Handmade in Brooklyn

"The Renegade Craft Fair is a unique DIY event held annually in Brooklyn, Chicago, Los Angeles & San Francisco. RCF has gained a reputation over the last six years as being the biggest, best and the most well-known of all the DIY craft fairs out there. Each individual fair draws hundreds of applicants and tens of thousands of shoppers from all over the country and abroad! At RCF you’ll find all sorts of cool handmade stuff - including plush items, jewelry, posters + prints, craft kits, clothing, stationery + more.

The Renegade Craft Fair is organized by Sue Daly, whose a crafter herself, and designs jewelry under the name Timber! Her husband Mat Daly makes all of the posters for the events, always being sure to include the beloved owl mascot! The inspiration for RCF came when Sue wanted to take her jewelry-making hobby to the next level, and try selling her stuff at local art fairs. After looking into it a little, it quickly became apparent that there were no shows representing the DIY craft community, which already had a huge presence online. So, with a childhood friend the Renegade Craft Fair was started and provided an exciting, fresh venue for artists and shoppers alike."

The 5th Annual Renegade Craft Fair in Brooklyn is THIS WEEKEND!! This year’s event is taking place June 6 + 7 from 11am - 7pm, at McCarren Park. The Artist list is up, so check it out and get a sneak peak at who will be there! Please spread the word, and grab a web banner below for your site, blog, etc.

Over 300 indie crafters are participating in the fair, so there’s sure to be something for everyone! Be sure to stop by our Info booth near the corner of Bedford + N. 12th St. to sign up for Raffles provided by Sublime Stitching, Stencil 1 and Craftside. And grab some delicious grub from Urban Rustic, Lefty’s & The Treats Truck!

The Renegade Craft Fair is FREE to attend, and open to the public. Take public transportation to the Fair by hopping on either the G or L trains to Brooklyn. Hop off at Bedford Ave. and walk north to McCarren park if you’re riding the L Train or, if you’re riding the G Train, get off at Nassau and walk two blocks south!

Melissa Mytty: Pickles & Pop

Melissa Mytty, is a Resident Artist at The Clay Studio in Old City, Philadelphia, PA. Melissa makes super detailed cups and saucers in her studio space, and has her solo show now at the Gallery.

The Resident Artist Program offers individuals the opportunity to further develop their work, to establish professional contacts and standards, and to work within a community of like-minded individuals in an urban environment. Once chosen as a resident artist, one is entitled to retain their residency for up to five years.

A residency at The Clay Studio includes:

• studio space (approximately 185-195 sq. ft.)
• use of four electric and two gas kilns
• collective buying of materials
• a glaze mixing area
• teaching opportunities and the right to exhibit in our galleries

The monthly rent of $250.00 is waived through August of 2011. There is a $250.00 refundable security deposit and a yearly Clay Studio membership fee of $50.00. Firing costs are based on individual usage. Residents share common housekeeping work and contribute time to The Clay Studio as well.



Melissa's Artist Statement:

"Form Function Fantasy and Fashion. The cup as an object has been the focus of my investigation as a maker. My work draws from the rich history of ceramics while injections of contemporary culture such as haute couture, tattoos, automotive design, ground effects, and licking tongues are critical and keep my work pushing the boundaries of the material and the format of the cup. I am intrigued by the timeless design of teacups and the clean aesthetic of mass-produced dinnerware; It is however critical that my work come from between my fingers and under my nails. I live for the sense of touch and am forever altering my cup designs as they come to life in the palms of my hands."

Come out to The Clay Studio on N.2nd Street between Arch and Race Streets and check out Melissa's hot show!!
CHECK OUT images of all the work in the show!!!

Weekend Updated with the YoCoPros

The weather has finally broke and it will be a fun filled weekend. The weekend started off last night with a ton of shows going on in the city. As usual we hit up Silk City, not only cause we love it but because I won free tix to Tigerbeat. Tigerbeat is F$%king sick, he was mixing oldies, with 80's and dance music it was an incredible mix, unfortunately I was a little distracted from all of the Fistpumping from all the Jersey's that somehow found their way their.

Today starts off with The Piazza at Schmitts, in NoLibs, The Marketplace with local vendors and artists goes all day long, and is accompanied by Music and bands and the Phillies game on the Jumbo screen at 4pm. PBC: Philadelphia Brewing Company has their weekly tours and tasting starting at 12pm.

Renegade Craft Fair is also going on today and on Sunday in the BK (Brooklyn, Ny) even though its not a Philly event we are sure lots of YoCoPros will hit it up since its like an even bigger version of last weeks Art Star Craft Bazaar.

The Roots are hosting the Roots Picnic 2009, which is gonna be awesome and it looks like it might be better than last year. It's taking place at Festival Pier at Penns Landing all day!

And finally Sunday Philly is hosting Bike races in Manayunk, which bring the annual 300,000 spectators and lots of fun. Check it out and get their early!

Your Mutter

The Mutter Museum is #9 in Radar Online's top 12 Strangest Museums! The Mutter is a medical museum located at 22nd and Market, the museum originated with donations from Thomas Dent Mütter in 1858. The museum displays anatomical specimens, and medical oddities medical research and education.

Check it out:

Street address
19 South 22nd Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19103.

Hours of operation
Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm
Saturday & Sunday, 10am-5pm

First Frizzy

This Friday, which happens to be First Friday, the YoCoPros will be venturing out to Old City for the usual festivities and art, followed by a trip back to Fishtown to stop by V Groove Studios. Groove is located at 306 W Girard Ave, and this first friday they are hosting with a variety of art by local artists which include Carly Herman, Victor Perez, Nina Capellono, Aaron Klingensith and our good friend Kim Arata! Check it out and then head over to Frankford Ave for the later version of First Friday.

Viva Mexico

Finally after living in Fishtown for a few years now we finally remembered to stop by Las Cazuelas when we had some hunger pangs. Las Cazuelas has been around since November 1999, and has been quite successful at its NoLibs location on 426 W Girard Ave. This is a perfect place for authentic Mexican food, we were very impressed by the food and we had flashbacks of a vacation to Ecuador while eating the delicious ceviche. This was the first place we were able to find ceviche made the authentic way in Philly. Las Cazuelas is a cozy BYOB wtih moderate prices, great authentic cuisine, with a relaxed cozy atmosphere.

New Happenings Portfishington

Lots of stuff going on in the neighborhood, and here we go:

Canvas Coffee shop found at the corner of Girard and Colombia has been closed for almost a year now. The former owners moved on to create the greatest burgers around in a little place called Sketch. If you couldn't tell, we love it. Great burgers, anything from your basic American beef to Kobe and Veggie. They have awesome fresh cut fries and shakes too, and they have recently expanded the menu with salads and other sandwiches. Anyway my point was the location of the former Canvas Coffee will soon open up as a Coffee/Record shop. I think this will be a great addition to the area and we kind of miss a coffee shop on this side of the El (besides RocketCat).

We have also heard word of a possible ice cream/soda shop opening on the same side of the street, the outside is painted in green and pink pastels. If this opens up and the rumors are true it has huge potential to be a hit. Not only does it attract the YoCoPros of the Fishtown area but will hopefully bring people in from NoLibs and other areas as well. We can only hope for the span of Girard from the El to Girard Gas to one day look like Second Street in NoLibs.

Third on our list is the construction going on on Front Street, under the El near the Berks stop. Apparently this is going to be home to the new Kensington High School, and their are plans to connect Berks Street with Front. The construction is great and will hopefully help cleanup this strip under the El and allow people to safely walk to and from the El via Berks.

Inagardenofbeera

We are huge fans of Silk City, as we've mentioned many times before, but when we thought it couldn't get any better they throw us the finally completed Beer Garden. We have watched the construction go on all winter and now it is open for business. Upon entering, you feel like you have traveled to a place that is no longer Philly, but with the good old traits of the Silk. Huge decorated walls and metal sculptures adorn the garden and make it a fun place to eat, drink and hangout. I can definitely see Mark's, influence in the design and it reminds me of his other place North 3rd. The garden has a full wooden bar, tons of beach influenced tables and huge chairs that make you feel like your the life guard on duty of Bay Watch.

What A Great Ikea

Well we all know Ikea a pretty f&#cking cool, but often times we have found ourselves modifying Ikea products to use them in a different way then they were intended. We ran across a great blog with tons of Ikea Hacked submissions, great for ideas and even inspiration. We couldn't stop playing around on the site and admiring how creative people been with their Ikea stuff. Not to mention many of the the submissions mention getting the items via the amazing As-is room, in the garbage or on the Craigs. Hope this inspires you to do something cool next time you find yourself with a bit of a Trondheim on your hands. Check out Ikea Hacker!

"Can you pull me into town?"

To go along with my last post of Freakish Bikes, apparently cargo bikes are going to be the next big thing. I have slowly seen the increase of bikes in Philadelphia and I'm sure ill see more and more as the weather gets nicer. I have seen cargo style bikes in Philly and New York but they are a rarity, I know in Europe its pretty common, Ikea has even jumped onboard with rental bikes and cargo trailers for you bike. The idea is pretty sweet and of course green, I just wish Philly along with so many other major cities would get their sh!t straight and make more bike lanes and just increase awareness of and for bicyclists, and prevent horrible things like this.

Freakish Bike

I love bicycles, but no where near the way these people do. Some crazy, crazy stuff going on here.

Free TV!!!

For those of you who aren't as nerdy tech-savvy as we are, yes you can watch free tv online. For a long time we have been hardcore downloaders of music and movies and recently I had an epiphany and almost dropped my crappy Comcast cable. If you don't watch TV all that much Boxee and Hulu are both completely free and you should go get them now! All you need is a Mac or PC and if you want to you can hook that up to your 150" plasma and bam! free high def tv when and where you want it. Check it out now, Hulu has a desktop application that you can download for free and check out their full library. Anything thats free is good, and when its legal TV and Movies its even better.

Keep Your Camera in a Camera!

A Japanese illustrator/puppet stop-motion video artist / crafter who lives in Vancouver, Canada:

Hine [hee-neh] Mizushima. She is an Illustrator, a handmade crafter and a puppet-based stop-motion animation video artist. Hine was born and raised in Japan, she majored in traditional Japanese painting at a University there and worked as a paper product designer/Illustrator in Tokyo. After she met her husband (who is Canadian), they decided to move to Rome, then Paris, then Brooklyn. Two and a half years ago they moved to Vancouver, Canada, with their son. Then they discovered Etsy! At first they just bought things from the site but, Etsy inspired them to create handmade things and she became a seller as well, and have been for a year and a half. Her camera cases are great! It gets the YoCoPros stamp of appoval.

www.hine.etsy.com

Get to the Bazaar this Weekend!!!!

Come out to Penn's Landing this weekend, and support HANDMADE!! Some of the YoCoPros pals will be in attendence: Yasha Butler Ceramics, Naomi Cleary Ceramics, Amy Santoferraro, Ryan Kelly and Nate Prouty!!!! Come out and get into the Indie Craft Movement, handmade, reused and recycled, orignal affordable artwork and awsome live music will all be there down at Penn's Landing this weekend in Philadelphia!!


Saturday Music Line-up
11am: Pairdown
12pm: The Josh Olmstead Band
1pm: The Documents
2pm: Gildon Works
3pm: Padre Pio
4pm: Toy Soldiers
5pm: Folklore

Sunday Music Line-up:
12pm: Perkasie
1pm: Photon Band
2pm: Like A Fox
3pm: North Lawrence Midnight Singers
4pm: The Mural & The Mint
5pm: Oh!Pears

The Great Plaza @ Penn's Landing
(on Columbus Boulevard between Chestnut Street & Walnut Street)

click here for 2009 press release.

Wednesday Is the New Friday

Every Wednesday, from June 3 through August 26, 5-7 pm!!!

Enjoy $4 cocktails, $3 wine, $2 beers and half-priced appetizers at the participating bars and restaurants listed below. Individual bars and restaurants will determine which drinks and appetizers are on special.

Download a map of Center City District Sips Participants | PDF (334 KB)

**Also a little insider tip, every Wednesday after 5pm meter parking is free in OLD CITY!!**

Not Your Typical Teacups By DARYL EVANS

Check out this article!


"It’s Friday night and summer is upon us (most days), so where will you be? If you’re smart, you’ll be in Old City at First Friday. If you’re even smarter, you’ll be at the Clay Studio for the opening reception of local artist Melissa Mytty.

To say that Mytty makes teacups is simply inadequate. Perched atop highly designed wall-mounted platforms, and nestled on elaborate saucers, these pieces are more high fashion than functional kitchenware. Mytty's evocative titles including Sweet Cheeks, Tog, and Delicious, suggests that her work be seen as individual vignettes offering a different mix of fashion, design, and abundance.

Mytty describes her current body of work as "Drawing from the rich history of ceramics while injections of contemporary culture, such as haute couture, tattoos, automotive design, ground effects, and licking tongues, are critical and keep my work pushing the boundaries of the material and the format of the cup".

We could of course, go on and on about Melissa Mytty, but your hip and with it, so we’ll see you at The Clay Studio for First Friday!"

June 5, 2009 5 p.m.-9 p.m.

139 N. 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106

We Love I Love Grey Skys....

Featured Seller on Etsy!!

Please describe your creative process how, when, materials, etc.

Well most of my ideas and planning of projects happen at night time, as I put my son to sleep. After reading him a story I lay next to him while he unwinds and gets cozied up. It's then, in that silence that I really focus on the imagery I want my next or current project to take. Sometimes I come out of his room and write it down before I finally get some time to hang out and talk to my husband, but mostly I remember the ideas.

Luckily my son still naps for a couple hours each day and it is then (and only then) that I get the time to actually bring my ideas to form. I usually put on some music, go into my studio and approach whatever I happen to be working on. With the sculptures I make for the shop, there is always many steps and processes that are being worked on simultaneously. For instance, I may start by sanding some wood for the bases and take them out into my shop in the garage for staining. While the first coat absorbs into the wood, I'll then come in and sculpt with clay. Then back to the garage to wipe the first coat of stain off and perhaps start a paper mache mask . I think it's this variety of task that keeps me so interested. I'm also a painter but after painting and concentrating for 2 hours straight I can get a bit drained, but the sculptures are less serious, more fun." - Etsy Featured Seller Interview.

EM Freestyle

Ive always been a big fan of Eminem, unfortunately I find his freestyles to be so much more amazing than anything he has ever put on an LP. Check out this recent freestyle, amazing skills, witty, funny and dirty, Im glad he's back but I could only wish his new album was this good.

Ouch

Beatbox Followup

Well last week we told you about the amazing Julia Dales beatboxing vid. She was entered into the Beatboxing Championship coming up next week as a wildcard. Another Wildcard named Primativ was also selected for the men, and he can beatbox some stuff we have never heard before. From his videos it sounds like he has really good technique and can incorporate some amazing club/trance type sounds into his beatboxing which make for something that is truly unique.