Artists & Fleas

Weekend in Images

What's New From Who

Lords of the indie merch have mercy upon us! So much to see-touch-smell-wear, so little time. Get your dose of show-and-sell this weekend when some jaw-droppingly hip newbies come out to play. Stroll through the (forecasted) Saturday snow or work up a pre-SuperBowl shop-n-buzz right here and make sure the kids are alright come halftime. Yes, The Who are performing. No comment.

There's no time like the here and now. At least that's the feeling you get from the folks behind XOS Cards. And they're legit - original designs, original papers, just in time for a little V-Day or anti-V-Day sentiments (above). They're nice and thick and can hold the ink so pour out your heart or all your spite. Sunday, Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

2 years ago, it was all about the mini-cupcake. We've seen Keavy @ KumquatCupcakery explode since those early days with tons of other folks doing the mini thing. Last year it was all about artisanal _______ (take your pic foodeez). This year? It's about life's simple pleasures. You, yourself, your body.

Vitalist (above, left) comes to the show with facial oils that are all hand-made and blended with care in small batches, using the highest quality plant oils, essential oils, and medicinal herbs. No nonsense, no artificial stuff. Made by an herbalist with an eye for beauty and all things good. Saturday, Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

Soapwalla (above, right) is Brooklyn-born and has Kiehls on the mind, or in their sights. These cats have the trifecta down: quality stuff inside, gorgeous packaging outside, and a hook-up to the fountain of youth. Or at least good-looking and good-smelling bodies. Sunday, Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

  
If you yearn for more wearable objects of art and beauty, check out Stache and her exotic erotic merch, vintage clothes and accessories (above, left). Saturday & Sunday, Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

A few more fine folks to round out the threads and accessories crew include Don Charles Design (above center and right) with upcycled button-down shirts. That's an idea that might make you dizzy but don't take it from us, see for yourself. Saturday & Sunday, Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm. Jenny King and Tear-n-Tan handbags bring some bangles, some bags, and some more (pictured, below). Saturday, Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

Design Space Concept is a Brooklyn-based design team that has made a profound and far-reaching impact on the NYC design scene for years with their "curation" of the windows at Housing Works. They're joining the show this weekend to share a wickedly cool line of revitalized and revamped bags called ReBags (pictured right). These are just smart, cool and talented folks. Get to know them. Saturday, Indoor Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

VoTW: Yamerra

Before you even try YAMERRA's 100% organic shea butter products their amazing smells will get you interested. Touch and rub and smear and bask and...forget about it, this is potent stuff. And in the run-up to Valentine's Day next weekend, we offer you this week's Vendor of the Week: Yamerra.

A&F: Where does the word Yamerra come from? 

YAMERRA:YAMERRA is a self-created word that means "glorious." It was essentially derived from client feedback that the product made them smell delicious and feel glorious. And it is a direct re-structure of my name, "Maryam". 

A&F: Tell us about your products

YAMERRA:Yamerra is a 100% Organic Skincare and Hair care Product line designed for the earth conscious, fashionable (positive) trendsetters. Yamerra is built on Organic Shea butter, which is infused with restorative herbs and essential oils to give the Shea certain healing and rejuvenatory powers.

Yamerra offers an assortment of handmade organic products that fill the skin and hair care needs of a growing group of males and females, as well as children, and for all skin types. We have three product lines, a 2-1 hair and body butter, luxurious body soap and a whipped body soufflé. They come in four varying scents: Lemon Fire Bliss Lemongrass, Sultry Mango, Home Sweet Home Honey Vanilla and Be Bodacious Tangerine Grape.

Yamerra also carries a line for mothers-to-be, nursing mothers and newborn babies (6-12 months), plus unique seasonal creations.

A&F: How did you get into creating skincare products?

YAMERRA: I first got into mixing my own skincare and hair care products out of the need to improve my own skin and hair with affordable, natural raw materials. I discovered, after much research, that Shea butter is extremely restorative and healing for the hair and skin. Shea butter has many useful properties among which are protective and emollient properties that are valued for skin and hair care. Shea butter has been a mainstay of African pharmacology for centuries. I decided to mix pure Shea with essential oils and herbs, to even enhance it more  provide variety for sale after 3 years of using it personally and also with friends and family.

A&F: What inspires your creativity?

YAMERRA: My friends and family, and especially, my clientele. Yamerra is primarily designed with them in mind. I try to provide organic skincare that will nourish their hair and skin, naturally, without an chemicals added to the products. it is also very important to me to also create and provide a product that is Eco friendly. The making of a new scent or product within the line is stimulated from specific client requests and needs sometimes, others from a driving need to create an earth-friendly, affordable alternative to  destructive skincare and haircare products out there.

A&F: What do you like about selling at Artists & Fleas?

YAMERRA: I really enjoy the fact that I get to connect with such a diverse crowd of personalities from all over the world. Most significantly, these customers/clients that buy my products from Artists & Fleas carry my bigger message to their final destinations of using more earth friendly products as a means to a healthier and more sustainable living.

A&F: What's in the future for YAMERRA?

YAMERRA:I hope to continue selling at Artists and Fleas and sharing my products within its community. My plans in the near future for the company include opening a functioning online retail store- so as to have a world-wide outreach, and also to garner more product placements with organic retail stores and Earth conscious establishments in New York. My long term goals include owning my own product retail store and funding workshops geared towards sharing knowledge about recycling, sustainability and the incorporation of  Eco friendly products in our daily lives.

A&F: Tell us something we don't know...

YAMERRA: Yamerra is extremely luxurious and earth friendly and has been made primarily to nourish the body and hair, you. We  are thankful to have a place like Artists & Fleas in which to share it with all that visit! Stop past and grab your "Pot Of Luxury" now!

In Case You Missed It...

 
This blue rhinestone necklace by Corvus Noir is made from a 1950's dress collar. See this and other one-of-a-kind vintage finds every Saturday and Sunday at The Indoor Artist and Designer Market.

Feeling Groovy

We're not quite sure what was in the air - or if it was in the punch we drank at brunch on Sunday - but Tracie from ATHD snapped this super psychedelic picture of these jewels made by Churoncalla and we just couldn't resist sharing the love.

Below are some more pics from another fantastic weekend at Artists & Fleas. If you've got something you want to share, send it our way or just post it to Flickr and make sure to tag it "artists & fleas" so we can pick it up in our photo stream.

 

What's New From Who

January is going out with a bang with a little something to tickle all your senses. Get away from the cold, step inside and get cultured in the way that only indie kids from Brooklyn can: by finding yourself in the presence of coolness of the legit kind.

 

Photographer Howie Schneider does a Brooklyn-to-Berkshires run whenever he feels inspired which - judging by the volume of mind-trippingly stylized pictures stretched on canvas (above). Check his Photo Gallery  and see him in real life. Sunday, Indoor Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

SGS Jewelry will make you reach out and touch something, something precious and semi-precious, made of gold or metal, but sure as hell to dazzle and excite (above). A Brooklyn-native (truth), Sara is coming to these parts to see how the other half lives and we couldn't be more tickled. Sunday, Indoor Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

Adha Zelma Jewelry (above, left) knows that a little whimsy elegance is just the thing that every gal wants and needs. Long-time best friends and creative partners Sheanan Bond and Cherise TrahanMiller do eternal themes like earth, air and fire in style. Saturday, Indoor Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

J. Montes Designs has a wild and wicked eye for the find, curating a collection of artifacts and "street style" from visits to markets around the world and then giving them a little twist like the Cadillac of clocks, pictured above left. Sunday, Indoor Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

Lilylove Designs (above, center) joins the show bringing more homegrown inspiration into handmade jewelry that are eclectic, fun and fashionable. Give yourself a little love. Saturday, Indoor Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

Papa B Studios is super on to something and we're excited to have him bring some of the magic he makes to the market. Silk Screened T-Shirts and merch are made right in front of your eyes so it almost feels like a little traveling circus in a box - a feast for all senses. Sunday, Indoor Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

Doug Stattel takes an artist's approach to illustrating and designing one-of-a-kind Ts. Celebrate your winter with one of these wicked creations or just get yourself outfitted for the weekend because everyone loves to see some skin. Saturday & Sunday, Indoor Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.

Square is Anything But

A month or so ago we got wind of a mind-blowingly amazing new device created by one of Twitter's founders called Square that promises to revolutionize the way millions of small businesses do business.

For most of the folks in the Artists & Fleas family of DIY creators, collectors and small business entrepreneurs, transacting business - by which we mean actually dealing with non-cash transactions - can be a total drag. There are lots of ways out there for people to accept credit cards but they usually require an investment in a machine and those providers and credit card processing companies take a nice bit of your already slim profit margin.

(Talking about how to determine the value of your merch is a subject for another day).

Square is brilliant and elegant. It plugs into your iPhone and uses your device as a mini cash register/touchpad to accept debit and credit card transactions.

The devices are finding their way into indie entrepreneurs hands mainly on an invite-only basis. But it's worth checking out and we'd love to help get them into more people's hands if possible. This is just the solution for this community and market.

In Case You Missed It...

Locally made hand-bound leather journals, photo albums, scrapbooks, satchels and belts by Luscious Leather. Find them this Saturday and Sunday and the Indoor Artist and Designer Market.

 

Weekend in Images

What's New From Who - Part Deux

An exciting last minute addition to Saturday's line-up: Starpups Cafe and Destination Cupcake NY. These partners and friends are not me-too cupcaking kids. They've been baking people (and their pups!) into a

 

tizzy for years with their tantalizing treats - like their best-selling signature bacon-inspired cake (pictured above) and sinfully delicious Caribbean cupcakes made of rum and brown sugar that will take you to a picturesque place on an island far from Gotham. Good enough for your pup? Hellz yeah. Good enough for you? No doubt. Saturday, Indoor Artist & Designer Market, 12-8pm.