Cranky Yellow is awesome due to the complete and utter awesomeness of all the dedicated people involved! Check out this totally rad illustration/advertisement that Michelle (Lemon Squeezie) squeezed out (bad pun intended) for the website. WOW!

Michelle definitely went the distance! She even took it upon herself to snag some totally nasty-baby-poop-yellow shirts from the thrift store. That girl didn’t even think twice about silk screening this image on them. Oh Snap! Now I just wish everyone could have one.

(MICHELLE! EMAIL ME A PICTURE OF THE SHIRT SO I CAN POST IT HERE! FEEL FREE TO MAKE SASSY MODEL… OR YOU CAN MODEL TOO!)

Anyway…Thanks again Michelle! I’ll cook delicious buttered toast, for you, some time!

I’m glad I get to look at him every day for a few more weeks! He’s a dirty old war veteran… and he won’t stop asking me for change.

He was created by the amazing plush-master Spooky Daddy! He is currently on display at Cranky Yellow as part of the Crammed Organisms Show (which only runs for a few more weeks)! You had better get to our place, Star Clipper Comics, APOP Records, and Subterranean Books before this show closes! It’s unbelievable!

Please don’t come in and buy this. It’s probably my favorite thing in the shop. I should just buy it myself and take it home… but I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it stays well hidden (and by well hidden I mean sitting on the floor by the door)!

It is a totally fine folk-artifact. Seriously look how stupid his trunk looks. The person who painted this obviously had never seen an elephant.

The frame is really crappy and falling apart… so it’s $15. If you want to buy it… I’ll fight you for it. Better watch out. I might walk away with it. Or maybe I’ll have it re-framed and then put a ridiculously high price on it so you can’t afford it. Then you would be screwed!

Yep. Them be fightin words.

We get really great packages in… I photograph them… and then proceed to forget about posting it.

So here, without further forgetfulness, I present you with the most amazing bomb-tastic package EVER!

The KETTLE WORM! Damn it’s sexy. WOW!

You can’t blame me for being far behind on posting stuff. I’m only torn in one million directions! Damn work.

Camilla from Doodle Everyday came into the shop a few weeks ago and gave us this amazing piece! It’s now proudly hanging behind our desk for the whole world to see…or at least the 2 people who ever stop in to see!

Check out her site and keep up with her wonderfully amusing doodles as they pop out everyday. Most days. Sometimes!

Thanks Camilla! You’re groovy… Amazing… and your friend needs to pick up that piece of art he bought!

Whoa! Did you know this cool cat is the featured seller on Etsy.com right now!?

He’s also having a solo show here at Cranky Yellow in April! The show opens Friday April 4, 2008 (7-11pm)

He may be here in the flesh… hopefully…. well…erm…. you never know I guess..

Seriously, though, this show is going to be exceptionally awesome! You should stop by and check it out if you live in the Saint Louis Area! We’d love to see you!

I’m sure it’s rather obvious that I could apply myself a bit more to this blog. Angelo dominates the blog archives with massive rants on various political topics and extravagantly written reviews of art, new products and events. I on the other hand only pop in to slap up a quick little note of something new without thinking twice about how “boring” it may be for the reader…

Sooo…
I’ve decided to make a well needed change. I’m going to start pulling my weight a bit more on our beloved blog of generally well written reflections of “Cranky Life”. This is the first installment of my destined to fail project:

If you know me, you know that I love (and by love I mean I am completely obsessed with) junk. Well not junk… but Treasures. Tacky little Folk-art pieces, forgotten toys, ugly housewares and left over trash just makes me giddy. So it’s no surprise I nearly jumped in my car to drive to Worcester Massachusetts to visit HBML Junk Shoppe when I first found out about it.

This place seriously puts shame to all other wannabe junk shops. Walk in these doors and find yourself inside a treasure chest of amazing finds. This building, located at 420 pleasant street, Worcester MA, is home to some of the greatest examples of awesomeness the world has to offer.

Their space is open Wednesday Thursday and Friday (WTF) from 4:30 to 8pm and Saturday from 2 to 5. During those perfectly puny hours you can immerse yourself in all the joy flea-market finds can offer. I mean seriously who doesn’t love giant squid and packaging foam stuck to the ceiling. This place is an amazing store, art installation, primitive art gallery, and general mental stimulus package.

If you find anything you like on their website, flickr page, or myspace page you’ll need to drive to their location to snag it for your very own. They don’t offer their goods online, which I think is magically awesome and depressingly unfortunate for me (since I live in Missouri). Overall, though, their unwillingness to sell online seems pretty perfectly matched to their aesthetic; An aesthetic that makes my skin bubble with happiness.
Now… To keep this post at a manageable consumption size, I’ll leave you with a few more photos:

Just look at that wall of greatness. I think a little bit of excrement came out the first time I saw that photo.

This is possibly the best mask every conceived by mankind… though I’m thinking it might only look good on that guy.

Oh and they have free condoms (male and female) which is enough to drag even the biggest stick in the mud to their store. I mean seriously who can pass that up? Even A-sexual’s can stock up and play a game of Condom-Santa, delivering hefty packages of contraceptives to all of their more horny acquaintances.

See? This place is a Win/Win situation for all.

(all photos totally stolen from the HBML.ORG website)

Two new plush artists have sent in their work for our store.

These hand stitched monsters are by Mayroca Estranhoca (the first cranky from Brazil)!
The stitching on the pink ones stomach is so lovely! These are beautiful collectible pieces of art! Each one is wonderfully crafted and ready for a new home! Snag yours while you still can!

Next we have Pongo! Created by Superchick Studio (Hooray for Saint Louis Artists)! These adorable little guys are perfect for long snuggle parties! We even have two Jumbo models for SUPER SNUGGLE EXTRAVAGANZAS! You can stop in at our location and have a test snuggle if you’d like! I’m sure Pongo would appreciate it!

My Life has been consumed with working on Dora Magrath’s CD Release Party. The event is tomorrow and I’m still working on some last minute preparations.

A few mornings ago I awoke to a lovely breakfast of peanut butter and tea while cropping flyers for the event. Notices how Dinah gets just close enough to be irritably cute but far enough to avoid being touched. She is an evil demon cat of fatty-fat love!

I’ve seriously spent most of my waking hours the past week finishing up everything involved with this CD (along with working on a few pesky web-design projects that are taking forever to finish). I’ll be posting some photos of the CD tomorrow…. because I know you are excited to see it.

Now I must be back to work!

Click here for more info on the show! 

P.S. We’ve received some lovely new items in the store… so don’t worry… we will be talking about them here soon.

These darling little babies were created by Absolutely Small! I’ve snuggled each one… now you should too! You can stop by the store and snag them.