The Knitting Factory-Not Your Grandmother's Knitting

If you've been to Brooklyn and you are into the music scene, you've probably heard of, or been to The Knitting Factory. Located off Metropolitan Ave in the heart of Brooklyn, The Knitting Factory is the place to go for cool yet underground shows in New York.

When I was interning in Manhattan several summers ago, I got a chance to go to a show at the Knitting Factory. The show was on a hot July night, 60's influenced garage bands, No Bunny, and The Strange Boys played. The venue was packed and was the place to be that night in Brooklyn. There was a huge crowd congregated outside, and then when the music was about to start, we all squeezed into the small hallway that led to the stage and bar. The crowd went wild for both bands, people were stage diving and crowd surfing, the New York modern garage punk scene was at its best. After the show, I was sweaty and gross, I had beer poured on me but it was cool. The show made me feel alive. My ears were ringing for days after.

What started as a venue in 1987, (the year I was born ha!), The Knitting Factory, has transformed to all things that correlate with shows and live music. Now, the transformed textiles factory is its own entertainment company, complete with a record company, music management business, and tour coordinators. The Knitting Factory Started in Brooklyn but has grown to fulfill the position of the cool go-to venue in other cities like Boise, Reno and Spokane. Along with these other crossover ventures, the Knitting Factory has its own apparel line called "The Knit Collection" which is comprised of all sorts of clothing items printed with music inspired designs.

Fun fact: local Atlanta printing powerhouse Fallen Arrows has partnered with The Knitting Factory Entertainment to print exclusive licensed music apparel. Fallen Arrows be the printshop that prints and sells The Knitting Factory's licensed music related t-shirts, handbags, hats and other apparel. The Knit Collection + Fallen Arrows is premiering this month! Check out a sneak peak of some of the designs below:

Keep on rockin' in the free world,

Mel

What's Cooler Than Bein' Cool? ICE!

So what if I just tried to quote an Outkast song, you love it. You love it because I'm talking about ICE. Not the kind you put in your bubble tea, but Indie Craft Experience-that's whats cooler than being cool!

Summer ICE is this weekend guys. Its supposed to get up to 87 degrees this weekend, so you know you're gonna want to cool down with some ICE-that is Summer ICE at Ambient Plus Studios on Saturday and Sunday. You can find some awesome duds to prance around town in this summer, from jewelry to fashions, soap to candles, pillows to aprons, there is something for everyone at Summer ICE.

It really is cooler than being cool.

Its no lie that Atlanta's own Indie Craft Experience has been making headway in the D.I.Y. craft scene for years. With their Holiday ICE, Salvage, and Wedding Day Hooray, the ladies behind ICE know what they are doing. They are regarded as the most renowned craft marketplace in the Southeast, and obviously for the right reasons.

One of my favorite vendors around town will be there, Yo Soy Candles. You can smell the amazing scents like sweet orange chili, a personal favorite of mine that has been burning in my apartment for months now.

 

Be sure to stop by the Yo Soy booth at Summer ICE and grab a scented soy candle before I buy all of them.

Thanks everyone for listening to my rant about Outkast, bubble tea and candles. Be sure to come out to Summer ICE this weekend. 

Stay cool, 

Mel

Persephone's Fall: Freakin' Awesome.

I've danced for most of my life - and I'm not just talking about getting down by myself in my bedroom. I began taking lessons at about 5 and learned about ballet, tap, jazz, modern, hip-hop and whole slew of other styles that all expressed different emotions through movement. I carried my love of dance throughout my life and into college where I performed classic dances such as The Wobble, Cupid Shuffle and the occasional Twerk off on the sidelines of the Georgia State basketball court.

Luckily for me, there are people in this great city of ours who appreciate this fine art form beyond dancing at BBQs and still carry the torch that I've left behind. Persephone's Fall, a theatrical dance experience inspired by traditional mythology, is an incredible performance presented by Rule of 3 Productions. Persephone's Fall is a tale of a girl and her transformative personal journey through the Underworld accompanied by haunting music composed by Atlanta-based band, The Ghosts Project.

Persephone's Fall will be at 7 Stages Theatre this weekend, you guys. If you're into awesome costumes, sweet aeriel tricks and incredible dancing all while listening to a local band perform a custom composition, then you really need to check this thing out.

Scoutmob is even offering a little dealio. You can snatch the remaining discounted tickets here:

Thursday, May 30
Friday, May 31
Saturday, June 1

See you dancing machines this weekend!

Jessi

The Streets Came Alive!

As you may have heard, Atlanta Streets Alive was yesterday (Sunday, May 19th) and was held on Atlanta's busiest thoroughfare, Peachtree Street. The event which is put on by The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition is a celebration of human powered amusement, and the end result of a lot of hard work from them, us, and all the other organizers. We were excited to be a part of this year's festival and we had a ton of fun throughout the day!

No one was sure how the weather was going to hold up, as lately Atlanta weekends have been doin' us festival going people dirty; rain, winds, thunder, lightening and all that bad stuff. Fortunately, the rain held out until the very end of the event, making the main chunk of it a good time for all!

All of the Birds of a Feather girls were excited for Peachtree Street to close, and the second it did, we set up our tent on Peachtree and Ponce and (literally) took flight! At the interactive Birds of a Feather tent you could personalize your own feather and adhere it to the BOF bird poster which was hanging in our tent! Check it out here:

Obviously we know who had the best feather (Your girl Atl Mel with the tail featha'), although the person who colored a feather that read "Slayer Rules" was a close second!

We were stationed next to some of the other sponsors of the event like Yelp, REI, and Whole Foods so we kicked it with our neighbors and watched the bicycling happy people go by. At one point, city councilman Kwanza Hall stopped by to say hello, as he paraded down Peachtree with a bicycling giant bird in tow:

There are some great shirts goin' on in this picture!

Being stationed on Peachtree Street was surreal. It was a different Peachtree Street than we are all so used to; there were no cars, no traffic, no exhaust fumes, no honking, and no stop-and-go traffic. We were right in front of the historic Fox Theater, and there were people walking, roller blading, bicycling, skateboarding and zooming by the Birds of a Feather tent all day long!

We were so excited to be apart of this amazing event and can't wait to see what next year's Atlanta Streets Alive will bring! Big thanks to the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition with the help of Mayor Kasim Reed and all of the other awesome sponsors!

Until next time!

xo
your girl,
ATL MEL

Spring is the Season of Birds....and Festivals!

Hey y'all,

I hope you aren't covered in pollen and are enjoying your spring thus far, I know we are!

Spring is a unique time of year because its when everyone comes out of hibernation and attends spring festivals. There are some great spring festivals going on in Atlanta this season, and going into the summer. Here are some that you can catch us at!

The Voices & Vibes festival is this weekend at the Woodruff Arts Center. We have been working hard for ArtsVibe in promotion and planning of this teen arts festival. I am personally excited to see Def Jam's Artistic Director, Cey Adams, help the teens create a graffiti mural on Saturday at 2:00p.m.

For more info on the Voice & Vibes festival, "Like" ArtsVibe on Facebook

Another spring festival that is going down is the 10th annual Brownwood Bike Festival in East Atlanta on May 4th, this event will have some great child-friendly interactive bicycle themed events like helmet decoration, and "crit-crots" races. Hope to see you EAV'ers there!

Probably the most epic event of the season though is this year's Atlanta Streets Alive, produced by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition. This year the festival geared towards the celebration of all things human-powered will take over Peachtree Street on May 19th. We've been working hard for Atlanta Bicycle Coalition and are beyond excited to bring Atlanta some of the spectacular activities that we all have planned for you.

Check out the Atlanta Streets Alive website Here for more info about this amazing event!

Hope to see you around town this spring at the festivals!

Till then,

xo

Mel

Mason Jar Design Competition!

Calling all artists, designers, creators, makers and dabblers! The Salvage Mason Jar Design Competition is now accepting applications! Create ANYTHING your heart desires out of a mason jar and then watch the judging fun at Salvage at Ambient + Studio on April 13.

Enter here: http://salvageatl.com/mason-jar-competition

WHAT: Mason Jar Design Competition

WHERE: Salvage Vintage Marketplace

WHEN: April 13, 2013 at Ambient Plus Studio

WHAT: The South is no stranger to the iconic Mason Jar but during Salvage, the Indie Craft Experience’s modern vintage marketplace on April 13, 2013 at Ambient Plus Studio, the container will be transformed into something more than just a vessel for jellies and jams. Salvage’s Mason Jar Competition will be a major feature of the event among some of the most incredible vintage vendors in the country.  The competition is open to everyone and the only requirement is that your creation must include a mason jar! Enter to compete at SalvageATL.com. 

The competition will be judged by Beth Malone of Dashboard Co-Op, Susannah Darrow of Burnaway, and Stuart Shapiro of Binders Art Supply will judge the competition.

HBIC Volume 4: Lauren Janis

How the Mama Behind Big Daddy Biscuits Keeps Her Business
 All In The (Doggie) Family

Big Daddy Biscuits founder Lauren Janis is the kind of woman you feel like you’ve known your whole life after meeting her just once. Her love for her incredible dog, Big Daddy, has spawned a staple business in the Atlanta pet market providing delicious and healthy treats to pups across the city. Read on to find out the mission behind BDB, why Lauren got started, and where you can find the Mama of Big Daddy this market season.

How did you get started with Big Daddy Biscuits? 

After some life changing events my niece and nephew and I were having a pow wow and I asked them what I should do next.  After throwing some ideas around, they suggested that I make dog biscuits.  Then it was time to think of a name.  Big Daddy was the most obvious because of my bad ass dog.  The next day I went and purchased a mixer and started doing some R&D....and POW...Big Daddy Biscuits was born.

Founder Lauren Janis

Why do you do it?

If I am going to eat healthy...the dogs should to.  Knowing that I am giving the dogs a healthy amazing treat.  I enjoy creating and sharing the goodness of what we are doing.  

How do you stay inspired?  

Knowing that I making a good quality dog biscuits using ingredients that are from local Georgia farmers and seeing how much the dogs just love them.  With all the recalls going on with dog food and treats being manufactured in China, I know that I have a healthy amazing biscuit that your dog will roll over, fetch your slippers and keep begging for more.  Knowing the dogs that we see weekly at the markets know where our table is and pull their parents to us.  That alone keeps us going. 

!!!

What advice do you have women in your industry?
I am honored that the majority of the people in the pet industry that are part of my world are the most amazing ever. From owning pet stores like Park Pet Supply and The Whole Dog Market to having rescue groups like the Atlanta Underdog Initiative, Animal Action Rescue, Atlanta Bully Rescue, or ones that do outreach like Pitties in the City to help dogs in need.  I am honored to be part of these amazing women.  If you enjoy working with animals there are so many wonderful organizations that you can volunteer with to make a difference in this world. 

Desert island - what 3 things are you bringing? 

Big Daddy ...Never leave home without him,  Makers Mark for those sunsets and my Johnny Cash collection.

Top Atlanta finds/favorite places? 

The EARL in East Atlanta....It is my Cheers, getting my fuel on for the day is HomeGrown and enjoying walking Big Daddy on the Atlanta BeltLine.

All Natural & Organic doggie treats!

What’s next for you? 

Big Daddy Biscuits is gearing up for the opening days of the farmers markets.  Currently, Marietta Square Farmers Market & Piedmont Park Green Market. East Atlanta Farmers Market starts on April 18 and the Alpharetta Farmers Market April 21st.  We will be at the Georgia SPCA Run For the Rescues and Woofstock in May.


Give us some words of wisdom:

Just keep your head up and keep striving for your dreams.  Nothing comes easy but if you LOVE it then it is worth it.  Big Daddy Biscuits started with a casual discussion with my family members.  Honestly, never thought I would make a difference making dog biscuits.

What’s the craziest thing that happened to you in the Big Daddy world?  

Nothing too crazy happens in the Big Daddy world however, I LOVE being attacked with love from the dogs saying "THANKS" for the yummy biscuits. 

We love you, do you love us?  

I love you guys more than you know.  Feel the love all the time for you lovely ladies.

Big Daddy love.

Love Lauren as much as we do? We knew you would. Help Big Daddy Biscuits grow by getting in on the action here: http://smallknot.com/big-daddy-biscuits-llc

Oh and like BDB on Facebook here: www.facebook.com/bigdaddybiscuits