one more amazing portland shop: olio united

olio united was one of the best finds during our one day tour of portland. olio united is a wonderful shop that showcases ethical and socially responsible designers, many of them local to portland. it's also a very well curated shop, that spans a wide range from fashion to housewares to paper to jewelry.
this folded miso bowl is made by portland's pigeon toe ceramics. so pretty!

sweet necklace by portland jewelry designer, appleseed designs.
and of course i fell in love with the felt bags by feel design, also from portland!
you can see their other bags on sale at olio united here.

if you are looking for the new best showcase of independent designers in portland, i think it may just be olio united! and on top of that, they have a great commitment to ethical craft and supporting local artists. AND, you can shop online from their website! does it get any better than that??

portland recap part 3: shopping

here's a little peek inside the lovely garnish store.
owner and designer erica lurie creates her own line of very pretty clothes, and also does custom work. i love this little framed example of fabric swatches.

while we were wondering down alberta street, we also visited bolt fabric and next door close knit (how great is it to have an independent fabric store and yarn store next to each other!), ped x shoe store (i am a sucker for campers), tumbleweed (with kids version grasshopper next door).

portland recap part 2: craft museum!

i got to see this exhibit that i missed last time. unfortunately the handmade nation screening was completely sold out before we could get tickets, but the crochet-a-thon with mandy was awesome!

mandy greer's new project is called mater matrix mother and medium. it will be installed in seattle's urban forest and will also include a performance by zoe scofield.
here's a photo from the project website. it's all about water, and so the work will incorporate shades of blue fabric and yarn. for the crochet-a-thon, everyone joined in to create some blue crocheted elements that will be incorporated into the final piece. it's a wonderful art creation process, that involves people coming together to create, and maybe to learn a new craft. beginning crochet lends itself especially well to this kind of free form art, as there are no 'mistakes.' i am a complete beginner at crochet, but now i am really curious to try more.

portland recap part 1: food

first stop: broder cafe on clinton street. this wonderful scandinavian restaurant does it right, from the proper brunch (above),

to delicious hash with trout.

the menu also has swedish meatballs and aebleskiver, the tiny scandinavian pancakes. i am willing to bet they are both excellent. clinton street was an old hangout when i lived in southeast portland, and it's nice to see that dots (ohh, the late night cheesy fries and velvet paintings) and clinton street video (i spent many nights picking movies from their small but excellent collection, back when we rented VHS tapes) are still around, and also cool new places like broder.

i also had the pleasure of introducing my friends to an old favorite, nicholas lebanese restaurant. this is the food to which i compare all other lebanese and middle eastern food, and it's hard to beat. i would have photos, but we were too busy stuffing our faces with pieces of the gigantic homemade pita bread straight from the oven, with all the tasty treats that come in the mezze combination. heaven.

mandy greer 'dare alla luce' at the museum of contemporary craft

i've been a huge fan of mandy greer ever since i saw and was blown away by the silvering path last year. which by the way is on the cover of the new issue of fiber arts.
one of the things i was most excited about seeing in portland was mandy greer's installation at the museum of contemporary craft. entitled 'dare alla luce,' it was originally commissioned for the bellevue art museum last year, but i missed it then, and have been waiting to see the portland installation. i was also really looking forward to my first visit to the museum of contemporary craft, which is an amazing addition to the pacific northwest art and craft scene.

unfortunately, on sunday when i tried to go with a few crafty pals, we found out too late that they have seasonal hours (=closed on sunday as well as monday through may!) boo.

perhaps this is an excuse to make another trip to portland in april, when the museum will be holding a screening of faythe levine's new documentary 'handmade nation' , a panel discussion, and also a crochet-a-long with mandy. yup. that sounds awesome.

pie day

yesterday i had some wonderful pie from random order. it may be the best pie in portland.

road trip

i stopped for a little road trip treat.
i came into portland when the late afternoon sun was lighting up the town.
between two trips to powell's books (ahhh, wonderful powells) i had really yummy (and super healthy-organic and vegan) lunch at the blossoming lotus in portland's pearl district.