Holiday art specials, happening this weekend!

Happy Hour Holiday at BoxHeart

The holiday show at BoxHeart this year features great gifts, sure. But it also features work from all of artists that are represented by BoxHeart. This show is a great way to get acquainted with these artists.

There are two opportunities to do just that this weekend. Tonight is a special holiday happy hour, when you can peruse the exhibit with other art lovers. Tomorrow, BoxHeart and the other shops in Bloomfield will be offering special holiday deals.

Holiday Happy Hour!
Friday, December 13th
6 - 8pm

Bloomfield Shop Walk
Saturday, December 14th
12 - 5pm

Superfriends!

If you're over on the Southside, Superfriends might be a really nice stop. It's a last-minute, pop-up type of event with several local artists.

Superfirends
December 14, 2-6pm
CWP warehouse
2315 wharton st.
pittsburgh pa 15203

XMittens and Ludmila's Emporium

Love love love XMittens! Amber Coppings is now working out of a studio in Larryville. Over the next two weekends she will be having special open studio/pop-up store events. If you're in the neighborhood, check this out and then visit Salud on Butler St for delicious Cuban fare.

XMittens and Ludmila's Emporium
Xmittens DIY Gift Set Weekend
December 14, 12-5 and December 15, 1-5
December 21-22, 12pm-5pm
Solstice Sale
5252 Butler St, 2nd floor
Pittsburgh PA 10201

Of course this isn't a complete list of all of the really cool holiday art events popping up all over Pittsburgh. If you want to share something that you are doing, you can email me the information at susanconstanse at gmail.com, or leave your information in the comments form. Wishing all of you a lustrous season!

Handmade Arcade

Oh, I have been looking forward to this. It seems like, for the last several years, I have been occupied during the single day that Handmade Arcade is on. This year, I was free to attend. Although many of the vendors are local, and I have seen their work in other settings, it was really great to see everyone in one place.

The huge hall, filled with vendors and shoppers, was noisy with conversation and music. There were tons of hands on activities to keep little hands occupied. It was my first visit to the David L Lawrence Convention Center. I didn't stick around to explore, and don't know if it's possible to do that, but it warrants its own visit.

There were over 150 vendors at Handmade Arcade, I'm sure everyone has their favorites. Here's a few of mine --



I love hats. I have a beautiful old fedora, my dad's favorite hat, a variety of watch caps, and several By Suz originals. She makes some really funky accessories, as well as her hats. A selection is available for viewing at the Pittsburgh Artist Registry.



Grace Napoleon up-cycles clothing, making clothes out of clothes. She calls her dresses "party dresses for big girls". And so they are. There was a great variety of beautiful and quirky dresses and sweaters.

You can see more of the great designs on Folk Couture's Facebook page.



Great little stuffed toys. I loved these great clear colors, and the variety of toys from Phil Barbato. Especially the octopuses! More on his Etsy site.

Toys for grown ups. Or at least sort of grown up. Paper Robot Army,A paper doll disguised as a robot. Fully non-functioning and incapable of any minor computations.



These great little paper cuts were created by Renee Ruth. She had some beautiful prints available, based on these images. Watch for her Etsy store!



Loved the Cotton Factory sign! If you missed them at Handmade Arcade, catch them at Unblurred in December.



All kinds of fun little things, made from fun colors, from The Littlest Bean. above are pincussions, more in the slideshow.



Super great colors. Amber Coppings started out with a line of handwarming fingerless mittens, and expanded to year round accessories. More on her site.



More pretty colors! Yes, there were traditional jewelers, and vendors with beaded and assembled earrings. I was really drawn to the fiber pieces, though. These headbands were from Get Felt Up, more in the slideshow.



Gnome Enterprises had some very fun tee shirts. I'm not real big on team shirts, so these kind of fun images are a great alternative.

Although it is too late to attend the Handmade for the Holidays fair, the lovely folks at Handmade Arcade, and the vendors that brought their wares in today, do other events throughout the year. Keep up with them here. There were too many vendors to list here, and too many images! The post would be miles long, instead of just feet! Check out the slideshow.