Portland Spoke – The Official Blog of Travel Portland

Here it is, November already! And that sets me to thinking about holiday gatherings, about homemade cranberry sauce and Hood River’s own Tofurky … and about finding a few special gifts for a few special people.

Thankfully, it’s also time for our pop-up shops to sprout downtown. Alongside Portland Saturday Market, these collectives of local artists, artisans and fashion designers help holiday shoppers find carefully crafted gifts for everyone on our list. Here’s a look at this year’s crop, which opened on Tuesday:

• A favorite indie emporium, Crafty Wonderland, showcases the work of more than 80 local artists in jewelry, clothing, art and housewares. Have some fun with their wacky holiday photo booth! (802 S.W. 10th) (more…)

In case you haven’t heard, we’re pretty creative in Portland. Whether it’s functional, pretty or both, we like to make it ourselves. That DIY ethic means that shopping for gifts is a special treat here.

Crafty Wonderland’s regular group sales have been wildly popular for years, but now you don’t have to wait. Crafty Wonderland is opening a pop-up shop in downtown Portland during the holiday season! From mid-November (opening date is still TBA) through the end of December, you’ll be able to find locally crafted jewelry, art, clothes and more for yourself or that special someone.

The pop-up shop will be located at 802 S.W. 10th Ave., next to Finnegan’s Toys and across from the Multnomah County Central Library. It will be open from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon-6 p.m. on Sundays (although hours may change). When I hear more confirmed info, I’ll update this post. Shoppers … are you ready?

Did you know that Portland is the crafty capital of the world? Such a claim might be hard to prove, but for the next three days, the Summit of Awesome at the Kennedy School will make Portland the undisputed center of the handmade universe.

Produced by Hello Craft along with Portland’s own Crafty Wonderland and DIY Lounge, the Summit is an annual national craft conference that offers business and technical education seminars as well as hands-on workshops and tours of Portland’s Alberta Arts District. Featured speakers include Portland craft stars like Rebecca Pearcy of Queen Bee Creationsand Elizabeth Newell of the newly launched Handmade in Portland.

The best part of all? You don’t have to be a crafty genius to reap the benefits. On Saturday, June 19, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., you can meet — and buy handmade goodies from — 40 vendors at the free Show of Awesome at the Doug Fir Lounge. I’ve been counting down to this event for weeks!

To learn more about Portland’s craft community, check out this awesome article from The Oregonian.