February 9, 2010

Vendor(s) of the Week: Species by the Thousands + A.S.I.S

Two girls, one booth. (Two vendors sharing booth #14, that is. Every weekend.)

What's your name and company's name?
My name is Erica and my business is Species By The Thousands.

And what's your hometown?
Tiverton, Rhode Island.

Where do you live now?
Now I live in Brooklyn, in Greenpoint, for about 8 years.

What do you sell and how long have you been selling it for?
I do T-shirts and sweatshirts that are eco-friendly with my drawing on them. I also do a line of jewelry, some of which is cast pieces and others are recycled/vintage. I have been doing this about 3 or 4 years.

What are they cast in?
They are cast in recycled sterling silver and different eco metals and alloys. Eco means it's not bought from miners but scrap metal that is melted down.

What's your specialty?
I do a lot of different things. I am a painter by trade, and I started by handpainting on shirts, but now I use screen prints. But I think the "Bearded Man" is my most popular design. [see slideshow]

What's your most memorable sale?
I don't know. It was fun selling to Jason Schwartzman when he was here last year. He bought two different designs and was really nice.

What keeps you coming back to the Flea?
It's really great to have an audience every week because I'm always making new things and it's an immediate place to show it and see how it goes over. It gives me firsthand experience about how to change the design, if necessary, for when I'm going to wholesale it. Plus everyone is so nice here.

What do you do for fun?
For fun I play in a band called Long Distance Poison. It's like analog, synthesizers, horror movie soundtrack stuff. I play the synthesizer and digital drums.

Do you have a website?
www.speciesbythethousands.com.

Thanks Erica!

What's your name and company's name?
My name is Angela and my business is A.S.I.S. which stands for Angela Spencer's Irresistible Stuff.

And what's your hometown?
Nottingham, England.

Where do you live now?
I live in Williamsburg now for about the last 10 years.

What do you sell and how long have you been selling it for?
I sell hand-knitted goods, crocheted hats, and jewelry. I've been doing it for about 6 years.

What's your specialty?
Knitted stuff, I would say. I use material from a small family-run farm in Nebraska and it's 85% wool, 15% mohair.

What's your most memorable sale?
Oh yeah! What's his name... Michael Stipe. He bought one of my chains at Gifted. I was totally freaking out. I was trying to keep it together. It's stupid 'cause I really wanted to tell him how amazing he was but I wanted him to buy something and not get scared away. Haha.

What keeps you coming back to the Flea?
Being able to have a marketplace for your stuff right away. The wholesale stuff can get a little bit boring and nondescript. It's like a little community, or family, with neighbors and all.

Is this your full-time job? What do you do for fun?
For fun, oh my god. I have no life. I have no social life whatsoever. I think...my fun merges into what I do with design work and knitting. While I knit I like using books on tape, like listening to Jane Austen—I know that's really cheesy. And I love East Village Radio.

Do you have a website?
www.luvasis.com.

Thanks Angela!

February 8, 2010

Finders/Keepers Feb. 6+7

A happy gal on Saturday; a vendor root canal on Sunday. The chalice shall return at a later date...

Amy (center) lives in the Slope, had been to one Flea last summer. She brunches every couple weeks with her gal pals (Rachel, left, and Gennie) and decided to make the Flea the food destination this time. When they were trying on gloves at the vendor next door, Amy spotted the pretty earrings in the Guru booth (#1 for those playing at home). (She's wearing them today fyi.)

Lovely Zein (not pictured; she snapped the pic!) has been pleasing customers with her stunning Indian jewelry and tunics for a couple years at the Flea, and her sparkly stand is reason enough to venture into the back right corner in your One Hanson spelunking.

Check back at noon Friday for this weekend's items.

A Real Flea Scavenger Hunt

Amanda%20SH.jpg

Last weekend, lucky gal Amanda's creative husband created a scavenger hunt for her birthday, where friends were challenged to find specific items relating to the b'day gal. So sweet we had to share.

Some of the clues included: "Find a pin that's cute as sin"; "Find something that starts and ends with 'A'" (in honor of Amanda)—this became the "Alvara" label above; and "Find something that shows an owl"—as any Fleaster knows, this was exceedingly easy.

Anyway, we love the idea, think you should do it too, maybe even this weekend for Valentine's Day.

In terms of our own Hunt, we'll have this week's Flea winner soon, once we learn her name and info. (The Sunday vendor had an emergency root canal so just that one item this week.)

February 5, 2010

Scavenger Hunt Items: Feb. 6+7

The weather outside could possibly be frightful, but the Hunt will surely be delightful. Scavenge in the snow!

When you find one of the items above (click to enlarge), which can be hidden in any vendor booth, it's yours, absolutely free! Then we post your photo with the generous vendor here on the blog on Monday. Only one winner per calendar month. Items posted every Friday around Noon.

From left:
1. "Evil Eye" earrings are a modern twist on an ancient symbol of protection. New/handmade (Saturday)

2. Mid-Century studio-pottery chalice in organic colors and textures, circa 1960s. Vintage (Sunday)

Blown Away by UrbanGlass

Urban%20Glass.jpg

World-renowned glass-blowing studio and school UrbanGlass will make a special appearance at the Flea at One Hanson this weekend, and we're honored.

They'll have artists selling handmade glass objects, beads, and jewelry at the Flea, and on Saturday you can also stop by the open house at the studio, which is a block away on Fulton St. Now, this is no ordinary craft sale; UrbanGlass is one of the preeminent glass studios in America, if not the world—the real deal. And it's right under your nose.

So come to the Flea, Seymour Glass.

Help for Haiti

Thanks to all the Fleasters who helped us raise more than $500 ($569 to be exact) for the Red Cross relief effort in Haiti through our collection box at One Hanson last weekend. We delivered the cash to their offices last week.

Several vendors have been helping out individually, including Flux Productions (on the mezzanine), who's been donating $5 from every sale to the Red Cross in Haiti. And definitely stop by to visit Lionel and Constant, who returned safely from Port-au-Prince the weekend after the earthquake and jumped right back on the horse, vending in booth #2 in the back every weekend. Much love!

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