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Two Great Holiday Pop-Ups At Chelsea Market

Two great hopliday pop up markets opened this week in Chelsea Market in Manhattan.

Jingle at the Chelsea Market: A Holiday Pop Up Store is the creation of designer Jill Schwartz. Back for its 5th year at the market and featuring over 20 companies, Jingle boasts a wonderful boutique esthetic that reminds a bit of the first floor at ABC Carpet and Home.

Jingle at the Chelsea Market has a wide variety of companies – from jewelry and bath products to clothing and home decor – and each company has been encouraged to do more than simply display their wares. Instead, each vendor has created their own unique boutique display, and this helps to differentiate them from their neighbors and highlight their products.

Jingle at the Chelsea Market is open through December 23rd in the big pop up shop space mid-market.

Venturing into Manhattan from their customary home in Williamsburg, the Artists and Fleas Holiday Pop-Up also opened this week. Offering 30 “amazing curators of cool”, Artists and Fleas is using a newly-opened space at the 1oth and 15th end of Chelsea Market. Artists are offering mens and women’s fashions, home accessories, jewelry, prints and eclectica, and include some of our market favorites.

The Artists and Fleas Holiday Pop-Up is open 10:30 Am - 7:30 PM through December 31st.

Weekend Market Picks – July 30-31, 2011 and Brewla Bars Video

We have a new video blog! Watch this interview with Rebecca from Brewla Bars. Brewla Bars are frozen pops made from brewed beverages, like coffee and tea. They have a frozen root beer float bar that I can’t get enough of. You can find them at the Fulton Stall Market every Sunday. And please support their awesome Kickstarter Crowdfunding Project!

For my Market Picks this weekend, I’m thinking about Lower Manhattan. There are some wonderful, established markets that stay enticing and exciting by keeping outstanding sellers and bringing in new ones all the time. An afternoon stroll through all of these markets takes you through Soho, Nolita, the Lower East Side and points in between.

Saturday and Sunday

Ahkun Summer Pop Up Shop: Ahkun is a non-profit organization that connects micro-financed companies to the global marketplace. They are holding a pop-up shop at the Lower East Side Girls Club. Shop for “style with a conscience,” featuring fair trade organizations, independent designers, sustainable brands, and gourmet popsicles!

St. Anthony’s Market: I love strolling through this market on Houston Street because there are always so many interesting vendors there. Plus, it’s wide open, right on the sidewalk, and easy to get to. I bet you’ve walked by it a million times. So this weekend stop, chat and stop!

Nolita Market: The Nolita Market is on Prince Street between Mulberry and Spring Streets. This is another sidewalk market, set against the beautiful backdrop of the brick church wall at the Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral. It’s a nice walk from St. Anthony’s so make sure you hit both!

The Market NYC – Young Designers Market: This is a market you have to visit on a regular – and frequent - basis because there is so much design talent in jewelry, fashion, and accessories. They have two locations every weekend now, the original at 268 Mulberry, just around the corner from the Nolita Market, and the other at 328 14th St. in the Meatpacking District.

Essex Street Market: This indoor market is a haven for foodie explorers. There’s a lot to discover, from the cheeses, the breads, and the fresh fish, to the international foods, the handmade chocolates, and the Italian gourmet food shop. It’s also the home to La Tiendita, the city’s only “girl made and fair trade” social venture business, founded in 1998 by the Lower East Side Girls Club. So visit their facilities for the Ahkun Market, and then stroll over visit their shop, La Tiendita, at the Essex Street Market for some delicious baked goods!

Have a great mid-summer weekend! And don’t forget to tell us about your own Market Haul!

Weekend Market Picks for July 16-17, 2011

I am thrilled to feature the wonderful array of products from SchoolHouse Kitchen! I first tried their jams, chutneys, mustards and vinaigrettes at the New Amsterdam Market, and I cannot get over the flavors and the combinations they use. My current favorite is Cherry Blackberry Sage & Clove Spreadable Fruit, which is equally delicious on toast as it is as a marinade for chicken. They just brought out two new vinaigrettes that got rave reviews at the Fancy Food Show in DC last weekend: Poppyseed Vinaigrette Revival and the Coconut Citrus Vinaigrette. Yes, you read it right! They give a percentage of their proceeds to education charities, and all the products are made with high quality, natural ingredients. I have taken their motto to heart: Eat well, eat in moderation, and be adventurous.

And now for this weekend’s Market Picks for everyone who is staying in town this weekend of visiting New York City from far and wide:

Saturday & Sunday

Antiques Garage and the Annex: These two markets are located across 6th Avenue from each other, and it’s worth it to stroll through both locations. The Garage has two floors of diverse vintage and antique items, from books and prints to clothing and ship memborabilia, and everything in between. You know you love digging for treasures, and you should spend some time at the Annex – clothing, jewelry, records, and vintage everything. Manhattan

Essex Street Market: If you haven’t gone shopping at the Essex Street Market, go this weekend. And bring a tote bag! This market opened in 1940 when Mayor LaGuardia got all the street vendors off the street and into new market buildings. Today, you can find cheese, fish, meats, coffee, pastries, bread, handmade chocolates, and much more! Manhattan

Park Slope Flea Market: Have you been walking past this market for years, take the time to go inside and see all the wonderful things there. The Park Slope Flea is a classic flea market, with vintage clothing, homewares, furniture, and even artwork and sweet bonsai trees. Brooklyn

Saturday

Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket: The Grand Army Plaza Market is the largest one in Brooklyn, akin to the Union Square Greenmarket in size and variety of foods sold. But it’s a lot more laid back, with families, joggers from the park, and people strolling with their dogs, all browsing through the produce, bread, fish, and more. GrowNYC has textile recycling and compost collection every weekend too! It’s also a short walk from the Park Slope Flea! Brooklyn

Sunday

Greenflea: The Greenflea is back on the Picks List because it’s just so great. There are some amazing vendors there, including vintage, fleas, jewelry of all kinds, delicious market food, furniture, and this guy (Scott Jordan). Wander around the outdoor market, and then visit the vintage vendors inside the school cafeteria. Manhattan

It’s going to be a wonderful weekend, so head out to the markets and let us know what you bought and what you ate! And don’t forget to pick up something delicious from SchoolHouse Kitchen on Saturday at Smorgasburg and Sunday at the New Amsterdam Market!

Independent Designers Pop Up in Chelsea Market

Independent Designer Pop Shop at Chelsea Market

Opening Day of the Independent Designers Pop Shop at Chelsea Market today revealed a wonderful array of high quality clothing, jewelry, and accessories. The clothing designs are particularly exciting, with smart, eco fashion by Nina Valenti, the extremely innovative and beautiful creations of Selma Karaca, and more.

Most of the designers here also sell their creations in the artisan markets around the city, and this ensemble is quite visionary. If you are looking for tomorrow’s fashion and design trends, you cannot miss this event, where you can go meet all of these talented designers in person:

Featuring:
Alexandra Beth Designs
Atlantis Jewelry
Australian Scent
Bijoutique
Ceola
Corrente Collection
GLAM
Guru
Nature vs Future
Over the Moon Jewelry
Rebecka Froberg
Sandra Baquero
Selma Karaca
Sohung Designs
T. Kahres Jewelry
Umsteigen
Vale Jewelry
Vernakular Photo Designs

The market runs Wednesday, June 22 at 11:00am – Monday, June 27 at 8:00pm.

Photo of the Day: Birdhouse Jewelry

Birdhouse Jewelry’s tented boutique at the Brooklyn Flea has become a destination in and of itself within the flea. Designers Amy and Alen Lapierre create lovely, versatile, and unusual pieces that suit any taste. From dainty to edgy, sparkly crystals to headphone charms, the designs are so diverse that I could not choose just one photo to represent their lines. In fact, five photos barely scratches the surface of all that Birdhouse Jewelry has on their display tables.

Amy and Alen’s pieces are all handmade, and they incorporate beautiful crystals, quartz, pearls and more. One of my favorite aspects of their design is the subtle detail, like a teensy bird or a small crystal halfway up a necklace chain. And they are always coming out with new items, including mixed metals, which is definitely a favorite market trend. And even small animal figurines. You just have to go check it all out for yourself.

If you can’t make it to the Brooklyn Flea, check out Birdhouse Jewelry on Etsy!

Prospect Heights Craft Fair: A Great Collection of Local Artisan for a Good Cause

This year’s third annual Prospect Heights Craft Fair featured an impressive collection of local and regional artisans. Proceeds from this fair go to support the arts at P.S. 9, “so every kid from our neighborhood public elementary school can take art and dance every week and participate in amazing programs like Brooklyn’s own Lava Acrobatic Program, Studio in a School and the Guggenheim Museum Learning Through Art,” according to their website. The arts are a critical part of a child’s education, and with budgets being cut all around, we cannot take art programs in schools for granted. So I was thrilled to support the efforts of the school and the parents to provide these experiences to their children.

Many of the participating vendors were parents of students, including Brooklyn Kernel, making delicious flavored popcorn. Other vendors that caught my eye included:

Twitch and Whiskers – Lovely, whimsical jewelry made from found and recycled objects. She will also be at the Brooklyn Craft Central’s Shop the Arch on May 21!
Bright Lights Little City – Fun and flowery accessories, lamps – and the beautiful bowl of origami stars (pictured)!
Hecho en Brooklyn – Delicate and lovely handmade jewelry. Their swirl earring design is one of my favorites.
DanaMade - Clever and fun jewelry designer making colorful, unique pieces from vintage findings, buttons and much me.
Metropolis Soaps - Fantastic handmade soaps and scents with great pulp fiction branding. I got a refill of Aroma Obscura, and my husband loves her unusual charcoal soap that draws out the toxins.
Empressive Cakes - Wow! Their orange creamsicle cupcake was out of this world. The cake was dense and rich, and the frosting was the perfect texture. Really really delicious.
Hazel Village – These handmade stuffed birdies, racoons, frogs and more are lovely and sweet and have a style all their own. You can even get different outfits for them.
Rain Lily – Proprietor Katy Mahoney is dedicated to supporting artisans around the world via fair trade. She imports beautiful, fine jewelry, scarves, dolls, and more made from wonderful materials. The shwe shwe dolls in the photo below are handmade in South Africa based on children’s drawings.

The Prospect Heights Craft Fair is an annual event, so if you missed it this year, you’ll have to wait until next spring to enjoy it! But don’t worry – I’ll remind you next time!

Photo of the Day – November 4, 2010: Artist Harriet Faith

Italian Greyhound Portrait by Harriet Faith at Prospect Park

I spent a Saturday morning in September at the Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket signing books and chatting with the good people of Brooklyn. Afterward, I took a stroll to see the artisans who set up their tables at the entrance to Prospect Park.

The work of Artist Harriet Faith struck a chord with me. She is a fine artist and jewelry maker. Her style has a dreamy quality, with layers of colors and images, and different textures. The subject matter is lovely and imaginative, with streams of consciousness woven throughout. At the same time, the images are quite accessible. What might look like a study in color, pattern and texture to one person may be a very pretty series of cats printed on newsprint to another. I really loved this portrait of an Italian greyhound not only because they are sweet sweet dogs, but the swirls reminded me of traditional Persian art. I can see also influences of surrealism in her work, such as people with animal attributes. She prints her artwork on a variety of canvasses – newsprint, sheet music, book pages, opera librettos.

You can find Harriet Faith most Saturdays at the northwest entrance to Prospect Park just beyond the Greenmarket. Her new website recently launched as well, and she will be adding her jewelry to the site soon, small collages made from layers of objects and images.

Photo of the Day – September 27, 2010: Paperelle

Lightbulb Full of Stars by Lauren Donnelly of Paperelle

Paperelle is all sorts of wonderful ideas rolled into one: origami, upcycling, decoupage, design, handcrafting, and whimsy. Talented artisan Lauren Donnelly creates colorful, paper jewelry and other objets, such as this lovely lightbulb full of tiny, plump origami stars, each one made carefully by hand. She also makes bangles and other pieces of jewelry using bits of paper that she carefully selects: Japanese Manga, an upcycled physics textbook, or a map of the State of New York. She even puts junk mail to good use. Paperelle pieces are all one-of-a-kind, dainty, and sweet. And if a lightbulb full of stars doesn’t inspire you to dream, well, we need to talk.

She sells her work on Etsy.com, and she is a member of The {NewNew} Artisan Group, selling her pieces at markets in New York City.

Photo of the Day – September 21, 2010: Urbanrose Handcrafted Jewelry

Classic Lockets with Artful Images from Urbanrose

What woman doesn’t have a soft spot for lockets? Didn’t everyone have a teensy locket with a photo of a beloved grandmother inside, or maybe a weensy photo cut out of Tiger Beat Magazine? Growing up, you had to have a locket and a diary with a lock on it – for privacy reasons, of course. And the contents of both was extra secret. But lockets have been surprisingly difficult to find for many years for some reason. Until now, that is.

Urbanrose creates delicate lockets, both small and large. Each piece is unique and handmade using delicate images appliquéd to the brass lockets. The images come in a variety of themes, from famous works of art, landmarks, and vintage photos, to trees and flowers, 1970’s design, wildlife, vintage labels, and much more. You will definitely find an image that will appeal to every age and every style. I loved the images of these women in paintings and tapestries on the lockets pictured.

I hope I don’t get in trouble for this scoop, but Urbanrose is collaborating with another of my favorite market superstars, Bugged Out! Now you can get Bugged Out’s whimsical bugs, veggies, and fruits on a locket! Only at the Markets of New York City.

You can find Urbanrose’s collections at the St. Anthony’s Market and the Fulton Stall Market most Saturdays and Sundays.

Bugged Out's Whimsical Bugs on Lockets from Urbanrose

Photo of the Day – September 14, 2010: Wink & Flip

Wink & Flip Jewelry at the Hester Street Fair

Wink & Flip designer and founder Natasha Spedalle has beautiful, sparkly baubles under her tent at the Hester Street Fair. She handmakes many of her designs, and she sells carefully selected commercial items as well. The collections include beads, crystals, metals of all colors, and headbands made from ribbons and fabrics. Earlier this year, a Wink & Flip necklace appeared on the cover of Teen Vogue.

Wink & Flip’s merchandise and pricing appeal to an audience of all ages and styles, and Natasha chooses every piece with care and flair. This level of attention to detail explains why Wink & Flip has been in business for over six years and the accolades Natasha has received as a young entrepreneur. She also started the Pearl Project, which provides beautiful faux pearl necklaces for Dress for Success Worldwide. “Since its inception, The Pearl Project has donated more than 6,000 pearl necklace sets to needy women across the country,” says Natasha on her website. A portion of every purchase goes towards the Pearl Project.

You can come try on Wink & Flip’s treasures on Saturdays at the Hester Street Fair. She also holds trunk shows on college campuses during the school year. Check her website and her Twitter feed to see where she’ll be next.