Hello! My name is Michele, I am the owner/designer and slave to the needle (both sewing and knitting), behind By Your Side. I live in "The City of Roses," Portland, Oregon with my husband and two lovely daughters. By Your Side was born, four years ago, when I couldn't find that "perfect" purse. I thought to myself, "Michele, you know what you want, just make it!" Through trial and error (a lot of error), I began designing purses to fit my needs. Then a funny thing happened, after carrying my own creations around town and answering many questions about them, it finally dawned on me that not everyone else sews or knits and they wanted to buy my purses! Thus, the birth of By Your Side!