Birds and the Bees flyer

Just in case you were interested...here's the event flyer for that Art Show thingy I was talking about yesterday. Front and back, you know how it goes.



That's all for today. I have to make more freebies for Saturday.

What are you doing this Saturday?

Before we get to Saturday night, I'd like to begin this post by saying that we at CCD take our health and welfare very seriously. A drawing and designing session is always accompanied by some junk food staples: 1. sour keys 2. corn nuts - ranch flavour 3. chips. On occasion, if we are lucky, we will be treated to some sour gumballs aka. Alvin's balls (see photo below)...

which currently needs a refill because somebody ate them all and did not save me even one. *ahem.

Anyways...sorry for the two week hiatus. We have been busy. Busy with what? Well...we hope to have our website up and ready by Saturday, so we have been working on that. And remember two (or was it three) posts ago when we mentioned a new product line in the works? Yes, that is continuing to progress steadily and hopefully we will have these new products available for online sale very very soon. Worry not CCD devotees, LOST is on a one month break so we now have Thursday nights entirely free.

So what's happening this Saturday? We will be at Article 8 on 714 College St. from 7pm to 11pm for the Birds, Bees and the Other Fishes in the Sea Screenprinted Apparel and Art Show sipping on some wine and nibbling on some cheese. The event will focus primarily on Jimmy G. Botelho and Katherine Piro and the launch of their screen printed apparel, but we will also be there not only to show our support and hang out, but to promote our work, our website and give away a few freebies while we are at it. Hope to see you there too!

Panda, Jeremy Panda

This post is all about Jeremy, the owner of Article 8. Although words alone would not be enough to describe the essence of Article 8, in a nutshell, it is a store that showcases and sells the work of local artists and fashion designers. It has everything from women's casual clothing, dresses, hats, accessories, one of a kind jewellery to men's wear, indie T-shirt lines, art - it's basically just bursting of little treasures on every rack and shelf.

Moving on to our main subject: Jeremy Panda. Besides having a fantastic last name, we are featuring him on the CCD blog for two other reasons. Number one, because he is a vital character in the Crack Code Droopy story. I mean, the dude is excited about our clothing line, do we need to say more. Number two, he is the most interesting person you'll ever meet, in fact I DARE you to have a conversation with him and walk away bored. I swear, he always has ten thousand side projects happening - he is the quintessential entrepreneur. We had a little interview with Jeremy...



CCD: How did you get started in this business?

Jeremy: I graduated out of university with a music and philosophy degree and landed a job as a general manager for a 3 million dollar sunglasses company that spanned Canada.

Um, I didn't get any offers to run million dollar businesses when I graduated...

I had been working as a bar manager and played competitive pool out of the bar. I got to know the sunglasses guy by playing money games with him when I wasn't working.

Not to brag, I could probably kick your ass playing Billiards on Wii Play but we can discuss that another time...so where did the sunglasses thing take you?

I worked with the sunglasses guy for 2 years and felt like I was being overworked, so I told him I was going to take off to Europe and backpack. He gave me the East Coast rights of Canada and I moved to Moncton. I expanded independently to Halifax and Saint John - got everything under my name and ran four retail outlets out there for 3 years. I have dabbled in boutique sales in Guelph and Kingston as well but love Toronto and as of January 1st, 2008 got rid of all my other businesses except two kiosks in Halifax and bought out my old partner, taking over Article 8.

Can you tell us more about Article 8?

Article 8 was initially a T-shirt shop - four colour printer in the back. Then I started buying women's wear when I realized the clientele on College St. and in 30 days I had a women's clothing store and a T-shirt line that needed developing. Now as the boss...[chuckles], I bring new clothing and accessories every two weeks, every week in the summer to keep it exciting here on College in the busy restaurant/club district.

The T-shirt side of things I'm expanding quickly, opening it up to unique Toronto designers. Enter: Crack Dode Droopy...you guys saw a posting I put up when I was starting to expand the shirt side of things and your work has been booming...which is exciting because it's cold and tees generally get cold with the cold in the cold...so summer? Look out!

Congrats on the business ownership and thanks for the props! So, now that we know all about your businesses...we want to know more about the man behind the curtain - who is Jeremy?

Jeremy plays trumpet, guitar, piano, sings, writes, plays pool, coaches tennis, buys dresses, brokers all ideas in all realms and is generally a very happy, positive, motivated guy. [Laughs] Without the ego, I swear. I understand the artist in that I have always been bad at self promotion of my own musical works and so have made it my goal at this point in my life to help others realize their creative pursuits. Is that Jeremy? Well it's a start. I hope this is not too vain, you asked for it.

I take full responsibility for asking and don't regret it one bit. I love that you've made helping others realize their creative pursuits your goal, it's definitely admirable and holy multi-talented! If anyone ever sees a one-man band busking the streets of Toronto one day...Ok, next question, name a few of your favourite people in your life.

Some of my favourite people in my life are my parents who have put their family at the forefront, my older brother and his family who I visit frequently in Kitchener (he's probably one of the most talented people I know - Jasonpanda.com) and my friends Chuck and Cheryl Bernard who live on the Ocean of Northern New Brunswick. They have life sorted out as she owns an antique shop and he carves woodcarvings that he's sold for up to $35,000.

Aw. The soft side comes out. Well we are just about done this little Q&A, but before we go, can you just give us a some insight into what you've done so far and what we can expect from you in the coming months?

Some active pursuits I have done and am doing: Article 8 - retail/screen printing/embroidery, NYS Sunglasses - East Coast distribution and retail, Poutine Machine - gourmet poutine stand partner for all major festivals summer 2008, Torontotrees.com - small apartment sized Christmas trees delivered to condos in Toronto (partner), New clothing lines, Marketing Woodchuck Bernard - infamous national icon, woodcarver extraordinaire.

Wow, I told you this guy likes to keep himself busy. Honestly though, that's really awesome what you've done with some of the indie clothing designers in Toronto and I can't wait to see what's next! I want to thank you so much for your time.
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So people, check out Article 8, you won't be disappointed. Jeremy will always take the time to chat with you when he's not busy recruiting other designers and artists to his store...more pics of Article 8 to come!