With Love, FEBRUARY

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Just in time for Valentine’s Day: a bold, juicy EFL featuring L-O-V-E — and redesigned with TLC by new Art Director, Stephanie Cole. 

Admit it, these last two weeks have seemed weird. We’ll take blame for a little bit of that — this month’s printed edition was not available on the first as usual. Or the second. Or the third…

We don’t push back our deadlines lightly, but when an amazing local artist we’ve been following for 2 years agrees to join our team, well. Duh. Of course the result’s worth the wait.

Thank you, Stephanie Cole — EFL’s first art director, for her sharp new redesign of our monthly printed publication. If the layout seems magazine-like, that’s where we’re heading. We only print twelve times a year, which is not really a newspaper: we’re commentary & features, we should own it.

That’s pretty much all the direction we gave Steph — her jaunty spin nails our tone & content, and makes us smile. Steph’s got other surprises in store for EFL sponsors and readers through 2017. THANK YOU ALL for your awesome support that’s kept us growing!

FIVE FUN FACTS ABOUT STEPHANIE

  1. Originally from North Carolina. Degree in graphic design & fashion marketing from the Art Institute of NC, Charlotte.
  1. Fallser since 2012. She and husband, Dan Ostrov, bought their home just a few doors up from their first rental on Stanton.
  1. She sings! Steph’s got a haunting voice that’s remarkably different from how she sounds when she talks. Chills, people. See for yourself — she’s on SoundCloud, where you’ll wanna follow her eclectic mix. She does some of the coolest covers (with a voice that calls to mind Ingrid Michaelson, I think).
  1. She’s a devout empanada-phile. After discovering this meaty pastry treat on a roadtrip thru Colorado, she obsessed over creating a perfect recipe of flaky crust and savory goodness that she occasionally proffers at local concerts and events (keep an eye out).
  1. A local business owner: she and Dan work together on installation art in wood & glass through their LLC, Steam Chamber which takes public & private commissions.

We first met Stephanie in August of 2015, around when Pope Francis was coming to Philadelphia — she and her husband, Dan Ostrov, led the team who fabricated a giant wooden “Knotted Grotto” right here in East Falls:  a walk-through frame eventually tied with hundreds of thousands of knotted strips of cloth printed with prayers, and assembled in front of St. Peter & Paul Basilica downtown (where the Holy Father visited and blessed it).

Stephanie and Dan appeared on our radar again last May, when they cheerfully agreed to create a “pop-up playground” at Falls Flea— gratis — to help raise awareness for local parents lobbying for a natural play space at McMichael Park.

Then just last October, we pulled them into reconstruction efforts for Redeemer’s 100 year old slide at Castle on Tap. This time, they accepted payment in beer, German food, and t-shirts — that’s when we knew it was only a matter of time before we made Stephanie an offer she couldn’t refuse… (We are very lucky, indeed.)

Welcome aboard, Stephanie!

And welcome readers from East Falls and NW Philly to the warm, neighborly hug that’s East Falls Local. Cheeky independent coverage since 2014.

Enjoy this month’s edition online or pick up a FREE paper copy from a whole bunch of locations around the neighborhood.

SUBSCRIBE FREE: We’ll drop a copy on your doorstep, if you want — please order extra if you know someone who’d enjoy us, too. Thanks again for your support.

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