Today I bring you the designer and entrepeneur Alissa Harvey of Mew Paper Arts. I’ve always been a fan of her work and blog and how she effortlessly incorporates themes into her designs without overdoing it. Her wedding invitations in particular are her top sellers and where she thrives. So let’s meet Alissa and see how she does it all.
Tell us a little about yourself.
Hi, Hey. I’m Alissa. I live and work out of my home studio in Danbury, CT which I share with my husband Darryl and our handsome cat Cooper. Besides being a stationery designer, which seems to be my sole identity since becoming self-employed, I also like practicing yoga, riding my sassy blue scooter around town, reading, and spontaneously bursting into song—usually a made-up song about Cooper. I cook a lot too, and love eating at new restaurants. One of my favorite indulgences of the moment are $1 hot fudge sundaes from McDonald’s—I always go to the drive-thru though so no one sees me. There is a certain amount of shame associated with this habit, you see. Oh, and I’m 29.
How and why did you create Mew Paper Arts?
When I started an Etsy shop called Mew Paper Arts I was working full time in a corporate real estate office doing some mindless work in a cubicle that isn’t even interesting enough to explain to you. Most days, I dreaded going into work—but around the holidays in 2007 I started peddling my handmade, personalized notecards to my coworkers and it turned into a hit. A short while after joining Etsy I had my own site created, and my work started to lean more towards custom wedding invitations. By January 2008 my side-business was booming, and my work ethic at my office had withered to nothing. With the encouragement of my husband, I decided to take the leap into full-time operations. A year and a half later I’ve more than doubled my business and haven’t looked back!
Where did the name originate from?
Oh, the name! This subject always comes up! Well, I think my love affair with my cat is obvious—based on the afore mentioned songwriting skills I’ve patiently honed! As you know when you pick an Etsy shop, you need a user name. Without putting nearly enough thought into (which I now regret) I picked Mew Paper Arts as an homage to Cooper. Well, once you pick it, you can’t change it—and by the time I realized that the name was sort of silly and gets mispronounced all the time, I had already developed a recognizable presence and brand based on the name and logo. So alas, the name sticks.
What is a typical work day for you?
During high wedding season things can get a little hairy here at Mew—I always wake up at 7 and check my e-mail immediately. It’s a bit of an obsession—my eyes are barely open and I’m typing away! I spend the first 40 minutes to one hour of my day dawdling around the interwebs—Twittering, blogging, and reading blogs. Production then takes up the majority of my day—printing, trimming, assembling, packing and shipping. I recently hired a part time assistant to help me with these duties and it’s been a life saver. She’s an aspiring designer herself so she totally “gets” everything and I can comfortably leave her alone to do the tasks without checking over her shoulder every five minutes. I really work hard during the day and I try my best to quit at a reasonable time. I’m not interested in working til midnight or all day on weekends. Yes, this business is my passion—but I am passionate about life too so I need to keep the balance. I think a lot of people assume that being a crafty business owner means working 25 hours per day—I have those days, sure. But now I’ve got a system going that allows me to do what I love, and live a happy life outside of work.
How do you keep distractions at bay?
I’ve been asked this question in interviews before and I feel like I might have a different answer every time, depending on the day. When I’m really busy distractions don’t stand a chance—I get really focused and just plow through. But in a lull it’s a lot tougher to stay focused. So instead I try to turn things that might distract me (like new catalogues, magazines, websites and blogs) into things to inspire me. And when that’s not working I just roll with it—plenty of days this summer I just don’t feel like working. I hop on the scooter and go for a cruise, treat myself to a cappuccino, or browse the farmer’s market. Distraction doesn’t always have to be a bad thing!
What are your best selling pieces/designs?
Since many of my wedding invitations are printed using recycled materials I’ve seen a big increase in interest in those products. The trend I’ve been seeing with my clients lately are smaller, more intimate affairs, vs. big traditional ballroom styles. The designs that have an organic, rustic and homegrown feel are big sellers this year. Such as my Bamboo Forest suite and Falling Leaves. Both of these feature my original illustrations.
Who/what are your inspiration?
I come alive in the summertime, and feel my most creative when it’s warm and clear and I can play outside. Sometimes I don’t even know I’m being inspired—it sort of finds me!
Do you have any business advice that worked well for you that you’d care to share?
I would just remind anyone who wants to start a craft/design based business to stay really focused and look before you leap. It can be really tempting to just go for it—and I DO advocated just going for it! But not without a solid foundation. I had no interest in being a starving artist working off of my dining room table, so I wasn’t going to do this until I had my finances in order, a space I was comfortable working in and at least an inkling of a marketing plan!
What are your favorite hobbies?
I mentioned eating, right? And scootering? Lately I’ve been listening to Italian language instruction on my iPod while I do embroidery out of Jenny Hart’s new Sublime Stitching Book. I go to the library a lot. Oh and I am teaching myself how to read tarot cards. That’s a lot of fun! I kind of feel like a senior citizen at a really awesome day camp most days!
What’s currently on Alissa’s wish list?
That’s easy—a vacation. Darryl and I got married last year and went on our honeymoon at the super posh Regent Palms Hotel in Turks & Caicos. I had never been anyplace tropical in my life and when the plane descended over the island I looked at him with tears in my eyes in total disbelief that there are places like this on earth. Now, I’m a little spoiled and really like to travel in high style. I’m really, really, really wishing for another special trip like that in the near future.
Name your top 3 website/blogs.
I sort of habitually check Flickr, Facebook, Twitter and Etsy these days, but I wouldn’t say they are my favorites. Especially Twitter—I always feel like I’m the nerd vying for the cool kid’s attention over there! I’ve got a lot of favorite blogs but since you only asked for three I’ll go with some neutral ones so I don’t single any one out!
Yahoo Babel Fish—bet you didn’t see that one coming? But with my newfound interest in improving my Italian it comes in quite handy!
Food Network—you just type in what you’re in the mood for and 30 million ideas pop up! I love it!
vrbo.com—Since I’m always daydreaming about going on vacation, I like to visit this site to find my dream location on the beach somewhere!
And here’s a link to a video that featured Alissa on an interview with CBS, in which she did an awesome job! Thanks so much Alissa for sharing a little more about you and I can’t wait for our date. 
Learn more about Alissa
website :: shop :: blog :: flickr :: twitter
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Thank you for the interview, reading interviews like this is one of those motivating “distractions” Alissa mentions. I hope to read more!