Collectors of pretty things, take note: Every Friday, we’re rounding up a what’s-what of what we [heart], culled from the scores of design blogs, artist sites and Etsy treasuries we can’t help but stalk on the regular.

Valentine’s Day is just around the snowpocalyptic bend, so we thought it timely to point out a few gifts appropriate for sweethearts, honeys and steady crushes.

First up: Across the pond, self-described “U.K. design junkies” Rockett St. George host a huge line of V-Day-inspired goods, including these customizable Scrabble tile throw pillows. The covers and insides are made from 100 percent recyclable material, and they come in cream and black. If you’re made of money, go ahead and load up on you and your one-and-only’s monograms; then see what words you can spell. Hours of fun. (By the way, if anyone’s got a tip on a Stateside company that sells something similar, let us know.) $71 each (approximately), rockettstgeorge.co.uk. Spied first at Poppytalk.

Also: Because we’re bookish, we particularly adore Brookish’s collection of Pride & Prejudice (and not zombies) gifts. She’s got stylish black-and-white bangles and ornaments with typewritten Jane Austen quotes; a tea towel boasting that “There’s nothing like staying at home for real comfort”; and, most romantically, a Mr. Darcy proposal mug, on which the start of Darcy’s memorable, sorta-pathetic speech to Elizabeth Bennett is is handwritten: “In vain I have struggled. It will not do.” This applies to other struggles, too. Like cutting down on the coffee. $15, etsy.com/shop/Brookish.

And then: The economy still sucks, so grand gestures ought to be put on hold this year. Your lovely will understand. Instead, send off the smallest, and therefore most adorable, valentine ever: Leafcutter Designs‘ clever World’s Smallest Letters. Send them your message, and the address to which it should be sent, and they’ll transcribe your love note onto teeny 1.5-by-1-inch stationery. A magnifying glass is included with every order, so no squinting; they’ve also got a World’s Smallest Package, which comes with a hand-written note, tons of little buttons, and fits into the palm of your hand. Squee. $8-$10 plus shipping, leafcutterdesigns.com. Spied first at Design*Sponge.

Oh, P.S.: If you’re in the mood to spruce up your Twitter homepage, check out Ollibird’s free downloads. She’s got loads of heart-tastic backgrounds, plus less sicky-sweet ones that’d be pleasant all year round. Free, blog.ollibird.com. Spied first at How About Orange.

RELATED POSTS: Hedgehogs, BookBooks + Haiti, Oh My

Amanda Mott, Courtesy Elizabeth Dee Gallery

VIP Room, 2010, by Virgil Marti, screen print on paper-backed Mylar, wood, faux fur, trim and mirror ball, installation view, Moore College of Art & Design

Bringing you more Philagrafika 2010 coverage twice a week, at least.

On view at Moore College of Art & Design through April 11 (2000 Ben Franklin Parkway, 215-965-4027, thegalleriesatmoore.org), Virgil Marti’s contribution to Philagrafika 2010’s core exhibit, “The Graphic Unconscious,” is all about perception. From a distance, the floor-to-ceiling display looks like flat floral wallpaper; but upon closer inspection, deeper, creepier meaning reveals itself.

The interview below, conducted in October by Millersville University fine arts student Lauren Nye under the tutelage of Millersville art history prof/Philagrafika steering committee member Christine Filippone, explores Marti’s interest in the three-dimensionality of printmaking.

Courtesy Virgil Marti/Elizabeth Dee Gallery

Study for Untitled Wallpaper, 2010, digital rendering for screenprint on silver Mylar wallpaper

Lauren Nye: How do you see your work fitting into the Philagrafika theme “The Graphic Unconscious�?
Virgil Marti: I take the theme to mean that prints are so ubiquitous, we encounter them every day without really thinking about it. On that level, it is an interest of mine, because I want my work to look like something I didn’t make, something you could just come across every day. One of the things that really attracts me to printmaking is the idea of being able to reproduce something so if it gets lost or destroyed you can remake it. With a piece like my Beer Can Library wallpaper, I was consciously thinking that I have this big collection of beer cans that some day I will have to store. If I made an image of them it would be a way to condense the collection and make it smaller. Then I could give prints away to people, but I would still have it for myself. It’s a way to be able to let go of things but still be able to hold on to them at the same time, which I like.

LN: Do you think that print “lies at the heart of contemporary art�?
VM: I think it’s very true in many cases. Most collectors, when they begin collecting art, collect prints. I think that both printmaking and photography are things that contemporary artists utilize without even thinking of themselves as “printmakersâ€� or “photographers” — it’s just a process they use.

LN: I think that a lot of people have come to printmaking in that way, by using a mixed-media approach. Do you think of yourself as a printmaker?
VM: I didn’t set out to be a printmaker, and I’m kind of uncomfortable being called a printmaker. I don’t think I’m really a printmaker in the way that somebody who has gone through a printmaking program, or apprenticed at Tamarind, is. I’m not that kind of printmaker. I think more like a painter, but I wouldn’t say I’m a painter because I’m not using paint. I guess I’m a sculptor because I make objects and three-dimensional things, but I’m also not comfortable with that because I was trained as a painter. I am more comfortable using whatever material and tool makes sense for the piece. Though I have done a lot of printing for other artists, and in that way I do think of myself as a screen-printer. In my work in general, I wouldn’t say I’m a printmaker. Click For More »

Courtesy of Gene Schmidt

Gene Schmidt, doing his N.Y. project in 2007.

Gene Schmidt, a New York-based artist, is best known for measuring the width and length of his home city with 30,000 yard sticks. Pretty crazy. Well, dude wants to do something similar in Philly — his plan is to go from North Philly to the University of Pennsylvania, laying out square panels that each have one letter on them, which together spell out St. Paul’s texts on love. (Because, as Schmidt says, “Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love.”)

Problem is, he needs to raise about $13,000 in 38 days to do it (for supplies, a van, stuff and people to document it, and so on). You can donate to the fun cause, titled “Lovetown PA,” here, where you can also check out a vid of his plan.

Good luck, Schmidt!

Courtesy of Philagrafika

Haiti poster, by Sue Coe.

Bringing you more Philagrafika 2010 coverage twice a week, at least.

We promised in this week’s cover story that Critical Mass would give you much more content on Philagrafika 2010, the brand-new international printmaking festival that’s taking over this city from now until April 11.

Out first interview is with Sue Coe, whose works will be up at the Print Center (614 Latimer St., 215-735-6090) throughout the entire festival. Coe, who considers herself a journalist, opts to use printed images instead of words to explore politics and social issues. Originally hailing from England, Coe now resides in New York, which gives her an expansive perspective on pressing social concerns. She’s dissected animal rights, apartheid and prisons through her stark black-and-white prints already, and for Philagrafika Festival she created an homage to fallen cherry trees.

City Paper: Who or what are your influences?
Sue Coe: They vary. This year it’s Posada, the Mexican printmaker, and Munakata Shiko, a Japanese printmaker — and also help on wood-carving technique from my friend Dr. Eric Avery, who is a wonderful printmaker from America and also in this show. My biggest influence is reality, seeing the world, and trying to process what is happening through my art.   Click For More »

Awwww: Steve Powers‘ adorably sweet “A Love Letter for You,” a series of 50 painted rooftops along the Market-Frankford line that was made in conjunction with the Mural Arts Program, will be available in coffee-table-book form come the first week of February.

You can pre-order now here, V-Day sweethearts.

RELATED: Stephen Powers: A man of letters

vivantartcollection.com

Just a quick reminder that our Old City neighbor, Vivant Art Collection, is hosting a fundraiser this evening to assist with rescue efforts in Haiti. They’ll have light refreshments, as well as psychologists, grief counselors, politicians and members of the Haitian community on hand; and all donations will go directly to the Haitian Rescue Fund.

Florcy Morrisett, Vivant’s owner, tells us that not only will they be accepting donations, but a portion of all art sales will go toward the Haiti Rescue Fund, as well, so if you’re looking for something new to hang on your wall (like A. Giervilil’s Market V, pictured above), now’s the time.

Additionally, Morrisett and the Haitian Professionals of Philadelphia have gathered a truckload of medical supplies, which Morrisett tells me they’ve shipped today. “It’s one bit of good news we have today,” she says.

Vivant Haitian Relief, Mon., Jan. 18, 5-8 p.m., free admission (donations welcome), Vivant Art Collection, 60 N. Second St., 215-922-6584, vivantartcollection.com.

Photo | Neal Santos

Time after time, staff photographer Neal Santos kicks ass and takes names with every ridiculous assignment we throw at him (despite erroneous claims to the contrary).

Just in the past month, he’s hung out with tea-drinking drag queens, Kurt Vile and the entire cast of Brat Productions’ 24-hour The Bald Soprano. (Have you seen our 2nd Season Arts cover yet? What do you think of it?)

Neal just updated his personal blog, nealsantos.com/photoblog, with a series of outtakes from the Brat shoot, including an awesome post-coital ciggy shot. Here’s what Neal had to say about the shoot:

It was cold. There was fire. There was water. There was expensive equipment. There was the City Paper honor box. And there was the cast of Brat Productions’ Bald Soprano. … This shoot was one of the more stressful ones. Happy it’s over, and please no more fires.

Sorry ’bout that, Neal, but no promises. Scroll through the photoblog for outtakes from a ton of Neal’s other excellent work that didn’t make it into the paper.

RELATED: Miro’s Back, Tell a Friend; Gallery Watch.

Courtesy of Woosk

Grandma would love this!

As if any of us needs another reason to drink cheap beer: After you make a painting, drawing, sculpture or poem — a poem! — about Pabst Blue Ribbon for tonight’s Art Contest Viewing Party, don’t get bummed if it doesn’t get accepted. You’ve got another chance to sling your work: The second annual PBR Crafting Challenge will take place on Sat., Feb. 27 from 3 to 10 p.m. at 2424 Studios (2424 York St., 215-423-1800), and it needs your booze-fueled goods. Here’s the deal:

Only PBR themed art/craft to be sold or displayed– the skies the limit
on what you can make with this as a theme!
$10 table fee (includes all you can drink PBR 21+)
and it’s BYO table (6 foot maximum)
Send an EMAIL to phillycraftmarket@gmail letting us know what you
plan on making an we’ll send you all the sign up information.

Drink up!

Considering all the crap that musicians got two summers ago — for simply playing a few acoustic guitars and singing — in Rittenhouse Square, it’s fairly amazing that the Friends of Rittenhouse Square have recently elected to make Daniel A. Biederman their new redevelopment consultant. Biederman, prez of Biederman Redevelopment Ventures in New York, is best known for transforming a drug-infested, largely ignored plot of land called Bryant Park into the bourgeoisie destination it is today.

And boy is it bourgeois: We’re talking giant outdoor movie screenings, dance performances, theater shows, outdoor shops, organized snowball fights (whaaaa?) and a goddamn ice skating rink. So, is he gonna do the same for Rittenhouse? Says Wendy Rosen, president of the Friends of Rittenhouse Square:

In the course of his study of our Square, Dan has come up with a variety of exciting new activities and programs for the park, as well as innovative ways to underwrite them. We look forward to putting his creative concepts into action as we re-envision the future of Rittenhouse Square.

Damn! Keeping it on the down-low, huh? Regardless, the Friends have made it very clear they’re interested in creating revenue with Rittenhouse, and that’ll likely usher in some type of culture — fashion shows, art exhibits … or maybe even a Shake Shack.

Last week on Critical Mass, in anticipation of Pure Gold Gallery’s launch party for this awesome book about local tattoos, we asked our readers to send in photos of their ink, along with an explanation for why they made such a permanent commitment. The prize? A copy of Tatted, signed by the photographer behind the book, Marianne Bernstein.

We want to give a shout-out to our two winners, Shale and Nicole, whose tattoos are pretty different (tree of life vs. robot-penguin, to be exact), but both meaningful to their wearers.

Here’s what Nicole had to say about her ink:

The story behind my tattoo is pretty simple. I love penguins and I love robots. Why not combine the two?

My tattoo was done at the 2009 Philadelphia Tattoo Convention by Geoff Horn. I am totally in love with my latest piece because of the vibrancy of the color and style in which it was done. Old-school tattoo style, new-school subject.

This was my longest sitting for a tattoo ever. Six hours. Looking back, I wouldn’t have traded it for anything. The colors are just as bold as they were on that first day. Surprisingly enough, my favorite part of the tattoo isn’t the penguin … it’s the flaming igloos. Don’t get me wrong, I love the entire piece. But that touch made me laugh.

Shale’s tattoo, on the other hand, takes a different route:

This is my first tattoo — it’s a cherry tree. The meaning of it is somewhat abstract: It symbolizes growth and renewal. It makes me think about being rooted in my experiences, but growing toward the future. Getting this tattoo was one of the last things I did before I moved from Seattle (my hometown) to venture out on my own.

Thanks to everyone who entered the contest, and remember to keep watching the CritMass — we’ve got tons of giveaways all week.