Mother’s Day » Markets of New York

Forget Bling – It’s All About The Schmutz!

Schmutzerland is a featured vendor at Brooklyn Craft Central’s Shop the Archway on Saturday May 21!

I ♥ Schmutzerland. Not the mountainous, politically neutral European country with fabulous chocolate instead of armed forces. But Schmutzerland, the family-owned jewelry design business that creates colorful, imaginative earrings, necklaces, cocktail rings, brooches, cufflinks and more.

The name itself slays me every time. They set out to be the “anti-bling,” but they have achieved something far greater, which is a successful creative business with a really fun vibe, a distinct style, and a broad appeal. I sought them out at this weekend’s Spring Lyceum Market because I knew they’d have the perfect Mother’s Day Gift for my mother-in-law. She already has a formidable jewelry collection, and I know she’s going to love the peacock feather necklace we got for her. (She doesn’t have a computer, so our secret is safe here the privacy of the Internet.)

Schmutzerland has created numerous collections with names like Buddha and Botanicals, Nostalgia and Curios, and Insectivora. They feature primarily historic images, and sometimes simply beautiful patterns and designs, encased in acrylic domes and lightweight settings, usually with tiny crystal or bead accents. Each piece is carefully designed and assembled by hand. There are so many images that I can relate to, from portraits of my heros Amelia Earhart and Benjamin Franklin, to the Victorian octopus earrings that I wear pretty much every day.

Schmutzerland will be at Brooklyn Craft Central’s Shop the Archway on May 21, 2011! Come and satisfy your inner tchochtke!

Pumpkin & Honey Bunny: Handmade Greeting Cards and Fizzy Sodas

Vendors of the Week for the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Spring Food and Craft Market!

Erica Rothchild and Anton Nocito are the team behind Pumpkin & Honey Bunny and P&H Soda and Syrup. It sounded like a cute and sweet name to me, and then I learned that the original Pumpkin & Honey Bunny are the robbers in the opening scene of Pulp Fiction. Gives the name a bit of a different twist, wouldn’t you say?

Erica is a graphic designer who makes beautiful hand-printed greeting cards, and Anton makes old-fashioned artisanal sodas. The theme that ties these two pursuits together is a sense of nostalgia for the early 19^th century that lends an Old World feeling to their work. In Erica’s designs, it is her use of vintage images, like a toast rack or a classic jello-mold. Anton aims to bring back the flavors and culture of old-time soda fountains, where people gathered for a chat, a nosh, and phosphate, or a cold soda freshly made from syrup and seltzer.

Erica’s line of greeting cards currently features primarily food-based themes because she began selling them at the Greenpoint Food Market. She uses a Gocco, which is a Japanese tabletop screen printing device. Erica’s Pumpkin & Honey Bunny cards include images of a pretzel (“Tying the Knot”), an old time oyster vendor, and a cherry pink pie (“Sweetie Pie”), among others. She is working on new designs for the Brooklyn Lyceum Spring Market, including Mother’s and Father’s Day cards. You can also find her cards at several shops in Brooklyn, including Brooklyn Kitchen, Tree House, Tiburon, and Word Bookstore.

Anton trained at the French Culinary Institute, and he is the chef at the cafe at the AKA Hotel in Midtown. He launched P&H Soda and Syrup at the Greenpoint Food Market, and he found that he could barely keep up with the demand at last week’s market. I had the cream soda, which was the perfect blend of sweetness, fizzyness, and cream soda flavor. Anton uses natural ingredients, including organic sugar and fair trade ingredients like hibiscus and ginger, as well as sugar alternatives like agave. In addition to the classics like cream soda and ginger lime, he likes to experiment with flavors, including hibiscus, hyssop, and verbena. He is working on a sarsparilla right now. In the summertime, he uses fruits from the farmers market to make new flavors for his syrups.

On one hand, Anton modestly says, “It’s just soda.” On the other hand, P&H Soda & Syrup has a great deal of thought and craft behind it. Personally, I can’t wait for him to open his soda fountain, but in the interim, I’ll be happy to drink his sodas at the Brooklyn Lyceum Market. He is also giving a soda making class on May 20th at the Brooklyn Kitchen.

You can see Erica’s cards on her Pumpkin & Honey Bunny Etsy Shop, and you can keep up with Anton on his blog, P&H Soda and Syrup, Inc. Meet them both at the Brooklyn Lyceum’s Food and Craft Market on May 1 & 2 and also at the monthly Greenpoint Food Market.