If you’re in the area, be sure to come visit us on October 18th at the 6th annual Syracuse Salt Market! This year, the Salt Market will be held at a brand new venue in town — Sky Armory — and over 50 vendors will be selling their goods. There will also be live music throughout the day as well as sips, sweets and smoothies from Recess Coffee and LOFO. Don’t miss it!
Last year we held our first ever Sidewalk Sale, and the event was a huge success! This year, we’re planning another Sidewalk Sale with even more product offerings, more food trucks, ice cream from Gannon’s Ice Cream, letterpress printing demonstrations, and even a paper airplane golf course! Event attendees can enter to win a $100 Smock gift card, and we’ll be donating $5 to Onondaga Earth Corps for every person who completes our paper airplane course. Be sure to RSVP to the Sidewalk Sale on Facebook!
Many thanks to the following local vendors for partnering with us for the 2014 Sidewalk Sale: Street Eats, Ladybug Lunchbox, Smoke Inc., PB&J’s Lunchbox, Recess Coffee, Cafe Kubal, and Gannon’s Ice Cream!
*In the event of rain, the Sidewalk Sale will be moved inside to the Delavan Center Art Gallery – enter at the 501 entrance!
Join us for our 2nd Annual Holiday Sip & Shop! The event will take place on Wednesday, December 4th and Thursday, December 5th from 3-7pm in the Delavan Center Art Gallery. We’ll have holiday shopping and crafting stations, hot drinks and sweet treats from Recess Coffee and The Sweet Praxis, and a fun holiday photobooth from Amelia Beamish Photography. Plus, if you bring a donation (funds or non-perishable food items) for Food Bank of Central New York, we’ll give you 15% off your entire Smock purchase! If you had fun at our Sidewalk Sale, you won’t want to miss this event. Be sure to RSVP to our Facebook event to receive updates and news as the event gets closer. We hope to see you there!
We can’t wait to be a part of the 2013 Buy Local Bash! This year’s event is being presented by AmeriCu Credit Union and supports SyracuseFirst, an amazing organization that helps promote local businesses in the Syracuse area. Come out for a night of fun — the Buy Local Bash will feature live music, local artists, indie retailers, and lots of delicious local food & beverages! The event will take place on Monday, November 25 from 6-9:30pm at The Most and tickets are still available. We’ll be selling exclusive coasters to benefit SyracuseFirst, too, so be sure to stop by and see us at the event!
With the holiday season quickly approaching, we’re excited to be planning some holiday shopping events! Come see us to stock up on your favorite Smock goods for the holidays:
The Delavan Center Open Studio + Holiday Sale: Friday, November 8 from 5-8pm and Saturday, November 9 from 10am-4pm. Come take a tour, see presses in action and stock up on your favorite letterpress goods in our Delavan Center Studio! Over 40 other artists and businesses in the building will also be open for the event, so be sure to stop by and see in us in Studio 135. The event is free and open to the public! RSVP on Facebook to receive updates on the event.
We’ll be sure to update this page with more information as it becomes available!
If you live in upstate New York, come visit us at the Pepper Market this Saturday! We’ll have a great mix of Smock goods for sale (including letterpress holiday cards and our double-sided gift wrap!) and you’ll have the chance to support other local CNY designers. We hope to see you there!
If you love letterpress and live in the Syracuse area, stop by our shop this Thursday, November 29 from 4-7pm! We’ll have complimentary sweets and holiday stationery goods for sale, and we’re giving away a free gift when you spend $25 or more! We hope to see you there!
The holidays are right around the corner, so it’s time to start shopping for gifts! At Smock, we’ve got something for everyone — whether it’s pretty letterpress stationery for her, or man-friendly notebooks for him, we’ve got you covered. This is a carefully selected assortment of our best-selling items, so they’re sure to please everyone on your list! We’ve even got some great stocking stuffer ideas — all for under $15!! So stop by your local Smock retailer or visit our website to get started on your holiday shopping today! And don’t forget to stock up on a few rolls of our double-sided, eco-friendly gift wrap for a perfectly coordinated present (and to find out how to make matching bows, visit us on Youtube!).
1. Veranda Medium Keepsake Box $12 | 2. Quadrille Attachments Sticky Note Cube $18 | 3. Pollen Letterpress Scratchpad $7 | 4. Sorbet Letterpress Art Print Calendar $8 | 5. Honeycomb Letterpress Social Notes $14 for a 6 count box | 6. Veranda Notebook $9 | 7. Berry Memo $7 | 8. Cayman Offset Social Notes $12 for an 8 count box | 9. Picadilly Jotters $6 for a 2-pack | 10. Newport Lettersheets $20 for a set of 12
1. Oxford jotters $6 for a 2-pack | 2. Planet Memo $7 | 3. Ridley Lettersheets $20 for a set of 12 | 4. Bicyclette Letterpress Social Notes $14 for a 6 count box | 5. Peacock Letterpress Art Print Calendar $8 | 6. Koi Notebook $9 | 7. Bicyclette Scratchpad $7 | 8. Pembroke Offset Social Notes $12 for an 8 count box | 9. Oxford Medium Keepsake Box $12 | 10. Beetle Attachments Sticky Note Cube $18
1. Peacock Letterpress Scratchpad $7 | 2. Bubbles Letterpress Gift Tags $8 for a 6-pack | 3. Ming Memo $7| 4. Herons Letterpress Social Notes $14 for a 6 count box | 5. Pollen Jotters $6 for a 2-pack | 6. Oxford Letterpress Art Print Calendar $8 | 7. Pollen Letterpress Art Print Calendar $8 | 8. Jade Letterpress Gift Tags $8 for a 6-pack | 9. Crochet Memo $7 | 10. Flowerburst Letterpress Scratchpad $7
It’s not often we get to see what we eat outside of our homes and the grocery store. In September, a few of us had a chance to get up and personal with our peppers and onions during a tour of the beautiful Grindstone Farm in Pulaski, New York. Many Smock employees have CSA shares from Grindstone, and it was enlightening to get a good, hard look at what goes into creating our tasty, organic produce.
We spent a long time talking with Vic and Dick de Graff about what it’s like running a small organic farm in the snow belt of upstate New York, where snow comes early and often, and the local food movement is just catching on. They have adapted to the weather over the years by growing many of their vegetables in hoop houses, like the one featured above, in order to extend the growing season into November.
While Grindstone farm may look like an idyllic place to live, farming is anything but easy. One mistake, like forgetting to cover the lettuce before a potential frost, can ruin an entire crop for the rest of the year. As a farmer, your backyard is your home office, and there is always more work that should be done. But just like our love for creating beautiful, sustainable letterpress goes beyond the normal 9-5, the farmers at Grindstone choose this life because of a passion for growing and providing food for friends and neighbors, and because they want to spread the idea that feeding the world can happen one small plot of land at a time.
Interested in finding a farm like this near you? Check out localharvest.org for CSAs, U Pick Farms, Farmers Markets, Grocery Co-ops and more! Want to see more photos from our trip to Grindstone Farm & our CSA pick-up spot here at Bella Figura? Check out this slideshow!