NyhaGraphics

For the month of March, I bring you Naomi.  Her work is creative, whimsy, and will bring out the child in all of us.  Her shop, NyhaGraphics, displays her amazing work.

Card

Etsy Paper:  Tell us a little about yourself.
Naomi:  Hello, I’m Naomi the creative for all the illustrated products in my store Nyha Graphics. I create all my products in a little studio in south London. I have a background in Visual Communication Design, specializing in illustration. I work part-time as Book Cover Designer for a publisher and the other half of the time I’m designing and creating products or promoting my Etsy store and selling wholesale to local stores.

Etsy Paper:  When did you open your shop on Etsy?
Naomi:  I opened my Etsy store in the summer 2010.

Notebook

Etsy Paper:  Tell us about your shop.
Naomi:  In my store I sell greeting cards, stationery - notebooks, coloring page packs, mirrors, badges and a few limited edition prints. I have a basic necessity (or possible obsession) to draw, paint and make things, it got to a point I had created so much artwork decided to sell some.

I love to draw - cute stuff: birds; whimsical characters; cupcakes and typographic positive/motivation pieces and a few illustrated poems.

I have two styles: little pen & ink drawings with a light watercolor finish; and a children’s picture book style also pen and ink artwork, that is scanned and has a digital mixed media finished. All my products are printed professionally on watercolor quality recycled paper by my local / UK printers on FSC accredited paper.

Etsy Paper:  Do you have a favorite quote to share?
Naomi:  "Creativity takes courage." - Henri Matisse

Etsy Paper:  When your creativity gets blocked/clogged, what do you do or where do you go to get inspired and create again?
Naomi:  I go to a art exhibition / gallery or I’ll go shopping to a art/craft shop, gift and card shop. I love little independent or design led shops like Diverse in Brixton, Paperchase or Tate Modern Gift Shop or ETC in Angel bursting will inspiration for me.

Coloring Set

Etsy Paper:  What is it about paper that you love?
Naomi:  I love the feel of the grain, the pureness of paper, the variations of options in weight and color. I love the way my ink sits on the paper or the paint absorbs into the paper.

Etsy Paper:  Where do you feel at peace, free from all the pressure of family and work?
Naomi:  At the seaside or a beach, I love looking out to the horizon, such pure beauty and the sound of waves splashing in and rushing out is extremely relaxing.

Etsy Paper:  How do you fix your "mistakes"? Do you have tricks to salvage your work, or do you just start over and "turn over a new page"?
Naomi:  Although I use Adobe Photoshop and InDesign and my final artwork is a digital mix. I try not to tamper with the original artwork very much. So as much as I hate to start again, as a illustrator it is great practice to start over and not to be too precious about a piece. I like my work to look loose and painty with space to let the paper breathe. If I overwork a piece or spill my Indian ink, I will start again. After all the second could be that much better…Fingers crossed.

Art Print

Etsy Paper:  Why do you do what you do?
Naomi:  I create because it is my passion, I’ve found pleasure with drawing since I found my first crayons and truly can’t imagine not being creative. Creating art is a great slice of bliss, I loose track of time, feel like I achieved something, made someone happy and it relaxes me.

Etsy Paper:  What has been your favorite comment from purchasers about your product?
Naomi:  My favorite comment was a review for one of my 2014 calendars from a lady in Canada.
“A delightful calendar that will cheer anyone up every day! It was sent quickly and had some treats tucked in to make me smile as wide as can be...Naomi spreads kindness around the world with her work!”

And I think that's the perfect quote to end with.  That is one of the joys of buying from Etsy, handmade items, packed with care and kindness.  Way to go NyhaGraphics!

Until next time,
Jenni
Etsy Paper
Team Captain

Scrappy Seahorse

This month I thought you'd enjoy reading about a shop with a whole lot of love.  Just in time for Valentine's Day and planning a June wedding, ScrappySeahorse has so much to choose from.  Now let's get to know the owner, Megan!

Etsy Paper:  Tell us a little about yourself.
Scrappy Seahorse:  My Name is Megan Cichorz and I live in a tiny rural community called Pantego, NC. It is about an hour from the Outer banks one direction and an hour from Greenville in the other. I live here with my wonderful hubby, 4 great kids, 4 chickens, 2 cats, 1 dog, 1 fish, and 1 tortoise.

Etsy Paper:  When did you open your shop on Etsy?
Scrappy Seahorse:  The idea of starting my own art/craft business has been a lifelong dream that grew into a beginning concept a few years ago, before I had ever heard of Etsy. I went the route of taking some formal studies in Art and Design at East Carolina University and dabbled with a few craft shows. Then this past year I hit a few milestones: I turned 40, celebrated my 20th anniversary, and began designing my oldest daughter’s upcoming wedding. In the midst of all the wedding planning a lightbulb went off in my head and within a few weeks Scrappy Seahorse Designs officially opened. That was June of 2014.

Save the Date Scratch Offs

Etsy Paper:  Tell us about your shop.
Scrappy Seahorse:  My shop focuses on what I call truly handmade paper goods and accessories for weddings and celebrations. I stress the ‘truly handmade” because my work stands apart from mass printed/purely digital work that you usually find in the wedding world. Each of my pieces or invitations goes through my hands with every cut, punch, brush stroke, stamp, and ribbon tie. This gives my invitations, guest books, journals, etc. a really one-of-a-kind quality, which I think every bride wants for her special day.

Cake Topper

Etsy Paper:  Do you have a special place for your crafting, or does the kitchen table do double duty?
Scrappy Seahorse:  The shop started out in boxes and bins, then a table in my bedroom, and now it has ultimately become a full studio in what was our homeschool room. So now school takes over the kitchen table instead of my work.

Etsy Paper:  Are you a clean or messy crafter?
Scrappy Seahorse:  My kids just remarked the other day how I am a bit of a clean freak about the house, but a total mess in my craft room. I am huge multi-tasker so I have lists, scraps, projects, and half-done design concepts everywhere. I think of it as creative chaos.

Etsy Paper:  When your creativity gets clogged, what do you do or where do you go to get inspired and create again?
Scrappy Seahorse:  With weddings it is easy because there is a constant seasonal change with magazines and blogs to pull from. Plus, each bride has her own unique vision and ideas that I get to work off of.
I also get lots of ideas from my scraps. I may do an invitation and have 100 pieces of cut off paper that are the same size and shape. Those scraps will become a bookmark, or a set of favor tags, or maybe a new embellishment . Waste Not, Want not.

Gift Tags

Etsy Paper:  Where do you feel at peace, free from all the pressure of family and work?
Scrappy Seahorse:  Well, the cool thing about my shop is I get to be home with my family and this “work” is not work to me at all. My craft room is my peaceful haven. 

Etsy Paper:  What is your favorite item to make, the one that makes you smile just thinking about working on it?
Scrappy Seahorse:  My favorite item to make is my wedding invitations. I love getting to convo the brides on every little detail, so we can create something that fits their vision for their Big Day. It is fun to make something that gives someone such joy. My Scrappy Seahorse brides are always so cute, because who isn’t full of excitement when choosing things for their wedding day.

Wedding Invitation

Etsy Paper:  Why do you do what you do?
Scrappy Seahorse:  Art has always been a huge part of who I am, but back in college I chose a career in nursing out of practicality. That job has been great and provided well over the years, but throughout my nursing career I have always pursued my art on the side. My favorite saying was always “I want to be an artist when I grow up.” So, with all of my milestones from this past year, I decided that this was a great time to work on my grown-up goal. The great thing is… now I can say…” Hi. I am Megan Cichorz, a wife, mother, homeschooler, and now owner/artist/designer at Scrappy Seahorse Designs.”

Megan sure does have a lot on her plate, so inspirational.  Her shop, www.etsy.com/shop/ScrappySeahorse, has the perfect mix of vintage-inspired, rustic, feminine, and modern.

Until next time,

Jenni

Etsy Paper Team, Captain

NutsforPaper

In celebration of the new year, I wanted to feature a shop with planners and calendars.  I found exactly what I was looking for right at www.etsy.com/shop/NutsforPaper

Weekly Planner

Etsy Paper:  Tell us a little about yourself?
Mafalda & Catarina:  Hello, we are Mafalda and Catarina, we are the creative duo behind the Nuts for Paper brand and Etsy shop. We have known each other for one decade. We both come from a graphic design background though we like different things in it. Mafalda's is the illustration expert and Catarina is the typography guru. We are both born and raised in a small town near Lisbon, called Torres Vedras. Our city is quite famous for it's Carnival and we both like to celebrate it a lot.

Etsy Paper:  When did you open your shop on Etsy?
Mafalda & Catarina:  We opened it July of 2013. 

Notebooks

Etsy Paper:  Tell us about your shop.
Mafalda & Catarina:  We are both collectors of stationery, especially notebooks. That's our main product. But we also do planners, calendars, notepads, wall art, illustrations and postcards. At least for now, because we have many plans for the future.

Etsy Paper:  What is it about paper that draws you to create with it?
Mafalda & Catarina:  We love to draw, and the paper for us is still the way of doing it. Sharing the love we have for notebooks and illustration in the form of creating them and making them unique products for each of our clients is our way of share a little bit of love and paper with everyone. And despite this world is becoming more and more digital, paper is not dead!

Etsy Paper:  Do you remember the first item you made, and if so, do you still have it?
Mafalda & Catarina:  The first item we've made was a A5 softcover cookbook with hand painted illustration cover with our mascots - the squirrels. And no, we don't have it anymore. We sold it to a friend.

Squirrel Art Print

Etsy Paper:  Why did you decide to become on Etsy seller?
Mafalda & Catarina:  We wanted to open an online shop. We already knew Etsy and thought it was a great home for our products, because it's not just a selling platform but also has a community of makers around it that are willing to help and also appreciate others' works.

Etsy Paper:  Do you sell mostly online or at craft shows?
Mafalda & Catarina:  We mostly sell online, but only in the second half of 2014 we started to bet more in crafts shows and flea markets.

Etsy Paper:  How do you get the word out about your products?
Mafalda & Catarina:  We mainly use the Etsy and Facebook, but we've been also making some contacts and partnerships with national and international bloggers. This past year we were also lucky to appear in the Time Out magazine too.

Address Book

Etsy Paper:  How do you package your items?
Mafalda & Catarina:  Of course our package had to be in paper too!  We created a envelope in kraft brown paper, that we sew with our sewing machine and then we have some red baker's twine and a label with our brand. Everything goes inside of a padded envelope.


NutsForPaper is the perfect shop to get you organized and inspired for the new year.
Read more about these lovely, creative ladies on their About Page.

Until next time,

Jenni

Etsy Paper Team, Captain

Edelweiss Post

This month I chose a shop that sparked some curiosity in my mind, www.etsy.com/shop/EdelweissPost. 

Frida Kahlo Stationery

I never realized old stamps can still be used as long as the amounts on them add up to the new requirements.  What a beautiful idea Patrick had in creating the most gorgeous stamped envelopes to buy and use.  

Love Note Stationery

Patrick also had another great idea when he decided to reply to my interview in the form of a letter.  

The letter offers a peek in to the kind, sentimental person he is.

Orange Stationery

Dear Etsy Paper Lovers,

I live in beautiful Minneapolis, Minnesota with my husband, Scott and our little red fish, Ruby. We have about a foot of snow on the ground as I look out my window.

My wedding inspired me to open my shop in 2012. I wanted to pay homage to my stamp-collecting grandfather, so I decorated our wedding cake with colorful bunting I made using old stamps from his collection. You can see the stamp cake in our wedding film here:vimeo.com/27956172 

In addition, I discovered that old stamps are still valid as postage as long as they all add up to the current mailing rate. So I began to scour local "mom & pop" stamp collecting shops for colorful vintage stamps for our wedding invitations. They were a huge hit. For certain guests, I used specific stamps I knew would have meaning for them. For example, my dad is a pilot, so I used all airplane stamps. My aunt rides horses, so I used all horse stamps on hers, etc. 

The more time I spent with stamps, the more I became addicted to these tiny pieces of art and began to curate a large collection of my own. But unlike Grandpa who kept his buried in thick catalogs and dusty boxes deep inside his study, I wanted to share my vintage stamps, dispatching them through the postal system and beyond. Grandpa explored the world through his stamps but I wanted to share my stamps with the world so that other people would be inspired to send mail and keep our postal system alive.

The internet, for all its efficiency and convenience, has made communication something you cannot touch, cling to, keep, and pass down. When is the last time you received a thoughtful hand-written letter, a tactile note or a party invitation in your physical mailbox? 

Postage is a beautiful but dying art form. Our mailboxes have been relegated to the status of junk depositories and checking the mail has become a chore rather than the adventure it once was, fueled by anticipation. With my shop, I want to help change all this in my own little way. 

Regards from The Land of 10,000 Lakes,
Patrick

P.S
People often ask about my shop's name, which also stems from my wedding. All of our wedding flowers were chosen not only for their symbolism, but also for the role they play in various films (I'm a film major and we are huge movie buffs). One of the flowers - our boutineers - was edelweiss, an alpine flower made world-famous by Roger's and Hammerstien's haunting ballad in 'The Sound of Music'. Edelweiss symbolizes our common Bavarian ancestry and is also a symbol of courage and male fidelity. Suitors had to brave the treacherous Alps in search of this rare flower which only grows high in the mountains, as proof of their devotion, often at the cost of their lives.

Polar Bear Stationery

As you can see Patrick is creative and seems to have a heart of gold.  What a gorgeous shop!  

There's no better time to pick up the pen and start writing letters again.  

Until next time,

Jenni

Etsy Paper Team, Captain

Want to read a bit more about Patrick and Edelweiss Post?  Have a look at his About Page, www.etsy.com/shop/EdelweissPost/about

PrettyByrdDesigns

PrettyByrdDesigns

Introducing Beth from PrettyByrdDesigns!

I chose Beth's shop because it reminds me of Fall.  Although she has a great variety of items, the Fall items have been catching my eye lately.  She is also having a sale through the end of November.  The coupon code Take20 gives you 20% off item totals more than $10.  

Autumn Card

Etsy Paper:  Tell us about yourself.
Beth:  Hello! My name is Beth and the name of my shop is Pretty Byrd Designs. I make greeting cards, journals, gift tags and decorative boxes. I live with my husband, Terry, and our 12 year dog, Carmen, in Northern Ohio. I am a secretary by day but my paper crafting business is my true passion.

Etsy Paper:  When did you open your Etsy shop?
Beth:  I opened up my Etsy shop at the beginning of 2013. 

Card Set

Etsy Paper:  Tell us about your shop.
Beth:  I began making cards for my own use, to send to family and friends. But my love of creating took over and I found myself with more cards than I could possibly use. I began selling them to friends, at local shops and at craft shows. At the suggestion of several friends, I opened my Etsy shop, Pretty Byrd Designs. I began experimenting with other paper crafts and started selling mini journals, gift tags and decorative boxes.

Etsy Paper:  Do you remember the first item you made, and if so, do you still have it?
Beth:  One day I signed up for a card-making class at our local library and something clicked. I’ve always had a love of paper and playing around with colors and textures. I dabbled in painting and drawing and calligraphy for a bit. But after that class, I was hooked. I still have the first card I made that day. It’s just my reminder of where it all began.

Etsy Paper:  Is there a certain color or motif that you are repeatedly drawn to.
Beth:  Most of the items in my shop have some type of flower or botanical image. I’m also really drawn to vintage style whether it is paper, rubber stamps or embellishments. The shabby chic trend really appeals to me – I love working with lace, burlap and distressed pieces.

Mini Canvas Set

Etsy Paper:  How has being part of the Etsy community changed your craft?
Beth:  I don’t consider myself especially savvy when it comes to technology. It was a big step for me (a true leap of faith) to set up my Etsy shop. But, there are so many helpful people here (such as the Etsy Paper Team) and other Etsy resources. There’s always something new to learn, but I have definitely improved my skills since opening my shop. My craft is the same, but the way I market my craft is much different than it was when I started. Earlier this year I created a blog (prettybyrddesigns.blogspot.com) which I hope to improve upon also.

Etsy Paper:  Where do you go to first when you need new ideas?
Beth:  There are so many sources for creativity. I’m lucky to live in place where there are changing seasons – that always provides inspiration. Other resources include magazines, books, a scrap of paper or a piece of fabric. I enjoy seeing what other crafters are doing, too. Walking through the craft shops is always fun … but can be expensive!! Sometimes I just take a break for a day or so to clear my mind and ‘clean the slate’ so to speak. Doing so makes room for new ideas and then the creative spark just takes over!

I love Beth's way of creating a vintage look to the items she makes. Some of them have a nice mix of vintage and modern that make them very versatile.  

Don't forget to browse her shop, she's having a sale!  

Until next time,
Jenni
Etsy Paper Team
Captain