Crafts, crafts and more crafts

SO I have many more updates. The first one: I finally have my Etsy store up!!!
Monita Bonita
Jason spent the better part of Saturday setting it up while I was at the Crafty Mamas Bazaar. There are only veggies up right now. I'm going to add fruits and sweets soon. One of the very sweet crafty mamas at the bazaar suggested adding something every few days instead of all at once. Something about staying at the front of the search.

Speaking of the Crafty Mamas Bazaar.... I did it again this Saturday. I was not as successful this time around, but it was still a lot of fun. As before it was at Milagros Boutique (where I am now a consignor and had a picture of my foods featured on their front page. Scroll down a bit) I really like Milagros. The owners and people who work there are so sweet, down-to-earth and helpful. When I was there tagging my stuff, Carrie (Milagros employee extraordinaire) spent a good 15-20 minutes helping a customer find exactly the right baby sling for her. It's a nice community-minded shop and I'm happy to be consigning with them. At the Bazaar I again met many super crafty mamas. Here are a few.

Roopal from 1st Comes Love was there again. I highly recommend working with her if you need any sort of invitation, announcement or say a logo with a monkey on it.

Catherine Hostetler from Killer Beads brought some of her GORGEOUS jewelry. Her site does not do her large inventory justice. I think she said she would be adding stuff soon, so check it out again in a few weeks (or so). She carries a lovely magnifying locket that I covet.

Rachel Mueller from Baby Bumble Boutique was very sweet and had some great sparkley t-shirts that would have blown Lena's mind. Unfortunately, I don't see any on her site. Maybe she'll add some soon.

A mom whose name I forgot (sorry) from Charlie Tex Originals makes adorable and soft t-shirts and onesies for tiny Portland and Oregon lovers everywhere. I may have to get one for Lena soon.

Speaking of things I have to get for Lena. Jennifer Greensted from Mama Runs with Scissors (the most AWESOME name for a shop EVER) had some badass baby clothes. Particularly a pink, black and white pirate tutu. So very cool.

On the other end of the badass spectrum, but just as cool is Lori Wahl from Mister Judy. I love her dresses and tops made with vintage fabric. They're so old fashion they're new again! One of the things I really like about this line of clothes is there are almost as many things for boys as girls. Not that I personally need little boy clothes. I'm just saying.....

Kathryn Brant from Spider Sewing had some of the most enticing merchandise there. adorable cloaks, not just for little ones, but for their dolls and stuffed toys!! I could have spent my earnings all at her tent. But I behaved. damn behaving....

Last, but certainly not least, is Allisa Jacobs from Quiltish. I enjoyed talking her (and Roopal's) ear off for about 5 hours. She makes the most beautiful, soft and clever blankets, bibs, softies and burp clothes. Not to mention purses and bags. Quite a few of her bibs and burp clothes have terry cloth on one side. VERY useful for cleaning faces, etc once burping or eating (or burping AND eating) are through. Check out her flickr feed. I'm seriously considering having her make quilts for Lena and Pilar for xmas. Her blankets are SOOO soft and my girls really like blankets, though doesn't everyone.....

Updates

I keep thinking..."I Have to remember to blog about this" and then I log on and forget what I wanted to say. This happens to me A LOT. So I'm blogging now so you know I haven't forgotten I even have a blog. I've been working for the last two weeks and LOVE IT. It's only part-time so I'm generally home by 12:30. This means, by the time I come home I'm more ready to deal with a fight over, say, who should hold the button one of them found under the couch. Work is it's own reward.

Lena is potty trained! Finally!

Pilar is speeding toward terrible two. Her vocabulary is growing every day. J and I have to watch what we say more often now since, 1. Lena understands and copies us and 2. Pilar copies Lena.

I'm sure there is much more to say, but now I have to figure out why the girls are screaming at the top of their lungs.

Shout Outs

So this post will be quick* because the girls are both crazy right now. But I've been meaning to do this for two weeks....Among the many things I like about Portland is the vast array of small local businesses and craftspeople. That being said, here are a few I've recently met:

First is the balloon guy, Joe Mishkin. He made the wonderful balloon sculptures at Sand in the Square. He made Lena pink and purple butterfly wings that she played with for days. We finally had to hide them when the balloons started deflating. He was VERY high energy, funny, and sweet with the kids. He even made an extra thick balloon for Pilar.

At the Crafty Mamas Bazaar I met some amazing women who made amazing things.

Amy McMullen is a local photographer who takes portraits in natural settings and light. Her photographs really capture the beauty, emotion, and raw energy of childhood.

Mary Brandy from Chirp and Tweet, makes very cute, very soft organic t-shirts and onesies with either "Grown in Washington" or "Made in Oregon" designs on them.

Andrea Frost from Baby Wit was also there selling some AWESOME t-shirts. I particularily loved "What Would Obama Do", and pretty much any Dana Dekuyper design. I've loved her site for years. I bought several shirts from this site when Lena was born. Pilar is now wearing many of them. Andrea was very nice, gave me some good business advice, and even bought some of my stuff for the site. Check it out!

Finally, Roopal Shah of 1st Comes Love Design is an extremely talented graphic designer who was there selling handmade invitations and correspondence cards. I bought a set for Anthony and ended up hiring her to design a logo for my Etsy store (and business) , Monita Bonita.
At some point I might even list stuff to sell. :) I really enjoyed working with Roopal. She was fast and worked really hard to design just the right logo. I think it turned out great.

Most of these lovely women I met at Milagros, which hosted the Bazaar. Carrie, who was manning the store that day suggested I might sell my veggies, etc. in the store, so I'm off to peddle my wares tomorrow. Wish me luck!

*Obviously I lied about the quickness of this post. It just took me an extra long time to do it.