CAHC (Description)

Cincinnati Area Handmade Creations

Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Delicate Romantic Visions: The Ethereal Realm of Paper Acorn


www.highfivesalon.comCAHC Featured Shop:  May 2011
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The Paper Acorn Shop is full of handcrafted goodies, all made out of paper!   Focusing mostly on wedding décor, Jessica Wolf’s shop on Etsy has all the decorations  you’ll need for the big day, from napkin rings and place holders to favor boxes and garlands. She even creates custom luminaries.

Jessica has sold her incredible handmade paper acorns on Etsy for two years; however, she wasn’t always a full time Etsian. Prior to opening Paper Acorn in August 2009, Jessica worked for a package design company. While there she opened her first Etsy shop, Libellus, selling handmade books and artwork. “The packaging industry taught me so much that I incorporate into my work now,” Jessica said. Her products feature a clean, simple style with modern elegance “and a little bit of cute thrown in for good measure,” she said.acorn2
The acorn boxes, the shop specialty, were Jessica’s first original design and the idea  that spurred her business. “Acorns have been a significant symbol of growth in my own life, so I guess there’s a special place in my heart for these little guys,” she said. The acorn boxes are one of Jessica’s favorite projects to work on.

Everyone who creates needs inspiration and Jessica is no different. She loves getting inspiration from custom orders. “Just about the time I start getting tired of making the same old thing, a customer will request something completely new.”  Jessica relishes the chance to create a new design to fulfill a buyer’s vision. She also finds inspiration by browsing Etsy and seeing the creations of other talented crafters.

A typical day for this Paper Acorn shop owner is very busy. Her days involve answering e-mails, cutting paper parts for orders, and taking time out to feed herself and her cats. In the afternoon she assembles parts while watching shows or movies on Netflix. Then it’s off to the post office to ship orders. After that her work day is officially over, even though she often gets back to wacorn4ork later in the evening after dinner and the housework is finished.

Jessica has been happily married to her love, Adam, for three years. “We don’t have any kids yet but we have raised three perfectly dysfunctional cats,” she said. Since much of Jessica’s paper creations involve weddings we asked what her favorite wedding memory was.  It turns out Jessica is very romantic at heart; her favorite wedding memory? “ Standing at the altar with Adam in my parents’ yard as the sun was setting and the birds were singing, enjoying the perfect weather – and knowing it was supposed to thunderstorm that whole week!”

Jessica enjoys working with brides, thrilled that her work gets to be part of their special day. “My favorite part of that whole process is receiving photos from customers’ weddings and seeing my paper creations in real life. Getting a small glimpse into someone’s big day and seeing a bit of your own work as a part of it is very rewarding,” Jessica said.

Besides working hard for the Paper Acorn, Jessica and her  husband are very involved with their church volunteering on a team that builds fun play areas for kids. “I also get to hang out with an awesome 5th grader who is part of the church’s special needs program,” she said.

On occasion, Jessica also makes art and show work for the Redtree Gallery in Oakley (www.redtreegallery.net). If you stop by the High Five Salon in O’Bryonville you’ll see a sculpture installation commissioned by Sam Hills of www.highfivesalon.com.  Most recently, she had the fabulous treat of collaborating with an artist from Visionaries and Voices to create a paper sculpture for their annual art auction, check it out at www.visionariesandvoices.com.paperacorm

“When I’m not craftin’, artin’, or volunteerin’, I like to dig around in my little veggie garden, and have friends over for dinner and scrabble,” Jessica said.

You can find Paper Acorn on Etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/paperacorn.
Article written by Lindsay Braud
Edited by Lu Sun and Lauren Martin

Monday, April 04, 2011

VisuaLingual: A True Urban Couple Creating Locally Influenced Designs

Team CAHC Featured Shop of April, 2011.

Interviewed by Lu, Luluslittleshop,
written by Lindsay Braud, Lulufitzgerald 
and edited by Lauren Martin, The Artsy Bibliomaniac.

Maya and Michael find inspiration in the everyday, unexpected items they find while walking through their city.  This creative couple owns and operates VisuaLingual, an all media design and print studio located in Cincinnati’s historic Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.  Learning to see is vital to creating art; Maya and Michael walk through Over-the-Rhine with wide eyes, absorbing the rich visual wonders of the neighborhood and translating them into colorful, unique designs.
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For as long as they have known each other, Maya and Michael have been collaborating on design work that relates to the idea of place. Soon after moving to Cincinnati, they started focusing on the locally inspired products that led the opening of their Etsy shop. “Initially, our focus was on home accessories like prints and coasters, inspired by Cincinnati and Over-the-Rhine,” they said.  “The shop has evolved to include more items that relate to place in different ways, and which aren’t limited to the Queen City.”

Maya and Michael design products and ephemera that celebrate urban experiences. When they are not working on seed bombs, tea towels, prints of Cincinnati, ceramics and more, Maya and Michael can be found wandering Cincinnati in search of inspiration. They read a lot about urban planning, the history of cities, and architecture. On their walks, Maya and Michael search for beauty in hidden plain sight:  the cobblestone in old alleyways or faded commercial signs on the sides of historic buildings. visualingual3

A typical day for the VisuaLingual couple starts with a lot of e-mail, followed by seed bomb production, packing orders, running to the post office, followed by even more e-mail.  “Sometimes we make in-person deliveries to neighborhood stores that stock our work, which is always fun,” they said. 

Maya and Michael aren’t just suburban commuters driving into the city every day to work; their Over-the-Rhine studio is also their home.  The domestic and the design work ebb and flow with one another in a rhythm that has some great advantages, especially for creative work,   They can prepare dinner, do laundry and take TV breaks in between meeting the demands of running a business and creating artwork.  Living and working in the same place means the couple has everything they need on hand should inspiration strike; however, it also deprives them of the ability to leave work at work.  “The disadvantage is that we’re never far from our work, but the immense advantage is that we have all the comforts of home while working. And with our iPhones, we can quickly reply to queries and handle other administrative tasks while we’re running errands for the studio.”
visualingual
For Maya and Michael living in Cincinnati means being involved, active residents.  Over the past three years they have participated in special events and exhibits at the Cincinnati Art Museum, Contemporary Arts Center, ArtWorks, KraftHaus, Nicholas Gallery, and MICA 12/v.  They are also active members of the Southwest Ohio Street team and one of more than 60 shops represented by the Cincinnati Area Handmade Creations team, two locally based Etsy teams.  Michael also works as the program coordinator for the non-profit ArtWorks, an organization that strives to develop and support both established and future artists while using art to enhance and enrich the Cincinnati community. 

Their work has been featured both locally and nationally in publications such as Harper’s Bazaar, Vogue, House Beautiful, The Cincinnati Enquirer, CINWeekly, BuyCincy, and Cincinnati Magazine, just to name a few. In addition to the VisuaLingual Etsy shop, their work is sold in several Cincinnati-area stores including Park+Vine and MiCA 12/v in Over-the-Rhine, and at the Contemporary Arts Center gift shop downtown.  Their popular seed bombs can be found in stores across the United States.  visualingual4

Maya was born in Gdynia, Poland and raised in Gdynia and Brooklyn, New York. Michael was born and raised in Indianapolis.  Maya holds an BA in Philosophy and Critical Theory as well as an MFA in 2D Design, and has an impressive professional background that includes teaching, lecturing, writing and curating design exhibits internationally.  Michael received a BFA in Visual Communication and earned his Master’s Degree in Community Planning, with a focus on Urban Design.   They met almost ten years ago in Indianapolis and have been wandering city streets, taking in their unique characteristics ever since.

Check them out at:
shop: http://visualingual.etsy.com
blog: http://visualingual.wordpress.com
connect: www.facebook.com/visualingual

Sunday, March 27, 2011

CAHC Now on Facebook!

Cincinnati Area Handmade Creations now has its very own Facebook page!  We're working on adding content, etc, to the page, but its up and published!
Follow the link below to check it out; click that happy little "Like" button at the top to show us some love and get updates on what we're doing as a group, as well as which members are doing unique, impressive, and notably cool things as individuals.
CAHC on Facebook
Go ahead and click it!  You know you want to!

Thanks-
Lauren, Your Friendly Neighborhood Artsy Bibliomaniac

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Queen City Neutrals

CAHC Team Treasury
Curated by Donnaandchild:

"Lovely things from Cincinnati-area creators."


Welcome!

Hello and welcome to our CAHC team blog! We are Cincinnati Area Handmade Creations, a talented blend of artisans and hand-crafters from the greater Cincinnati area with unique shops on Etsy.com.

Our number one goal is to promote local artisans and shops by actively supporting one another and encouraging an open dialogue between members in en effort to garner ideas for exposure, team projects and events, both locally and on the net, creating a local presence.

As of today, we have 56 active members, and counting! If you live in the area and would like to join this wonderful local handmade team, please submit an application here by clicking on "Join this team."

I hope to see you soon!

Best,
Lu

CAHC Team Leader
Luluslittleshop.etsy.com