Amidst COVID-19 gathering restrictions and record-high
unemployment rates, supporting small businesses and craft artisans has never been more
important than now. To keep the safety of shoppers as well as vendors as their highest priority,
three area market organizers have collaborated to create a comprehensive shopping
experience featuring vendors throughout the Rust Belt.

Cleveland Bazaar in Cleveland,OH; Crafty Mart in Akron, OH; and I Made It! Market in
Pittsburgh, PA, created shopholidayhandmade.com. Instead of events in three different cities,
the website will serve artist communities and shoppers alike with a live event the weekend of
November 28-29, 2020 and additional material in the weeks before.

With in-person events severely restricted, artists needed to find innovative methods to continue
their livelihoods. Collectively, the three organizers have canceled over 25 events in 2020, a
devastating loss of income for vendors who rely on summer markets to keep their businesses
going throughout the year between holiday seasons. The three market directors, lifelong
advocates of shopping handmade, knew that it was critical to re-imagine holiday shopping in
order to support these local artisans and offer the handmade alternatives to big-box shopping
that their shoppers have always loved.

Leading up to the live event, Shop Holiday Handmade’s catalog will serve as a throwback to the
days when circling your favorite items was better than a trip to the mall. Shop Holiday
Handmade will also feature an online marketplace, videos from artists showcasing their spaces
and processes, and artist features on over 125 artists spanning all three cities.
Shoppers will have the opportunity to interact with their favorite vendors and discover new
artists from the tri-city event through the website, a Facebook group as well as Instagram Lives,
posts, and stories.

Participating artists and makers create ceramics, fiber arts, 2-D art and prints, food, clothing,
children’s items and toys, jewelry, bath and body items, photography, fine spirits, candles,
housewares, items created from repurposed materials, woodwork, and more.