We’re excited to announce we’ve partnered with Uber to offer all guests who are new to Uber a complimentary ride up to $20 using the promo code ARTSTAR
Uber is an iPhone/Android app that lets you tag your location and summon a professional driver to your side within minutes. Once in the car, the driver will take you wherever you need to go. The fare is billed to your card, with no need to tip, so you don’t have to worry about handling cash.
Just click the promo code below and sign up! You’ll be riding in style in no time at all.
We are thrilled to announce that we will be participating in this year’s Crafty Bastards Fair in DC! We have heard so many incredible things about this show over the years and are so thankful to have the opportunity to participate this year for the first time ever!!
For those of you that have not heard of Crafty Bastards, it is very similar to our annual Art Star Craft Bazaar. The show features some of the best makers from across the country, a beer garden, DC’s best food trucks, family friendly activities + more at Union Market in DC on September 28th + 29th from 10-5.
We have partnered with Crafty Bastards and are able to offer all of you some special deals if you plan to make the trip to the show. You won’t be disappointed, we promise!
There is a small fee to enter Crafty Bastards ($5 for the day / $10 Weekend) but we scored you a special deal – a weekend pass for just $8! Because one day will not be enough, believe me! Enter Promo Code Vendor2013 when purchasing a weekend ticket and you will get the discount!
For those of you who want to take a trip to DC for Crafty Bastards, check out the Courtyard Marriott. It’s conveniently located within walking distance of the festival and they are offering a special rate of $126 per night, September 28th and 29th. Book your room today via this link or by calling 1-800-321-2111 and mention the Crafty Bastards room block. If you plan to stay and shop for the weekend, don’t forget to enter discount code VENDOR2013 when buying your tickets to get a special $8 weekend pass!
Speaking of comfort, we know how shopping for great crafts can make one, well, parched! With that in mind, Crafty Bastards for the first time in history will be serving craft beer. In partnership with New Belgium Brewing, there will be an outdoor beer garden featuring several of New Belgium’s amazing Belgian-inspired beers, plus food from local vendors and food trucks. We have a special discount code for you craft beer lovers, a single day pass and 2 beers for $10 when you enter the discount code CRAFTYBEERME when purchasing your ticket online.
We hope to see you there! Be sure to visit our booth and say hi!
Photo by Mikey Ilagan, Courtesy of Night Market Philly
This local favorite street festival features the best of the city’s ethnic restaurants & gourmet food trucks in different neighborhoods throughout Philly. This Thursday it will be in our hood – NoLibs & we couldn’t be more excited! We will be set up at the festival, along with 9 other local crafters.
Guapos Tacos (one of my personal favorites) Photo by Mikey Ilagan / Courtesy of Night Market Philly
There will be more than 40 vendors offering Philly’s yummiest food for under $5. Yards Brewing Company will also be selling beer. Get FREE beer by signing up for LEVEL UP (this year’s sponsor) online with promo code FOODTRUST or at the event. LEVEL UP will also make a $5 donation to the food trust in your name when you sign up. I think I’ll do just that!
Photo by Mikey Ilagan / Courtesy of Night Market Philly
EVEN BETTER – become a “Friend of Night Market” for $50 & get FREE beer PLUS FREE food, cocktails & more!
My favorite dessert food truck: Sweetbox Cupcakes will be there! Photo by Mikey Ilagan / Courtesy of Night Market Philly
Photo by Mikey Ilagan / Courtesy of Night Market PhillyPhoto by Mikey Ilagan / Courtesy of Night Market PhillyPhoto by Mikey Ilagan / Courtesy of Night Market PhillyPhoto by Mikey Ilagan / Courtesy of Night Market Philly
Art Star artist, Amy Rice, has put up these 4 Valentines that you can download for FREE!
(click the image above to download)
*Tips: Use a heavier stock white paper and set your printer to the highest quality.*
Also, check out our new Valentines Day Section on our website
& pick up a token of love for your sweetie. Enter Promo Code LoveBird for 15% off your purchase through Feb. 15th!
Here are some quick gift ideas:
stitch up messages of love with these kits by Chez-Sucre-Chez, $12.50-$14.50"I Like The Way You Smell" print on wood veneer by Spread the Love, $27You're Sweet letterpress notecard by Sycamore Street Press, $4.50
hello! welcome to the home of art star’s new blog. We will be posting artist features, new happenings in the store, events, etc. For the month of April, we will be focused mainly on our upcoming Art Star Craft Bazaar. Erin & I have been hard at work organizing & promoting the show. This year we got in the most applications to date, which is awesome but it made jurying the show very tough. We believe we chose the best of the best. We tried very hard to make sure that there is something for everyone & I think we succeeded in doing that. The complete vendor list is now up on the site – check it out! We will be posting a map of the space w/ booth numbers, along with a corresponding numerical booth number list & alphabetical list, so you can easily find all your favorites. Check back for that soon!
We are also working w/ local artist, Eleanor Grosch, to re-design our website. Eleanor designed this blog for us & the website will look similar. We will have a search engine so it will be easy to find specific items, work by particular artists, etc. We will also be expanding our shop categories & will be able to offer promo codes to our shoppers. We reward our loyal customers w/ a frequent buyer card in the shop & want to offer similar rewards to our online customers. We hope to have this up & running before the holiday season!
Shop Eleanor’s work on our site: ABC’s Print $40Modern Menagerie Mug $12
Our mountain of Art Star Craft Bazaar Applications
The Art Star Craft Bazaar Deadline was this past Tuesday & we just finished jurying the show! Erin & I carefully reviewed each application & chose artists whose work best fits our overall “Art Star” vision and aesthetic. We also do our best to create a balance of different types of items (like jewelry, men’s accessories, t-shirts, baby items, etc). We put each application in a category & chose a handful of artists whose work we felt was the best from that category. That way our show offers something for everyone.
Every year there is one category that is especially competitive. Last year it was screen-printed posters/prints but this year it definitely was jewelry. We could have juried an entire show of jewelry – the applications in this category were insanely strong. But we can’t do that, so we had to choose and that is always the hard part.
I have to say that this pool of applicants was the strongest we have ever seen. We are so immensely grateful to everyone that applied. Though we hate having to turn people down, it is important that we do. That way we can be extremely choosy & curate what we feel is the best show possible. We can’t wait to share our line-up for this year’s show. We think it will knock your socks off!
Art Star Gallery + Boutique is turning 10 years old this Fall! This has been such an incredible, crazy ride! We are both living our dream and we can’t thank our customers and artists enough for making it all possible. We have worked so hard to make Art Star a reality and though we’ve seen our share of success, we’ve also encountered our share of stumbling blocks. But what doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger, right? We have learned alot along the way, but the #1 thing that we’ve learned is that our passion for what we do and a little bit of hustle can get us through anything. Now that we have 10 years under our belt, we feel stronger than ever and are looking forward to many more years of bringing you the very best in Art, Craft and Handmade!
“Root” by Jen Corace / 2014 / gouache, ink and pencil on Rives BFK
As a way to say thank you + to celebrate 10 years in business, we’ve decided to host an exhibition with one of our favorite Art Star artists – the incredibly talented, Jen Corace! The show will open on October 11th as part of the DesignPhiladelphia Festival. We will also be hosting our 10 year anniversary party that evening. Mark your calendars for a really fun party with the Art Star gang and our exhibiting artist, Jen Corace. And as a very extra special treat, we will have our INSANELY talented friends, Danielle Lovier + Nicholas Rahn from one of our favorite bands,All Boy/All Girl playing a live acoustic set during our party! We hope to see you there! If you are interested in getting first dibs on a Jen Corace original, please email us at info(at)artstarphilly(dot)com and we will add you to our Preview List.
Below is our press release with all the nitty gritty details:
For Immediate Release
Media Contact: Megan Brewster
Email: info(at)artstarphilly(dot)com or Call: 215.238.1557
Within a solo exhibition by Jen Corace October 11th – November 16th, 2014
Opening Reception + Art Star 10 Year Anniversary Party as part of the DesignPhiladelphia Festival October 11th from 6-9PM at Art Star Live Music by Danielle Lovier + Nicholas Rahn (of All Boy/All Girl)
Food, Drinks, Cut + Paste Photobooth, + more fun TBA
Free To Attend / Open To The Public
Art Star is pleased to announce a solo exhibition, titled Within, by Rhode Island based illustrator, Jen Corace. The show will be on view from October 11th through November 16th, 2014 at Art Star Gallery + Boutique. There will be an opening reception held in conjunction with the 2014 DesignPhiladelphia Festival on Saturday, October 11th from 6-9pm. Meet the artist, enjoy live music, snacks, drinks and celebrate Art Star’s 10 Year Anniversary!
Jen Corace will be exhibiting new, original paintings all done in gouache, ink and pencil on Rives BFK. Corace states, “Within explores the practice of bringing the outside indoors. I’m interested in representation of nature through home decor, the restraint, patterning and control that occurs within a space, what it means to internalize the external and the private world of quiet reflection and imagination.” This will be Jen’s 3rd solo exhibition at Art Star.
ABOUT JEN CORACE
Jen Corace was born and raised in the not so wild wilds of suburban South Jersey. She attended RISD from 1992-1996, graduating with a BFA in Illustration. For the past few years Jen has been focused on children’s book illustration. She’s worked with Amy Krause Rosenthal on the Little series, with Cynthia Rylant for Hansel and Gretal and The Steadfast Tin Soldier and most recently Mac Barnett for Telephone.
Jen currently resides in Providence, RI. When she’s not children’s-booking-it-up she’s doing something else in her studio … like drawing for fun or working on projects with her brother. Or she’s gardening … or wrangling a dog named Leonard … or eating too much toast … or laying on the floor and staring at the ceiling.
ABOUT ART STAR
Art Star is a gallery & boutique located in Northern Liberties, Philadelphia. We carry handmade items & products by artists from across the country and many local too. We also work closely with select artists to design & develop limited edition products for our brand and wholesale line. Our goal is to offer quality handcrafted goods at a full range of prices to accommodate all budgets. We currently work w/ 50+ artists & stock everything from one-of-a-kind pieces to housewares, prints, jewelry, greeting cards, baby items, clothing & more. In addition to our brick-and-mortar shop, we also put on Philadelphia’s largest outdoor craft fair – the Art Star Craft Bazaar, which won Philadelphia Magazine’s Best of Philly Award for Best Shopping Event in 2010 + again in 2012. Additionally, our shop won the title for Best Homemade Gift Shop in 2011.
ABOUT DESIGNPHILADELPHIA
DesignPhiladelphia, a signature event of the Philadelphia Center for Architecture, is the oldest and largest design event of its kind in the country and annually showcases the work of over 400 practicing architects, designers, and creative professionals. Experience design in unexpected ways through more than 120 exhibitions, workshops, demonstrations, tours, talks, and events held in venues across the city. Learn about wide-ranging topics, including architecture, urban planning, landscape, graphic, multi-media, product, furniture design, fashion, and the like. This year’s festival kicks off on the evening of October 8 and events run from October 9-17.
Ministry of Culture is the clothing and accessories label I created for myself while I was attending school at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. I was living in Brooklyn at the time and like most other people my age, I was trying to find ways to make extra cash to support the cost of rent in the city. I stumbled across this cute little handmade clothing store in my neighborhood called Better Than Jam and convinced the owner Karin Persan to take me on as an artist. I had been experimenting with different sewing, dyeing and printing techniques for years but had never had an outlet to sell my line before; it was a big jumping off point for my business.
I grew up sewing my own clothes and making jewelry but it wasn’t until my brother found an ad in the gas station, in our town of West Burke, Vermont, that I ever considered it as a potential profession. Tara Lynn Bridal was looking for interns interested in learning all aspects of fashion design. I started working for Tara and learned everything from production sewing, to embroidery, applique and pattern making. She encouraged me to apply to the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC and go back to school. I stayed in New York for 6 years working in different areas of the fashion world; as a pattern- maker, sample maker, sewing teacher, with private clients, in textile shops. I collected a wealth of knowledge as well as a mountain of fabric. Almost every company I worked for had some sort of textile “waste” which I always asked to keep. All of which I used to inspire my own clothing designs. Finding ways to use what I had, pushed me to be more creative. I like to see and feel the fabrics, watch how it drapes and then think of how each piece would be best suited in a garment.
In addition to collecting fashion industry off-casts, I have spent a lot of time traveling to other countries, collecting fabric, design ideas and learning about traditional craft. Through the years I have done my best to combine my love of travel with my desire to create unique and functional clothing designs. I find my inspiration from the places I have been and the people living there. Style varies from country to country. I like to study the history of each country’s folk art designs and traditional costumes. Color, pattern, and design all have different meaning depending on where in the world you are at and I try to find interesting, modern ways to implement them into my designs. I have studied weaving in Chile and Guatemala, batik in Indonesia and Thailand, natural dying in Laos, lace making in Spain, as well as quilting in America. Essentially if there is a textile related art from out there in the world, it is my goal to get there and learn how it is done.
The idea behind my label Ministry of Culture is to tell a story through fashion, by introducing people to various countries folk art traditions, and creating unique, quality pieces to minimize consumption. I think that it is important to have a sense of global consciousness and do my best to develop that type of awareness through my designs..
I do my work from my studio (aka the barn behind my parents house) in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. I hand draft all my patterns, cut, and sew everything myself. All of my prints are from hand-carved linoleum blocks, and are individually stamped. After I returned from a trip to Turkey last year and started experimenting with marbled silk. I have really enjoyed the individuality of the designs that have come out of it and hope to continue using that technique to print some unique sweatshirt material through this winter. I am headed on a trip through the “Stans” to Mongolia next summer and looking forward to finding inspiration and textiles along the way.
With everything going on in our country right now, it is so important to support small businesses. Not only this holiday season, but all year round! Shopping at a small business benefits your local economy much more than shopping at a big box store – it generates 3.5x more wealth for your local community in fact! It is also WAY better for the environment, as mom + pops are more likely to reuse and recycle materials. These are just a couple of broad examples. A curated shopping experience, better customer service, higher quality products, more unique items….oh, I could go on forever. But I’m preaching to the choir here, right?
I know it is tempting to just sit in your pajamas and buy all your gifts on amazon, but that’s kinda boring don’t you think? Instead, why not get some exercise and explore Philadelphia’s multitude of amazing gift shops. You can easily find gifts for everyone on your list. Of course, we’d love for you to come do all your holiday shopping at Art Star (hey we’ll make your life easier and even wrap it for you!) but we know you can’t get EVERYTHING here. So here is a list of some of our favorite local shops that offer fantastic gift items and a lovely shopping experience.
Omoi Zakka Shop
Omoi
My number one favorite store in Philadelphia. The most perfect design and lifestyle store.
Select 215
Sister shop to Omoi and just as special.
Once Worn Consignment
The BEST collection of second hand clothing. She also tends to get a good amount of designer brands.
Jinxed
If you don’t know about Jinxed, you’ve been living under a rock. The most affordable and awesome selection of vintage stuff.
Swag
Remember Fosters Urban Home (RIP)? This is its replacement. Modern kitchen wares, home goods, baby/kid stuff, kitschy/designy stuff.
Ritual Ritual
Ritual Ritual
The most gorgeous selection of jewelry to be found under one roof.
City Planter
My favorite garden shop in Philly. Great selection of plants, planters, succulents, air plants, and they even have ornaments and herbs. Love it!
Brickbat Books
Best book selection for the discerning reader.
Moon & Arrow
Moon + Arrow
Probably one of the best shopping experiences ever due to how absolutely gorgeous the space is. I could live here.
Smak Parlour
Owned by two local fashion designers that create the most darling, girly clothes!
Lost + Found
One of my all time favorite stores that carries great clothing brands at great prices. They also have a wonderful jewelry, accessories, and vintage selection.
The Clay Studio
The Clay Studio
Their shop offers handmade pottery by leading ceramicists from across the globe. They also offer classes and workshops so you can make your own ceramic gifts to give this season!
Fante’s Kitchen Shop
They have a great selection of cookware, bakeware, cutlery, and more. Basically heaven for the home cooks and chefs in your life.
Fabric Horse
The highest quality cycling bags, backpacks, pouches, lock holsters, hip packs and more
**update** I just got word that her storefront is now closed, but you can still shop her collection online. Everything is still made in Philadelphia here!
Bario Neal Quality jewelry handmade from ethically sourced materials.
Loop
My favorite yarn shop. High quality yarn and also fantastic customer service. Just go in with an idea of what you want to make and they will give you a pattern and point you to the right yarn and needles!
Last, but certainly not least, I must mention two other wonderful handmade shops – Vix Emporium (West Philly) and Nice Things Handmade (South Philly). Both are owned and operated by lovely women. If we don’t have the handmade item you are looking for, these ladies likely will!
So get out from in front of your computer and shop small! What are some of your favorite local shops?
We want to see your art collection & how it is displayed in your home. Send us your best photos for your chance to win a $50 Gift Certificate to Art Star & a blog post dedicated to your art collection!
Here’s how it works:
Email us at info(at)artstarphilly.com with 3-5 good photos of your art collectiondisplayed in your home. It can be a mix of all different things – framed pieces, pottery, prints – whatever! As long as most of the items in the photos are made by an artist. Make sure the subject line in your email reads ART COLLECTION CONTEST. Images should not be larger than 800 pixels, 72 dpi.
There must be AT LEAST 2 items purchased at Art Star Gallery/Boutique OR from our Art Star Craft Bazaar in your photos.
Deadline to submit is September 30th.
We will choose 1 person whose photos we like best. The lucky winner will get a $50 Gift Certificate to our shop PLUS a blog post dedicated to the winning art collection with a bio and link to their website/etsy page/blog, ect.
Visit Brianna and her clothing line, 
