Last Friday I wrapped a Porsche with an installer from Squeezy for Jacob's 55th anniversary, a sign maker here in the Netherlands.  Instead of the usual black matte the owner opted to put white matte on - 3M 85 series.  Truthfully, I have never been a big fan of the black matte look (though I love the extra jobs its created).  Yet, the matte white was really spectacular.  It created depth to the vehicle as well as made it look somehow smoother.  It almost made me want to go out and wrap my own car white matte.  Thanks to Neils Landgedijk from Squeezy for the work and 3M for making a fine paint replacement film.

I then worked the Mutoh booth in the NBM Long Beach show.

After getting a Sunday off I then taught the Mutoh School of Wrap that was hosted by Graphics One in Burbank.  Monday and Tuesday was the Basic/Intermediate and on Wednesday the Advanced.

Thursday morning I flew to Reno to teach a 2-day private workshop for Sierra Custom Signs.

Friday I flew back to LA to hang out with family then Saturday I returned to my ladies back in Amsterdam.  Definitely a high energy run but well worth it.  It was nice to meet so many people eager to learn the art of wrapping.  Next workshops coming up are at Squeezy on September 2  and the Mutoh School of Wrap at Avery Headquarters in October.  For more information on that workshop go to:  www.mutohschoolofwrap.com.

Today I finished teaching the second Basic Training Workshop at Squeezy in the Netherlands which is sponsored by 3M.  There was 10 students and I, along with Herman and Sandra, provided hands-on instruction throughout the day. For the Basic Workshop, Ruben van Raam  from 3M provided theory training about 3M, the properties of the film, how they are made and the different films and uses.  After that I talked about tools and then the students got their hands dirty for the rest of the day.  The main focus for the Basic Workshop is on learning proper fundamentals - how to squeegee, clean, cut, make text straight and problem solve.  This training is a stepping stone to the Car Wrapping workshop taught at Squeezy and for the advanced paint replacement training that begins in November.  The films used for the Basic Training varied widely so as to give the students as much experience as possible - IJ50, IJ70, 85, IJ100, IJ380 and 580 reflective film.

World Cup fever here is reaching its peak with the Dutch playing in the finals Sunday.  Today I wrapped a Mini Cooper in the Dutch colors using Avery 900.  I wrapped the Mini Cooper for a client of Squeezy, the premiere installation company in the Netherlands.  The client actually wants to keep the wrap on for a year so, win or lose, the guy is riding in style for quite awhile.

Yesterday was the first carwrap training at Squeezy and it went very well.  There were 9 students with 3 instructors - Sandra, Herman and myself.  Ruben and Ronald from 3M were there to provide theory training and answer any questions regarding the media.  The facility is just perfect for trainings with lots of mounted doors, a dedicated vehicle for wrapping and a lecture room for video (and for drinking coffee).  I am very happy to be part of this training program.  For more information on these trainings go to my workshop page on this site or www.squeezy.nl.  The media used was 3M's IJ380 and 85 series.

The pilot training session for Squeezy's new 3M sponsored carwrap training took place today.  7 attendees participated in the training which focused on 3M IJ380 and 85 films.  Squeezy's training facility is first rate with a dedicated training room that includes a wide array of mounted doors.  This is for focusing on the more complex aspects of applications like compound curves and deep recessed areas.   In their main installation space there are two vehicles that serve as practice for learning the general story of car wrapping.  Niels Langedijk, owner of Squeezy, has really gone out of his way to make this a first rate program.  I am very happy to be a part of this new endeavor as it has the potential to set the quality standard for car wrapping and paint replacement.  A special thanks to Ruben van Raam of 3M for helping with this project and for instructors Sandra and Herman for being so damn cool.

This is a job I recently did for Squeezy here in the Netherlands for the Amsterdam Citroen dealership.  This job took over 2-days to install and used Mactac window perforation.  When I first started the job I thought it was going to go down in just over a day  yet, with having to move the lift every four panels, wind and obstructions, it took 2 1/2 full days of hard work.  As much as I love wrapping cars, I really love these kind of big jobs because they look so spectacular when done (also - they are flat and easy to install).  Thanks as always to Niels Langedijk and Squeezy for the work.

I'm getting everything ready for my next trip to the States.  From Nov.3-6 I will be doing demos for Mutoh at the SEMA show, the world's largest car show.  In the booth I will be wrapping either a race car or a Ford Mustang with Oracal film.  Joining me for a few days in the booth will be Niels Langedijk, co-owner of Squeezy, the premiere installation company in the Netherlands.  Sandra Schreuder, Niels' girlfriend, will also be helping out.  She's one of the best installers I know so having both of them there will be super cool.  They will have lots of tricks to show.  After Vegas I will fly to Texas for the workshop at Sign Warehouse from Nov. 9-11.  Todd LaBrie, owner of Carwraps, will teach design for the first day and I will teach installation for the remaining 2 days.  The class sold out very quickly which is a great way to end the last workshop of the year.  Mutoh is finalizing the schedule for next year so I'll post it as soon as it comes out.