New Pretties

Hi blogger friends!

Since there's no competing with yesterday's blog celebrating our trifecta of awards from Creative Loafing (thanks Atlanta!), and those won by our fabulous friends (Lucha Rodriguez, Beep Beep Gallery, Eyedrum, Atlanta Cupcake Factory and so many more!), I'll let you in on some of the new inventory we've recently received :)

As always, we have pretty things in the shop this week. Some newbies include Verameat jewelry, Mary Beth's Art by Mary Beth Heishman and jewelry by Freshie and Zero.

First up, Verameat:

Verameat's "Pint-Sized Cosmonaut"

Badass "oozie" ring--ours is sterling silver.

My personal favorite, the "Indians and Bears" necklace in sterling.

Next to bat is Mary Beth's Art:

Super adorable and affordable framed prints of her art.

"Faux taxidermy" jewelry holders (we have bunny ones too!) in teal, ivory, candy apple green...

And another home-runner, Freshie and Zero:

"Lolly" Earrings

"Daisy" necklace

Congrats again to our fellow CL "best of" winners. Stop by the shop and say hello!

Steph

Fall in the Atl

For all of you who haven't been counting down, the first day of fall is coming up on September 22nd. Fall in Atlanta is one of our more happenin' times, and this weekend is kind of its jumping off point.
The goings-ons:
The 4th annual Atlanta Arts Festival runs September 18-19 in Piedmont Park from 10a.m.-7p.m. on Saturday and 10a.m.-6p.m. on Sunday. I know where I'll be going on my day off! I'm ashamed to admit that I've never been; the prospect of 200+ vendors to peruse is too good to pass up.


Sometime before or after the Arts Festival, you should make your way to Young Blood for the Traveling Trunk Show, which will be up from 2-7 p.m. Come see us! :)


Tomorrow also marks the 13th year of the East Atlanta Strut. Here's the deal-io from their site:

10:00AM to 10:00PM

East Atlanta Village
Flat Shoals Ave at Glenwood Ave

“Now in its 13th year, the East Atlanta Strut is a FREE community organized, one-day festival, featuring live music, art and events...including Atlanta's quirkiest parade! The day starts off with a 5k STRUT.
All proceeds from the day go to neighborhood charities and organizations and support local businesses.”

We've been getting some new fall stuff in store as well, so come by and see what we got!

Photo courtesy of Khara Ledonne from her etsy. We have this one-of-a-kind beauty in store!

Later gaters,

Stephanie

Weekend Time!

With no ado whatsoever,

I'm sure you all know about Sanithna Phansavanh's opening and Modern Skirts' performance at YB tomorrow night, but here's a little reminder. Also going on tomorrow night is Mike Germon and Truett Dietz's opening at Beep Beep gallery, which goes from 8-11p.m. Stop by and check it out as well (after visiting us, of course!). I haven't gotten to see the show yet, and will be just as surprised as you all are when I come in tomorrow, but I've checkout Sanithna's work online, and it's freakin' fantastic. Totally dig the superstition/mythology focus as it is, so I'm especially pumped for tomorrow night's show.

1000 Cranes by Sanithna.

This be the flyer for Beep Beep's opening.

What else is going on this weekend in the ATL? Ann-Marie Manker's show, "Softcore War", is opening at Whitespace TONIGHT at 7.

Hope you guys start off your weekend with some of the creativity and fun Atlanta's art scene has to offer!

Steph

New Duds

Ciao,

On this Friday I'd like to introduce you to a new designer we're carrying: New Duds! As the Fall season's coming up, and it'll start to cool down (although not consistently cool till January, knowing Atlanta's schizophrenic weather) we've got some in-season shirts and scarves to keep you comfy and well-dressed. Check out some of the designs we've just put in the shop!

Excellent policy.

This tee for the ladies is soft and versatile.

We have a couple other scarf designs as well; I love how long they are!

Also: reminder! Tomorrow evening's the night of our "So Fine Equine" silent auction, benefitting retired horses through the Horse Rescue, Relief and Retirement Fund (HRRRAF). Stop by for the auction between 7 and 10!

Rock Steady

Well hello Friday! Fall classes have started after my brief break and I can now appreciate the beauty of this day as a relief from the grind again.

Confession: I have a mild obsession with rocks.
Crystals and geodes--be still my heart. While I have probably 5 or 6 geodes, geode slices and chunks of amethyst crystals, wearing these earth treasures as jewelry is my favorite fix. I'll always prefer raw and natural looking pieces over polished stones, and if you throw in something cool like a brass or silver casting, especially if it's animal related, you've got me at hello.

Lauren Haupt is a pretty new jeweler we've carrying now, and I adore these little pyrite necklaces of hers.


We also just got some stuff in from Red Heart 13 (also known as Leila Marvel) which includes a necklace with a pretty little pyrite chunk hanging from a brass chain. I ordered one for myself :)



And you all know about one of our fave designers of earthy fabulousness-Stone and Honey. Here be a sneak peek of one of her new designs we're carrying.

It's not the exact pendant we have, but arlis (the name of this delight) is pretty darn close.

Wanna know an interesting fact/belief/ whatever about pyrite (fool's gold)? It is believed to "balance hormonal rhythms and ease the comfort of menstruation". Ha. A little less personal is the belief that pyrite also can aid a wearer's concentration and allow them to communicate more openly and honestly.


Until next week,

Steph

Rainy Friday Post!

Hello lovely readers,

Today I'd like to show you a little bit of what inspires me decor-wise. When my studio apartment is feeling especially zen-less, I go to sites like apartment therapy and decor8 for ideas, and browse for thrift deals at Paris on Ponce and the recently discovered Highland Row Antiques. (I'm ashamed to admit that I've been at Young Blood since January and just made it into Highland Row a few weeks ago; it's great, so don't wait like I did!)

Would you believe me if I told you I found these vintage silhouette
pieces for $16 for the pair at Highland Row?!

Another fun idea for inexpensive decorating is framing pretty cards. I bought these cards from Young Blood and bought wooden frames for around $4 a piece, and look what turned out!

Excuse the less-than-mediocre photo, but these
do look great in my place in person.

And finally, this cabin+cub print my friend bought (also at YB) turned out great in a $3 frame. You can't beat steals like that!

I also thought the rainy weather theme was appropriate for today.

So if your place needs some sprucing up, or you just want a change of artistic scenery, check out some local joints with cards, prints and art before dropping your change on one of a million beach scene posters from wal-mart or michael's.

Cheers guys!

Steph

books, zines, and art (oh my)

Happy [almost Saturday], guys!

I've been on the road all day, and am just now able to catch a breather in front of the laptop. After spending a few days at the beach, during most of which I was sick, I had the privilege of being a backseat driver rather than the one behind the wheel. The sick card was successfully and shamelessly pulled in order to avoid 6 hours of driving. It was nice to be able to read a book and a magazine instead of fighting sleep up front; and let me go ahead and confess that I just bought 3 books from Barnes and Noble, and am currently in the midst of David Foster Wallace's Broom of the System.

I was drawn to the book by its cover, illustrated by Duke Riley.

Although not many novels, Young Blood always has some fun, artistic books in stock, including titles such as Young, Sleek, and Full of Hell. We have a huge stockpile of Ex Libris journals, which are made from used books of all kinds, so you can write your own story or memories.

We also always have zines and magazines on hand, with kitschy zines like "Sky Mall" and "Everybody's Book of Kittens" by Gemma Correll, and mags like Art Papers for your art-lusting pleasure.

One of Gemma's cute cat illustrations.

Enjoy your weekend everybody, and go read a book!

Steph

Whew!

Wow, longest work day in a while!

Totally time consuming for me, but great for you guys- I entered a TON of new tees, onesies, messenger bags from Happy Family this afternoon (not all of which I even got to put out!). My favorite of this 1146 item inventory would have to be precious astronaut onesies in lavender and royal blue. Come scoop them up before they're gone, or before I decide to buy all of them and save them for future baby gifts.

Jessica Gonacha (now Jessica Swift, fyi) also brought us some great ceramic coasters, pendants, and prints, and I got to meet her. I don't know, there's just something special about getting to meet an artist whose work you might see on your wall at home, around your neck, etc. So yeah, new stuff, come chh-heck it out!

I also had the privilege of meeting both artists for tomorrow night's opening, and I gotta say, they're both genuinely friendly and lovely ladies! Honestly, I'm not gonna smooze up any artist I've met, but I really did feel honored to meet both Ruth Marks and Sarah Watts this afternoon. Wanna know more about 'em? Follow my links, and, even better, stop by the show tomorrow! It really is lovely.

G'night all! See you tomorrow!

Steph

New Duds and Doo-dads!

Hey guys and dolls,

This Friday I wanna point out some new merchandise we've gotten in recently. In honor of our upcoming Day of the Dead show in October (30th), we've got some prints and ceramic art by Leila Hijazi of Illustrated Ink...



and some badass, but still gorgeous, jewelry by Lillian Crowe. (This is just a sneak peek, Rebecca'll show you more tomorrow..she discovered this great artist!)


Also, just as a reminder, we're getting geared up for GATL tomorrow, which takes place tomorrow at the Trees Atlanta building in Reynoldstown, with the panel discussion beginning at 6:30 p.m. The fabulous Jen, Maggie and Kelly will be there, so be sure to stop by and say hi!

Into the Wild

The past couple of days I've had the privilege of hosting two of my favorite people in the world who came to Atlanta to visit and share in mini-adventures with me. On Wednesday, after dealing with a little incident in the parking lot (other party's fault) of Whole Foods and waiting outside for the police for what felt like forever, the three of us went trekking in Cochran Mill Park where we saw a Momma and baby bird right on the ground--momma threatened and tittered at us--, little toads hopping across the trail, and in the "nature center"area, a huge iguana and a blinking owl. It was hot as the dickens, but still so nice to get to spend some time outside of the concrete jungle for a few hours.

Speaking of which, we just got in some new owl prints and magnets by Adrienne Vita out of Portland,
and new jewelry by Jessie Williams of Edge of Urge (their photo obviously).


But since I still gotta put the latter out, this post had to be quick! Have a good weekend, guys and dolls!

Steph

happy wednesday!

good evening ladies and gents.

this past week i got to spend a little time in the lovely amelia island!

it was a very lucky time, because

1. i got to go swimming in the ocean at night

and

2. one day, when i was trying to body surf (do. not. body. surf.), the giant-ass wave spun me around and made me choke on 5000 gallons of ocean water and i thought i was literally dying.

but i was victorious! and here to blog another day!

a cool thing about being away from the store for a couple of extra days, is when you get back everything looks different. we're constantly getting wonderful new things and it's refreshing to work in such a creative and dynamic space!

when i got to the store i immediately noticed our newest jewelry.

early

is kylie earlene grater of lawrence, kansas

and she is my earring queen.

i love so many of her things, but if i began showing the rings, (..sigh..) or the necklaces and bracelets, we'd be here all night, so i'll focus on just the earrings for now!

take a look at these lovelies.

(make sure to come in and see her pieces! they are b-e-a-utiful!)

earring dash

antler tip earring

bone earring

engraved wood ring earring

and look at these quartz studs. they're perfect! (and, not surprisingly, sold out)

stop by and see for yourself.

i hope everyone is having a good week!

r

Gawrsh!

...It's already the 4th of July weekend! I'm up in Cumming with the boyfriend's family and we are so prepared for Sunday...too prepared perhaps. Don't worry, for the ridiculous volume of fireworks we possess, they're also good friends with the police captain who happens to be off-duty and lighting them off with us that evening.

YB loves Atlanta artist R. Land.

Feeling patriotic? One great way to support the economy is to support local businesses. A few of my favorite local Atlanta spots would have to be: Starlight Six Drive-In (just discovered this place with a girlfriend and had a great time. Word to the wise, get there a wee bit early, and when you find a space don't park outside the lines like a douche), Papi's Cuban Cuisine in midtown (great prices, great Cuban sandwiches and yucca fries), Stefan's Vintage, which is like a fun little treasure hunt in L5P, and Criminal Records (obviously a music/record store, also located in L5P).


I'd have to say, though, with an admitted bias, that Young Blood is by far my favorite local Atlanta business. Oh yeah! And don't forget one of our favorites, King of Pops!

Stay safe this weekend (don't drink and drive), but not too safe (play with fire)!
Until next week,
Steph

Bullseye!

Hey ya'll!

Welcome to the quintessential Georgia summer. I have now been inducted for the year and welcomed by a celebration of ticks (trust me, you do NOT want me to go there!), skeeters and fresh blackberries. I am going to share with you a mini adventure of the Young Blood ladies Jen, Rebecca, and I accompanied by the lovely Jessie and Somer.

On Wednesday these gals and I went shooting at Rebecca's parents' place and had a blast. There are stories that would thrill and scare you, but until I receive permission, (for it would certainly by required in this instance) I'll just leave you with the knowledge of our badassed-ness and that we all had a great time. If you're facebook friends with us (YB) I'm sure wall photos of the adventure will be posted sometime so lurk us and check them out when they're up.

On a woodsy note, check out our new jewelry by Christine Domanic. Her branch necklaces utilized wood from a fallen Bradford pear tree in her yard so the tree could have new life on your lovely necks. I'm also particularly fond of the armadillo earrings.

Hope you all have fun things planned for the weekend, and remember, don't shoot yer eye out!
Steph

The Shortest Week

Hello, blogger buddies!

Sorry for the delayed post--one of the disadvantages of vacation is sketchy internet. Maybe that should have been my excuse to turn the computer off, but it wasn't. My family vacations in North Myrtle Beach, and over the past couple years we've developed some traditions. Since then, it hasn't been a true family trip unless we've eaten at this delicious hole-in-the-wall joint called Crabcatcher's, also eaten at an Italian kitchen called Benito's, and gone putt-putting at Mayday mini-golf and/or driven go carts at some tacky nascar joint I forget the name of just now. I love these local traditions, so I thought I'd share some comparable (but less visited on my part) Atlanta spots for you.

We didn't find this little guy, only some that had yet to be found by the gulls.

Pizzeria Vesuvius. To. die. for. The YB ladies had a meeting there a while back, and despite the probably not so well intentioned man who offered to "watch my car for me" for spare change, I definitely plan on going back. Grab a coffee from San Francisco in Virginia Highlands for the time being, then near us (!) off Ponce when it's finished being remodeled. Great coffee, and the staff are super nice. For fun things to do, or places to stay if you're an out-of-towner, check out Highland Inn, which also has the Ballroom Lounge with weekly events, drink specials, et cetera.

Vesuvius' Mazama pizza. I had a slice, and I'd recommend it.

Wish me a safe drive back!

Steph