some recent work
​ink & brush
​30" x 22" on heavyweight hand torn paper

Of course these zip cases are good for holding other thing too, besides was. Fill them up with makeup, art supplies, any little things you want to hang on to.

We're happy to announce that the new collection of Chapman at Sea tees are here at last. We've been waiting a long time to make these available and they're finally here. The plan was to have them ready by fall 2016 so they're almost a year late (whoops!) but the fact that they're made exactly the way we've always wanted makes it worth it.

Our first batch of tees was done in a pretty standard way. Tasha designed them and we had a local shop print them up - easy, and pretty much the same as every other tee out there. Since our focus has always been on handmade items this method of production didn't feel quite right for us. So this time around we went way more hands on with it.

​Each tee from the new collection is block printed by hand right in our own sunny Florida studio. Tasha hand carved the printing blocks with our "wave wish" design. (May the waves be good where you are)  To make the tee, the ink is painted onto the block by hand and stamped onto the fabric, so the texture and ombre fading of the inks is unique on each shirt. 

This block printing process gives an extra level of texture to the design that we really love. Check them out for yourself in the tee shop and let us know what you think!

During the holidays we receive a lot of special orders for custom board bags. We're always happy to do whatever we can to make a unique gift for someone. After all, Chapman at Sea got started because we wanted special surfboard bags for ourselves, so of course we want everyone else to be able to have that too.

This year The Sailor was the most popular style by far, but in all sorts of different colors and shapes. It was nice to bring some deeper tones into the mix, like forest green and deep blue. If you have an idea for your own custom Sailor just get in touch. We love trying new color combos. It has 4 stripes and each one is a chance to do something original.

Here at Chapman at Sea we're big fans of recycled, repurposed materials. It's always exciting to see something old being given a new life, especially if its new purpose is something entirely different from what it was intended for originally. It was this love of reinventing things that led to our latest collaboration. Tasha teamed up with Mollie Makes magazine and came up with a plan to turn an old scarf into a brand new summer beach bag.

The scarf we used is our own design and features the Chapman at Sea "Surf Tribe" print on clean, fine linen.  What's nice about this idea though is that it will work with any large scarf, so choose something that fits your personal style. If you don't already have such a scarf, that can be easily fixed with a visit to your local thrift shop.

​So, how is it made?  To put it simply, the scarf is folded in half, grommets are set in each corner and a rope is threaded through to make a handle. It's an easy project that will have your old scarves living a new beach bag life in a very short amount of time.

For the complete details on the making of the bag pick up Mollie Makes Issue 68, which is out right now in the US. If you're not that crafty, just don't feel like making things or are interested in the bag shown here. check out our Etsy shop. The actual bag that appeared in the magazine is currently for sale there.

Northcore™ is a British based European surf & board riding company that's all about innovation and design. They offer fresh, practical, quality products designed to meet a need for surfers and adventure sports. Northcore also strives to maintain a socially responsible company ethos, with the long term support of environmental and recycling initiatives central to its outlook.

Of course it's always a good time working with like-minded people and companies so not only were we flattered by the invite but we were more than happy to jump on board. For The Northcore Collective Chapman at Sea has created two board bags. They're modeled after our best selling bag, The Sailor, but in a special selection of colors and with a few details exclusive to this collaboration. There's also a bit of hand drawn artwork on each bag.

Like every Chapman at Sea board bag, these are designed to last a long time. They're available through Northcore only in both classic shortboard and retro shapes and they should be out for the 2015 holiday season. Visit Northcore for more info and while you're there check out all of their beautiful photos and films as well.

A new surfboard bag design in clean black and white. This bag falls somewhere in between The Lover and El Shorty Señor. It's done in our retro shape to fit just about any short board. Like the Lover it's made entirely of fabric, so there's no need to feel bad about using leather.  Like The Shorty Señor it's monochromatic and has a cozy striped blanket section in between black and natural washed cotton canvas.

The plan was to make a super simple modern bag but then at the last minute Tasha decided to draw anchors all over it. So this bag has a little of the Scribbs in it as well with hand drawn artwork, all over the top. It makes it a bit more interesting and gives The Mate it's name. This bag is one of a kind and will fit any board up to 6'2". 

We're happy to announce that we've been selected out of over 5,000 applicants to travel to Etsy headquarters in Brooklyn and join in on the Etsy Open Call!

Etsy launched Etsy Wholesale Open Call to help Etsy Wholesale designers land retail spots at big-name stores. Through this program, we will have the chance to showcase and sell our products at five retailers: Nordstrom, Lou & Grey, Clementine, the Walker Art Center's Walker Shop and The Land of Nod.  It's such a cool opportunity and we can't wait to meet all the retailers and other shop owners in person.

Read more about the Open Call here.  Also check out Refinery29's announcement of the event and see the other 30 shops we get to go with.

Recently we've been spending a lot of time in the wood shop. It was Joe's idea. He has something pretty sweet that he's going to be sharing soon, but for now we're going to share a little side project that came along by way of that other big secret project.

Joe knows a bit about building things. He comes from a family of contractors. They builds thing, big things, like houses. It's been a little while since he's really done much with that for fun though, so when he came up with the idea of making some wooden things it sounded like a great idea

Of course the first thing I thought was let's make some skateboards. And then we came across the perfect piece of walnut here and I thought, yes! I want to ride that.

So after a long weekend of carving & sanding, here is the finished, (and very first) Chapman at Sea longboard. It came out even better than I'd hoped. Just the plain piece of wood was gorgeous before I did anything to it, so I had a pretty good chance of it looking nice no matter what I did. That wood grain is beautiful and I added just our logo to the bottom, painted on by hand.

That worked out so well that I went back for more and came out with this shorter, fat board.  Never wanting to waste anything, it was made from the piece of walnut that was left after making the longboard.

This board 's shaped a little like a boat - flat on top with a "hull" shape in front and a flat tail. Shorter boards are more fun to me and I'm so stoked over this little guy. We've been spending a lot of time together. He doesn't really follow the rules - what's with those super wide downhill trucks? - but he's a good little guy.

There will most likely be more skateboards to come in the future. It's been good times getting into some woodworking. It's another side of our favorite pastimes - just hanging out & making things.

by Tasha Chapman

I've never been 100% comfortable with using leather in my creations.  I do it because leather is such a durable material. Since I'm making bags that I want to be around for ages, it's the natural choice.  Still, I'm very focused on using it responsibly and making the most out of every bit.  I often think about the animal who provided the material and definitely respect its sacrifice.  This means that even my scraps are never thrown away.  I'm a little obsessive about it. Every bit gets used. Somehow, someway. No waste.

It was this feeling that made me want to create "The Lover."  It's a new surf bag made without any leather at all, only fabrics, and it got it's name because it was designed with the animal lover in mind.  It also earned that name because on the very first bag made (pictured here) an upside down heart appeared on the fabric during the dyeing process.

Meet the Lover...

This bag has several features that are different from the classic surfboard bags. It's made of 100% linen with an ombre fade that was created in house. No two Lovers are the same. 

It was important to me that this bag be just as durable as the leather-nosed variety. So The Lover is fully lined with plush black felt. It's basically the equivalent of wrapping your board in a soft quilt. The felt itself is eco-friendly, being made in part from recycled plastic bottles. Also unlike traditional wool felt, this felt handles water just fine and dries quickly.

Even through you'll never see the interior seams (because the lining hides them) I still used high quality french seams on the linen to give it extra durability. It has a large lower logo patch, a bottom rope drawstring and brass hardware.