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.