Art Star

Category: NoLibs

  • NoLibs + Fishtown Holiday Shopping Spree

    The annual NoLibs Holiday Shopping Spree is back and this year we’ve expanded to include our friends in Fishtown!  Mark your calendars for the largest Holiday Spree to date!

    Art Star is pleased to present the annual Holiday Shopping Spree, which will be held on Saturday, December 6th  from 11-8pm and Sunday, December 7th  from 11-6pm.  The spree will take place in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia and has expanded this year to include Fishtown shops as well. 16 retail shops will be participating in the spree.  The more you shop at each location, the more you save!

    Here is how the spree works:
    1st Participating Store: Customer receives 10% off their purchase + a spree card w/ one sticker on it

    2nd Store: Customer shows spree card  w/ 1 sticker & gets 15% off their purchase + a 2nd sticker

    3rd Store: Customer shows spree card w/ 2 stickers & gets 20% off their purchase + a 3rd sticker

    Once the customer’s spree card has 3 stickers, they will receive 25% off at any additional participating store that they shop at throughout the event.

    Participating Shops
    NoLibs: City Planter, Philly Phaithful, Ritual Ritual, Art Star, Casa Papel, Once Worn Consignment, Bloom, Swag Boutique, Jinxed at The Piazza

    Fishtown: The Art Dept, Adorn Boutique + Showroom, Toile, Catch & Release Merchants, Craft Foundry, Jinxed Fishtown, Two Percent To Glory

    The spree was conceived in 2006 by local retailers Art Star, Arcadia Boutique, and Conspiracy Showroom as a way to encourage shoppers to support independent boutiques in the Northern Liberties neighborhood.  Now in its 8th year, the spree has become a shopping tradition for hundreds of Philadelphians looking for unique gifts to give for the holiday season!

    Each shop will be serving up light refreshments and plenty of holiday cheer!  Support your local independent retailers this holiday season!

    Special thanks to friends + neighbors at Liberties Parcel for sponsoring this event!

  • Art Star Fun Times – This First Friday!

    This First Friday from 5-8pm we are having a fun little party in the shop!  Our first Artists in Residence, Kelly Kozma will have her studio doors open for you to peek in, meet her and check out her work in progress. We will also have some free beer and snacks from our neighbor, El Capitan.

    PLUS!
    Little Chair Printing will be set up with her heat press.  You will be able to choose from her huge collection of 80’s iron on transfers (think cute kittens, unicorns, etc) and heat press your own Tee.   We encourage you to grab a few, cut them up and create a fun collage.  If you bring your own T-shirt, you can heat press it for just $5.  If not, we’ll have some on hand for you to buy for an additional $5.  Here is a photo of what our customers created the last time Little Chair set up:

    Click on the photo to check out all the pics from our last event with Little Chair Printing!

    Our friends from Cut + Paste Photobooth will be set up with all her fun props for guests to jump in and get their photos taken. You will get one free photo to take home with you too!

    Photo by Chris Kendig, taken at this year’s Art Star Craft Bazaar.

    And there’s more! Our brand new, handmade games will be set up for you to play!  The Ring Toss was made by Cisco Griffin (bowling pins donated by our friends at North Bowl). Play as much as you want during the course of the evening, but each guest will get 1 game where you can rack up Art Star discounts to redeem this night ONLY!  Each large ring you get on will get you 5% off, and each smaller ring you get on will get you 10% off.  If you get all the rings on in one game, you will get 70% off – though it’s pretty hard to do that. Are you up for the challenge?

    Photo by Chris Kendig. Kids playing our Ring Toss at our recent Art Star Craft Bazaar. Handmade by Cisco Griffin with Bowling Pins donated by North Bowl.

    And just for fun… Play our Corn Hole game handmade by Andrew Zangerle!

    Kids playing the Corn Hole game that was handmade by Andrew Zangerle. Photo by Chris Kendig.

    We hope to see you this Friday for these Art Star Fun Times!  Please go to our Facebook Event to invite friends and let us know you are coming!  Free to attend but we hope you will do some shopping too 😉  We’ve got in lots of new goodies!

     

  • Northern Liberties Spring Sidewalk Sale THIS WEEKEND!

    We will be slashing prices on tons of stuff!  Outside we will have $1-$5 bins and racks of clothes marked down.  We will also fill our back gallery space with sale items.  Expect discounts between 20-80% off select merchandise! Light refreshments provided.

  • Northern Liberties & Fishtown Holiday Shopping Spree

    Our annual neighborhood shopping spree is back and this time we have included a bunch of rad shops in both Northern Liberties and Fishtown!

    The spree is a progressive sale that aims to encourage people to explore their neighborhoods and shop local this holiday season. How does it work? Participating retail shops will be giving 10% Off during the shopping spree, right off the bat. Get a sticker on your spree card each time you make a purchase at a participating location. ($10 minimum to get a sticker)

    1 Sticker = 15% Off
    2 Stickers = 20% Off
    3 Stickers = 25% Off thereafter

    Shop at any location and in any order! Spree cards can be picked up at any participating location.

    Participating Shops

    Fishtown: Craft Foundry, Half and a Third, The Common Room, Toile, Jinxed

    Northern Liberties:  City Planter, Stump, Swag Boutique, Once Worn Consignment, Casa Papel, Art Star, Madison K. Live Life Fun

    BONUSES:
    Show your spree card with 3 Stickers at Bourbon & Branch and Jerry’s Bar in Northern Liberties and get 15% Off your food/drink order

    Need a sitter while you shop? Drop off the kiddos ages 4+ at NLArts (700 N. 3rd Street) for a Holiday Craft Workshop. Saturday ONLY from 2-6pm, $25 includes all materials

    Photobooth at Gravy Studio in Northern Liberties – show your card with all 3 stickers and get a free polaroid or purchase for $5 without stickers.

    Light Refreshments + Tons of Holiday Cheer at each Stop!

    Public Transportation: Get off at either the Spring Garden or Girard Stop on the Market/Frankford Line or take the 5 Bus or the 15 Trolley. Visit Septa.org for route details.

    Indego Bike Share – stations are in both Fishtown and Northern Liberties https://www.rideindego.com/stations/

  • Spotlight on Audrey Cooper

    I will be posting a spotlight on each of the participating Farmhaus & Friends artists now through October 20th.  This first spotlight features potter Audrey Cooper.  We weren’t familiar with Audrey’s work until Ben introduced it to us and we are so happy he did!

    AUDREY O. COOPER (b. 1971) has been working with clay since 2005. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Audrey graduated with a degree in literature from the University of Pennsylvania and studied sculpture at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. She has studied with potters in Maine and Pennyslvania, and worked for two years at The Clay Studio in Philadelphia. She lives and works in Northern Liberties.

     

    Audrey is interested in using local materials, creating as little waste as possible, and in the life cycle of materials. She embraces the unpredictability, combined with the control of craftsmanship, inherent in the ceramic process. For this project, Audrey made functional tableware, hand-thrown on her electric wheel. She fired one group of porcelain pieces in a wood-fired kiln, fueled by scraps from Ben McBrien’s woodshop. These pieces are unglazed, fired in the salt-chamber of the kiln, colored by the intense atmosphere created by wood fire. The other group was fired in her electric kiln. They are stoneware glazed entirely or partially with ash glazes she made by burning woodshop scraps, applied in combination with commercial glazes.

    Check out all of Audrey’s pieces from Farmhaus & Friends online here but if you can, please come and see them in person.  The photos do not truly capture the richness and beauty of the glazes PLUS they all feel great in your hands.

  • Old Calgary PopInShop

    We are excited to welcome Old Calgary, an online brand of handcrafted wallets and gadget covers made from Italian Leather and German Wool.  We will be hosting the brand for a limited time and will kick off their debut with a Thirsty Thursday reception this Thursday, July 11th from 5-8pm.  Enjoy a boozy cocktail while you shop.  Also while you are in the neighborhood, visit Arcadia who will be hosting online brand kyu malange + Duke & Winston who will be hosting Maxton Men.

    Ipad Proxima in Concrete by Old Calgary

    Old Calgary began as a one man operation. What started as a simple design project, has now become a passion and continuing exploration of merging technology with traditional craftsmanship and quality. Our ethos remains the same; design and construct products with careful attention and provide amazing service. We obsess over every little detail, from the industrial thread we use to construct our designs, tasteful packaging, nifty letterpressed inserts, to the box your order is shipped in. We believe in the details, without losing sight of the larger picture. Some of our designs, though simple in appearance, have taken years to distill and perfect. Resulting into a finished product that is stylish, long lasting, and unique

    Alpha Card Wallet by Old Calgary

    Brought to you by PopInShop

     

  • 3rd Ward Philadelphia


    I’m so excited that 3rd Ward Philadelphia is finally open!  For those of you that don’t know, 3rd Ward is a 27,000 Square foot space for creating really anything you could think of. They have so many cool classes you really won’t find anywhere else, like LED Millinery, Urban Farming, Digital Textile Design, and um the History of the Cocktail?  Sign me up! I have not actually visited the space yet, but I hope to take a tour soon to check it out.  They run tours every half hour between 1 and 5pm all week.


    After perusing the site I am most excited about the Drink & Draw evenings.  There is one tonight from 8-10:30 and for $10 at the door you can kick back, drink some beers and draw.  What better way to unwind?  Just bring your drawing materials and they will provide the beer and model.  I have been looking for a space in Philly that offers this with not much luck.  I really need to brush up on my drawing skills and drawing from a live model is the best way to do it!  I can’t make it tonight, but I am hoping this will be a regular thing for them.


    Also, I am a novice when it comes to design and it would really help us at the shop if I could gain a few more skills.  Intro to Illustrator or Photoshop 2 might be a good place to start!  It would be a dream to learn Photo Etching on Copper, Upholstery, Enameling……..I want to learn how to make everything! To me there is nothing more satisfying then making something entirely from scratch.  I can’t wait to see what other classes will be added to their roster.

    I also wanted to share that they recently asked Erin and I to be judges for a contest they are running called Learn.Make.Inspire.  They are asking people to share what they are learning, making, or what they are inspired by. Learn more here for your chance to win some cash, class credit or for your submission to be included in a culminating exhibition at 3rd Ward.  We are so excited to see all the submissions and honored that we were asked to be a part of it!

    And to all you local makers, they are looking for teachers.  Sounds like a great opportunity to make some extra cash and  become a part of an organization that may just become a creative epicenter in Philadelphia.

  • New Woodland Themed Window Display


    Drexel Visual Merchandising Students have descended upon Northern Liberties, split off into groups & designed window displays for us & our neighbors – Once Worn Consignment, Duke & Winston, & Arcadia.  Our group has created a fantastic Woodland Theme for us & we couldn’t be happier with the results.  All the windows will be completed by this First Friday & to celebrate, we are all offering up refreshments, sidewalk sales & discounts from 5-8pm.

    Come check out all the windows & get 10% off all purchases at Art Star (discounts at other shops may vary).  As an added bonus, Once Worn Consignment will be celebrating their Grand Re-Opening into a much larger & brighter space at 906 N. 2nd Street, which is close by her former location (the old Colors by Padmini spot).  Owner Jen Waxman (yup, Erin’s little sis) has expanded her inventory which includes women’s/men’s clothing, jewelry, and accessories and now has a small selection of vintage housewares.  Jen is also expecting a baby boy in April!  We are so happy for her and can’t wait to welcome her little guy into our extended family!

    I leave you with some pics of Once Worn’s new digs!

  • Shop NoLibs Retail Spotlight on Arcadia

    We decided to start a new series spotlighting retail shops in our neighborhood, Northern Liberties (us locals call it NoLibs).  There are tons of really great shops right here in our hood.  You could probably find something for everyone on your holiday shopping list.   We feel it is extremely important to support independent retailers – especially this time of year. I could list all the reasons, but instead I’ll just list one important one from the 350 Project: “For every $100 spent in locally owned independent stores, $68 returns to the community through taxes, payroll, and other expenditures.  If you spend that in a national chain, only $43 stays here.  Spend it online and nothing comes home.” (see more reasons to shop local here).  If you can’t make it to NoLibs, support an indie shop in your own neck of the woods!


    So let’s start shopping!  First stop: Arcadia.  Located at 819 N. 2nd Street, Arcadia focuses on sustainable fashion.  The shop is stocked with beautiful clothing, jewelry & accessories by small, and often hard to find, indie fashion labels.  They also keep a well curated selection of vintage + recycled clothing.

    Work by local artists adorn the walls & the shop hosts regular openings, trunk shows & other fun events (which always include a yummy, seasonal cocktail & we like cocktails….).

     There is also a nice selection of unique gift items, like these candles.  I especially love these little cactus candles, which I think would be a nice gift for a co-worker.

    I am mesmerized by all the sparkly, handmade jewelry.  I love the earthy/bohemian vibe of it all – lots of stones, crystals and wood.

    My favorites are these chunky wood rings and bangles.

    There is a great selection of bags & scarves.  I love all the patterns & textures.

    But my favorite thing about Arcadia are all the super cute clothes!  I love all the prints & the fabrics.  I got two of my all time favorite dresses here by designer Kelly Lane.  They fit me so perfectly and are so comfy.  Also, when you shop here you can feel good about what you are buying b/c the designers they carry all use sustainable business practices.


    Now stop what you are doing and go check out Arcadia for yourself (or um, visit during the Holiday Shopping Spree cuz you’ll get a discount).

    www.arcadiaboutique.com
    819 N. 2nd Street
    or visit their Rittenhouse location (it’s smaller than the NoLibs one and we are only telling you this b/c we care, we don’t just really want you to come up to our hood…tee-hee)
    265 S. 20th Street

  • Paper Made! Book Signing & Kirigami Wallflower Make + Take with author Kayte Terry

    Art Star is pleased to announce a book signing with author and expert crafter, Kayte Terry on First Friday, November 2nd from 6-8pm.  Kayte will be here promoting her new book Paper Made!, which features over 100 really cool projects to make out of paper.  She will have books on hand for you to purchase/have signed & also will be demonstrating one of the projects in the book – the Kirigami Wallflowers.  Guests can try their hand at making them too & will get to take home what they create!

    an assortment of colorful Kirigami Wallflowers from the book

    I plan on making a bunch to incorporate into Art Star’s Window display.  I have a copy of this book & can’t wait to try some of the projects.  I love that many of the materials needed can just be found around the house, so you won’t need to spend any money to make many of the things in the book.  Some of my favorites include “Strike Your Fancy Matchbook” that you hide a secret message inside, a curio shelf made from layers of corrugated cardboard, a beautiful hanging lamp inspired by the designs of Tord Boontje, giant paper pom-poms, and too many wearable accessories to list here.

    So come by, have a boozy drink, make some colorful flowers with us & pick up a copy of the book!  And like every First Friday, all Art Star purchases (does not include the book) are 10% off.  See you then!  And hey, check out our facebook invite & let us know if you can make it.  Reservations are not required, but it will give us an idea of how much paper to have on hand. (maybe bring your own scissors if you can?) Free & open to all.

    Kayte Terry

    Kayte Terry is a trendsetter in the world of paper design and Visual Communication and Inspiration Manager at Anthropologie. Her previous crafting books include Complete Embellishing (Collins and Brown) and Appliqué Your Way (Chronicle).  Her work has appeared in Parents, Quick and Simple, Cutting Edge, Adorn, HGTV Ideas magazine, and on Etsy, Design*Sponge, GetCrafty, and others.  For more crafting ideas and inspiration, visit Kayte’s blog at www.thisisloveforever.com.

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