I got to try it, t'was so soft and the stitches look sturdy and of course I love the smell!

So cool right? My younger sister got us checkbook cases and she got herself a very nice bag (how unfair is that?! haha!) and a wallet for my youngest brother. She got me the green one obviously and I absolutely love it! 

Got my Pen!

After weeks of research and soul searching if whether I should get my hands on a Olympus Pen camera or not, finally I am convinced and gave in to my urge of getting that new toy.

With a brief stint in vintage and toy camera collecting, all I know is the Pen series was made by Olympus during the 60's to 80's. It's a fixed-lens rangefinder camera, a focusing mechanism used by photographers to measure the distance of the subject and how the photograph is in sharp focus. It's a little complicated but the photos turn out great especially that one can play with the blur and lighting plus the kind of film used, making it a vintage perfect photo. So this enough reason made me consider buying The Pen.

I got the Ep3 model which is actually a not-so-latest model since the Ep5 is already out in the market. Well given that I have a budget and the EP5 kit doesn't fit the bill so I opted to get it's predecessor with a dual kit the M. Zuiko 14-42mm f3.5-5.6 IIR and a ED 40-150mm f4.0-5.6 lens for the price of a new EP5 with only a single lens kit.

What I like most about this camera is that it takes it's inspiration from the original Pen film cameras of the 60's. It's small, portable and of course it has gone digital with great image quality, quick focusing and the art filters that take on analog cameras using special films and processes that make the picture grainy, black and white, over contrast or what we call lomography nowadays. And what's great about it is you can shoot non-stop without thinking of wasting any film roll. It's like having a hybrid vintage camera!

Now it's my go to camera whenever I go outside, i won't have to worry on carrying heavy gear.

Testshots here.