In recent years it has become clear that the worlds of paper and scrapbooking, fabric and even wallpaper design are morphing together and greatly influencing our lives and the lives of the artists who create them. This month we meet some of the creative women whose job it is to design the decorative materials we live and work with and discover how such careers come about.
After graduating with a degree in Environmental Design from North Carolina State University’s School of Design in 1988, Anna Griffin gained experience working with The John Harland Company and renowned bridal and fashion designer, Vera Wang. Anna launched her own business in 1999, creating one-of-a-kind, handmade wedding and event invitations, before introducing “imprintable” invitations with a custom look that allowed customers to purchase a box of invitations from a local store, print them at home and have the result be as elegant as a custom designed product.
Since then Anna’s company has gone on to produce decorative papers, scrapbook embellishments, home office stationery collections and more. Today there are over 1,000 Anna Griffin licensed products by brand leaders so you can find the Anna Griffin name in do-it-yourself craft books, dinnerware and table top collections, holiday décor, luxury infant and cotton fabrics.
Anna’s move into scrapbooking at the beginning of this decade was a smart one and clearly jump started much of the subsequent development. A crafter since the age of seven, the designer says her entrance into this market segment was a natural one. “Timing is everything,” she declares, “and we launched our first paper crafts collection just at the right time! It was simple for us because we already had an enormous collection of art being used for our popular invitation line. Combining our elegant, three dimensional card techniques and our vintage art to make a scrapbook line was just the next step in expanding our brand.”
In terms of inspiration for her designs, Anna says, “I am constantly searching for anything that is made for decorative use, such as textiles, documents and patterns - anything that has an old-world feel. I find inspiration in decorative arts from the 1800s but I make it my own by re-designing artwork and adding a modern twist.
“I know this stems from my great grandmother, who had the most beautiful taste and has always been an inspiration. My current colours are plum and acid green as well as traditional black paired with red,” she says. “There are so many things that I want to do with our patterns. Right now we are working on transitioning into more home décor... so who knows, wallpaper just might be next!”
When it comes to discerning how a design for a paper might adapt to a fabric or vice versa, Anna says her company is known for scale and for patterns that are always “bigger than life”. “Scale is the one thing about us that distinguishes us from the rest. We use big prints in everything we do, whether it is paper or fabric, our designs are bold and they make a statement. I only have one scale and it is big, bold and beautiful!”
Despite her hectic lifestyle Anna still finds time for her own creative pastimes. “I really enjoy antiquing,” she reveals. “When I am in London for QVC (a televised home shopping network in UK and USA which airs ‘Elegant Paper Crafting with Anna Griffin’), you can find me at the Camden Passage Market and Portabello Road. I love to find amazing antiques to refurbish and add them to my collection. This is also a huge source of inspiration; I am always looking for patterns and documents that transcend the centuries. I enjoy the thrill of the hunt.”
On the hunt for inspiration on the local front is the wildly talented Karie Soehardi who runs her business, Ella and Sofia, from Marrickville in New South Wales. Ella and Sofia is named after two coffee shops situated in Sydney’s inner west and it was there that, in 2003, the idea of a textile and interiors studio was formed.
Karie has an interesting and varied professional background. Having completed a Bachelor of Visual Arts, majoring in jewellery, from Sydney University, she moved to London in 1995 to work with milliner, Stephen Jones. From there she moved to the Middle East and worked in real estate before returning to Sydney to complete Fashion Design at East Sydney Tafe. She then became a fashion buyer at department store, David Jones. “As a designer I knew I had to get more canny about the business side of things. My life in the corporate world has helped me with that,” says Karie.
Today she runs a textile studio which offers beautiful hand printed wallpapers, screen printed and woven upholstery fabrics and she is broadening her focus to include high end table ware. Working with interior designers, architects and homemakers alike, Karie says she couldn’t see herself returning to fashion. “Interiors have been my passion for five years now,” she says. Her love of beading and adding embellishments to home décor items can still be seen on the selected wall hangings that feature them.
“I think my Mum is responsible for my love of wallpaper,” explains Karie. “Growing up, she was obsessed by Laura Ashley. The minute she finished papering one room of the house she’d be starting on another. Funnily enough I do this for a living now and Mum has no wallpaper in her current house."
Karie says the return to wallpaper for home and professional decorators can probably be traced back to the digital canvas trend that hit a while back. “People began putting things on their walls and I think they remembered that they could actually decorate walls,” she says. “They might have started out just using a strip of wallpaper here and there but now I think you see that whole minimalist look is over; just see the richness in interiors recently. They are elaborate and striking.”
To achieve her own striking designs Karie relies on a team of seasoned professionals. She likes things to be done the traditional, sometimes painstaking and always high quality way. “Yep, most of the people I rely on are quite a bit older than me,” she concedes. “The man who binds my books is 75 and refuses to retire until he has someone he can train to do his job. And my wallpaper guy - he’s been in the industry for 35 years - he’s an artist... a perfectionist.”
Karie’s design inspirations are eclectic, sometimes coming from photographs, sometimes from her own sketches or doodles, sometimes from mixed media experimentations.
“I try not to get too fixed on one format,” she says. Within her studio you can order fabrics and wallpapers, they are adapted for lampshades and chairs and Karie has worked on both commercial and residential projects over the years. A young woman with many ambitions still to fill, Karie doesn’t eliminate paper designs down the track. “I actually looked at scrapbooking when I was first getting started,” she says. “Who knows? I see stores like Spotlight eating it up!”
Also being “eaten up” these days are the fabrics of another American designer - Amy Butler. Most contemporary sewers will know this name, synonymous with beautiful, clean, colourful, contemporary design, sometimes with a vintage twang. But Amy’s company, based in Ohio, also produces sewing patterns, books and kits, papercrafts, card kits, books, stationery and pillows.
Like Anna Griffin, Amy says she’s inspired by her surroundings and also from the vintage fabrics she collects from flea markets, shops and her various travels. She started making small passport sized bags while living in Kansas City in the late 80s. She and her husband, David, (both illustrators) set up their own studio called Art of the Midwest and Amy also worked as a contributing editor for ‘Country Living’ magazine.
Eventually she started thinking about those little bags again. “I wanted to create that feeling again so I started my sewing pattern business,” says Amy. “My company, my brand, is really just a great vehicle to share my work. I love meeting other artists and trading notes. I love the process.”
One of Amy’s key collaborators is Rowan fabrics with whom she has worked since late 2005. She has launched several successful quilting lines with them and is getting ready to launch her second home décor line. She has also produced a knitting bag collection.
Amy’s movement into paper craft began when she was approached by Kay Stanley, founder of K and Company, who wanted to apply Amy’s modern and approachable style to her repertoire of flat, embossed and specialty papers as well as albums, metal and fabric art, dimensional stickers and a designer crafting tote.
Always pushing the envelope, Amy has recently worked with the Gift Wrap Company to come up with a recycled alternative to gift-giving and party service. Her new lines of Gift Wrap Green are out as is the coordinating table service.
Many Australian and New Zealand bag makers, quilters, sewers and others salivate when they hear the Amy Butler name. Amy says she’s “very flattered indeed” at this news, especially as she is someone who “drools over pretty things”.
Asked what is the most unusual application Amy has seen her designs used in, she says it has to be the body tattoos she was sent photos of a few years ago. “A couple of passionate gals sent me photos of their Amy B. Lotus flower tattoos,” she says. “They were incredible.”
Currently Amy says she’s very interested in Indian prints and graphics as well as “exploding, huge, luscious florals”.
Useful Links
Amy Butler
www.amybutlerdesign.com [amybutlerdesign.com]
Anna Griffin
www.annagriffin.com [annagriffin.com]
Local distributors: Print Blocks in Australia and Product Presentation in New Zealand.
Karie Soehardi
www.ellaandsofia.com [ellaandsofia.com]
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