This week in Philly etsy…

OK, Justin Arawjo’s not from Philly, he’s from Harrisburg. But we saw his Communitea booth at a craft fair at the Piazza a few weeks ago and liked it so much that we grabbed a business card AND a reasonably priced T-shirt.

What’s going on here?

The coolest thing about this shirt is that it depicts an actual historical event! On May 3, 1808 Monsieur de Grandpre and Monsieur de Pique ascended over Paris in hot air balloons to duel for the affection of a famous dancer. One source clains they chose to duel in balloons because they believed they had “elevated minds”. In any case, after ascending to about 2000 feet, they fired at each other from a distance of 80 yards. De Pique took the first shot and missed. De Grandpre, however, scored a direct hit on his opponent’s balloon and De Pique was tipped out of his basket, falling to the rooftops below. I have yet to find any information regarding how this impressed the dancer they were fighting over.

Balloon duels? Clearly I was meant for another era. Here’s a detail if you’re squinting:

Balloon Duel shirt, Communitea, $15.

Texas is what the split-city pair pair behind Brookadelphia has up as an example, but they’ll laser cut you any state out of any color with a heart or star over the capital.

If you want another country, providence or region, email brookadelphia [!at] gmail.com and we’ll work something out. Prices may vary for this option.

Statehood for all necklace, Brookadelphia, $45.

Shavingkit has some of the neatest, most obscure clip art you’ll ever see. She, who calls herself a “book dork,” scans and offers as high-res downloads the weirdest medical illustrations from the ’20s, Victorian monster-identifying charts, and 17th-century engravings of owls and sells them in topical packs for $4.50 a download for use in silkscreening, making Christmas cards, framing and pretending it was expensive or whatever floats your boat.

Digital clip art downloads, shavingkit, $4.50.

Seeing as how I’ve been putting off sewing covers for the sad, wan IKEA cushions on my couch for perhaps five months now, these pillowcases, sewed together by Nicole Mercurio out of upcycled vintage fabrics, are starting to look mighty appealing.

Swirl and dots pillow cover, Couch Design, $30.