Finally, I have decided after talking about it forever that I need to start blogging about Loyalty & Blood. No time like the present, right folks?
Although we are lucky enough to do a weekly market at Brooklyn Flea, we love going out of town. Our first out of town show of the year was this past weekend at Art Star Craft Bazaar in the City of Brotherly Love - Philadelphia! I am very partial to Philly since my dad was originally from here and I have tons of family that reside here. Philly was a much cooler place to visit compared to my suburban life growing up in San Antonio, Texas. Texas didn't have cheesesteaks and hoagies!
We could not have asked for better weather since it rained buckets in 2008 at just about every show we participated in. We enjoyed meeting our neighbors Diane of Cutesy But Not Cutesy, who makes adorable stuffed animals. She will also be at Renegade Craft Fair this coming weekend in Brooklyn - I think I freaked her out when I told her that she better bring help because her booth will be a mob scene!
http://www.dkoss2.etsy.com/
Check out Alexander, he is very nice & soft!
Heidi Roland was also next to us - she makes lovely earrings and almost lost her tent a couple of times when the wind started to kick in! Check her out!
http://www.heidiroland.com/
LOVE Heidi's peacock feather earrings!!!
Here's Valerie & Paul from Tugboat Studios! We first met them last year at Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn, where they had their booth behind us. It was so hot & sweaty at that show that we were pretty much anti-social from lack of sleep and the heat. Tugboat was behind us again at Crafty Bastards in Silver Spring, where we actually talked to each other and got to know them better. I have studio and home envy when I look at their Flickr photos of theire house in Pittsburgh! We love their prints and thrilled whenever they are down for trading t-shirts for prints! I scored the lovely "Speed Kills" that I have had my eye on for a long time and was psyched that Valerie wanted a Shape Face Tee, one of our stranger prints in exchange for it!
http://www.tugboatprintshop.com/
The amazing "Speed Kills", 12x12 reduction color woodcut on paper. Our ladies "Shape Face" below.
We also love Philly because it is where Stephen and Shauna of Something's Hiding in Here lives. We met them at our very first Art Star Show a couple of summers ago. Stephen came over and bought a tee and told us they had a booth at the show. We stopped by and were blown away. The stuff they make is INCREDIBLE - we want all of their objects! Talk about taking displays and packaging to another level! They are super talented and one of the coolest couples we know. SHH's blog is an incredible source of inspiration and I dream of being as organized and innovative as these two when I look at photos of their live/work space. The first thing we do when we see each other at a show is ask, "So, how late did you stay up last night making stuff"? This time they had us beat - they had not been to bed yet! We had an hour of sleep before heading to Philly, so we were not that far behind!
www.somethingshidinginhere.typepad.com/
A view of the baker's rack display from a previous show. Of course, Shauna and Stephen got up early Sunday morning to make a few more things since they had sold out of merch.
I can't stop watching this Storque video that Etsy posted in March 2009 about SHH. We could only dream of living in such a magnificent space to make our work and collect!
We had the pleasure of meeting Sue of Giant Dwarf & Nate of Secret Lovers, also based in Philly. We get excited when we meet anyone else from the South - Sue is originally from New Orleans, and she totally has a Southern elegance that informs her work. http://www.giantdwarf.etsy.com/
We have seen countless people rocking the "Beards Not Bombs" tee around NYC forever, and were thrilled to meet the man behind the tee. http://www.secretlovers.etsy.com/
The Bluebird Rosette Fascinator, a gorgeous adornment made of felt.
The tee says it all!
We finally met Michael of Spaghetti Kiss and his wife Shawna, who does Pinkkiss Pottery. Super nice couple, and we always love talking shop with fellow t-shirt peeps! David bought some of his graphic novels, which are incredible!
http://www.spaghettikiss.com/
http://www.pinkkisspottery.etsy.com/
John of Fisticuffs! His cuffs are made of recycled leather and I love that his displays are made of recycled materials too - a baby gate, a toddler bed - genius! David's father loves to tool leather in his spare time, so I know just the place to have him send his leather scraps!
We also met Becky of Sweetie Pie Press and Aitor of The Misanthrope Specialty Co. for the first time. I have always wanted to have unflattering portraits made of myself & David, so hopefully when we see them next on the West Coast in July, Aitor can make it happen!
We scored lovely buttons from Becky and two cool works by Aitor.
I think this one is called "The Three Gracies" - LOVE!
We were thrilled that Becky chose the "Many Evils" shirt! Most people put it down when they see the "666" and beheaded unicorn. It is meant to be funny, but most people don't think it is very funny at all. What can I say, we like dark humor!
http://www.sweetiepiepress.com/The last time we saw Jessee of Art School Dropout and her husband J.C. was in Vegas when we both participated in the Cash & Carry section at Pool Tradeshow back in February. We wondered why she was not at Art Star as a vendor since she does all the shows. Turns out they are having a baby! Lucky them, they got to shop and we sent them away with some baby tees! Congrats you two!
After a sleepless weekend, we ended our stay in Philly with vegan cheesesteaks from Gianna's Grille and drove back to Brooklyn. It was a fantastic show, and here's hoping that Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn will be just as amazing!
