Shop in the spotlight: Sacos e Saquinhos

Mariana Costa E Silva is talented, to say the least. At the age of just 29, she's launched several ranges of handmade bags that are now stocked in over twenty stores across Portugal. Not content to rest on her laurels, she's now working on a range of furniture called CUT and was recently awarded the National Prize for the Creative Industries (Prémio Nacional Indústrias Criativas). Hopefully she'll return to talk more about CUT once it's launched but for now, I asked her to talk about her bags. If you're not in Portugal any time soon, you can buy them by getting in contact here. Prices range between €8 and €34.

1. Tell us a bit about yourself and your art - what do you make and what first inspired you to do it?
I'm a product designer and originally from the Açores. Handmade carpet bags are my most popular products but I'm branching out! I work for an interior construction company and I'm currently designing a new collection of furniture called CUT. I've always wanted to make and sell my own creations but I never thought I'd start as I did: in 2006 one of my friends invited me to take part in an urban handicrafts fair but I had nothing to sell and less than a month to make something! I decided it had to be something I could make quickly and that wouldn't require much initial investment - and of course, it had to be something I could make along. The resulting products were my carpet bags.

2. What do you do when you're not creating/selling?
I love to travel, both in Portugal and abroad. In 2009 I went to New York, Rome and London. I also like to garden. I'm active too - I like to spend as much time as possible on the beach in the summer and I swim in the winter.
3. What's your favourite piece / the hardest thing for you to sell?
My favourite pieces at the moment are from my new furniture collection but my favourite bag would have to be the Croquete (I like simple designs and solutions).

4. What is your most valuable possession?
In monetary terms, my computer. In emotional terms, I don't know. I never get very attached to physical things.

5. What are your plans for the future / new ranges?
Other than my new furniture collection and a couple of new bag designs I have in mind, I'd like to start working with salvaged materials and perhaps a couple of gardening items.

6. Complete this sentence: "Happiness is..."
Swimming underwater.