classes

vendors

Vendor Feature: Rockerbox Spice Co., Sawkill Farm, Mavis Studio, and Hodge Podge

We’re sorry you had to wait till the end to hear about these vendors…but we bet you met some other cool people while you waited, right? This is our biggest, best year yet and we absolutely can’t wait to bring all these fantastic people together for your shopping pleasure in just a few days! In the meantime, read a little more about the last four amazing Hullabalooers to be featured on the blog!

 

Rockerbox Spice Co., Hudson, NY

Rama’s roots (nope, this isn’t another bad pun—garlic is a bulb, silly!) trace back to four generations of garlic growers (check out the photo on her website of the garlic planter her grandfather brought over from Sicily!). This lineage has not only provided her with an appreciation of the stinking rose, but also access to fantastic, locally-grown garlic! Turning a family tradition into an innovative business for herself, Rama began creating garlic and onion powders, and savory mixes like Fiesta, Italian, BBQ, Sweet Corn rub, and gift sets! She dehydrates and grinds the bulbs herself, which makes her product FAR superior than anything you’ll find in the grocery store. Plus, she’s got a talented palate to help her come up with great flavor combinations. Her beautifully packaged spices are fantastic gifts for gourmets, hostesses, and anyone on your list who could use a little spice in their life! They make GREAT stocking stuffers too! This is Rama’s second Hullabaloo and we can’t wait to visit her and stock our pantry with flavor! You should too! 

 

Sawkill Farm, Red Hook, NY

Along with her family, Kallie of Sawkill Farm raises cows, pigs, sheep, and chickens for meat, which they sell at their farm store and at farmers’ markets in NYC. They try to utilize as much of the animal as possible, leaving as little waste as they can—to that end, they’ve developed a line of beef tallow-based soaps that they make and package on the farm, plus sheep skins, and yarn produced completely from their own wool! We’re big proponents of the nose-to-tail concept, so we’re so thrilled to be welcoming Sawkill Farm to their first Hullabaloo, where they’ll be selling these products! Their soaps are made from 100% natural, local ingredients, using traditional processes with leaf lard and beef tallow as the basis. They don’t use any preservatives, artificial ingredients, or other junk in their soaps, and they’re GORGEOUSLY packaged to make perfect “little something” gifts or stocking stuffers. Their sheep skins are all one-of-a-kind, because they raise different wool breeds. What do you use sheep skins for? Well, just about anything, really!  Add interest to a couch or comfort to a chair, use it as an area rug (they are soil-resistant!), add an extra layer of warmth at the foot of your bed, or even use it as a funky table runner (trust us, we saw some pretty cool pics on some design blogs)! Google it for inspiration, then head to Sawkill Farm’s table and bring your sheep skin vision to life!

 

Mavis Studio, Asbury Park, NJ

We just LOVE Mavis Studio’s earthy, minimal, clean, and modern housewares, like wood planters, plant stands, air plant holders, candle holders, furniture, and textiles. With their signature pops of color and elegant lines, her work is somehow colorful yet neutral, fitting in perfectly with any type of décor. Her pieces make perfect gifts for hostesses, friends, co-workers, family, and anyone who loves fresh, modern design combined with practical functionality. Stephanie has a background in architecture and design, and has applied that to express herself through creating beautiful, usable objects with her own hands. This is Stephanie’s first Hullabaloo and we’re so glad to have her participating! Stop by and see what she’s got for the plant-lover or décor enthusiast on your list this holiday season!

 

Hodge Podge, Accord, NY

Cal Patch, a designer who’s worked for Urban Outfitters, run her own shop in Brooklyn, and helped found hipster craft school MAKE, now focuses on writing articles and books on crafting, doing freelance design work for some pretty impressive clients, and teaching crafts at various locations in New York (often on how to make your own clothes). Hodge Podge is her line of handmade clothing which includes crocheted hats, cowls, hand-dyed silk and wool scarves, clothing, and accessories. She also has giftable items like cozies and will be showing off her new journal covers, Altoid tin sewing kits, wrist warmers, and blanket plaid hoody ponchos at Hullabaloo! Her style is a colorful patchwork (see what we did there?) of funky, bohemian, colorful hipness and it’s all comfy and completely wearable. Stop by Cal’s table at her third Hullabaloo and ask about her class schedule too! We’re so psyched she’s back!

 

 

Sponsor shout-out

Sponsor Shout-Out: R&F Handmade Paints—Many Colors, Many Facets…Many Thanks!

As painter Henri Matisse said “Creative people are curious, flexible, persistent, and independent with a tremendous spirit of adventure and a love of play.”

When a creative person sets out to turn a passion into a business, these characteristics are all the more important—and anyone familiar with the history of R&F Handmade Paints can easily see that founder Richard Frumess has got the stuff! The business originally started out as an artist’s means to ensure the availability of his favorite medium –but 27 years later, the business is so much more: what R&F itself describes as “a multi-faceted paint company that is material-focused and artist-driven.” You don’t get to be multi-faceted without all the traits Matisse describes!

RFhandmadePaints__beauty_cakes.jpg

R&F hand-makes their specialty products in their midtown Kingston factory: which means that each batch is mixed with great attention to the medium and pigment, resulting in vivid paints that retain their brightness and translucent colors that maintain their tones. Their products—84 colors of encaustic paints (wax-based paints with ancient origins; encaustics are kept molten on a heated palette, then applied to an absorbent surface and fused by reheating), 94 colors of their original Pigment Sticks® oil sticks (which allow for painting directly on a surface without the use of brushes, palettes, tubes, or solvents), and their Encausticbord™ surfaces—are praised and trusted by award-winning artists. But that’s just one of the business’s many aforementioned facets.

R&F also offers a rich array of demonstrations and workshops, taught by acclaimed artists and instructors. Whether you’re looking for an introduction to encaustics or are an old pro, take a look at their diverse course offering here: http://www.rfpaints.com/workshops/upcoming-workshops. They also have a gallery and host exhibitions with fine artists (http://www.rfpaints.com/exhibitions/r-f-gallery) and have an impressive permanent collection well worth visiting as well. Studio space is available to artists on an hourly basis, and R&F’s website, www.rfpaints.com, is a wealth of information for artists.

When we met with representatives of the Midtown Arts District committee after last year’s Hullabaloo, Richard was interested in and enthusiastic about our event, and having his support means so much to us!  We thank R&F for sponsoring Hullabaloo 2015, and for all you do for our community!