Saturday, November 12, 2011

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 --

Suz and Tim Pisano

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.

Folk Couture by Grace Napoleon

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.

Phil Barbato

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.

Paper Robot Army

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.

Renee Ruth

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!

Cotton Factory

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

The Littlest Bean

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

XMittens

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

Get Felt Up

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

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.



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