As usual, it was an exciting week at The House of Swankety Swank. A warm, mostly sunny afternoon brought lots of shoppers and artists to Saturday’s Trunk sale. Old favorites and new guest artists provided a variety of unique, handmade products for our customers. If you missed July’s trunk sale, fear not! Just stop by Swankety Swank Tuesday through Sunday to shop these artists and many more! While you’re here, check out some beautiful new pieces from Yabette, Rykovich, and gibbous. We’d love to see you, so come on by.
Trunk show street view with Kim of Krafty Kitten
Trunk Sale wrap-up
One of our longest working artists, Amy Barrios of ICJ designs, with us from the first year in our old shop on McAllister Street, brought out some of her beautiful, classic jewelry. Amy is a self-taught artist and former English teacher! In fact, the name of her line is a play on words related to her past profession. ”ICJ’s name (Independent Claws Jewelry) is an allusion to grammar because the strands are just like independent clauses – they work independently or with dependent clauses (the pendants and clasps.) The hooks on the ends of each strand are called lobster claws; hence the name.” Using high-quality materials and stones, Amy’s necklaces can also be worn as bracelets or seamlessly combined with other strands to create your own unique, beautiful combinations. If you didn’t get a chance to see Amy’s work at the Trunk Sale, please stop by and check out her jewelry at Swankety Swank.
Amy Barrios of ICJ designs
Table detail Amy Barrios of ICJ designs
We also had several talented guest artists participate. Katya Khan of Urbanomad with twine jewelry and other accessories, and Tiana Saul of Sayuri Designs (below with feather hair clips) both brought more unique and beautiful accessories to Swankety Swank’s customers.
Trunk sale guest artist Katya Khan of Urbanomad
Pretty display by trunk show guest artist Tiana Saul of Sayuri Designs
Adrian of Salvaged and Stitched brought these super cute salvaged pillows in whimsical designs. Salvaged and Stiched is a local family-run business. His pillows “are made with upholstery remnants, and have either upholstery or apparel fabric appliques. Vintage buttons are used for eyes, leather or suede for beaks and thick wool or mohair yarn for delightful long slender legs.” You can now find his work everyday at Swankety Swank.
Adrian of Salvaged and Stitched now found in Swankety Swank.
Kim of Krafty Kitten, makes the cutest, sassiest, bones and flowers hair accessories. A recent graduate of Art Institute of CA-San Francisco, Kim has been making work as Krafty Kitten since 2007. She calls her grandparents her inspiration since they fostered her passion and skill from a young age. Her grandfather passed on sewing skills he learned as a young man in Mexico, so her work continues a line of family tradition. Some other inspirations are rockabilly, cholabilly, psychobilly, pin up, punk and mexican culture. You can find more of Kim’s Krafty Kitten work at Swankety Swank.
Kim of Krafty Kitten helps a customer
Krafty Kitten table
New furniture by Yabette, clothing and accessories from gibbous and Rykovich
Yabette recently finished a lovely new table. Turquoise blue with a hand-painted, green leaf adorns the top. This piece, like all Yabette’s work, is a well-built piece of furniture that was in need of some TLC and refurbishment to bring it back to life and ensure it’s use long into the future.
Yabette Blue table with hand-painted green leaf, $250
Yabette Blue table with hand-painted green leaf, $250
Artist Kurtis Rykovich’s pop-surrealist style fits perfectly at Swankety Swank. Kurtis has participated as both fine artist and a designer, and now he has some beautiful one of a kind, hand painted summer blouses and t-shirts, each with a custom, removal broach. His hand-painted t-shirts come in sizes from Small to 3X.
Rykovich embellished blue blouse, $98
Rykovich embellished blue blouse, detail removable pin, $98
Rykovich sandy giraffe tee, $75
Rykovich sandy giraffe tee, removable pin detail, $75
Rykovich orange silk blouse, $80
We had heard that the designers at gibbous were passing a summer cold between them, so we were extra surprised when they re-stocked the store with quite a few newly created pieces. When design calls, nothing can keep the designers at gibbous from answering! We hope y’all at gibbous will be getting back to %100 soon.
gibbous calls themselves “a miniature fashion house of hearts and hands” that collects cast-offs of the past to create your re-newed, favorite, how-did-I -live-without-this fashion pieces. I should warn you; much like a tatoo, once you get your first gibbous piece, you’ll want more and more. The collective of 4 designers re-uses a variety of materials, victorian clothes, stained silk slips, buttons, coins, keys, to re-fashion material menageries, sans patterns, into unique items you’ll never find in any department store. like all of our designers, gibbous creates pieces you can wear with pride. they strive to undermine disposable fashions manufactured in far-off sweat shops one stitch at a time.
gibbous hat, detail 1, $60
gibbous hat, detail 2, $60
gibbous Hannah Patch Skirt $180
gibbous white blouse with pink details, $60
And a final reminder, stop by to see the Team Valor show, curated by STORM, before it closes. This is your opportunity to see some original artwork by some of the Bay Area’s best comic book artists.
Team Valor show opening
Photographs and writing by Aurelie Sandrine
