Elsje Slothower
Developer, designer, artisan.
I ship small, working pieces of software to solve personal problems. With a background in backend work, I start every project with an emphasis on database functionality and scalability. Like with life, build it nice or build it twice, so I try to whiteboard exactly where I want my solutions to go before writing my first line of code. Even though all my professional experience is in backend development, I'm always inclined to make everything on the frontend as pretty as can be.
I also run a small stained glass business on the side and try to document the process of making and selling my work online, mistakes included. Feel free to check out my stained glass work if you're curious.
About
I'm a developer working through a series of portfolio projects, each one shipped in short, resumable sessions and documented as I build — the wins, the roadmap, and the parts still marked “not yet verified.”
Currently deep in a stained-glass quoting tool: a FastAPI backend that turns a photo and description into a structured price estimate using Claude's vision API.
Projects
Portfolio project 2 of 4 — backend/API focus
Stained Glass Quote Tool
Backend that turns a customer's photo and project description into a structured, editable price quote. An LLM vision call produces the first-pass estimate — a human always reviews before it's sent. Built for a real small stained-glass business.
- FastAPI
- SQLAlchemy 2.0
- PostgreSQL
- Anthropic Claude API
- HTML / Tailwind
Week 1
CRUD skeleton
Schema and endpoints for customers, quotes, and line items.
Week 2
AI estimate
A vision call turns a photo + description into structured, defensively-parsed JSON — verbatim raw response stored alongside for auditability.
Week 3
Frontend scaffolding
Static HTML/Tailwind UI for quotes, customers, and estimate review — no build step.
Ada Developers Academy — Capstone project
Pantry Pickings
A dinner-party web app that helps hosts pick a recipe using ingredients they already have on hand — cost-effective, and mindful of guests' dietary preferences and intolerances.
- React
- React Router
- Axios
- Userfront
- Heroku
Puzzle
Guess the 5-letter word in 6 tries. If the letters turn green, they're in the right spot. If they turn amber, they're in the word but in the wrong spot. If they are gray, they're not in the word at all.
Once you have guessed the word, type the answer into the URL following elsje.codes/_____ for a secret section.
Skills
Languages
- Python
- TypeScript
- JavaScript
- SQL
Backend
- FastAPI
- SQLAlchemy
- PostgreSQL
- REST APIs
- Pydantic
Frontend
- React
- Next.js
- Tailwind CSS
Tools & practices
- Git / GitHub
- pytest
- LLM API integration
Contact
You're the solder to my copper foil. Let's connect.