Smorgasburg

Over the weekend, I traveled to Brooklyn to visit some friends. We stopped by Smorgasburg (operated by the Brooklyn Flea) on Sunday morning for brunch and my goodness, it was amazing. Smorgasburg is an all-food market with about 100 vendors. I went to their DUMBO location in the historic Tobacco Warehouse. It was tent after tent of delectable foods, a gorgeous carousel nearby, and Manhattan's cityscape as a backdrop. With so many delicious bites to choose from, deciding which items to get (and knowing when you've hit your full-ness limit) is the toughest part. To give you an idea...

The food wasn't the only thing to catch my eye. Many of the company's names, logos and graphics were so well done. Some favorites are:

Danny Macaroons – how cute is that logo?

Mrs. Kim's Kimchi – an awesome company name

Kings County Jerky Co. – When I commented to the guy working the tent that I liked his graphics, he proudly told me that they were designed by Dana Tanamachi. She's such a talent.

Pipcorn – fun name, nice graphics

Ish – how else could horseradish seem cool?

What an amazing Sunday morning experience. Great food, clever logos, and a pretty backdrop but best of all, a special time spent with friends.

P.S. Brooklyn Flea (antique and repurposed furniture, vintage jewelry, art, crafts, and of course, food) is coming to Philly! It starts on June 2, get the details here.

P.P.S. Feel like salivating even more? Check out the full list of Smorgasburg's vendors here.

*****

last photo by Regan Stephens, all other photos by The Pink Chalkboard

Philly Flea Market

On weekends and days off, you can usually find me hunting for treasures. Where do I go when it's not a Clover Market weekend? Well, I make the rounds of my favorite local thrift and antique stores and when I have a few free hours, I like to head over to the Philly Flea Market.

The Philly Flea Market is interesting because it moves around. After staying indoors during the winter at a former FedEx facility at 9th & Spring Garden Streets, the market heads outside to different locations across the city during the warmer months. Yesterday's destination was Head House Square, where I spent the afternoon treasure hunting. The weather was absolutely gorgeous—perfect for marketing and the place was packed! Here are a bunch of photos from the day.

First, some exterior photos to set the scene. Head House Square is an awesome place for this type of event.

Now for some things that caught my eye.

Our friend Becca collects vintage mesh purses like the one pictured below, so I always look out for these special bags at flea markets. 

 

I can't get enough of old rotary telephones, typewriters, glass bottles, and gorgeous pieces of china. 

There were a bunch of these cool plumbing fixtures that caught my eye. Maybe I could somehow repurpose the water spigots into hooks? I need to think about that a bit more...

I was also looking at these handmade tapestries. The colors were phenomenal! I am thinking that something like this would add a lot of warmth and interest to my decorating scheme.

Pieces of type are always a good find. This vendor had a really nice selection.

Jillian posted about using an abacus as wall art and this one reminded me of her. A much more muted color palette here than the one she chose, but I still think it has a lot of graphic impact. 

I fell in love with this rocking horse. I actually found a wooden horse just like this months and months ago at an estate sale and didn't realize it was part of a larger toy until yesterday. It's just amazing what you can find out there.

There was also a nice variety of vintage clothing and jewelry for sale. I was actually really impressed with the selection and if you like vintage jewelry, the Philly Flea Market is definitely a good source. 

So, that's my little recap! Next week's market is at Eastern State Penitentiary (which sounds crazy cool) and a vendor told me it's one of the biggest all year. I hope to check it out! 

You can find more about the Philly Flea Market here and this is the 2013 schedule. Happy hunting!

*****

all images via The Pink Chalkboard

Arhaus

How many times do you look through catalogs and get stopped in your tracks by the beauty of an item you see in front of you? For me, it's not that often. Sure, I see lots of pretty things but everything usually tends to be somewhat similar to something I've seen before.

Have you heard of Arhaus? I recently started getting mailings from them and now I just got my first catalog. Take a look at this beauty.

So unique and interesting-looking. I'm hoping it's comfortable to sit on. I definitely want to go to their store and test it out.

Other items that caught my eye are this ottoman

and this pendant.

Factory carts are all the rage these days but this tv stand and that console table are two slightly different takes on the style.

And then there is this tv console that is industrial in style but is more clean and streamlined than those items with big wheels on them. Chances are something like this will be a little less trendy and a bit more timeless.

Clover Market Finds: Doll House Fossils

The last seller I would like to share with you from last week's Clover Market is Kim Malm of Doll House Fossils. This artist's style is a perfect fit for The Pink Chalkboard—hand stitched and painted artwork of interiors! The detail and composition of her work is fascinating. I love the layouts, too. A bunch of my favorites are pictured below. 

So unique and different, right? Kim Malm has a great body of work which can be seen here, and you can purchase pieces on Etsy or Sachi. Design goodness, indeed. 

That just about wraps up my little preview of Clover Market. Of course there were so many vendors that I loved and didn't get a chance to include, but pictures of last week's Market can be found here. If you have a few minutes, it really is worth checking them out to see all of the amazing finds! Clearly my posts have barely even scratched the surface. And it looks like some of the very first images are from one of my all time favorite (and original) Clover Market vendors, Nannygoat Antiques! It was so hard not to buy everything I saw...

It also sounds like Clover Market will be in Chestnut Hill (Philadelphia) this fall. You can bet we'll be there! This post has more details. 

*****

all images via Doll House Fossils

Important Dates Art

On Monday, I wrote about the gallery/family wall that I am working on with a friend. She had found those lovely brackets and had the idea to include some important date art. Have you heard of this? There are a ton of great options on Etsy. Here are some of my favorites.

Cute, right? I'm loving the one with the silhouettes but all of these are sweet in their own way. 

*****

LePapier Studio's Important Dates Subway Art
Gathered Nest Designs' Important Dates Art Print
Leaves and Honey's Important Special Dates Art Print
Sadie's Canvas' Family Special Dates

Clover Market Finds: Gillian Pokalo

Here is another special Clover Market Find for you today—fine artist Gillian Pokalo. She combines photography, painting, and printmaking to create beautiful images. Her work features urban landscapes in gorgeous color palettes, and the effect is gritty and very powerful. 

I didn't get a chance to buy Gillian's work at the last Clover Market but my mom is thinking about purchasing a few prints for her home. We really like the idea of these funky prints set in her traditional decor. An added bonus is that Gillian is local (from Ardmore!) and a lot of her work includes familiar locations that are interpreted in a really unique way.

You can see Gillian's portfolio here and purchase her work through Etsy.

*****

all images via Gillian Pokalo