Welcome to the temporary home of { Paper Elixir } !
If you arrive here through our main site, your patience is appreicated as our web designer (aka, David, our friendly neighbor down the hall) is working very hard to put together a fantastic website for us.
{ Paper Elixir } is a tiny business I started a few years ago, when I started making and selling handmade greeting cards at craft fairs.
I've recently branched out to include other media that inspire me, such as acrylics and mixed-media collages.
I'm also experimenting with various printing methods, my current obsessions being the "gocco" and letterpress on a vintage Vandercook.
Do browse through our blog for snippets of the creative process as well as examples of my work.
**Warning: pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee, it may take a while** :)
And if you have another spare minute, visit my humble little etsy store for some of my current work for sale.
And in case you're curious, here are some FAQs:
Q: Who are you? And how did you come up with this weird name { Paper Elixir }?
A: Hi, my name is Ivy, and I'm a paperholic.
Since I can remember, I've had an inexplicable affinity towards paper- I used to hoard all kinds of candy wrappers when I was a kid. Yes, I have a sweet tooth and occasionally have to hide the evidence from my mom, but looking at the shiny and colorful wrappers just make me happy.
I'm just totally inspired by all the colors, textures, patterns, and the way paper makes me feel that life is full of possibilities.
And as a grown up, I start hoarding handmade paper. I see gorgeous paper everywhere- from the art store down the street, to a flea market in Bangkok. My paperholism means I have a HUGE collection of paper, which seems to be steadily growing like quietly multiplying amoebas.
In case you're wondering, I do have a "day job" (how else do I support my paperholic habits?). I'm trained as a Pharm.D. (go, pharmacists!), and am currently working on the "Dark Side" (as my friends would say) as a corporate scientist for a pharmaceutical company.
Yes, my two lives seem incongruent.
Perhaps the common theme here is that I love the beauty of chemistry. The fact that seemingly disparate elements can be meld under the right conditions into something new.
And I have to admit, the chemistry between my two worlds isn't always harmonious. But I know at the end of the day, I can always take refuge at my craft table, and enjoy some right-brain moments that brings back balance and happiness to my world.
And the hope that some day the work will change hand and transfer the happiness along to its next owner keeps me going.
Q: I like your business card! Who made it?
A: Who else? I did! (OK, that was a total set up. Sorry.)
I started taking letterpress class last year at Painted Tongue Studio (Kim rocks!), and my first project was designing and letterpressing my business card.
The mortar and pestle, a tribute to my profession, is from a pencil sketch I did, and the flowers are real, pressed hydrangea flowers scanned in and manipulated in PhotoShop (same as the one attached on top). It's printed on a vintage Vandercook press.
I've also since designed and printed other work on the letterpress, for example my letterhead above. See here and here for some more examples. Feel free to contact me for any custom letterpress work!
A: My husband and I live with our little corgi in sun-drenched loft in an old converted steam engine factory in Emeryville, a small city sitting just across the Bay from San Francisco.
My work is often inspired by the diverse culture and beauty of where we live.
Q: The material you use on your work look pretty cool, what is it?
A: Like I said I'm a paperholic and a die-hard shopper. I collect (that is to say, can't stop buying) paper, fabric, vintage books, charms, etc... wherever I go. At least it's much cheaper than and just as satisfying as shoe-shopping.
For my greeting cards, I like using cotton-based archival quality cardstock with subtle textures and substance. Somerset is the one I end up using most often. And what goes on top just depends on my mood that day...
My current favorites are handmade paper with interesting textures (cork, wood, suede-finish, etc), Japanese print paper, anything metallic (love all that's glitzy!), pressed flowers, pewter charms, silk fabric, ribbons, acrylic paint/media, etc, etc...
I strive for designs that are organic and rich in color and texture, but also clean and sophisticated at the same time.
Q: I like your stuff! Where can I buy them?
A: Currently you can buy the cards at a boutique home store in Oakland, Make My Day (3850 Piedmont Ave, Oakland, CA).
And as of March 2008, I've officially set up shop on Etsy after much procrastination and indecisiveness! Please check out my little shop here, and check back often as new items will be added periodically!
I've also previously sold at art fairs in the San Francisco Bay Area. They're a lot of fun, I enjoy talking to people about my work, but it's fairly time consuming. I'll update here (and at the website when it's up) when I've decided whether I'll do any art fairs this year in 2008.
Q: Will you make my wedding/ baby shower invitations?
A: Sure! I'll be happy to talk to you about custom designs. I've done quite a few weddings and showers, and you can see an example of some custom work on this and this blog posts respectively.
It's a fun process, and I enjoy sharing my creativity with someone in celebration of such important events in their lives.
Q: Who is that handsome canine on your blog?
That's Bryson, our 4-year-old Pembroke Welsh Corgi and our first dog! We took him home from his breeder in rural Northern California one wintery day in 2006, after he retired from being a champion show dog.
He's a total sweetie, loves eating, napping, playing with his buddy Picasso, jumping into our bed to snuggle, and taking long walks with us. His goofy smile is the best anti-depressant in the whole wide world.
See the Bryson section of this blog if you couldn't get enough of that big Bryson grin!
