Meet Your Makers: Suzi Fortunato of Meanderer

Please introduce yourself and tell us about your handmade business:  My name is Suzi Fortunato.   I love to use up every bit of stuff.  I sew aprons (my favorite item, they are indestructible) and potholders from old clothing, tie dye, crochet...anything that pops into my head.  Taking old, unwearable jeans, cutting them apart and making something new, fun and useful is so satisfying to me.  It is a challenge to use every scrap, repurposing and keeping all that good material out of the landfill.  I love it! 

 

 

How did you come up with your business name?  I sew with a general idea and allow the fabric to dictate the end product.  One idea leads to another...meandering around...Meanderer!   My friend Elle, an organic farmer, needed good, sturdy reusable bags when selling her produce.  She also asked for kitchen items. We wanted to use the unusable.  With her help, an idea took off.

 

Where do you live? My family and I live in the south hills of Pittsburgh. 
 
Who’s in your family? I have three grown up kids, two are professional artists.  My dog is a very talented sleeper.

If you could sit down and talk to any person, living or dead, who would it be and why?  I would love to talk to my mom and dad again, just to tell them thank you.


What inspires you? Remaking. Recycling, repurposing.

What is your favorite item you make for Boutique 208 and why? Aprons out of old clothing, especially the ones made out of denim. 
 

What is your favorite item at Boutique 208 that’s not one of your own and why? It is so much fun to see what other people create.  I love the batik items in Boutique 208.  I can't do that and am sooo jealous!

What advice can you offer to someone who would like to start selling their handmade creations? It's been said too many times, but do what you love.  Keep the creative side of you alive and working.  It is who you are.

Meet Your Makers: Deanna Marley of Marley Naturals

 Please introduce yourself and tell us about your handmade business:  My name is Deanna Marley.  I was raised from an early age here in the countryside of Western Pennsylvania.  I have always been a somewhat simple, natural person who also enjoys the luxuries of life.  Our biz started as a hobby making DIY natural household cleaners and then moving on to natural bath products. After watching a sister-in-law journey through breast cancer, my research for natural skin products really stepped up.  After all, it's not only what you eat but what you put on your skin that affects your overall health.  After researching countless ingredient labels and properties, it became apparent that cosmetic companies are making us unhealthy by adding (and even hiding) chemicals and toxins in their products. Mother earth offers us an abundance of low cost, healthy, natural ingredients and it is my desire to formulate them into luxurious, skin-beneficial products affordable for everyone. Now you will know EXACTLY what goes into the products your skin ingests.

How did you come up with your business name?  Using our family surname and then the word Naturals signifying from what (nature) and how (naturally) our products are made.

Where do you live?  Level Green, PA which is a small town way east of Pittsburgh.



Who's in your family?  My thoughtful and supportive husband Jack; ubersmart son Michael & his equally as smart wife Joanna with joyful granddaughters Cassidy Jane and Charlotte Quinn; beautiful hippie daughter Kayla; and free spirit, adventurous son Joseph and our two (tails never stop wagging) dogs Bentley and Rocco.

What inspires you?  Nature, my family, the weather, self-imposed challenges.

What is your favorite item you make for Boutique 208 and why?  I have two--The essential oil soaps because they are 100% natural, simple but unique and smell great and the facial products because they truly do work by helping women look and feel better.

What is your favorite item at Boutique 208 that's not one of your own and why? The handbags and messenger bags because a girl can never have enough bags and shoes!

What advice can you offer to someone who would like to start selling their handmade creations? Just do it! You have nothing to lose and everything to share with the rest of us!