Handmade Arcade Deadline is August 17, 2008 - Calling all crafters! Pittsburgh’s premier handmade craft market application deadline is almost here. The craft culture has been on the rise around the US for the past few years and these markets have become big events around the country. For more info on the DIY movement check out Faith Levine’s website - she is working on a documentary called Handmade Nation (and was in Pittsburgh for this Symposium in the spring). Pittsburgh blogger and metblogger Liz Perry posted about the New York Times article on Handmade 2.0 last year.

Click here for the 2008 Handmade Arcade Vendor Application.

Craft Blog even has a post about Handmade Arcade - Handmade Arcade in Pittsburgh, PA - Now Accepting Vendor Applications

An artist is working on painting a mural on the side of the building at the corner of Penn and 23rd in the strip district.

I am at the Rachel Carson Homestead listening to Mark, one of the members of the YERT team give a presention about their trip. YERT stands for Your Environmental Road Trip. The team has spent the past 52 weeks traveling to all 50 states to talk to people about the environment.

Youn can see many of these videos and learn more about their trip at YERT.com

Here are some facts from the beginning of their presentation (they are still presenting as I am typing this)

- gas prices ranged from $2.70 to $4.10
- plastic bags were starting to be banned
- lead in toys became a big issue
- bottled water is also going out of fashion and we have learned that even some of the reusable plastic bottles are not good for your health.

Apparently they also have all of the trash from their trip and it is on display here. I will try to find that display and post a picture.

Atlanta - September 8
Celebrate the 150th Anniversary of Jasper, GA with events including a greased pig chase, greased pole climbing and a cake walk.
Baltimore - September 6
Run with the pigs at the 2008 Pigtown Festival on historic Washington Boulevard.
Buffalo - August 30-31
Head to the National Buffalo Wing Festival to see if you can beat last year’s eating contest winner at 173 wings in 12 minutes.
Houston - September 21-22
Get your spice on at the Houston Hot Sauce Festival featuring hot and spicy fiery food products and an amateur salsa dancing competition.
Indianapolis - August 29-September 1
Enjoy Italian mini-golf, salami roulette and spaghetti eating contests at the Little Italy Festival in Clinton, IN.
Philadelphia - September 6-7
Venture to Kennett Square, PA for the Mushroom Festival and enjoy the Mushroom Soup Cook-off.
Raleigh - September 20
BugFest is a fun way to learn about - and taste - every creepy-crawly critter you can come up with.
San Francisco - September 25-28
See cars roll down the street disguised as high heels, dragons, castles and everything in between at the ArtCar Fest.

Image via Wikipedia

This project has already generated some excitement and some controversy in Pittsburgh, which is one of the reasons why I think I started watching the building in the first place.

I have created a Flickr group for photos of Bakery Square: http://www.flickr.com/groups/bakerysqaure

If you are a Flickr user please join the group and add your pictures - I will try to post them here on a regular basis. If you aren’t a flickr user, thats okay too - you can send them to me (info - at - IheartPGH.com) and I can add them.

Here is a really great picture I found on Flickr of the Nabisco Bakery that was taken in 1946. (Photo Cowtool)

Here are some of the pictures I have taken in the past few weeks, nothing too exciting in terms of changes but it will be interesting to see how this project progresses.

June 26, 2008

July 10, 2008 - The Building Facade

since I am in the area of Boyce Park, which I never really visit - see IheartPgh.com for some pictures and an explanstion of why I was at the quilt show.
So I decided to find the wave pool at boyce park - I have heard about the wave pool but never actually been there. I have yet to find the wave pool but I did find this skate park. So if you se looking for a place to skate, here you go. My skating skills aren’t quite ready for the skate park but now I know where one is.

This is the view from my table on the patio at the whole Foods store in Austin, TX. I am visiting Austin for a few days and I walked into whole foods to pick up a snack. I think this is the origionsl Whole Foods and it is way more than a grocery store. I had to walk past the windows of the catering/cooking school to get to the front door - I have since figured out there are like 6 entrances. I am going to guess that this store is about 8 times the size of the Pittsburgh one. So what is Pittsburgh missing ? Juice bar, wine shop, beer cooler, mini clothing boutique, a huge produce section, larger bakery, candy counter with chocolate fountain, patio with babbling brooke, composting bins and a concierge. I am not sure what a grocery store concierge does but they have one.

Yhe field at peabody high school has been transformed into a kid friendly carnival - inflatables, art projects and performances. I am here helping at the tent making paper bag puppets. The Manchester craftsmans guild is letting kids screenorint their own shirts. Facepainting is a popular activity with the little kids. E-fest is a project of the East End cooperative ministries youth business initiative.

It is now 10:30 am and there is still a line of people waiting at the apple store. There are 3 police cars in front of the store. I just talked to the police officer and asked us there have been any issues. So far no problems but the office just told me that the system is down and they can’t sell any mechandise.
What is interesting is that I see at least 2 people in line that are talking on iphones. I am assuming those are the old phones and they are waiting to get the new ones.