Brooklyn Indie Market

Brooklyn Indie Market Hooks Up with the {NewNew} for a Valentine Fling:

Handmade Shopping Event at Starting Artists on Saturday February 13

Valentine’s Day can strike dread in the heart of the hardiest New Yorker: If you’re coupled, there’s the delicate dance of aligning your own celebratory expectations with those of your beloved; if you’re unhappily single, all the emphasis on romance can be special kind of torture. In response to this, Brooklyn Indie Market and the {NewNew} are joining forces to present ” A Valentine Fling: A day of fun, flirting, and handmade shopping on Smith Street,” Saturday February 13 from 11-6 at Starting Artists, 211 Smith Street. Take the F/G to the Carroll Street Station. Admission FREE.

“We want to turn the stress the holiday can engender on its head and make it fun for everyone, regardless of mated status,” said Kimm Alfonso, head of the {NewNew}.”We think this event will appeal to people in both camps.”

Both The {NewNew}-a collaborative group of independent makers in the New York metro area – and Brooklyn Indie Market-mecca of handmade inspiration on Smith Street, have become known for the caliber of their shopping events.

With 15 designers in categories such as clothing, home décor, jewelry, accessories, paper goods, and bath and body products, the event will give an assist to anyone looking for the perfect gift- for their honey or themselves.

For a complete list of vendors visit Brooklyn Indie Market

“We hope to continue our quest to present to shoppers the wonderful and diverse range of goods made by local artists,” says Alfonso. ” A Valentine Fling features some of our best and brightest craftspeople, and puts the emphasis on handmade items for gift-giving. Attendees of the event are also in store from some Valentine-themed family-friendly arts activities led by Starting Artists.”

Curated Designer Lineup Includes:

· Fine and Raw- Artisan confections, saving the world through silliness and chocolate! www.fineandraw.com

· Live Poultry- Brooklyn inspired, screen printed t-shirts, tanks and totes www.livepoultry.etsy.com

· Wabisabi Brooklyn- Decoupage jewelry and cufflinks, handmade in the county of kings www.wabisabibrooklyn.com

· Rebecca Shepherd Jewelry and Floral Arrangements- Romantic, exquisite handcrafted jewelry and fresh floral arrangements available www.rebeccashepherd.etsy.com

About Brooklyn Indie Market

Brooklyn Indie Market is a collective of fashion and product designers, which provides a connection between emerging designers and consumers, retail buyers, stylists, personal shoppers and the press.

About The {NewNew}

The {NewNew} is an eclectic group of independent artists, artisans, designers and crafters from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut united through Etsy, an online marketplace for handmade goods.

About Starting Artists

Starting Artists benefits under-served middle and high school youth through hands-on training in the arts and entrepreneurship. SA’s free after-school classes in media arts and business prepare and inspire teenagers to create arts-based enterprises.

Boutique Fashion Hits Bushwick

Better Than Jam Handmade Co-Op brings local indie design to a deserving neighborhood.
 
Bushwick, Brooklyn – Better Than Jam Handmade Co-Op opens its doors on February 1, 2010. Located at 1095 Flushing Ave, the Co-Op is soon to be neighbors with 20 other diverse businesses that will inhabit the “Markets at the Loom,” providing a varied destination for local shoppers to shop and browse.
 
“We hope to provide a unique shopping experience to the residents of Bushwick and the handmade community at large,” said designer Karin Persan, who owns the Better Than Jam Co-Op.
 
The Co-Op will bring to the forefront a variety of clothing, jewelry, and accessories, created by some of NYC’s most talented designers. All items at the Co-Op will be 100% handmade. Better Than Jam will also host shopping and launch events, parties and workshops open to it’s designers and the local public, to grow the already hugely artistic and creative community.
 
” Our goal is to showcase local designers whose work is handmade and high quality, at a fair price,” Persan continued.
 
WHERE: 1095 Flushing Ave , Brooklyn NY 11237
WHEN: Opening: February 1 Grand opening reception: Friday February 5th 7-10pm
CONTACT: Karin Persan karin@betterthanjannyc.com (631) 377-2500
 
Come mingle with the designers and receive complimentary drinks , 10% selected designers, and free tote bag with purchase, compliments of The {NewNew} Etsy street team.
 
Owner Karin Persan of Better Than Jam (www.betterthanjamnyc.com)
Sample of designers (full list at website above)
Handbags- SML Bags (www.smlbags.com)
Jewelry- The Hand of Fatima (www.fatimacouture.com)
Fashion- Joann Berman (www.joannberman.com)

My dear friend Sylvie Myerson, whom we have lost recently, suddenly and inextricably first told me about the photographer Peter Nappi and his Cyanotype photography; that she wished to bring his craft to our Steampunk Day II this past October. Sylvie had been our words for this event and would have interviewed and written about Peter to compliment his beautiful images from that day. I miss you Sylvie and I hope this is okay.

“These are methods nearly as old as photography itself: the photographic equivalent of cave painting.” Peter Nappi

Peter writes, “I work in old processes because I love working with my hands, and because making pictures from the ground up, mixing chemicals from scratch and hand coating paper, has a magical quality to it that doesn’t diminish, even after years of practice. As for cyanotypes, there’s something compelling about blue pictures. In terms of photographic printing, color = contemporary, black & white = 20th century retro, and sepia = antique. Cyanotypes, blue pictures, having no immediate associative quality, send a more enigmatic signal.”

From Wikipedia: Cyanotype is a photographic printing process that gives a cyan-blue print. The process was popular in engineering circles well into the 20th century. The simple and low-cost process enabled them to produce large-scale copies of their work, referred to as blueprints. Two chemicals are used in the process:
• Ammonium iron(III) citrate
• Potassium ferricyanide.

I have photographer Céline Gaille to thank for this wonderful picture of us from that day!

December 12 and 13: End Homelessness in Brooklyn this Holiday at BIM


Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn-December 12 and 13 marks the third annual shopping benefit sponsored by Brooklyn Indie Market, an up and coming designers market. Indie designers donate 10-15% of sales to benefit Brooklyn Community Housing and Services, committed to ending homelessness in Brooklyn by providing safe, clean supportive housing each year for nearly 700 women, children and men. Saturday and Sunday 11-7 support your community by shopping local and know you are helping the homeless in Brooklyn. Take the F/G to the Carroll Street Station. Read More…

Designer Line Up Includes:

Bull frog eats
 
 
Charrow Illustration

 
 
Pepperhem
 

Herbal Craft nyc
 
 

Forty Ducks
 
 
Gnome Enterprises
 
 

Off The Mat
 
 
Lush Cluster
 
 
Wabisabi Brooklyn
 
 
Bull Frog Studios
 
Plus many more Designers!

Christmas Cure Carol Dec 19 (Saturday) at 3 PM at Brooklyn Indie Market !!
(Rain date Dec 20)

The Cure Hits/White Rabbit/Holiday in Cambodia, this is not your typical Christmas Carol lineup; but neither is Brooklyn Indie Market typical. Vendors, pals and shoppers alike gather together at 3 pm Saturday December 19 (Rain date December 20) sheet music in hand to Carol in Carroll Gardens in front of the market, our version of Yuletide. Open to the public and bring your pals. Refreshments will be available for sale at visit Bull Frog Eats.

Michelle Han

I’ve just completed a new series of lovely linocut prints I’m calling “The Seasons,” a set of four pieces, one for each season of the year. Just in time for the holiday season, these make great gifts!

There will be plenty of opportunities this month to pick up these and other prints from the full collection.

On Sunday, Dec. 6 I’ll be participating in a special fundraising Crafts & Arts Fair at PS 295, The Studio School of Arts and Culture, 330 18th Street, Brooklyn, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The parents at PS 295 are raising funds to support a music and dance program at PS 295, so come out, sip on hot beverages and shop for handmade goods while supporting a worthy cause!



Saturday Dec. 12 I’ll return to Brooklyn Indie Market, on Smith Street by Union Street Brooklyn, the first venue where I began selling printmaking work over a year ago. This is also a special event because a portion of the weekend’s sales at BIM will go toward Brooklyn Community Housing and Services, a local nonprofit that helps fight homelessness in Brooklyn by providing safe, clean, supportive housing to more than 700 people each year.



And for all you last-minute shoppers, Brooklyn Lyceum’s annual Holiday Craft Market will take place Dec. 19 and 20th. It’s held in the historic and beautiful former public bath house at 227 Fourth Avenue, Brooklyn, at Union Street. I’ll be among the more than 60 local artists and crafts people selling handmade work.



Finally, a special exhibition of my framed woodcut and linocut prints will be on view at Connecticut Muffin, Fort Greene, 59 Lafayette Avenue, by Fulton Street, from Dec. 4 through Jan. 7. I’m delighted to have this show so close to my home & studio just a few blocks away. Drop in for some good coffee, sweet treats, and enjoy the exhibition!

You can find a complete list of current exhibitions on my website here. For custom orders, including colors and paper selection, or out-of-town orders please email me. 

Enjoy the beginning of this wintry season. I’ll see you soon!

Best wishes,
–Michelle


Michelle Han, artist
www.michellehan.com


Top image: “The Seasons – Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer” – series of four linocut prints measuring 8 X 10 in. $25 each (unframed), $85 for complete set of four prints.

Saturday

Gnome Enterprises (tshirts)
Wonder Threads (kidswear)
Rocks and Salt(hats)
Wabisabi Brooklyn (jewelry)
Bullfrog Creatives (jewelry)
Bullfrog Eats (yummy goodies)
Huggy Bunny (kids and women’s wear)
fofolle (women’s clothing)
Lu Crafts (home decor and soy candles, guffaws aplenty)
Take Me Home Ware (ceramics)
Nordea Soaparie (bath and beauty)
Knit Knit (knit goods)
Lipeony (art)
Yania Creations (jewelry)
Collective Elements (paper goods)
Windows of Agate (soft toys)
Felt It (felt crafts)
Kimm Chi (women’s clothing)
Lingua Nigra (jewelry)
New York Clocks (clocks)
Red Bridge Studio (pillows)

Sunday

Gnome Enterprises (tshirts)
Wonder Threads (kidswear)
Rocks and Salt (hats)
Bullfrog Creatives (jewelry)
Bullfrog Eats (yummy goodies)
Huggy Bunny (kids and women’s wear)
fofolle (women’s clothing)
Nordea Soaparie (bath and Beauty)
Knit Knit (neat knit goods)
Better Than Jam (women’s wear)
Yania Creations (jewelry)
Collective Elements (paper goods)
Rebecca Shepherd (jewelry)
Little Bunny (paper goods)
Wish By Felicity (jewelry)
Pepper Sprouts (home goods)
Alexandra Ferguson (pillows)
Vyphuis Designs (clothing)

RA Friedman is the principal photographer and mastermind behind Tsirkus Fotografika: The Photographic Circus “Lit From Within”

For your enjoyment:

G.D. Falksen

by tsirkus.org

Evelyn Kriete

by tsirkus.org

August Wahnsinger

by tsirkus.org

Clancey

by tsirkus.org

You now have one year for Steampunk 2010, so get your outfit to have your foto taken too!

Reposted from hilobrooklyn.blogspot.com

My aim is to make and find unique items.” Stop by Sylvia Holden’s brand new online boutique and you’ll see that’s the case. Her designs merge the fluidity of Bohemian chic with modern deconstruction and a healthy dose of swashbuckling energy. She’ll encourage you to make bold fashion moves such as mixing gold and silver jewelry or layering a bustier with a turtleneck. The boutique showcases her handmade, limited edition clothing and accessories as well as some vintage designer pieces but, she likes to stress, it’s really about “selling a concept of style.” 

The magnetic quality of Sylvia’s design comes from its contrasting qualities: “I like to make things pretty and then juxtapose it with something tough. Like soft and hard. My integrity tote is a good example of this approach: pretty words and gold trim sandwiched in vinyl. Or styling a pretty silk blouse with a large tough leather cuff, an old piece with a new piece…” Along those lines, I particularly love the contrast between the romantic quality of her princess t and her black and white split skirt.

As far as surviving the recession, Sylvia’s advice to broke fashionistas is to “mix vintage with cool indie designer. It’s inexpensive, it’s recycling, it supports small American designers and it looks really sharp.”

Sylvia Holden’s designs can be found online at www.sylviaholden.com

By Sylvie Myerson

Reposted from lapreneusedetemps.blogspot.com

How the Steampunk experience leads you to Little Red Riding hood?

It was a saturday afternoon and a heavy rain was drilling the atmosphere in Brooklyn. My shortsighted eyes started the tricky focus process on the sharp red thing.
On my way to go somewhere else, I was suddenly swallowed up by a crowd of very strange creatures. It was definitely not a carnival nor a circus nor a theater company.
It was Steampunk day inside the Brooklyn Indie Market.

Something was floating in the air and I was dazed and confuzed. It felt that I was in a Time Machine that would go back and forth: my nerve endings reacted immediately to the metallic and rusty signal – may be the rain contributed to the scene – due to all these delicate accessories made by these people. Some of them had brought back into a new life magnifiscent old clock mechanisms, watches, iron keys to create rings and necklaces, decorative silver sticks, victorian thick glasses, all sorts of weapons from small to big.

Among them, I was impressed by whom I was facing from top to bottom. Not only faces, they would show an ensemble of symbols, thoroughly composed by the use of diverse materials : feather, leather, lace, ribbons, fishnet, make up, vynil, wool, silk, muslin. Each one absolutely unique and contemporary. During the fashion defile, i was even more amazed by what I received : designers visited the human- animal fusion, the Science-fiction tendancy, the Far West genre, the Victorian elegance, the Aristocratic inventors looking style…

Dead pale skin, refined and lively hairstyle, sweet and harsh at the same time, there is definitely something about the past and the future in them. Their retro futuristic creativity seems infinite like their universe.

They are Steampunk – they are rock, craft, intrepid and bold, sexy, innovative, artistic, playful.
And this is how the 21st century Little Red Riding Hood of the Grimm Brothers materialized in a street of Brooklyn under the rain, last week-end.

Designer Kristin Costa

Links to check out absolutely :

The full cover of my Steampunk experience and 140 more photos :
Céline Gaille flickr

The Brooklyn Indie Market, Cobble Hill to get the list of all designers and more details, contact Kathy Malone
www.brooklynindiemarket.com

The steampunk community
www.tor.com

The cyanotype maker, Peter Nappi
www.pnappiphoto.com

by Céline Gaille

Reposted from hilobrooklyn.blogspot.com

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Interview with G.D. Falksen, Steampunk Author and Fashion Critic

G.D. Falksen, Steampunk Author and Fashion Critic
Steampunk author and fashion critic G. D. Falksen was kind enough to chat with me about what is happening style-wise in this alternate universe. Falksen will be the judge of the fashion contest held at The Way Station on Saturday October 24th, in celebration of Brooklyn Indie Market’s Steampunk Day (Yes, that’s him in the picture.).

Steampunk has been around for a while as a cult literary phenomenon. More recently, it seems to have exploded as a full-fledged fashion and design movement. How do you explain this?

The rise of steampunk fashion and the steampunk subculture are largely the result of the Internet. Web communities like Steamfashion allowed people interested in steampunk styles to communicate and, perhaps more importantly, to exchange pictures. In person meet-ups like the Time Travel Picnic gave people the excuse to dress up, and word about these gatherings was facilitated by the aforementioned Internet communities. Essentially, localized interest in steampunk fiction and Victorian fashion was given a means of easy mass-communication, which then allowed them to expand and develop far faster and more successfully than if they had been left on their own. The subculture was also aided by a larger neo-vintage movement in fashion, which made it easier for steampunk enthusiasts to find Victorian and Edwardian style clothing.

How do you define steampunk esthetics?

Steampunk draws very strongly on Victorian concepts and ideals, but these come in a number of different forms. On the one hand, there is a very strong emphasis on things looking good. 19th century clothing is based around the idea that it should be fitted to the wearer, not the wearer fitted to it; Victorian clothes can comfortably fit and flatter virtually any body type, whereas most modern fashions are built exclusively around tall and thin women and broad-shouldered men. Machinery was often designed to be ornamented or attractive in addition to being useful. Contrast this to modern technology, which is the victim of its own attempt to look sleek, clean and ultra-modern: it ends up looking dull and lifeless. Steampunk also draws upon the idea that things should last, and it supports the Victorian idea of clothes and possessions remaining usable from one generation to another, in contrast to the modern policy of planned obsolescence within a few years at most.

Steampunk reveres the machine as a work of art but seems to also rely on traditional craft techniques. What is the importance of the hand-made?

In steampunk, quality craftsmanship is a fundamental concept. In contrast to the “amateur hobbyist” of the mid and late 20th century, steampunk enthusiasts don’t feel the need to make everything themselves if the necessary knowledge is outside of their expertise. Instead, they are strong supporters of the professional craftsman who takes the time and effort to learn a craft or skill (whether tailoring, cobbling, machine construction, jewelry-making, etc). Steampunk strongly supports the purchasing of well-crafted goods from professionals and small business that are attempting to support themselves with their profession, in much the same way that local craftsmen from tailors to woodworkers were supported in the 19th century. At the same time, steampunk fans are often very resourceful, and if necessary goods cannot be obtained from professionals then they can find them elsewhere, in all manner of places ranging from thrift stores, surplus shops and even mainstream stores. However, supporting craftsmen and small businesses remains very important in steampunk.

Datamancer’s Steampunk Laptop

Can you tell me about your wardrobe?

My wardrobe is extremely varied, both in terms of style and source. Some of my favorite clothes are tailored (I have a wonderful frock coat by Kit Stølen and a three-piece suit from a small tailor), and this is often a necessity given my rather extremely tall and thin shape. Other clothes have been scrounged as necessary. I have several coats from thrift stores, a military coat from an old theater company, gaiters and motorcyclist pants from an army surplus store, and shirts and ties from wherever I can find them. Being a “starving artist” who’s surviving the bohemian lifestyle, I can safely say that steampunk can be adapted to just about any income.

We’ve mentioned books and clothes, but what other kinds of things are people making?

Naturally, I’m inclined to reference steampunk writing again out of professional pride, but really the sky is the limit in terms of what is out there. After clothing, Datamancer computer mods are probably the most famous (and with good reason: his working steampunk laptop is incredibly beautiful). In addition there are all manner of accessories people are making, from mock-weapons to mechanical toys to accessories like wings. It’s also very important to remember steampunk art, which is often a bridge between steampunk literature and fashion. What the authors write about the artists give a very real visual embodiment to, and this in turn helps to guide and inspire artisans and designers. Writing, art and craftwork are a sort of creative triumvirate in steampunk.

by Sylvie Myerson