by Noella Noelophile®
Yay, it’s here! Today is Small Business Saturday–a chance to support your favorite “artrepreneurs”.
Here are just a couple of California favorites you might like to keep in mind.
Today and tomorrow, Seaside Studios San Pedro hosts their annual Open House and Holiday Boutique! 
Gifted ceramics artist Regina Fernandez, of Port Town Pottery, and jewelry designer Gayle Fleury, of Aussie Girl Designs, are studio proprietors. Among their beautiful creations: Regina’s coil Christmas trees (I love the one with small stars especially) and Gayle’s almost-luminous two-sided Paua shell pendant. (Her scarves and handbags are pretty tempting too.)
You won’t have any trouble finding Christmas gifts here. And while you’re there, ask Gayle and Regina about their classes and open-studio hours. If you have the time, they’ll teach you to make some seriously cool gifts.
Seaside Studios San Pedro’s Annual Holiday Boutique happens Saturday and Sunday, November 26th and 27th. Hours are 2 to 5 pm, both days, and admission’s free. Seaside Studios San Pedro are located at 525 North Harbor Boulevard, near North Beacon Street, in San Pedro. They’re Suite #3, on the second floor, and are located just across from the cruise ship terminal and the dancing fountains.
Meanwhile, I also love San Pedro Art Association. You can see their exhibit at CRAFTED year-round crafts marketplace today, and you’re very likely to wind up with something special. I personally love their handcrafted pens on their Facebook page, but they also excel at handcrafted jewelry, sculpture, some beautiful paintings and breathtaking photography. Celebrating eighty years of encouraging artists, SPAA hosts their yearly “Harbor Wide All Grades Student Art Competition” yearly. In addition, they host “First Thursday ArtWalks”--expect next week’s, December 1, to be especially Christmasy!
More than a dozen San Pedro Art Association members exhibit at CRAFTED year-round crafts marketplace, open 11 am to 7 pm today. Admission and parking are free.
While we’re on the subject, CRAFTED celebrates “Small Business Saturday” with a preview of San Pedro Ballet’s “Nutcracker” at noon today, and they’ll be teaching visitors to make Christmas wreaths today and tomorrow! (Additional workshop events include printmaking and wire wrap earrings, along with a “Wine, Dine and Fine Art Paint Party” on Sunday, November 27th!)
CRAFTED year-round crafts marketplace is located in Warehouse 10, at 112 East 22nd Street at Miner, in San Pedro. Admission and parking are free.
And last but never, ever, least–if you’re in the Bay Area today, you may get to see a lot of unique small businesses, set on a lamplit street in London! The Great Dickens Christmas Fair is happening from now through December 19th at the Cow Palace, in Daly City. Artisans we’ve really loved there in the past have offered handcrafted fiddles, hand-dipped candles, pewter Christmas ornaments and some incredible jewelry. (And I still have the unicorn cooky cutter I bought at my first-ever Dickens Fair, in the 1970s!)