designcincinnati

the brush factory

I'm excited to check out The Brush Factory in Brighton, a new shop just opened by recent DAAP Fashion Design graduate Brittany Rose Kovacs. Her plan is to offer new and young designers a space to create their own mini store and sell their collections in a retail environment.

click to enlarge | images by David Dewitt

Check out more on Brittany's blog, A Dose of Design. Other designers at The Brush Factory are Chris Kittrell, Margot and Kit Anderson and Lynda Lucas.

Found via the locally authored online fashion magazine Style Sample. The Brush Factory is now on Etsy, too.

cincy

Of all the "Cincinnati" tshirts that have been popping up lately, I want this one:

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cincinnati craig's list picks

Time for some mod finds from Cincinnati Craig's list:

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- Vintage Eames Era / Mid-Century Saarinen-Style Oval Tulip Table 60", $449, Maineville
- Mid Century Modern Streamline Modern Solid Birch Desk, $65, Cincinnati
- Vintage Mid Century Modern Black Vinyl Sofa, $200, Pleasant Ridge

- Vintage Mid Century Thonet Bentwod Chair, $175, Alexandria
- Very unique retro set of lounge chairs with side table, $100, Florence
- Vintage Modern Herman Miller Storage Headboards George Nelson Design, $450, Cincinnati

cincinnati craig's list picks

Some fun things from Craig's list this week:

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- Mid Century china cabinet, $60, Anderson.
- Retro Cool Phone Too Hot, $15, West Chester. (I don't think this is actually vintage, but fun nonetheless.)
- Pair M. Breuer, Wassily Chairs by Gavina, $800, Oakley.

- Frigidaire Flair 1966 Retro Oven Range Combo, $500, Monfort Heights.
- Streamline Modern Heywood Wakefield Desk & Chair, $500, Eastgate.
- 1958 Magnavox Console Television, $100, Edgewood, KY.

crafty supermarket

I'm so excited about the upcoming Crafty Supermarket at Northside Tavern on November 21. The organizer, Grace Dobush, answered some questions that I'd like to share with all of you:

- Can you tell designcincinnati readers what indie crafts are?

In the last decade or so, "indie craft" has become the main moniker for a breed of crafters who take inspiration from old-fashioned techniques and put a modern twist on the craft. A lot of indie crafters use recycled or repurposed materials, and some make only one-of-a-kind items. But the main common denominator is that the products are handmade.

- Why start an indie craft show in Cincinnati?

I moved to the city about two years ago from Pittsburgh, which has an amazing show called Handmade Arcade that's developed a huuuge following. Handmade Arcade is in its sixth year now and attracts thousands of shoppers over two days. I've also sold at shows in Cleveland and Brooklyn, and wanted an outlet like that in Cincy. I think once we get things rolling with Crafty Supermarket and get crafters in touch with each other, we could have a really rad craft scene here! I'm getting excited already from having been in touch with people in Northside and in the region who are all about coming to the show.

- What sort of crafts/vendors can the audience expect?

We're taking applications right now, and when we start judging them after the Sept. 30 deadline, we're going to be really conscious of having a wide variety of styles and objects. There will definitely be handmade books made by me, and handmade shoes made by my co-organizer, and there will likely also be vendors selling handmade clothing, stationery, plush toys, home decor, printed objects, fine art and other things! We're also hoping to get some local businesses in on the gig to provide coffee and snacks at the show.

- Any other events happening that day in conjunction with the show?

Yes! Crafty Supermarket is also a book release party for my craft business guide, Crafty Superstar! If all goes according to plan, I'll have copies of the book for sale at the show, and after we break down for the day, I plan to celebrate with all my crafty friends at the Tavern.

etsycincinnati: burkeheart baby

The next seller in the etsycincinnati series is Gillian from Burkeheart Baby.

Gillian designs and sews baby shoes. The idea was born from frustration. She says, "Baby stuff has a tendency to be bland, either it's pink or blue and that's the end of it. When I realized that keeping baby socks on baby feet is nearly impossible, I gave up and began making these little shoes to keep his feet warm and protected." She found some "great" fabric from her quilt stash, made a couple pairs of soft shoes, and things snowballed from there.

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Gillian comes from a long line of people who create with their hands. Her maternal grandfather was a jeweler and watchmaker, paternal grandfather a firefighter, carpenter and avid gardener, her grandmother a self-taught painter.

She learned to sew from her mom who learned it from her grandmother. Growing up in a house with no tv made it easy to be creative; there were always projects going on in her home. From her dad making stained glass pieces and wooden toys, to her mom quilting away our naptimes and making most of our clothes. She says, "It seems inevitable that I'd follow in this tradition of hand-work, and I thank them for setting a great example to follow."

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Gillian loves being an indie designer in Cincinnati. She says the best part of the city is the people. "Everyone is linked to everyone. It seems like each time I meet someone new, we end up realizing we have several folks in common, and this adds to the feeling of community." Locally, you can find her products at Park + Vine.

Thanks Gillian. Visit her shop on Etsy and support a Cincinnati artist!

And, as always, don't forget my Etsy shop, Kitsch Café Vintage, and my newly opened shop, Kitsch Café Handmade. You can also find my products at Park + Vine.

red polly

It seems as though Red Polly Space Outfitters (aka, vintage furniture and accessories) have found a permanent space on the first block of Hamilton Ave. in Northside.

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I've noticed over the years that they have moved from the Ludlow Garage, to a space beside The Comet, to their current location at 4016 Hamilton Ave.

Prices seem reasonable... $165 for the love seat and matching chairs above and $225 for animal hide "pod" chair below. And there are some neat finds like the Milton Glaser print below.

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From Red Polly's website... "Shifting quietly throughout the vast corners of the Earth, our heroine, Red Polly, saves piece after piece from the clutches of the evil Consumo."

Check out some of their cool stuff on their website.

shop update

For those of you that like modern home accessories with a sense of humor, check out one of my Etsy shops, Kitsch Café Vintage. I've been updating it the past few days with some delicious new items, including: a fun illustrated 1950s black metal tray, groovy Japanese stackable floral mugs and a bright yellow Dansk-inspired serving bowl.

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Stop by and check out the shop as there will be loads more in the next two weeks.

cincinnati craig's list picks: misc. stuff

Another installment of Cincinnati Craig's list picks unearths some cool tables, chairs, desks and even a cool phone...

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- Modern Eames Era Table and Chairs, $745, Downtown. Modern smoked glass table and four bucket seats in mint condition
- Rare orange Eames Herman Miller Mid Century Chair, $300, Amberley Village. Original condition.
- Mid-Century Credenza, $225, Oakley. A dark walnut mid-century credenza in exc. cond. Unused.

- Two Vintage metal desks, $50, Ripley.
- 42" Vintage Herman Miller Eames Round Dining Table, $199, OTR. Table is in great condition.
- Retro Donut Phone, $20, Cherry Grove. An original, yellow Western Bell Donut Phone.

- Mid-Century White Burke Chairs & White Tulip Base Dining Table, $150, Prospect Hill/Downtown. Original Burke mid-century chairs in decent condition
- Retro 50's double light goose neck lamp, $22, Anderson. Great deep tomato red color
- Two Herman Miller Eames Fiberglass "bucket chairs", $500, Blue Ash. Mid-century classics. Dated 1957.

etsycincinnati: ovenfried beads

I've been out of town for the past week, but I am back with a the next Etsy seller in the etsycincinnati series... Amy of Ovenfried Beads.

Amy's products cover a range of materials and uses, but are primarily made of polymer clay, beads, and fabric. She has been using polymer clay since 1995 as her primary medium, creating endless beads, buttons, jewelry and decorative ornaments. Around 10 years ago she perfected a bead design that she calls the "Stacker" bead, which has really launched her brand locally, nationally and internationally in the polymer clay world.

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"Experimentation is the foundation of all of my work. Rather than repeat the same designs over and over and over (except for the Stacker bead, which is still growing in popularity after so many years), I prefer to endlessly play with the clay and see what it wants to do." Amy's inspiration comes from nature, architecture, and a combination of techniques that many polymer clay artists use, but tweaked for her own purposes.

Ovenfried Beads is sold in several local shops, including Indigenous: A Handcrafted Gallery in O'Bryonville, Park+Vine and Urban Eden in OTR, NVision in Northside, Glendale Handcraft Gallery in Glendale, and the Cathedral Gift Shop on 4th Street downtown. Amy was also in the booth next to mine at OTR/Gateway Summer Celebration on June 20.

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Amy's favorite thing about being an artist/designer in Cincinnati is its size. She says, "Cincinnati is large enough to sell in several places without saturating the market, but small enough that I occasionally catch people wearing my work." She would love to sell her work all over the country, however, she says "there's something 'homegrown' about keeping my work primarily in Cincinnati." Since she has two stores on Etsy and her own website, people from all over the world can buy her work without having to produce work for dozens of galleries.

Teaching polymer clay is something that Amy finds very enjoyable. Classes are held at St Theresa Textile Trove in College Hill (formerly of OTR). Private classes are also available in her art studio in her downtown apartment. Check out her website, ovenfriendbeads.com, for more info.

Thanks Amy. Visit her shops, Ovenfriend Beads and Ovenfried Buttons, on Etsy and support a Cincinnati artist!

And, as always, don't forget my Etsy shop, Kitsch Café Vintage, and my newly opened shop, Kitsch Café Handmade.

new products from three sheets 2 the wind

DAAP fashion design professor, graduate, and local artist Jenny Sauer, who created her business Three Sheets 2 the Wind in 2004, has recently released additional prints to her vast collection. Check out a few of them below...

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Jenny's work is clean and minimal and works in a variety of interiors. She has a "passion for vintage prints and handmade artisan-quality textiles." Her work is influenced by the "skeletal structure of plant life."

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Sauer's work embraces the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi: the beauty of things imperfect, modest and humble.

Find Three Sheets 2 the Wind locally at MiCA and MiCA 12/v and online at 2modern.

congrats to high street

Congrats to super cool local interior design and all-around-groovy shop, High Street, for being featured on HGTV's What you Get for the Money. The show airs tonight (Monday, June 22) at 7pm. Look for "The Loft-Life in Downtown Cincinnati" in tonight's $400,000 episode.

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On the show, the client, Tom Borcher, shows off his High Street designed loft in downtown. Check out the cool photos on the High Street website. Congrats, High Street!

Also, check out High Street's new blog.

desales corner

I've always loved the architecture around DeSales Corner, especially along Woodburn Ave. facing Madison Road.

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I've wondered why this area hasn't been developed like O'Bryonville. Although, it's seen some new buildings and businesses the past few years.

Here are some "design-y" shops, galleries and restaurants in the area:

Manifest Gallery
"Venue for the display and experience of insightful, thought provoking art and design."

Pac Gallery
"A contemporary exhibition space that specializes in internationally based Contemporary Art and reflects our artistic style and global vision."

Strebel Art
Portraits

One More Stitch
Yarn, Knitting and Crochet supplies

Café Moca
Espresso, Tea and light food

otr/gateway summer celebration

I think all of you should stop by the OTR/Gateway Summer Celebration on June 20th.

From the event website: "This year is the kickoff event for the celebration. Over-the-Rhine has a rich, colorful and historic past. It is the most diverse and architecturally significant neighborhood in Cincinnati. The OTR/Gateway Celebration will create a gathering that celebrates the past, present and future of OTR."

Check out some really cool indie art/craft vendors, including: ICFTB (It Came From The Basement), Ovenfried Beads, Wire&Twine, Visualingual, among several others. Oh, and I will have a booth there, too, so say hello if you are a designcincinnati reader!

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There will also be some cool bands, such as: The Pink Ladies, Matthew Shelton’s Picnic, The Sundresses, and several others.

The event is on June 20th at the corner of 12th & Vine in the Gateway Quarter in Over-the-Rhine. The event starts at 10am and ends at 7pm. Check out the event page on Facebook, too.

See you there!

etsycincinnati: peanut butter and yelly

It's that time again... time to feature a local Etsy seller. This week it's Amber of Peanut Butter and Yelly.

"I believe anything made by hand is special!" Amber says. "There is something so real and heartfelt about handmade that you just can't get with mass produced things." Yelling the Etsy handmade mantra, Amber makes a "little bit of everything" and sells it in her shop.

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Receiving her BFA in Printmaking from NKU in 2005, her emphasis was in printmaking, but she had a hard time choosing what area to pick. She loves to draw, sculpt, paint; pretty much anything that has a creative outlet. Her mother taught her to sew at an early age and she has just recently started again. She says, "Each item I create has a tremendous amount of time and care put into it. Every item I make is something I would be proud to own myself."

Amber sells her items at a NVISION (4577 Hamilton Avenue, next door to The Comet). She has also done local craft fairs and festivals in the past including Art off Pike in Covington, Ft. Thomas Fine Art Festival and Hyde Park Square Fine Art Festival.

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She loves selling items to local people that have grown up in the same area that she has. Going to art school she dreamed of moving away and doing something "big". Amber says, "The truth is the biggest and most important thing you can do as an artist is make yourself happy doing what you love. If you are making things just to impress the masses it eventually catches up with you. I am making things that I love and therefore others love them too. The fact that I haven't had to move away from my hometown shows that you can be anything you want to be anywhere you want to be."

Amber adds, "I would just like to say that Etsy is an amazing place to shop, If you haven't tried it please do. I would also like to thank Drew for offering to feature me in his blog."

Thanks Amber! Visit her shop, Peanut Butter and Yelly, on Etsy and support a Cincinnati artist!

And, as always, don't forget my Etsy shop, Kitsch Café Vintage, and my newly opened shop, Kitsch Café Handmade.

cincinnati craig's list picks: chairs part 2

There are so many great chairs on Craig's List, I had to do another selection of chair's for this week's Cincinnati Craig's List picks...

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- 1960's Vintage Knoll Saarinen Desk/Task Chair, $60 in Paddock Hills. Rare MCM chair with original Hopsack black wool upholstery and swivel reclining, rolling base.
- Mid-century modern Thonet plywood chairs, $595 for set of six in Columbus. (Ok, I know, this isn't in Cincinnati, but it showed up in the Cincinnati listings.) Chairs have Thonet One Park Avenue label.
- Mid-Century Mod Dining Table & Saarinen Chairs, $300 - $750 in Middletown. Buy chairs separate or complete set.
- Vintage Giancarlo Piretti ribbon chair, $250 for each, location unknown. Great iconic chairs by Peretti for Castelli.

cincinnati craig's list picks: chairs

Several blogs, including Apartment Therapy, do regular "Craig's List roundups" - sorting through their local Craig's List-ings and picking the coolest to share with their readers. I thought i'd steal the idea and make it a semi-regular series of posts for designcincinnati.

In the first edition, it's chairs:

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- Retro Vintage Scandinavian Safari Chairs, $100 in Oakley. Original orange leather.
- Very Early Eames Chair, $400 in Eastgate. Shell is original, between 1948 and 50. Base is new, from Modernica.
- Vintage Retro Chair, $40 in Alexandria. Low lounge chair, in decent shape.
- Vintage Brunswick Fiberglass Shell Chairs, $25 for five chairs in Independence. Three colors, in good condition.

facebook

If you are on Facebook, you can now become a fan of my Etsy shop, Kitsch Café.

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I am really excited about the Facebook page and look forward to keeping it updated and seeing how social media can help market my shop.

unheardof

Since I am now on Fourth Street several times a week, I usually pass by Unheardof. It's usually closed when I walk by, or I'm in too much of a hurry to stop in.

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By the looks of it, I'd say it appeals to the skater/sneaker crowd. I took a look at their website and found some cool stuff:

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Open Monday through Friday 11am-8pm, Saturday 11am-11pm and Sunday 12pm-6pm. Check them out at 323 W. 4th street.

soft as a cloud

Check out this sneak peak from Cincinnati-based Paper Cloud...

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It's their new spring/summer line. They've also expanded their current line with more designs, patterns, and sizes. They sell their products across the US and online at sites such as Design Public and 2Modern. Locally, check them out at Park + Vine and MiCA.