The Mommy of Invention: Prepping for Philly's Punk Rock Flea Market

According to my partner in craft, Jonelle Greene of FREEload Apparel, we will have tightly limited space for our next craft fair on June 7 in Philadelphia, so I've got to think about what really sells.

And like I said last time, what sold most is the Small Stuff, aka MAGNETS.


A tiny land of treasure, just waiting to be made magnetic

So, this Memorial Day Weekend, while friends go camping or visit the Statue of Liberty with the kids, I'm home with two suddenly coughing and feverish Badgerettes, slicing up anything punk rock and sticking it to glass between soup-making and temperature-taking.

Let's take a quick tour, shall we?

For this project, you will need strong glue, paper, glass, magnets, and enough sitting time to develop your first bedsores.

I have the legendary frontmen and women all ready to go...plus one evil impresario, Kim Fowley (top row, center)

If you haven't seen Michael Shannon play Kim Fowley in The Runaways, put that movie on your list!
If you're wondering about Iggy Pop, I've got several. Weirdly, no one bought them at the street fair.

I'm in love with big magnets and with magnet sets right now.

The Kinks, 2" x 3"



Culture Club, .75" x 2" pieces



The only band that matters: The Clash. Paul Simonon, I love you!

Dead Kennedys. Hello, Jello.

U2. Eh, it'll probably sell.

The Beatles. All from the same photo, but the photographer clearly favored Paul.

Black Sabbath. Not my thing, but if it's yours, it's all yours.

Nirvana.

Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention

BB King, RIP. 2" x 3"

Thank you, Rolling Stone and MOJO magazines for favoring one-inch sized pics of album covers. I happen to have a ton of one-inch sized glass pieces...


Eh, voila!

 I'm ready for the nostalgia lovers, too, with my 1953 Romance Comics magnets.

1. "I don't even know how to be a wife!"
2. "Oh, Don, I have to know...do you really love me?"
both 2" x 3"

Get a room, People!
2" x 3"

1."Oh, I don't want to be afraid! I don't want to be lonely all my life! But...
but I'm so afraid of being hurt again!"
2. "Even when he kissed me...he was thing of her...!"
Been there, Sisters. It gets better.
2" x 3"

"We almost did marry years ago! We were very much in love!
Remember, Lillian? We had it bad!"
Just look at that narcissistic bum, so proud of actually remembering effing up a sweet girl's life!
2" x 3"

Oh, Roy Litchtenstein, I'm afraid we've gone full circle.

 Comic book fans should be satisfied with my new pieces...

Trekkies, classic and New Generation, should also walk away happy...

Look closely, Sex and the City fans--that's Kim Cattrall behind red-suited Spock.

You know which one of these is going to sell first?

This one! Tribbles rule!

I've even chopped up a Cheerios box (special edition at Target) for the just-right-for-magnet-making Star Wars pics.

As you can tell, I'm not taking the term Punk Rock too literally. "Something for Everyone!" I say.



See? I told you Gorgilla would make a great cigar box!



And let's be honest: nothing is more punk rock than stowing away on a cargo boat, crashing a Yankees game (top and bottom panels on the box) and climbing the Empire State Building (inside panels). Gorgilla, I salute you! 

I'm praying that Everyone will buy these, so I won't have to take them home again. Boxes of glass magnets are hella heavy, man....

Copyright 2015, Tanya Monier

Report from the Field: Kensington Kinetic Sculpture Derby & Arts Festival 2015

This entry's title is somewhat misleading. I should have titled it, "Report From Under a Tent (plus one quick trip to the Port-o-Potty").

This is what I missed while I was in Philly: Art and Science meet on the street!
Learn more about Kinetic Sculpture Races across America here.

The Trenton Avenue Arts Festival was my first foray into day-long street fair vending, and I could not have managed it (I wouldn't even have learned about it) without my partner in craft, Jonelle Greene of FREEload Apparel.


And look! Now I have my very own FREEload apparel!
(Yep, those are my still tired-like-the-day-after-my-wedding feet)

 Jonelle warned me to get lots of good sleep to be ready for the long day ahead of us. Instead, I made a decoupaged Wonder Woman stool, including new leather seat, with The Man until 1:00 a.m.

Giving new life to old things! Old Thing Before...

New Thing After!

I was superglad to have that superhero stool to perch on during the fair.

Despite lack of sleep, we got out of Westchester County on time and arrived at the fair just about when we expected to...



...Late to the party.

Our borrowed but much beloved tent lacked assembly directions. I hauled our boxes and tables out of Snowflake the Van while Jonelle got tent-building directions from her phone.

I wondered briefly if we would end up with a Kinetic Sculpture Tent...

but Jonelle (and some helpful, tentless neighbors) made shade happen.

We even got the Badger Banner flying, until we realized that it was acting like a sail in the pre-thunderstorm breeze--rocking the tent and knocking all kinds of precious items to the ground--so we cut it free and stuck it to the side of a table.

"Quit whining, Badger!" I can hear you say. "Tell us about the Fair!"

I really can't say much except what I saw, which was a street section perpetually chock-full of kind, curious, sweaty shoppers. I did my best to talk up my film vases like a professional carnival barker and was rewarded with dozens of faces shifting from looks of perplexity to amazement...but not one film vase sale.

So, what did sell?
 
MAGNETS, baby. Lotta magnets.

This set of Beatles magnets (made with jeweler's glass and superstrong magnets)
was bought by a ten-year-old with a discriminating eye, a limited budget, and admirable bargaining skills. 

Funny little decorative magnets like these sold well, too. In fact, the guy who bought
"Crochet Your Own Hot Pants" insisted that he was just about to crochet his first pair of hot pants.
Serendipity!

Almost all of these sold. Weirdly, Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr.,
and Johnny Rotten are still with me.

 

Thankfully, some larger (and pricier) pieces, like this glorious Wonder Woman purse, also sold.

 

Just as good as ending up in the black after a long, hot day was meeting some great people.

Like Philly's dumpster diva and artist Ellen Benson. Can you see her
very cool silverware headband and glasses set?

 Plus--after waiting almost two years--hearing this delighted exclamation: "Is that VIXEN?"

Look out for Ariell Johnson's Amalgam Comics and Coffeehouse
(at the corner of Frankford and Huntingdon in Philadelphia), and you may see this very box!

Jonelle and I ended the day with pockets full of sweaty cash, and we jumped in the van before the storm that had been threatening the day's revelry broke loose and turned the the streets of Philadelphia into rivers.

I'd call that success, wouldn't you?

Now, to make loads more magnets for our next event: The Punk Rock Flea Market in Philadephia on June 7.

Learn more here.

copyright 2015, Tanya Monier

The Kindness of Strangers

Business first: The Happy Badger and FREEload Apparel will be proudly serving up our uniquely tasty goods In Philadelphia at the Trenton Avenue Arts Festival, TOMORROW, May 16. Come on by!



So, Spring has finally arrived in New York, in true New Yorker style--late, abrupt, and so vehement that I want to shout, "Why are YOU mad at ME?"

Q: Are We Not Birdies? A: We Are Robins!
C'mon, Devo fans, help me out.

Along with the springtime explosion of blooms come the songs of baby robins, the annoyance of pollen-caked cars, and the compulsion to throw out perfectly good stuff...and thus, my compulsion to drive around at night and pick it up to re-sell or donate.  Ah, the circle of life.

No re-selling or donating the T. Rex. It is mine, and I play it in the Basement Den.

Last week, however, I had a novel experience.

A stranger left a message on my phone: "Hi, this is Marilyn. Laura, at the Greenburgh Library, told me that you have a business--something about a badger?--and that you would like some of my old LIFE Magazines and comic books...."

Lady, would I!

I called Marilyn to set up a time and place (always Coffee Labs on Main Street, Tarrytown!) and warned her that she was looking for a 40-something, 6-foot tall Arab American woman with short black hair.  She gave a startled laugh, "Oh, well, I'll be with my friend, Marge. We're much older and much smaller!"



Always safer to travel in pairs when meeting a badger. Aren't they adorable?
(Marilyn is wearing blue)

 And they were, in the sweetest possible ways.

Marilyn, I can read your political stance like a boo--well,
like a magazine. And I approve!

Marilyn's J. Jill bag contained a small treasure of comics, newspapers, and weekly magazines.



She has a boy and a girl, all grown up. Before I slice and dice these,
I'll let the older Badgerette read these 1970s classics...
and I'll probably let her squirrel one or two away from my grubby little paws.
And, as you see, we are not longer between cats...

 There was even a little pile of goodies for The Man.



He's never going to outgrow this stuff.

One comic in particular caught my eye.

Marvel Comics: Where Creatures Roam #5, 1970.
This comic graduated high school two years before I did.

Gorgilla is going to make one fine cigar box--check out the red guy's movie camera!

Marilyn--you doll who wouldn't even let me buy you and Marge coffees in exchange for these lovelies--Thank You.

And Librarian Laura, 25% off your next purchase for the referral!

SILENCE, Ingrate! All gifts please The Happy Badger.

Copyright 2015, Tanya Monier