If you've attended a Golden Girls Workshop, then you already know how much we LOVE to set up lots of pretty little vignettes for our attendees to photograph! Flowers, jewelry, sample invitations... you name it! So, whenever we host a workshop, we love giving small businesses the chance to work with us and get their work showcased! Earlier this year, we contacted an amazing calligrapher named Kate Thomas, the genius behind Hello, I'm Kate! We immediately fell in love with her work and had to have some of her stuff displayed at our events. Kate's work is gorgeous, whimsical and fun! We love what she does and we just had to feature her on the blog! Read on to learn more about her super awesome business!
Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your business! What's your specialty?
I am a graphic designer and calligrapher from Southern California. I moved to Minnesota in 2010 to pursue my MFA in printmaking from the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. I work as the Custom Print Coordinator for Paper Source in Edina as well as an Adjunct Art Professor and I complete freelance projects in my spare time. I have a love for all things handmade, blooper reels, celebrity babies and I enjoy drinking iced coffee and extremely cold water.
Tell us about your journey! How did you get to where you are?
I have always had a love for typography and hand lettering but didn't really begin playing around with calligraphy until I was in grad school. I decided to make a few greeting cards in January of 2014 and test them out on Etsy. Once I started to get steady sales, I reached out to a few local consignment shops to see if they would carry my cards. Now I sell an average of 20-75 cards a month between online and in-store sales!
What are your favorite things about working in your field?
I like knowing that what I do makes people happy! My cards are given out on birthdays, anniversaries, valentine's day, etc and I know that people are saving my cards because of the personal messaged written by loved ones inside. It's nice to know that my hobby is helping someone else show they care.
What are some of your plans/goals for the future?
I am just starting to letterpress some of the more popular greeting cards rather than hand writing each one. They aren't available yet but most of them will be part of my holiday line.
“From birthday or anniversary cards to custom artwork for weddings or the home, I specialize in calligraphy for the special events in your life.”