the girls can tell shop (at 12th + pierce streets, in south philadelphia - just below passyunk + morris!) will be open this weekend! celebrate small business saturday here in the shop with complimentary gift wrapping on your purchases, some wine + cookies!
the shop will be closed on thursday + friday of this week so that i can spend time with my family, and i hope you enjoy those days with the ones you love as well. happy thanksgiving!
in my inbox this morning popped this great graphic on an email for the always amazing art vs. craft show in milwaukee. i've seen a lot (a whole lot, actually) of illustrations for craft shows, but this one is by far my favorite.
speaking of art + craft shows... this weekend, pittsburgh! erik + i will make our way across the (deceptively huge) state of pennsylvania for handmade arcade! check out this little sneak peek steeltown anthem did on some of the vendors to get excited! (with links to great shops if you're not in western pennsylvania...)
if you're in philadelphia, the shop will be open all weekend! from 12-6pm on saturday + sunday, the ever so awesome yara will be here to answer your questions + help you begin your holiday shopping!
each year, my neighborhood organizes a beer tour - it's basically a series of open houses where each house offers a different local, seasonal craft beer, along with oktoberfest themed foods + snacks. it's great fun, especially if you're like me + getting to peek into other people's houses + craft beer are two of your all time favorite things.
the planning commitee this year asked me to do an illustration for the pint glasses for the event. they mentioned that they had a drawing of a rowhouse in mind, since every house in our neighborhood is some derivation of pretty much the same model of traditional rowhouse. it was quite a bit of fun drawing out all the rooms + furnishings, which i think shows in all the little details in the illustration. i heard they weren't expecting a front / back section through all the rooms, but everyone seemed to love the drawing. yay!
burger + fries + milkshake + music truck!
at a picnic a few weeks ago i ran into my neighbors, matt + quavin, who had just bought a food truck with the plans of creating the lucky old souls burger truck (named for the lucky old souls jazz club they're in the process of opening in our neighborhood). as we got into discussing what the truck would look like, there was a lightbulb moment among us. they've been fans of my work for a while (their infant son is quite the drooler + i'm told he only wears girls can tell bibs). lo + behold, after an whirlwind exchange of ideas + one awesome lunch meeting over, you guessed it, burgers, they commissioned me to create a series of illustrations for the truck.
since they were about as excited as you could be to go pick the truck up from the shop that did the vinyl graphics for it, they invited me to tag along to see it for the first time. who says no to being among the first to see a burger truck featuring your own drawings scaled up to bigger than yourself? not this girl. so along i went.
(the trumper played on the red driver's door is one of my favorite bits of it)
(the truck, as a little branch of the lucky old souls jazz club, will play jazz from speakers on top, hence the jazz ensemble diagrams)
(matt + the crew inspecting the service window + menu board)
(full burger diagram featuring all their amazing toppings on the service window)
(obligatory photo of me with the truck.)
(here's the teaser photo i tweeted the other day, riding back to the studio inside the truck)
it feels pretty awesome to be part of such a fun project. if you're in philadelphia + are lucky enough to catch the lucky old burger truck (follow them on twitter to learn their location + more!), i highly recommend the burger. (with smoked blue cheese! and housemade ketchup!) everything the truck serves is locally, responsibly sourced + made from scratch, and it all tastes super, super great. enjoy!
new for this holiday season is the girls can tell work|shop! if you find yourself in south philadelphia, you can stop by to see where + how girls can tell items are made + shipped out, browse selections that haven't made their internet debut yet or just say hi! for hours, please see girlscantell.com/hours or to make an appointment for another day, just email me at visit [at] girlscantell.com.
if you are in philadelphia this month, please do stop by for philadelphia open studio tours on october 15 + 16, between 12 - 6pm for refreshments, q+a + shopping!
since so many of you, out there in interwebz world, don't have the good fortune of living in our fair city, i thought i'd share a few photos of the shop from the day of the opening party. thanks for taking a peek! hope to see you soon!
as much as i love summer vegetables + all the amazing things we can do with the fresh, local awesomeness we pick up in our great CSA each week (tomato + corn salad with fresh basil dressing was a favorite this summer!), there's something about fall flavors i just can't get enough of. as soon as there's a chill in the air, all i want to do is make soups, pumpkin anything, seasonal cocktails + quick breads.
this weekend, i made two tasty drinks perfect for the october weather. not coincidentally, they're both very simple + bourbon-based (my go-to spirit, especially when it's cooler out). enjoy!
bourbon hot toddy
(makes one - recipe via epicurious.com)
early this summer, i moved the girls can tell studio from its perch in a warehouse in chinatown down to a well-situated storefront in south philadelphia. i love that the new location is worlds closer to my little house, and also that, being on the ground floor in such a small-business-friendly area, it really feels like part of its neighborhood. on a corner adjacent to the ever-growing + fabulous new restaurant row that is east passyunk avenue, the new work|shop promises to be a fun adventure!
things have been very slow going in terms of really setting up shop. as i've been traveling for events and working on printing + packing up orders continuously since moving into the space, it's been quite a process getting the work|shop ready for public consumption in any real way, shape or form. the plan is to have a limited number of open, public "shop hours" each week, and also let shoppers + neighbors pick up orders + such by appointment.
but i figured you've all been so lovely, inquisitive + patient that a sneak peek was in order. here are some photos i've snapped so far. the images above are from just before i moved in, the images below are more recent. remember, there's lots + lots to come!
tissue paper in the windows until the shades arrive
on wednesdays i pick up local flowers from the passyunk ave farmers market
new logo address stamps!
mason jars in the deep window sills
greeting cards in their bins on the front window sill
vintage fabric, ready to be made in to curtains for the door + back room
(planting + potting this spring)
it's hard to believe spring is half gone - we're well on our way to summer. yesterday afternoon, i finished up my print list a bit early + ran home, excited to tackle the table full of plants i'd gathered with my mom at their local nursery on sunday. after much deliberation, i settled on lots of herbs (basil, dill + thyme for my yard, cilantro, oregano, chives + a few others for cute erik's), romaine lettuce, tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, miniature hanging petunias, verbena + sweet potato vine.
(the yard last summer - progress!)
i couldn't be more excited about finishing up the yard this month. despite the tiny-ness of it (the entire yard of my 100+ year old rowhome in newbold measures a mere 14 x 7 feet), it's taken a few years to completely refinish each surface. considering i started with a big overgrown stump that had swallowed a cement curb + an old, rusted box spring (below) for a north fence, getting to this point was no small task. over the past few years, i upgraded removed the culprit stump and put in red brick on the ground + replaced the box spring with a proper shadowbox fence (above). this year, i'll finish the block wall (above) + replace the dilapadated south fence (you don't want to see a photo of what's there now, trust me) with more shadowbox.
(the yard in 2006)
monday evening, i hopped off the bus on my way home from my studio in chinatown, where girls can tell has lived for over two years now. my bus stop from the 23 bus (the world's longest continuous urban bus route, thankyouverymuch) leaves me right at 12th + morris streets, where they cross passyunk avenue in south philadelphia, just about 4 blocks from my little house + just steps from the new location of girls can tell world headquarters.
since i'm one of the most impatient + excitable people you'll ever meet, i decided to detour a few feet over to the new soon-to-be headquarters of girls can tell. about to cross the street, i glanced down and noticed that the sidewalk was covered with diagrams. diagrams!
who could imagine a more perfect sight to see?
on thursday afternoon, the lease was officially signed + checks written, and very, very soon i'll get in there to build out my dream studio. i can't wait to share photos + more with all of you. yay!
