About Made by Nilina

I love to do and make. I've been a crafty businesswoman since childhood, selling friendship bracelets for 25 cents each on the playground in elementary school and collaged bookmarks throughout middle school. By high school I'd graduated to brick and mortar stores, selling beaded bobby pins at a local store. Since childhood I've split my time between two cities and have done the same during adulthood. As a sentimental and nostalgic person as well as a frequent traveler, it made sense to marry those aspects together in the form of an illustrated souvenir and sideline collection. My initial idea? If I could preserve everything I love about Portland, then I would feel more at ease leaving it. What started as a website detailing everything in my heart/on my sleeve about Portland morphed into related accessories since I'm a crafty person. I launched the first tote bag in summer 2010 with help from a bunch of other creative friends. My product line has expanded, but my ethos remain the same: making things I'd want to use myself and things that are fun and whimsical. Over the past few years I've expanded my souvenir line to celebrate other cities and states such as my part-time home base of Los Angeles as well as New York, plus Washington and the Midwest, where family lives.Read their story