12 Giveaways of Pittsburgh: #1-4

chs-squareFirst of all, I want to thank everyone who donated to the CHS (Community Human Services) Christmas Fundraiser this year and who attended the event at Hough’s earlier this month.  Your generosity this holiday season is greatly appreciated.  I’ve just heard back from the folks at CHS and we have only raised HALF of what is needed to make sure that each of the people they serve have a gift for the holiday.

For the past several years, I have joined with other Pittsburgh bloggers to support CHS holiday gift drive.  While all of the efforts to support worthy causes are important, CHS stands out for me because they serve many fellow Pittsburghers who don’t receive any holiday cheer from programs that cater to kids and seniors.

I was just about to share a blog post with my favorite Pittsburgh gifts – but I’m turning this into an opportunity for you to help CHS and to win some awesome Pittsburgh holiday gifts.  As of today CHS still needs to raise $2500 to save Christmas.  Currently we are only about 25% to the total goal!

Rather than just tell you about great Pittsburgh gifts, I’m going to give them all away! For the next 3 days – I’m going to launch a new raffle where you can enter to win great Pittsburgh gifts that you can keep for yourself or give as a gift.  (I’m going to try my hardest to get all of these delivered by 12/24).

There are lots of ways to enter to win – the best way to help is donate to CHS, but you can also earn entries by tweeting, pinning and blogging about the 12 Giveaways of Pittsburgh!

  • 5 entries = donate $10 to CHS
  • 10 entries = donate $20 to CHS
  • 1 entry = tweet about the 12 Giveaways of Pgh and include the #pghsavesxmas
  • 5 entries = write a blog post that links back to this post
  • 3 entries = leave a comment
  • 1 entry = pin this image to pinterest and tag it with #pghsavesxmas
  • 1 entry = like CHS on Facebook

You can donate to CHS online here and use the Rafflecopter box below to enter to win! We’ll draw four winners for this giveaway.

Here are the first four giveaways:

  1. $25 Gift Certificate to Pavement Shoes – locally owned boutique in Lawrenceville that sells shoes, clothes and accessories
  2. A Digital Subscription to Rustbelt Almanac – a beautiful quarterly magazine about the best section of the country
  3. Pierogi Pillow – a huggable version of Pittsburgh’s favorite food made with love by Commonwealth Press
  4. Copy of the Alternate Histories of the World Book by Matthew Buchholz – Entertainment Weekly’s book gift guide describes this book as “blazingly creative.” – and it was authored by a Pittsburgh resident.

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a Rafflecopter giveaway

Some additional ways to help!

  • Donate directly to CHS 
  • Donate a prize for the raffle – if we have more than 12 giveaways – that is ok.  We’ll keep running these until we reach the fundraising goal. (email lindsay@iheartpgh.com)
  • Be an elf – volunteer to help deliver prizes next week (email lindsay@iheartpgh.com)

Pitt-starter – Meet Pittsburgh Artist Robert Qualters

Pitt-starter is our occasional series of posts about Kickstarer and other crowdfunding projects that are of interest to the Pittsburgh community. You can check out previous Pitt-starter posts here.

I am very excited to share this Kickstarter project with you.  First, because I think this is a great chance to learn about a Pittsburgh artist who has been painting this city for decades.  And second, because I had the opportunity to meet Robert Qualters earlier this year and I think he is one of the many Pittsburghers that should be on your radar.

Robert Qualters - Penn Station Rotunda, 2006, acrylic and collage on canvas, 42x48"

Robert Qualters – Penn Station Rotunda, 2006, acrylic and collage on canvas, 42×48″

Robert Qualters is one of those artists where you have probably seen his work around town but you might not have known much about the artist. His paintings are hanging in some of the offices and restaurants and he has painted several murals for Mercy Hospital and Pittsburgh public schools.

M_Perrott-Qualters_1994_no13-sRGB_for_web.largeI hope you will take a moment to visit the Kickstarter page for “Robert Qualters: A Life in Film” to check out the video and some of the paintings of Pittsburgh.  The Kickstarter trailer gives you a glimpse into his studio which is located in Homestead.  I’ve had the chance to visit another artist in this building and you would have never guessed this old school was home to a wealth of Pittsburgh talent.

Another fun fact about this project is that one of the filmmakers, Elizabeth Seamans, was Mrs. McFeely on Mr. Rogers Neighborhood.

This Kickstarter project is to fund a film about his work which will debut in 2014.  A retrospective of his paintings will be on display at Pittsburgh center for the arts starting February 7, 2014.

The Qualter’s Kickstarter project also offers some unique rewards and the chance to pick up a signed and numbered print from the artist or an original painting from Qualters.

Follow Robert Qualters on Facebook – facebook.com/qualtersart and Twitter @qualtersart

Some other posts about Pittsburgh art and film:

Happy Handmade Holidays – 25 Classes to Make Holiday Gifts Before Christmas

Looking to take a break from shopping? Need a special gift for a very special someone? Or maybe you just want to make something.  Think craft-mas instead of Christmas.

You still have plenty of time to make or buy some incredible handmade gifts.  From glass blowing to laser etching – there is a crafty class on this list for everyone.  Looking to learn to make something delicious? There are plenty of classes to help you create some holiday treats.  Gaynor’s cooking school even has a class to help you channel your inner Julia Child!

craft classes in Pittsburgh

 Here are 25 classes between now and Christmas where you can make a holiday gift to give or a tasty treat to eat…

Continue reading →

December 12 is MAKEnight at the Children’s Museum (Weekly Sponsor)

A big thank you to the Children’s Museum for being our very first weekly sponsor!  Check out this great hands-on event that is coming up next week in the MAKESHOP. 

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On December 12 check out MAKEnight in the MAKESHOP ® at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh . Try your hand at soldering a wire ornament, experiment with wreath making, and make your own LED holiday card. Cocktails by Wigle Whiskey and snacks by e2.

Tickets are $12/$15 before the event and $17 at the door.  Past MAKEnight’s have sold out!  Tickets can be purchased online here.

Be sure to follow the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh on Facebook and Twitter @pghkids

Interested in sponsoring IheartPGH next week? Click here to learn more.

links n’at – Best Christmas Commercial, Saxifrage School, SwissMiss and more

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Here are a few links that we’ve shared on Facebook and Twitter that you may have missed.