PDX Supercrafty

Location

Meet the girls of Super Crafty:

Susan Beal is a jewelry, handbag, and trinket designer who divides her time between Portland and Los Angeles. She writes about art, craft, and fashion for BUST, ReadyMade, Venus, and getcrafty. Her jewelry and lip balms are sold in twenty shops nationwide and on her own website, susanstars.com. Susan also collaborates on independent films and performance art pieces with her husband, Andrew. She loves coffee, reading, and making new things.

Torie Nguyen is a handbag, t-shirt, and accessories designer who lives with her husband, Quentin (of Monsieur T.) in Portland. She learned to sew for the sole purpose of creating fun, original handbags. Eleven months and many pinpricks and broken needles later, she launched her handbag line, Totinette (toe-tee-net), realizing a lifelong dream of owning her own business. Torie's bags are sold in select small boutiques across the nation and she gets website orders from as far away as Europe and Japan. In her spare time Torie loves to craft, play with her dog Annie, read, learn to knit and crochet, snowboard, and do taekwondo.

Rachel O'Rourke received her master's degree in art therapy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She is also the design whiz behind Lucky Loo Loo, jewelry inspired by the '40s, '50s, and '60s with a modern sculptural twist, while her hubby Danny is the sales, marketing, and website guru. Lucky Loo Loo Designs was born in January 2003, after Danny bought Rachel a drill press for her birthday. Rachel started crafting at a young age and her mom turned many of her and her brother’s drawings into neckties her dad would proudly wear to work. She was also quite well known for her backyard gourmet mud pies that she would attempt to feed her younger brother in the backyard. When she is not designing jewelry, Rachel works as an art therapist with teen girls and creates cool mixed media artwork. Last but certainly not least, Rachel and Danny are proud parents of Greta the bulldog.

Cathy Pitters is a mom, artist and seamstress who lives in Portland, OR with her husband, 8-year-old son, and two cats. She spends most of her time in her flamingo-pink craft bunker, sewing and playing with small things. Cathy runs Bossanovababy.com, which features cool clothing for young and old as well as assorted fabulous art and oddities. Cathy’s favorite things to do are playing with her son on the slip-n-slide, going to estate sales and drinking coffee.