From now until January 3rd we are setup in the heart of NYC at Bryant Park. We’ve built an entire store that looks just like a classic library, complete with FAKE deer head, real working fireplace, bar, red leather high wing back chair, and custom built furniture in a classic library style.

We’ve got a lot of new T-shirts and Belts, but they are starting out at the NYC store first.

Come by Bryant Park and say hi! Also there is a free-to-the-public ice-skating rink.

Here is some preliminary work we are commissioning from uber artist Misael Armendariz on a tongue-in-cheek portrait of Fred and I in our study. This will hang above the FIREPLACE in our NYC shop at Bryant Park this year (Nov 6 to Jan 3). Special thanks goes out to Kaveh for doing the photography that this painting is based on.

Please help me become the Crafiest Bastard at this year’s ‘Crafty Bastards’ show in Washington, DC, Saturday October 3rd 10am – 5pm in Adam’s Morgan. Just click on the link below and vote. You don’t even have to live in DC to vote.

Click here: This is the link… right here… this line… click on me… it will help JON WYE become the Craftiest Bastard in DC

or here: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/craftybastards/2009/craftiestbastard/?vendor_id=2088

Crafty Bastards 2009

I’m busy getting ready for ‘Crafty Bastards’ and ‘Arts on the Avenue’ this weekend and so I haven’t had a lot of time for blog posting, but I thought I would fill the gap with a fun picture of me holding my bestest buddy like a little baby… I think that’s a smile on his face.

This past weekend Nikki and I were having lunch in the park with a friend of mine, and one of my artists, David William, and his friend Julia, and decided to try eatings acorns that were strewn about the park. They did not taste good! But through the crushing of acorns we came across one that looked like a Lego woman’s head, complete with hair. To the acorn NUTMEAT and shell hair we drew a face and she became Kim Nutmeats. But when lunch was over so were her adventures. Now she rests peacefully in the earth.

This was her eulogy:

ALAS she was born in the autumn of life and died that same season. Her time was short, but she was touched by all of us. Though she never made it to Paris, she always dreamed of it, and kept that dream with her always, with her acorn red beret. Rest in Pease Kim Nutmeats.

This week I will be doing two shows in TWO DIFFERENT CITIES. Basically I am going to clone myself or split myself in half (horizontal or vertical splitting TBD) in order to man both shows! Wellllll… I will be doing this year’s Renegade Craft show in Chicago (near Wicker Park) and Jeff will be manning the 31st Annual Adam’s Morgan Day Festival in Washington, DC (DuPont Circle Area). Check out the web banners below.

Yesterday Jeff and I designed and built a new drying rack system that allows us to more easily spray and then dry the protective coating that makes the belts and dog collars so strong.

Recently I took a trip out to Seattle for my Best Friend’s wedding. Of course i was strip searched and interrogated, but it was all worth it when I saw this sign, which told me that indeed this was the area to recombobulate.

And what trip to Seattle wouldn’t be complete without some pictures of the food at Pike Place Market.

Across from Pike Place Market there is a store/ restaurant that makes and sells cheese curds. They have yummy grilled cheese sandwiches and soup.

And about a block down the street from Pike Place there is a crumpet shop, which I believe is called ‘The Crumpet Shop’ I think I am looking my best here.

This was just a bonus… a food cart/van in the shape of a pig. So awesome!

Next up we start prepping for Adam’s Morgan Day Festival 2009 in Washington, DC, and Chicago’s Renegade Craft Festival in… Chicago. It’s going to be a whirlwind. And this year it looks like we will be showing our stuff at the Bryant Park Shops in NYC for all of November and December.

This gentleman gets the prize for ‘Most Creative Use of the Jon Wye Sticker” at the Halsted Market Days Festival this past weekend. It was another whirlwind trip.

Break it down with me. We left Friday at 3:45pm for Chicago, a 13 hour trip at best, and arrived at about 5:30 am Saturday morning. We drove straight through, and basically set up for the Halsted Market Days event right away. We were on our feet from 7:45am to midnight!

We couldn’t get a hold of our friend, Andy (“Dumptruck”), and so stayed at the Super 8. Luckily there was a Mobile Gas station with a convenience store attached. It provided us with all the entertainment we could handle… drunk girls trying to buy more beer and an assortment of processed cheeses. We ended up with some cereal bowls and a milk jug. The cereal cartons didn’t scan at the register so the night manager gave them to us for 50 cents each. It was the best treat at 1:00 am. We tried to stay awake for a movie, but Apprentice Jeff and I passed out!

A little pic of our booth setup. Pretty nice considering we were so far from home and had limited space in the van!

The streets were packed!!!

I believe these young men we’re doing a type of mating dance!

It was hot day so the crowd needed misting.

And most importantly I enjoyed a delicious shrimp roll!

On the way back we carved out a narrow space in the van for a sleeping bag so that one of us could drive and one sleep. I didn’t want to have to pay for another hotel room.

Next up… cleaning the workshop and designing a new booth! One step closer to a real store front.

Setting up shop in Chicago for the Halsted Market Days festival. More updates to come but it is a busy busy crowd today now that the sun is coming out

We’re still making our way up the PCH to San Francisco and I had to share this phenominal view!

Apprentice Jeff and I are about half way through our tour of California. We’re out here bringing the good word of the Jon Wye line to LA and San Francisco. After a really really successful show this past weekend we took a little R&R. The picture above is the famous Santa Monica pier. We also took in Venice Beach, but I didn’t like it nearly as much. Venice seemed to be big freakshow and tourist trap. I love a good freakshow but if you want to be able to enjoy the beach I suggest Santa Monica. It is a lot more peaceful.

We also got to see the famous Muscle Beach Gym where Arnold used to get his pump on!

While in LA we stayed at my friend Matt’s industrial condo in downtown LA. Matt and I were friends in college,
but really reconnected on this visit. We ate Mochi, drank wine, ate doner kababs, swam, and sat in the hot tub on the roof of his condo every chance we got.

Matt had a tremendous assortment of musical instruments that we rocked out on. I think we look like a good band!

Whenever I travel I can be persistant (that’s the nice way of putting it) in my quest for the best local cusine. Luckily on our trip up to San Fran we came across Burrito Loco in Santa Maria. I had the chicken quesadillas, which were made with the most delicious shredded chicken and melted cheese. It was the best Mexican food I have ever had, which is saying a lot considering my girlfriend, Nikki, loves Mexican food and we eat a lot of it

More tales from the road to come shortly. We’ll be in San Francisco soon, where fashion and yummy food awaits me.

Jeff and I are rockin it at the Renegade LA show on downtown Los Angeles. We’ll be here today and tomorrow (July 11th and 12th) pushing our belts and tshirts to the West Coast. Stop by our booth and mention this blog post and get $5 off any item.

Chicago’s “Custer’s Fair” was another hugely successful show. And we sold way more belts and t-shirts than we anticipated. And it was no surprise that the new “Pirate Chefs” T-shirt did well… the natives in Chicago love their food!

This is Jeff relaxing and making the booth a lot more inviting. Wouldn’t you buy a T-shirt from him? That’s called a trustworthy grin BTW… a little known sales tactic.

And this adorable patron, and her puppy Payton, purchased a Chimps dog collar at the show. Apparently Payton’s nickname is monkey so it fits him quite well. She also got herself a ‘Dogs in Space’ belt to match her inevitable purchase of the ‘Dogs in Space’ dog collar.

This is Margaret and Annette, two new fans from Chicago. They were super excited about the belts and wanted to know all the details of how they are made. Of course that is a super secret! So they came up with the best new fictional explantion for my belt making process. Apparently I tattoo live cows just before they are turned into yummy hamburger. Then I take their hides and simply cut them onto belts. Sounds about right.

Jeff, new apprentice, and I are currently on a roadtrip to Chicago foe this weekends ‘Custer’s Last Stand’ Festival. That is Jeff sleeping like a little baby. And the second photo is of a new health food I found called a baked apple pie from McDonald’s.

It’s a 12 hour trip but luckily we will have the comfort of staying with my friend Andy “Dumptruck” Golding this weekend. I met Andy at a bike polo event in DC that I helped sponsor about a year or so back.

More updates from the road to come.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. I am deeming this year “The Year of the Big Push.” And as such, Jeff and I are (and have been) doing a festival or craft show every weekend of the summer, and then some. From DC to Atlanta, NY, LA, San Fran, Chicago, Baltimore. Jeff is the new apprentice in the studio (formal introductions to come soon). Apprentice Heidi is still helping in the studio as well, but with working full time, grad school, and a BF her schedule has been a little crazy. Here’s some of the new goings on.

Jeff (above) has a terrible sweet tooth. And when he heard of the mother of all ice cream at our Baltimore event, HonFest, he had to hunt one down. $5 buys you an ice cream sandwich that is over 8 inches wide and will make you sick!

When it was a little too much for him he enlisted the help of a customer.

Honfest had the most amazing people watching possible. All the ladies walk around in the “Hon Hair” all day long. The general Hon outfit is a beehive hairdo, gaudy purse and shoes, and some sort of leopard or zebra pattern clothing. Usually tight to the skin. Very tight. Sometimes way too much tight.

There was even a booth where you could get your own Hon Hair for free.

Yup, that is a doggy with a mini Hon Hair wig. How amazing is that?!?!

The day was even complete with a Hon pageant. All the girls had to say “Hi Hon” to the judges in their best Bawlmor accent. Here’s a little more info on HonFest

Another satisfied customer of the new FredFred dog collar line.

This buddy might not own a FredFred dog collar yet, BUT this was so awesome I just had to share. I think his owner loves him very much, and when I met him he seemed like a happy puppy. BTW, I think all dogs are puppies. There is no reason to think old age on your best friend!

More Recaps to come soon.

This past weekend of May 30-31 was brutal. It was the first time I did two major events at once, the ICE (Indie Craft Experience) Show in Atlanta, GA and Handmade Mart in Silver Spring, MD. Two booth setups, two crews, and a lot of favors owed. While Apprentice Jeff and I headed to ATL, Apprentice Heidi and Ryan did the Maryland show.

Because of my lack of thinking skills i neglected to pack a camera, but luckily Heidi is a photo nut and snapped some great pics of the Handmade Mart show.

This is Guappo. Guappo is people. He ran around until he found us so he could show off his new collar. Guappo got one of the first FredFred Sparrow collars. They will be available online soon.

Check out this little cutie and future pirate chef!

Ryan is very proud of himself for collapsing the entire booth display into one rollable setup. Very well done!

As promised. Here is the poster for where I will be this coming Saturday May 24th.

A little tease of the new wrist cuff designs coming out.

And as for those new belts I promised… well, I promise again they will be up soon. I won’t be able to get them up as VR belts until the summer season is over, but I will throw them up in a special “NEW belts” section with some old school 2D photos.

Upcoming shows (I’ll remind again as we get closer to them):

1. Counter Culture Festival in Vienna, VA – MAY 24

2. Indie Craft Experience in Atlanta, GA – MAY 30-31

3. Handmade Mart in Silver Spring, MD – May 31

4. Custer’s Last Stand Fair in Chicago, IL – June 20-21

5. Renegade Craft in Los Angeles, CA – July 11-12

6. Renegade Craft in San Francisco, CA – July 18-19

7. Halsted Festival in Chicago, IL – August 1-2

BEHOLD!!! Yup, not really much to “BEHOLD” about… yet! It’s the schematic drawing for a new wrist cuff i am developing. It is sans major measurements to protect against other designer pirates from snatching my brain mojo. It is a three part cuff that when assembled will fit almost any wrist, from super tiny wrists to massive biker dude wrists. The cuff has a unique banding system that allows it to be trimmed according to wrist size and still fit as if nothing was trimmed off… hand to explain, but trust me, it’s cool. It will come in lots of basic colors and also some new cool patterns and scenes.

OK… NOW YOU CAN BEHOLD IT… again, only sort of. Below is the prototype cuff that i made and then did the schematic for.

Coming soon, and just in time for summer cookouts, the new Pirate Chefs chef’s hat. Custom made black hat, with repositionable Velcro closuse to fit almost any size head.

The hat officially rounds out the Pirate Chefs line. Make sure the check out the apron and t-shirt!

This past Sunday was spent at the BowWow PowWow dog festival in Washington, DC. Basically if you have a dog it is the place to be. I love my dog, but i refuse to dress him up in costumes to roll him around in a stroller…. enough said. We sold quite a few of the new FredFred line of dog collars, my subbrand named after my best buddy, Fred.

And here is a picture of Guappo, owned by Justin and Lucia, fellow vendors and friends at the festival. Fred couldn’t join because he would have been too protective of the tent!

This past weekend was the Co-Ed bike polo tournament in DC. I am usually involved in some form or another, whether it’s making t-shirts or sponsoring. This year I helped make their event t-shirts, but couldn’t’ make the event. Luckily one of the participants, and a new friend of mine, stopped by with good friend Ryan Dudek (another bike polo enthusiast) to pick up some new belts. Below is Andy “Dump Truck” Golding holding his new ‘Zombies in the Wild West’ and ‘Wavy Stripe’ belts. And Ryan is seen sleeping in the director’s chair. I was just going to ship the belts to him, but we decided to push through and make the belts that night. I think we started at 11pm and ended at 2:30am… the new protective coating on the belts needs time to dry. We passed the time by watching Lonely Planet skits on youtube.

If all goes well, and I get into the Renegade Craft Event in Chicago I will be crashing with Dump Truck. I am sure hilarity will ensue.

Just added some faux-wood foam flooring to the studio. It’s feels so much lighter and much more inviting. And it feels soft on the feet while standing all day.

I’ve been working long hours these past few months. And with what little time I have I spend it with loved ones, bestest friends, Fred (wonder dog, who is sleeping next to me as I type), and customers… oh and the latest episode of LOST.

So I’ve had little time for other distractions. Today I got rid of about 75% of my distractions. I sold my TV, PS2, and TiVo on craigslist as a bundle. It was at a bargain price too, but that extra 3-4 hours a week that I can now put back into my company will help me rocket that much further ahead.

So bye bye distractions… at least some of them.

A good friend called today, frantically yelling, “Did you see the last episode of LOST?”

To which i replied, “Of course i did, I am obsessed!”

We went back through the episode “Whatever Happened, Happened,” around the 30 min mark, and BAM! Kate was talking to Sawyer about helping little Ben, she leans over to help and there it was, what looks like my brown and pink polka dot belt.

It’s a freeze frame from TV so I can’t be sure if it’s mine because of the quality, but it does look an awful lot like mine. If anyone can validate for sure i might have a surprise for you.

For those of you who have visited my studio, or as I like to call it, the Funktory (Fun Factory), you will remember the extremely tight quarters. Well, got rid of the exercise equipment, superfluous boxes, and piles of wood…. there is always a project. But now my studio space is doubled and i have spread out a bit.

And soon i wil have an actual t-shirt rack out permanently so that I can actually show the t-shirts when people come by, instead of rummaging through boxes.

Just last night I also won some ebay auctions that will be providing me with new rubber flooring. Ohhhhh… anti-fatigue mats.

And the space is now big enough that Fred (wonder dog) can actually come in and hang with me in the Studio.

Oh happy day! Keep on buying and I will keep on making… and expanding… and something something… take over the world Pinky!

We just arrived at the Baltimore pet tradehow and Fred is already working the booth. I tried to dress well for the event but a dark gray shirt plus dog hair is the look for the day.

We plan on getting muchos sales so we can build a new workshop.

Below is my self portrait of the day. I was surprised at how nice all the other vendors are, despite the competition.

Below is a picture of the Buttercup’s PAW-tisserie booth. They were kind enough to give Fred a liver cake treat and some water.

www.buttercupspaw.com