Modish Guest Blog

a super handmade collection - portland's edith and edna

i'm wrapping my guest blogging stint up today with a final post about one of my favorite places in portland to find handmade goodies.

edith and edna on exchange street in the old port is a bright and cheerful space full of local and web-favorite handmade items.

local favorites include bobbin bags and clothing by betsy scheintaub, milo in maine adult + kids shirts, lulubeans yarns, buttons by pixiegenne, handmade baby clothes + bags by soulemama, pinecone + chickadee shirts and papergoods, sewn goodies and mixed media collage by betsy thompson, and much more.

they also carry  dovetail ceramics (a personal favorite of mine - i love the square mugs,) collages and owls by leya at curious bird, nikki mcclure prints and calendars, walter and veronica scarves (i got one for christmas and haven't taken it off since. really) and cd cases, lovely stuff from alena hennessy, wonderful books from if'n books + marks, a wide selection of craft books, and tons more.

my pictures are a bit dark because it was a rainy day when i visited, but i bet you can get a sense of how wonderful the shop is. most definitely worth a visit next time you're in portland!  thanks to shop owners brandie and julie for letting me come by and snap some pictures.

i've had a great time guest blogging this week, and i hope i've given you all a good sense of what a great town the east coast portland is. i didn't come close to covering everything here, but i've tried to show you a good smattering!
thanks so much to jena for inviting me to make these posts this week.
cheers, jen

hello lovely modishers!

hiya everyone, i'm jenifer and i'm so pleased jena asked me to guest blog for her!  i own a little shop called sprout studio, & have for about three years now.  i've had the privilege and honor to be involved in this community and meet so many talented people over these last years.  i'm thrilled to be sharing with you this week some of my favorites!

i read jena's blog all the time and love finding out about so many other awesome peeps in the indie world.  (also, i feel a little bit like i've been asked to host the oscar's :) -- hee!  i won't speachify too much though) i know it's a wee late if you are still looking to buy for christmas, but i know you'll find some awesome treats to bookmark for later too (or perhaps, stuff your own stocking with!). i'm going to start today off with some tried and true handmade super stars. if you don't already know about these folks, you should! they are like the heavy hitters of the indie community to me.  i've met many of them, and own work and fabulous goodies by all of them!

first up: supermaggie -- maggie and her mister make super cool screened clothing (of which my mister and myself own several tees) and she knows how to felt a mean scarf.  plus, her felted flowers are amazing and as well keeping several for oneself, they make terrific little gifties.  i remember running across her way back and being amazed at her felting skills.  check her out:

next up in the all stars league of handmakers is: sarah, of the small object fame.  sarah is one of the most talented artists i've run across.  not only does she make irresistably cute peeps case in point (i own a green lady one):

& my all-time favorite (which i was unable to snag - sniffle):

sarah also spends her time cranking out, cute prints (which i gave to the mister for valentines a couple years back):

handy organizational goodness (yes, i use these):

and some cuteness called the loop troupe gang (i own two of course).  her needle case , quartet container set, and her good wood feeling flip are all on my christmas list (hint to whomever is reading this that gets to be st nick to me!)  get thee on over to sarah's shop and stock up!

my third idol in the all stars indie league is:  queen bee creations  i own a couple bags and a wallet i've owned for 6+ years that still looks brand new.  her vinyl products are amazing, durable and so well designed!  she's also opened up chickpea baby ; all manner of cute baby bags.  check the goodness out:

and now, i'm sad to have to report, my very favorite gingko truckette bag by her is no longer available and no santa bought it for me.  boo hoo for me.  so, lesson learned modish readers, order what you want now!!

okay, last heavy hitter all star for the day:  jill bliss with blissen  jill is super sweet, i've done a show with her before and she is just as lovely as her pieces she makes.  i love jill's work because it has such an intuitive artists aesthetic touch as well.  we swapped at that show and now i own her beautiful poppy necklace:

and i've been lusting after this gorgeous pinwheel necklace:

jill has some other fun artists on her site as well.  i love saelee oh's collaboration with jill in the hidden habitat's calendar for 2008 (& yes, i own the 07 calendar in case you were wondering):

and in case you missed out on the 07 calendar, the other reason i love jill's work is her dedication to re-use & the environment.  you can score these great cards from the misprinted 07 calendar:

her pinwheel tree mirror would make a darling little stocking stuffer:

and last awesome bit of blissen:  the plush bird art piece:

okay modish lovelies, that's all for today, i'll be back tomorrow with more indie rock stars :)  stay tuned!
xxx.  *jenifer/sprout studio

Of Paper and Thread

Danielle from Of Paper and Thread silkscreens her original designs onto cards and onto fabric that she uses to make coin purses. Danielle is based in Western Australia. There is alot of great screenprinted fabric coming out of Australia lately. There must be something in the water over there.