Etsy Nest Furniture for the Kitchen and Living Room

I came across some really amazing furniture lately so I wanted to share some recent favorites for the home:

Kitchen:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/53380453/pair-of-midcentury-modern-chairs-in

http://www.etsy.com/listing/85881960/white-1960s-small-saarinen-style-table

http://www.etsy.com/listing/80935893/kitchen-lighting-with-custom-fabric-drum

Here Come the New Ceramics!

Cases of ceramics with photo labels

Boxes of ceramic items in transit



I'm spending the weekend working on new items for the holidays and FINALLY adding new items to my ceramics shop on Etsy: allisonsceramics.etsy.com It has taken me forever because my work was in storage in my dad's basement for the last 5 years and I had no place to house it in my own house, but that's all changed!

Today I will start posting them to my Etsy shop and next Friday they will be for sale at the University City Arts League Holiday Craft Sale along with my photography, cards and wall hangings. The UCAL Holiday Craft Sale runs through December 23 and has wonderful handmade art work from their many students and professional artists. a portion of the proceeds benefit the Arts League in their providing visual and performing arts classes in West Philadelphia.

Phoenixville, PA

When I arrived in Phoenixville this Sunday after a 2.5 hour journey on the train and then a bus that tours every suburban mall and plaza and hideous corporate park in the region, I was excited to see the small town main street was worth the 45 minute wait at the Norristown Transportation Center.

I came for an architectural tour, but thanks to Septa's "signal problems" I missed the tour and wandered around on my own. Bridge street serves as their main street, crossed by Main street (little odd) running parallel to the river. Church street is further up the hill and had several churches (surprise) and a block of older houses with second story wrought iron balconies on porches that reminded me of New Orleans. The homes are unique and some are being renovated and the unusual woodwork restored.

The town is filled with independent businesses that had a home-made and fun feel, from the second floor bookstore with snarky signs, to the hand carved lava rock fountain store, to the movie theater playing Chitty Chitty Bang Bang to the Fire House Bingo Nights (every Tuesday!). It's renovated, but still seems to belong to the town, not to trendy new business start-ups.

Right along the river, the old foundry was made into a Schulykill River Museum with a bridge, a small falls and a paved nature trail. Two bike stores in town rent bikes, including a tandem, for $9 - $14 per hour.

Iron Hill Brewery and Majolica are amoung the restaurants that offer local farm fresh foods and there were several coffee houses to choose from including a nice one with handmade ceramics piled up in the window and applesauce muffins

I'm planning another trip back to bike the trail and try the restaurants.

More Pictures from Swap O Rama Rama

Dana Henry's design for a Franken-pin. Her designs were fantastically simple and amazing.

My finished felt interpretation of her design.

The line for screen printing was long at times. This is the chickadee line (I got that print last year on a tee I love).

The Handmade Philly table was popular with the 8 and under crowd as well as adults.

A finished creation.

UCAL SALE FINAL WEEK

Watch the Slide Show of the Opening Night here.



Some of my cards and matted art have sold, and one woman found her sister's house among the photos, so she's ordering a custom print as a gift for the holidays.

Stop by any day this week 3 - 9pm or Saturday or Sunday, 12-6pm, I'll be adding new work to the sale items.

Square Peg Artery & Salvage Holiday Shop In Liberty Place at 17th Street

Suare Peg Artery & Salvage has a second shop open for the holidays

in Liberty Place! The entrance is on 17th street between Market and Chestnut streets

next to the Westin Hotel entrance (or you can walk through the mall toward the 17th street exit).

They have lots of cute clothes (I think I spotted a cute screenprinted button up for a guy friend), jewlery, cards (like mine above!), candles, soaps and wall art including some cool square paintings/thread collages and my photos!

See, that's the Westin drive through in the background of my Love Park photo.
Stop by and buy local! I went here today, then strolled up to 13th street between Walnut and Pine where there are some awesome little shops with many cute gifts, flowers, cards, wrapping paper, housewares, ornaments, furniture and you pass Blick art supply and West Elm on the way! I had no money, but I'm window shopping for the future.

Interview on Manufactured Dissent Blog

Ruth from the handmade Philly Team was nice enough to interview me for her blog, www.manufactured-dissent.com and it's up right now. They were good questions and I really had to think about some of my answers. I was thinking later I should have said something about wanting to go more handmade and green in my craft sales, but I didn't think of it until later. I'm looking to use all handmade frames and recycled papers for my cards, and I may have even found a company that has "plastic" sleeves for cards made out of vegetable matter. It's going to be a slow process changing over, though, because of cost. I am looking to find a frame maker in town to create wood frames of different sizes.

Paper N Stitch Shop is Up and Running!

I really love this shop and I'm happy to be a part of it. The sellers have really nice looking stuff. Check out the shop and tell me what you think!

http://www.papernstitch.com/shop/allisons-paintings

Heart my shop if you like it. There is a prize for the shop with the most hearts!

2009 Art Car Photo Calendar IS HERE!

Just in time for calendar sales for 2009!
The ART CAR CALENDAR. I photographed all of
these cars and trucks in New Orleans and Houston
over several years. Most were in my neighborhood
in the garden district or lower garden district
(yeah Camp St.!) and some I shot at Art Car Day at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

I'm selling them for $30 each since landscape printing something 40" long is pricey, but really, that's not much to pay for a one of a kind colorful calendar unlike any other out there! They are for sale now on my etsy site:
allisonostertag.etsy.com

I could only find the names of some of the artists through Art Car websites or "Art Cars" a book by Harrod Blank, the art car king, so if you know any of these people, please contact me! (I'll be happy to cut the artists in on the proceeds or send them a free calendar)

This calendar took me years to finally complete
and I am so psyched it's finally designed, printed and assembled!

Favorite Etsy Sellers

Krista Peel from SanFrancisco

Junk Prints from Brooklyn

Invisible Fountain from Easthampton

Ralph Nuara from Minneapolis

Cyrus the Potter from Pine River, Minnesota

Jack Procter from Vancouver

ClayLab Detroit

mck254 from Arlington, MA

redsonja designs from Ottawa

Fretz Fotos for Cystic Fibrosis

Second Line Frames from Orange Beach, Alabama

Montagyoo from Hattiesburg, Mississippi

Mariposa Avenue from Salt Lake City, UT

Bonnie Jones from San Angelo, West Texas

Pearson Maron from Southern California

Kinchi from Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Snappy Shop from LA, California

ETSY TREASURY

My orange and blue branches painting got included in this awesome treasury!