We had an amazing time with Kim Fraczek last Saturday. She brought her whole glassblowing setup and made custom pieces for folks who stopped by.

glassblower Kim Fraczek

The first was a pair of glass bulb pendants with tiny stone fossils trapped inside.

fossils - before

finished fossil necklaces

Another was a piece for this little girl, a small Swiss coin trapped in a glass bubble. Perhaps the coin was a gift from the Tooth Fairy! Here’s a video of Kim working on it.

A little girl shows off her new trapped coin necklace

She also made a ring for Phil in purple and green to match his bowling ball.

Phil and his new ring

glass ring by Kim Fraczek

The weather was not great at first but it cleared up, becoming a lovely day for a craft show.

Kelly Werkheiser and her jewelry

Salihah Moore and her Lion of the Sea booth

And Jonathan’s jazz guitar set was low-key and lovely.

Jonathan York

Our next Second Saturday event will be November 14. It will be hard to top this one, but it will be our Second AnniVIXary party that day. The craft show will be on too, moving indoors to Danger Danger Gallery, 5013 Baltimore. (Email satellite2ndsaturday@gmail.com if you are interested in vending.) Hope to see you there!

Today VIX was featured on the Philly UCD’s blog, Break My Routine. Thanks so much to Samantha Lazar for the swell writeup!

Just wanted to post some photos of our last two events.

In August, we hosted an opening for Jen McCleary, a local artist who does collage, digitally manipulated imagery and jewelry. Shakey Lyman belted out the blues and vendors enjoyed the clear bright sunshine outside.

Jen McCleary with her artwork and jewelry (August)

one of Jen's collages

Shakey Lyman and Blondie (August)

Krista Peel at her jewelry booth (August)

Wilder, Ellie, Mike and Mike's jewelry

In September, the dreary weather kept a few vendors away, but Nora did manage to score some awesome baby leg warmers. Our featured artist, Sara Selepouchin of Girls Can Tell, showed visitors her screenprinting process and even debuted a new diagram, “knitting”. Kassie Richardson played some old-time favorites and some of her own tunes to a rapt audience.

a gray day for a show (September)

sara explains her printmaking process (September)

knitting diagram newly printed on a t-shirt (September)

sweet, sweet music by Kassie Richardson

We’re really excited about October’s event, coming up on the 10th. Jeweler Kim Fraczek will bring her torch and do some glassblowing. In the store, no lie. She can even do custom pieces, like encapsulating something in a pod, like this.

seed pod earrings by Kim Fraczek

We’ll also have jazz guitarist Jonathan York as well as a diverse assortment of vendors on the triangle. Snacks too. See you then, OK?

Recently, nearby residents celebrated the new pedestrian lighting project on Baltimore Avenue.

50th and Baltimore

The 71 new old-fashioned streetlamps were installed between 45th and 50th streets along the commercial corridor in an effort to make it more inviting. They stopped just short of VIX though, since we’re a few steps beyond 50th. We felt a little left out about that.

Not for long, though! Construction just began for more pretty lights on our block and the 5100 block of Baltimore. Yay! That will be great for us. It will also be great for our new neighbors. Rumor has it that we will soon have a vintage clothing shop next door, and a certain local businessperson has just bought the storefront three doors down. We are very excited about this!

More construction and destruction is happening across the street, at the Philadelphia Federal Credit Union. It used to look like this:Now it looks like this:

It’s weird to see all that empty space on the corner! The new building will go up soon though and it promises to be a big improvement with the ability to serve more customers, whom we also look forward to meeting.

It’s really great to see so much renovation on this block, though it will be nice when all the noise and dust of construction is over. Hopefully by the holiday season there will be lots more to love about our neighborhood…

For an infinite number of reasons, I love the internet. Here’s one at the top of the list.

Back in May we posted here about Jennie and Margaret Grumbine, the ladies who used to operate a millinery shop in our building many years ago.The information and pictures came from Kathy Grumbine Miller, a great-niece of theirs who used to visit them as a child.

A few months later our post caught the attention of Brenda, another great-niece of the Grumbine sisters. She actually still had some of their hats and hatboxes, and she was kind enough to send us some photos. Here are a few.

Can you imagine wearing this amazing thing? Such pink and purple extravagance – it reminds me of a dessert. For a night at the opera, perhaps?

This one looks a bit more everyday, yet undeniably elegant. For a luncheon, or perhaps church?

It’s amazing to see these fabulous hats marked with our address. Time has certainly brought many changes to our part of town.

The truly remarkable thing is that Kathy and Brenda had never met, even though they once lived a few blocks away from each other in the small town of Lewiston, PA. It turns out that their grandfathers were brothers, which makes them second cousins to each other. Brenda had moved away to Harrisburg when Kathy was very young, so their paths never crossed until now. They have connected through us and are now emailing. Perhaps they would never have met if not for our little blog about our store and crafts and West Philly and whatnot. How cool is that?

Have I mentioned that I love the internet? Yep, I’m pretty sure I have.

It’s the first of our Second Saturday events, get it?

a show of work by digital collage artist Jen McCleary,plus special guest Shakey Lyman!

As part of the Satellite Second Saturday: Arts Galore on Baltimore series, we will be hosting a show by local artist Jen McCleary, whose work includes paintings, photography, digital collage and mixed media jewelry. We have represented her artwork for some time, like her amazing vintage optician’s lens pendants, but she will be bringing many new pieces that will be available only at the show, so be sure to check it out. We’ll also have refreshments, and as a special treat: live blues by the legendary Shakey Lyman!

The craft show on the triangle outside starts at 11 and will include over 20 local artisans. Jen’s show starts at 12, and Shakey will probably get going at about 1. We hear there’s even going to be a flea market at the church, so it sounds like a perfect day to head over to 50th & Baltimore! Hope the weather’s nice! Saturday, August 8.

What a thrill it was to open my mail this morning and find this, sent by Kathy Grumbine Miller, a great-niece of the Grumbine sisters who used to make ladies’ hats in our building many years ago. (See this post for more about them.) It’s a strip of silk ribbon labels, found in a forgotten drawer. They would have been sewn into the finished hats. They look brand new! I am particularly pleased that they say “west philadelphia”.

We have boxes, bags and now labels from the old millinery – but no hats! We have googled them to no avail. So next time you see a vintage ladies’ hat in a shop or flea market, please check the label! Snap a photo and send it to us if you get lucky. One must be out there somewhere…

We love to go to First Fridays in Old City sometimes to check out what’s going on. It’s great to look through the art galleries, but to me it’s even more fun to meet the folks selling their creations right on Third Street. It’s always been in the back of our minds to do a recurring event like this, only one that doesn’t compete. But then the baby came, and there’s been so much to do…

That’s why I was so glad that Mike Scott-Straight, one of our favorite artists and vendors, got this idea going. He has coordinated several craft shows at the Satellite Cafe and wanted to take things to the next level. After Wendy at the Satellite got all the permissions, a plan was made!

Starting on August 8, we will be partnering with the Satellite to present Second Saturdays at 50th and Baltimore. There will be a craft show on the triangle in front of the Firehouse as well as a featured artist and refreshments at VIX. Right now we’re looking for vendors! Please respond soon if you’d like to be considered, as space is limited. Email us at info@vixemporium.com .

Looking forward to it!

I have been very, VERY remiss on keeping up my periodic VIX Picks feature. I blame the baby.

Who can stare at the computer with a face like this smiling at you? But I hereby make this commitment: to do one VIX Picks post every month. Unless I have a really good excuse.

In honor of Nora, the ultimate distraction, this month’s picks are a few of my favorite new kid’s and baby items!

These sweet soft toys are made by Katie K. of Duck Duck Goose Creations. She’s sent us a varied and whimsical collection of girls, boys and animals stitched in a variety of fun fabrics. Many of them are baby-safe (no choking hazards). They’re so cute we’ve already sold a few, so don’t wait!

Local fashionista Nicole Rae Styer now includes baby girls’ dresses in her line of recycled one-of-a-kind fabulousness. She transforms ordinary found garments by embellishing them with scraps of vintage fabrics and fancy trimmings in her unmistakable style. We have a handful of her party dresses for little ladies with a flair for the unusual!

Iva Kelman is a local illustrator who incorporates skulls into many of her designs. Some may think that’s morbid, but really, we wouldn’t get far in life without our skulls! These are two of my Philly-centric favorites, sized for little ones with or without soft spots.

These and many more treats await for craft fans of all ages. Drop by and visit us this month, won’t you?

Back in February, when our daughter Nora was brand new, we received a comment on this blog.

“It’s really nice to see the millinery store building being used as a store and not torn down to make room for something else. My great aunts Jennie and Margaret Grumbine owned the store when I was a child, I remember going there when I visited Philadelphia.”

What a wonderful thing to hear! We’ve always wanted to know more about the history of this place and the people who created it. I wrote back to the author of the comment, Kathy Grumbine Miller of Lewistown, Pennsylvania. With the help of her 85-year old uncle, John Grumbine, she kindly answered some of my many questions about Jennie and Margaret.

Jennie, Margaret, and Jennie's husband. Child unknown.

The sisters were experienced milliners from Lewistown who moved their business to Philadelphia in search of a larger clientele. Sometime prior to 1932, they bought the building that VIX now occupies. They had it remodeled with the wonderful mirrored cabinets that remain today.

They did custom-made hats for middle-class ladies, in their choice of color and style. Customers would shop and try on hats in the front, and the hats were sewn in the back. All of the work was done by hand. The family kept a few of their hats, but unfortunately, none have survived. Only the hatboxes remain. I would have loved to see one!

Jennie and her husband, a widower, lived on Larchwood Avenue, only a few blocks from the store. Jennie also painted in her spare time. Some of her large paintings are still in Kathy’s family. I wonder what they look like!

Margaret Grumbine

Margaret never married. She lived with her sister and brother-in-law. Neither one had children. Jennie passed away at some point and Margaret ran the store without her for a while. Eventually, she, too, fell ill and closed the store. According to Kathy, the millinery remained open until sometime in the 1970s.

We are so glad to know a little more about these two creative entrepreneurs from another era, and so proud to honor them by supporting other artisans in the space they left behind. Perhaps Nora will follow in their footsteps someday.

A million thanks to Kathy and her uncle for answering my questions. I’m so glad she got in touch! Yet another reason to love the internet.