Yesterday, I spent an awesome day getting some sun, enjoying the farmer’s market’s sights and smells and  listening to beautiful music from the Chamber Music Northwest. All this while working. Yes working I was vending at HandmadeNW’s first session of their Summer Arts on Main series. One of the many perks of my job is getting to attend events like this while making a little money. I had a pretty good seat too, right by the stage. I went and had a sausage (southern spicy!) from Salumeria di Carlo which I always look forward too during summer market days. Laura Hopper, sweetest booth mate ever, generously shared her pint of raspberries. I got to talk shop a little bit with Sarah of OLBAPI who makes the cutest little retro looking dolls ever. Talks of doing a trade is in progress and that makes me very happy

Aren’t these the cutest!! Here is a link to the listing for the bunny on Etsy.

I love Portland! I can’t say it enough. We got a lot of tourists walking through that day, and most of them told us how much they love our little city. Especially the people, how nice and open they are. If you’re not from here, you guys seriously need to visit. We don’t have major tourist attractions, not much of a sports town either, we don’t boast of theme parks or insanely big shopping malls but I promise you, after visiting, you will be considering moving here We got real culture, y’all.

Oh P.S. — Here’s a list of the FREE entertainment lined up for Summer Arts on Main. It’s worth checking out. Nothing beats shopping for organic veggies, under the shade of trees, while listening to some world class entertainment. Also MOSS is  signed up to participate in 2 more sessions, July 21st and August 25.

I used to be a pretty good blogger. Well… not so much anymore. And I’m always giving myself a hard time about it. So why not just do it? It’s kinda like missing an entire season of a favorite show, once you lose the story line, its hard to pick up again. Anyway, its good to have friends that have all the answers, like my buddy Christine. Seriously,  I should be paying her for all her craft/art/music/business/etc advice. She showed me a link to this awesome e-book about blogging from Tara Gentile of Scoutie Girl. It’s called “52 Weeks of Blogging Your Passion” and you can buy it here. And it was all I needed to get this ball rolling again. It’s nice when you find instructions for life, you know.

Anyway, there were some really good tips in there about organizing your thoughts and coming out with a more cohesive blog. So in keeping with the awesome ideas in that e-book, I am coming out with a blogging schedule of sorts and here it is as follows:

Every Monday: I will be blogging about what’s new with MOSS. New projects I’m working on, products I’m developing, contests and raffles for my dear readers, etc. Everything MOSS, every monday.

Every Tuesday: I am a person that makes a TON of lists (to-do lists, shopping lists, reminders, etc.) So this day will be dedicated to my compulsion for those. This could be anything from my favorite ice cream flavors to things I absolutely hate doing. If you want to make a mental profile of me, Tuesday is the day for you.

Every Wednesday: Art is one of those things that I have been passionate about all my life. This day will be dedicated to visual artists that inspire me and their work and of course my own artistic endeavors (completely separate from MOSS).

Every Thursday: Most of you probably know this about me already, I love love love collecting old things. I will be sharing with all of you vintage treasures and places where to find them (around town and beyond). Fellow pack rats, this is our day.

Every Friday: Portland has such a lively and active creative community so I am dedicating this day to telling all of you, about fun, artsy, craftsy events around town. If you know of one and want to give me a heads up on it, please feel free to email (mosshandmadeatgmail.com) me and I will feature it here.

Every Saturday: Sometimes I do need to get away from work but there’s one thing that I can’t shake off, and its the need to make stuff. So every Saturday, I would like to share small projects that I work on purely for fun.

Every Sunday: I loooove my camera and taking pictures. Sunday will be for sharing pictures of anything and everything under the sun.

So the site looks a little different…. Yup, I am updating my website. Woot! Everything should be back up and running (meaning the galleries, shop, bulletin, etc. sections of the shop) early January. If you would like to purchase MOSS items locally (Portland), please check the “Where to buy MOSS” section on the left column of the screen. And if you would like to purchase MOSS items online, please check my etsy shop and the awesome Never Ender online store. If you need to get a hold of me, Diana, maker of things, please email me at mosshandmadeatgmail.com.

NOTE on the Etsy Shop : I know it looks a little bare. I am currently making new things for Valentines Day and Spring. Check back early January for exciting new designs!

NOTE on finding the awesomest royalty-free retro images for the web: Check out this site.

Stay tuned. Big changes. Exciting stuff. I promise.