With Love, SF Weekly

SF Weekly's annual "Best of" issue came out last week, and we were sooo happy to find that both
The Curiosity Shoppe and Pop-Up Magazine made it into this year's round-up. Thanks for the love, SF Weekly!

Know-It-All

Thanks to the Philadelphia Inquirer for writing about the amazing Know-It-All Pencil Sets by Paper Pastries last week!! Of course we sold out right away, but thankfully we received another shipment of pencils today. Pick up a set for the know-it-all in your life!

Ideal Bookshelves by Jane Mount Opening Friday!

Please join us this Friday, May 14th to celebrate the opening of "Ideal Bookshelves" featuring paintings, prints, and postcards by the talented Jane Mount. Many of the pieces in the show represent Ideal Bookshelves submitted by friends, both from San Francisco and around the country. It's an amazing and beautiful collection, and it's been endlessly fascinating to check out all the great books people are into these days.

PLUS: We're offering a $25 gift certificate to the first person who correctly guesses which of the above "Bookshelves" belongs to Lauren and I. (click the image to enlarge) Leave your guess in the comments*.

PLUS: It's practically Lauren's birthday, so come by and wish her a good one!

WHAT: Ideal Bookshelves, works by Jane Mount

WHEN: Opening Party Friday, May 14, 6-8pm.

WHERE: The Curiosity Shoppe, 855 Valencia St.

(*Our moms and employees of the Curiosity Shoppe are not eligible).

Birdhouses available online!

People visiting our shoppe gallery over the last couple weeks have been all a-flutter over the amazing birdhouses that Jeff Canham and Luke Bartels created for their "For the Birds" show. They are now available on our website! Check them out here.

The Curiosity Shoppe + THE THING!!

Just wanted to pass along an invitation/reminder to please join us for an exciting and fun event with our pals from THE THING!

On Friday, April 30th as part of Joseph del Pesco's Society of Secrets event at the Berkeley Art Museum, The Curiosity Shoppe will be partnering with THE THING to host a secret undisclosed back-room parallel black jack tournament using Ryan Gander and Europa's Issue 9. Not sure how to play? Don't worry, it's really simple, we'll send you the rules ahead of time...or you can always purchase the cards (which come with playing instructions) from THE THING or the Curiosity Shoppe.

The games will begin at 5:00pm and go till 8:00, and admission is free for players. We are looking for 64 participants in the tournament, which is first-come, first-serve. The ranks are filling up fast, so we're not sure if there are any spots left, but if you're interested please send an email to Francois at: support (at) thethingquarterly (dot) com. The winner will receive a cash prize of $100 from THE THING and a $100 gift certificate from the Curiosity Shoppe.

Even if you can't be in the tournament, it's gong to be a great event and a great night, and we'll hope you'll come join in the fun with us!

Small Stakes book launch party and signing!

Hello Friends:
Wow! Busy week! In addition to our gallery opening tomorrow evening (see post below), we are also super excited about an event we hope you will join us for on Saturday. Our friend Jason Munn—the wonderful wizard of rock posters—will be launching his brand new, utterly amazing book The Small Stakes Music Posters at our Shoppe. We are truly honored to host Jason and can't wait to celebrate his incredible work. So come on by and meet The Man, buy his book (and get a special limited-edition print!!). There will be snacks to eat, and posters for sale.

WHAT: The Small Stakes Book Signing with Jason Munn
WHEN: Saturday April 10th, 5-8pm
WHERE: The Curiosity Shoppe, 855 Valencia St. (btwn 19th & 20th)

For the Birds Opening!!

Hello Friends!
Please join us this Friday evening to celebrate the opening of our new gallery show, For the Birds! Our talented pals Jeff Canham and Luke Bartels have created an array of amazing abodes, perfect the urban bird. There will be refreshments to peck at.

WHAT: For the Birds opening
WHEN: Friday, April 9th 7-9pm
WHERE: The Curiosity Shoppe 855 Valencia St. (between 19th & 20th)

*More images and a write up on Cool Hunting right here.

Seriously Curious Confections

We've always admired Mary and Matt's great taste in art and design, music and fashion, and so on and so forth... And then—as if to prove their excellence in a whole different realm of "taste"—they started making mind-blowing, explicative-inducing chocolate. They recently sent us some samples which we shared with customers throughout the day. Everyone fell in love. Now you can too!

Drawing, and drawing, and drawing...

Almost missed this article from the LA Times about our very talented pal Jason Polan. He's on a mission to draw all 8 million people in New York (amongst other things). The article also mentions the Taco Bell Drawing Club, of which we are proud card carrying members...

Jason was nice enough to create some very limited edition art sampler packs for us recently. There are still a couple left here.

Comforter at the Curiosity Shoppe!

We're very excited to invite you to the Shoppe this Friday, March 12th to celebrate the opening of Comforter, our new gallery show featuring drawings, sculptures, and a gianormous quilt by the multi-talented Emily Sevier. Emily is an amazing artist and curator whose colorful (and often cuddly) works play with notions of personal comfort zones and emotional attachment to objects. She has created a beautiful collection of pieces for our space and we're thrilled to share her show with you. Please join us Friday to check out the work, meet Emily, and have a drink and a snack. See you then!!

WHAT: Comforter, works by Emily Sevier
WHEN: Friday, March 12th, 6-8pm
WHERE: The Curiosity Shoppe (855 Valencia St. btwn. 19th & 20th)

*There's so much great art happening this Friday, why not make an evening of it? Come check out Comforter here at the Shoppe, and also make sure to hit up "It's A Sign" at Adobe Books Backroom Gallery featuring work by the amazing artists from New Bohemia Signs (the folks who made The Curiosity Shoppe sign and sandwich board thankyouverymuch!). And then of course there is an epic show at Southern Exposure called Alchemy curated by our pal Sarah Smith.

Wunderkammer Crochet Workshop!!

This Saturday, March 6th, we are thrilled to welcome the amazingly talented Jessica Polka of Wunderkammer back to Shoppe! Jessica will be hosting a crochet workshop based on the delightful Seahorse Crochet Kit she created for us! If you already crochet, come on down and learn some new tricks while Jessica walks you through the pattern. If you've never picked up a hook in your life, now's your chance to learn from a very friendly, very patient pro. We'll have all the kits and supplies on hand, and there will be snacks!
WHAT: Crochet Workshop with Jessica Polka
WHEN: Saturday, March 6th, 2-5pm
WHERE: The Curiosity Shoppe (855 Valencia btwn. 19th & 20th Sts.)
COST: Workshop is free. Kits $20.

See you Saturday!

Reminder: Plant Exchange tomorrow morning!

Aurora has organized another plant exchange that will take place in front of the shoppe tomorrow morning from 9-12. Come by with your plant starts or cuttings and trade them for something new for your garden! More information here.

Survival Annex items online!

For the last two weeks of the show- all the items in the Survival Annex are available for purchase online!! Prepare to be amazed...

And for those of you in SF, there will be a plant exchange and all day closing party next Sunday, February 21st. C'mon by!

Calling All Soup Lovers!

We are majorly in love with SOUPLOVE, a new recipe book we are carrying at the shoppe. Especially now that it's mid-February when the contents of our CSA box pretty much consist of leafy greens, root vegetables and even more leafy greens. When this book arrived at the shoppe last week, we flipped to the "Winter" chapter and there was an amazing recipe for Potato Leek and Winter Vegetable soup that pretty much used up everything in our box and fed us for an entire week. For more, check out this awesome review at 101 Cookbooks!


(All the recipes are vegetarian, but that didn't stop us from adding bacon to our soup... it was even better the next day when we pureed all the leftovers. Yummmm!)

Gifts for Valentine's Day

Still looking for the perfect gift for your sweetie this year? If you're in the neighborhood this weekend, we've got you covered.

Megan Dempsey from Letter Paper Flower will be in the Shoppe from 12-3 this Saturday and Sunday selling beautiful (and affordable!) Valentine bouquets, so come by and pick one up!





We've also got some great merchandise in the shoppe for loved ones, including:

Sweetheart Patch Kits from Chikabird

Tactile Poetry from Leafcutter Designs

"Yours 'Til Niagara Falls" postcards from Brooklyn Rehab

Survival Annex - Plant Exchange!!

Come one, Come all!!! In conjunction with her amazing Survival Annex shop within the Shoppe, store manager Aurora Crispin will be hosting a Plant Exchange tomorrow, SATURDAY JANUARY 22ND. We've arranged for a break in the rain, so please arrive promptly at 5pm at Mission Playground Park (directly across from the Shoppe on Valencia btwn. 19th & 20th) with your favorite Cuttings, Clippings, Starts, and Foraged Plants.
See you there!

Survival Annex Opening

We had such a great time at the opening of the Survival Annex on Friday night! Thanks to all who came out, and congratulations to Aurora and all the amazing artists who created work for the show. More pics here.

Survival Annex Shop within the Shoppe!

Signs advertising the wide array of objects for sale in Aurora Crispin's Survival Annex (a shop within the Shoppe) that opens tomorrow, Friday January 8th 2010.

2010 is definitely starting off with a BANG here at the Curiosity Shoppe! Our wonderfully talented Shoppe Manager Aurora has curated an insanely ambitious show in our gallery space. A super artist herself, Aurora has wrangled up a long, long list of the most exciting and talented folks around to contribute to her shop within the Shoppe called Survival Annex. She and the awesomely talented Jesse Schlesinger have built an amazing structure in our gallery space that looks like some sort of surreal Gold Rush-era general store. It's beautiful and jam-packed with all manner of creative and unique and gorgeous objects. To learn more about the project, and see the list of participating artists/vendors check out the Survival Annex blog. Lauren and I also contributed to the Annex. I'm offering up 100% Raw Honey from my beehive ($10), and Lauren has created a series of crocheted spiderwebs ($25).

We hope to see you at the Grand Opening of the Survival Annex tomorrow, Friday January 8th, from 6-9pm inside the Curiosity Shoppe (855 Valencia St. btwn. 19th & 20th sts.)

Coming in January...

A shop in shoppe, also known as the Survival Annex, featuring work by dozens of amazing artists and curated by our very own Aurora Crispin. Stay tuned for more info! And in the meantime, check out this website!

Lauren's Wishlist

All right, folks- one week and counting until Xmas day....
I was inspired by Derek's list of favorite items in the shoppe to put together one of my own- and here it is!
1. Crayon Rings by Timothy Liles
2. Chartreuse Tea Pot by Russel Wright
3. One Inch Necklace by Nous Savons
4. Yours 'Til Niagara Falls Postcard by Brooklyn Rehab
5. Stuffed Log Kit by My Imaginary Boyfriend
6. Wishbone Card by Threefold Collective
7. A Field Guide to Weeds by Kim Beck
8. Cats Let Nothing Darken Their Roar 2010 Calendar, by Noa Bembibre
9. Wooden Magnifying Glass by Singgish Kartono
10. "Brick" Rest Pillow by Linnea Blomgren