Lancaster Creative Market

Last weekend, in an attempt to get really rich, we went over to Lancaster to sell things at the Lancaster Creative Market. And to see our friend Rebecca, who has been mentioned already in countless blog posts, who lives there. Neither of us had been to Lancaster for a while so, as well as being excited about selling things at the market, we were looking forward to having a look around town too.

Our (extremely full) table

There were lots of super nice stalls there. Reloved At Home was selling loads of amazing recycled things, like dolls and decorations. There was a woman offering massages! And a nice old man who was selling pottery that he'd made himself at home. 

The extremely good The Make District were behind our favourite stall. The Make District is a collaborative effort between three different Lancaster makers, Coo and Co, Little Lost Soul and Strange Bird Designs. 

As you can see, they had some very pretty things for sale. We'd advise you to pop over to their website and buy as much as you can afford. I'll definitely be having a look when I get paid next! As well as being dead talented and that, they're also lovely people. They were extremely supportive and enthusiastic about the things we were selling, which was very encouraging. They even agreed to pose for this photo, complete with the copies of Young Exlorer issue one that they'd bought.

It was a lovely day, all in all. We sold quite a few things (Our cards were especially popular) and we spoke to some very nice people. Definitely worth going. And then we had a dead nice time in Lancaster too. We stayed at Rebecca's house and then went for breakfast at the Whale Tail Cafe, which is a vegetarian cafe in the middle of Lancaster. And very tasty it was too.

Remember to go and have a look on our Etsy and buy some things! Also, I can't remember if this has been mentioned already, but we're making an appearance at the Manchester Print Fair at the end of October. Last week we were their featured seller, which was exciting. Go and have a look on their Facebook and mark yourself down as attending. We're going to have issue one and two for sale, as well as an A6 zine about boats, some greetings cards and other bits and bobs for sale. 

Alright then, see yer!

L + S

Embroidered Badges!

You can now buy these amazing hand embroidered badges on our Etsy! They're pretty reasonably priced and they'll definitely brighten up your day. If you don't want to faff around with Etsy, send us an email at youngexplorerzine@gmail.com. Or if you want to come and talk to us/pay with hard cash, you'll find us at the Lancaster Creative Market on Saturday September 22nd.

Cheers

S + E

It's a Disgrace, Joe

Fuchsia MacAree is a mad talented Irish illustrator who currently lives in London. She is sickeningly talented, in fact, and she has stuff to sell on her website, which you should definitely visit now instead of reading the rest of this post.

We recently purchased a copy of her new zine 'It's a Disgrace, Joe', a 16 page zine full of dead good illustrations. The Joe in question, apparently, is the host of an Irish radio phone-in show called 'Liveline' and the zine is full of the kind of mad things that people say when they're given the opportunity to talk on the radio. Although I hope they're at least slightly exaggerated. My favourites are 'They've employed horses in the hospitals, Joe' and the gritty 'They're selling vodka in the nurseries, Joe' which features children drinking from bottles of Smirnoff.

I spent much of my teen years listening to talk radio programs, all of which seemed to attract largely right wing/paranoid/mentally unstable callers, especially the ones that were on after midnight. I'm not really sure why I did this instead of doing normal teenage boy things, but it seemed like a good use of my time. Anyway, that's not really important, what's important is that 'It's a Disgrace Joe' is great, and well worth €5 of your money.

You can look at more of Fuchsia's stuff on her website, including some amazing prints that you can buy and some more example spreads from the zine. You should also follow her on Twitter, if you're into that kind of thing.

Cheers

S

New Shop Stuff!

Check out the new cards we've got for sale in our ETSY SHOP! Then buy them! If you don't particularly like Etsy, send us an email at youngexplorerzine@gmail.com and we can come to some other kind of arrangement if you like. You can still buy our badges and zines and things there too. And next week we're launching some embroidered badges for you to spend your cash on too. Here's a sneaky preview.

Left: Bear, fox, cloud, badger, mountain
Right: Small cloud, small bear, small mountain, small badger, small fox, acorn

S

Gig Frenzy

Most evenings we find ourselves going to bed at 10pm. If we don't get our eight hours sleep then we're both liable to be extremely grumpy for much of the day after, so we haven't been going to many night time things for a while. However, the last eight or nine days or so have seen us go to THREE gigs! We've made the conscious decision to do more fun stuff and to hell with the horrifying fatigue related consequences. Here's what we went to!

I've wanted to see Grandaddy for ages and ages. They were one of the first 'good' bands that I liked, just as I was coming out of my ska/pop-punk phase. I didn't get to see them before they broke up so I'd resigned myself to the fact that I'd never see them live. And then earlier this year it was announced that they were coming back! Last week we went to see them at the (HMV) Ritz in Manchester, which isn't as glamorous as it sounds. I've embedded a Grandaddy video up there ^. They didn't play that song, possibly because it's not one of their finest moments, and also because it's really Jason Lytle solo rather than an actual Grandaddy song. It's a good video though!

I was prepared to be extremely disappointed by their live performance. Possibly because I vaguely remember the internet saying they weren't a great live band, possibly because I'm pessimistic like that. Anyway, they were really good! They missed a few songs that I would have liked to see live, but you know, you can't have everything can you? They did a cover of Here by Pavement, too, which was nice.

The day after we'd planned to go and see the super trendy Grimes at Sound Control. And then we realised the gig had been moved to the Ritz and then the lack of sleep from the night before started to kick in and we decided we'd rather stay at home. At about 9pm we changed our minds and decided that, as part of our new fun loving attitudes, we'd go mad and go to our second gig in two days. Mental.

After queuing for about half an hour to get in, we made our way to the balcony so we could get a decent view of what was going on. It was great! We pioneered a new type of dance that was perfect for Grimes, but it was extremely strenuous in the knee area. Maybe one day we'll post a video tutorial or something.

Then, just over a week later we went to see indie pop band Allo Darlin' at the Deaf Institute. Once upon a time I used to make rubbishy music and I'd supported Allo Darlin' at a Pull Yourself Together gig at Fuel in Withington. Now they're playing real venues and doing European tours and getting played on the radio and stuff. Wow! I'd like to say that it could have been me, but that would be a lie. Allo Darlin' are actually good! I hadn't seen them for a while and the news songs they played were super fun. Go and see them if you get the chance!

In other news, we're going to be launching some new stuff to buy in our Etsy shop very soon! Liz has made some lovely things that you'll be itching to spend your hard earned cash on, so keep your eyes peeled on our Twitter for updates, ta.

See yer.

S

Sneaky peek!

We've been working on the next issue of Young Explorer over the last couple of weeks and we thought we'd give you an exclusive (!) look at the front cover to whet your appetite and that. Stuff to expect includes: Phil Elverum, Haiku Salut, buses and dodgy record collections. Oh yeah, the theme is 'collecting'!

S