Leafy Bug

When we got our first finalized, prototype of this stove that we had poured so much thought, time and energy into, I really wanted to take some pictures of it and get the ball rolling.

I just wasn't expecting it to be so stinking difficult!

It has been nearly 2 years since we started this process. At first, we had no idea what we were supposed to be doing. I felt a strong "tug" that I was supposed to be going in a different direction. At the time I was working in a Jr. High School and while I loved everyone I worked with and the kids I had the opportunity to help and support, this feeling that change was coming would not go away. I knew that I was being called elsewhere. When or where exactly that was I was clueless, but I just knew. We started talking over some ideas. Our daughter and I started an Etsy shop and set up to sell things on Ebay. I made Christmas decorations and ornaments and I was a Pinterest fool for sometime.

-Trying to come up with something that isn't already being done or change up something to give it your own mark is not easily done in a world where everyone else's creative abilities are on display. I even had an idea or two I thought was unique, but it didn't take much research to realize I was not the only one with the awesome "original" idea I thought I'd come up with.

During this time Kent went elk hunting. Bought some great equipment to help brave the weather and as soon as he got home, he said, "There has got to be a better way to make these stoves." We called my cousin, a businessman who lives in Taiwan, and our little seed of a thought turned into something we were all getting excited about.

It took a lot of time and effort on everyone's part, but without Nathan, none of it would have come to fruition. He would send us something he found over there and Kent would cut and weld, we'd take pictures and videos and spend hours talking on the phone and messaging back and forth. Then he'd put those ideas into something else tangible and send it to us and we'd start the process over again.

This little stove became a huge labor of love and investment of time. So when it finally came we set it up and were excited to start taking pictures. One problem, you couldn't really see the stove. We tried several different angles. Different lighting. Different locations. All of them had the same result; it "camouflaged" itself really well! -Hence the "Leafy Bug" nickname. The wood grain in the third photo? That would be the stove with our countertop reflecting on the side of the stove.

I think we are slowly getting it figured out, but please bear with us as we navigate this whole new world of running our own business, trying to build a website as well as navigate through things I am sure we aren't even aware of yet.

Kent and Tawni