If you’re up for an afternoon that will net you a great little summer dress and a chance to meet’n’greet a handful of chatty shop owners, head to this Northeast Portland enclave of bohemian boutiques. The gentrified blocks are filled with a mix of twentysomethings and young families, and great places in which to find a gardenialike paper-shaded chandelier or a vibrant bolt or two of Japanese fabric.

THE SWEETEST LITTLE ILLUMINATION STATION
  When we first came across the fabulous handmade paper lanterns of Lám Quáng (“Lovely Lanterns,” Portfolio, Mar.-Apr. 2003), the Vietnam-born computer scientist-turned-lanternmaker was single-handedly crafting mult-tiered lamps shaped like sea anemones, tulip heads and giant jellyfish out of hand-crafted paper, galvanized wire and strips of bamboo at his HIIH GALLERY (2929 N.E. Alberta St., 503-493-4367 or go to hiihgallery.com). Well, what a difference half a decade makes!
  The 47-year-old now makes his handmade paper lamps and light sculptures with the help of his wife, Kestrel Gates, within babbling range of the couple’s year-old son, Xanh Calvin Clarence. Their otherworldly creations hang in more than 50 offices, studios, restaurants and retail locations, and set the right mood at many special events. “Our flower-inspired fixtures are the most popular,” says Gates, who keeps in-gallery hours on Saturdays (“Lám and the baby are in the back!”). “We just did big modern cylinrical pieces for Andina and we’re two days away from finishing a multi-gardenia chandelier for a private residence.”
   Yeah, you could buy an armload of Ikea’s $9.99 steel-and-paper Dudero floor lamps and adorn your rooms with the 54-inch-tall “alien with an in-the-round food baby” fixtures for what one of Hiih Gallery’s (pronounced “hi-hi”) illuminations costs, but wouldn’t you rather live—or dine or play or toil—beneath a softly illuminated oversize gardenia or venus flytrap? Us, too! Prices start at $100 for a clip-on sconce. 

BOLTS AND BOLTS OF BEAUTY
DIYers who are into Home Dec will love the mix at BOLT (2136 N.E. Alberta St., 503-287-2658 or go to boltfabricboutique.com). The pretty shop with the copper bowl-like light fixtures sells bolts and bolts of cottons, wools, flannels, linens and bamboo-blends, many from hot designers such as Amy Butler (vintage-inspired materials), Kaffe Fassett (fabrics great for quilts, duvets, tablecloths and runners), and Etsuko Furuya (Japanese contemporary). Bolt also offers sewing classes and stocks beaded trim, patterns, embroidery supplies and notions.
  So what did we most want a few yards of?
  That would be (clockwise from the dotted brown fabric, right): Leopard by Echino ($17.25 a yard), Panther by Echino ($17.25 a yard), Kaivo by Marimekko ($36 a yard) and Turbulent by Marimekko ($39 for a 39.5-inch by 56-inch panel). “Some of our clients drive in from Seattle to shop here,” says Bolt team member Julia Henning.

VINTAGE SLIPS AS COLOR CHIPS!
The girly girl in you will surface at the 8-year-old TUMBLEWEED (1812 N.E. Alberta St., 503-335-3100 or go to tumbleweedboutique.com), where great everyday dresses (by such companies as Odd Molly, Free People and Pete & Gretta) hang with a mix of bracelets ($160 for a metal cuff made of riblike pieces of silver), handbags, vintage belts and a lineup of newly hand-dyed vintage slips ($60 each) in a colorwheel-like display ranging from purple to moss to lavender to orange to hot pink to red. 

NEED TO STOCK A CELLAR? PUT SOME OF THESE CORKS IN IT!
Sweater up before you head into the perfectly chilled air in CORK (2901 N.E. Alberta St., 503-281-2657 or go to corkwineshop.com), the latest retail offering from Darryl and Sarah Joannides. (The couple spent a decade as the creator-owners of the popular restaurant Assaggio in Sellwood.)
  Two years ago, the Joannideses dreamed up Cork, which focuses on mostly organic, biodynamic and sustainably produced bottlings from small wineries. Still, check out The Chocolate Shop at Cork, a corner stocked with bars and bars of artisan chocolate ($10 for a bar of Chocolat Bonnat); the Bubbly Tub (below), filled with spirits that sparkle, fizz or foam; an olive oil bar at which you can buy extra-virgin olive oils at bulk prices; and The Beer Shop at Cork ($4.50 for Kelpie Seaweed Ale from Scotland). Salud!