Spotlight: Earmark

Being a graphic designer myself, I really appreciate good, quality art and I've been a huge fan of the husband and wife team known as Earmark since I first stepped foot onto Etsy. Bridgette and Mike have been creating stationery, invitations, party banners, recipe cards and a variety of other handcrafted paper goods and pencils for over five years now, and they sure have perfected this art of theirs.

Read on to learn about how they got their start, who handles what when it comes to running the business and who gets to do the dishes. You can also enter to win a set of their recipe cards!

Where are you from originally and where do you currently call home?
Bridgette: I am from a small town in Western Massachusetts and currently reside in South Eastern Massachusetts. I have lived in Brooklyn and Ocean Beach, California, which I love and miss! But family is here and they win over endless sunshine and beautiful beaches.
Mike: I was born in the Chicago area, but I grew up outside Baltimore. I have lived in several places since then, my favorite being sunny San Diego.

Do you sell your art full time or do you have a 'day job'?

Full Time! Both of us have worked at Earmark Invitations full time for roughly the last five years.

What, if any, formal training have you had in the arts?

Both of us went to school at Pratt Institute of Art in Brooklyn, NY. Bridgette was an Illustration major and Mike was a Painting major. This is where we met too! Mike switched over to graphic design after two years when he transferred to the Art Institute of Boston.

How did you come up with your shop name?

Bridgette actually came up with the name by browsing through a thesaurus - it just jumped out at her. It's kind of a different name for a stationery company, but it just works. An earmark is a distinguishing mark or characteristic that makes you stand out from the crowd, and we believe our work has that.

Being a husband and wife team, who does what for the business?
Bridgette handles all of the online promotion and social networking for the business, as well as working with clients on custom projects including wedding invitations and other events. She also does most of the product photography and website management.

Mike is responsible for the majority of the production: printing, cutting etc. He also handles the packaging and mailing of orders and responding to etsy conversations and email inquiries. He also designs most of the custom banners.

Alternatively, who does what around the house?
Bridgette does all of the decorating, at which she is an expert, says Mike. Aside from that, most of the duties are shared by both of us. We both like to cook, and neither of us likes to do dishes.

Are there times when it is difficult working together?
It's always difficult when things get stressful, either when orders are slow, or when we've got a million things to do. Generally we are a great team, and even when things get tough, it's never that bad.

What do you like least about your craft?
We put a lot of effort into all of our designs and products, and sometimes it can be frustrating to price our products competitively, but we find there's a great deal of satisfaction in providing value and quality to our customers that makes it worthwhile.

Do you have any advice for other sellers or those thinking about pursuing their craft?
Go for it! It's a challenging path to take, but if you have perseverance and dedication, the rewards can be great. Don't let anything stand in your way.

Etsy Shops you love
ThePeachTree
Laura Amiss
Paper Doll Wood Shop
Eclu
Picciolo
Get Ready Set GO
Inklore

There are just too many! I want to go on and on. I have SO many favorites! The talented people and shops I have come across on Etsy never cease to amaze me. Every day I fall in love with something new and wonderful!

Five things we love
Walking to the beach
Interesting places
Unique foods
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Playing games

Five things we don't
Cleaning
Cold weather
Terrible reality tv shows
When home repair projects go awry
Miley Cyrus

Where is the coolest place you have ever been?
It's a tie between Caye Caulker in Belize and Sardinia, Italy. They are very special places and we recommend everyone go experience them.

What is your favorite leisure time activity?
We play a lot of games (board, card, video) and we watch bad movies on netflix. Bridgette also loves to bake and browse the internet for unique treasures to fill our home.

Share some of your guilty pleasures
Hell's Kitchen with Gordon Ramsey
Bridgette: Rod Stewart
Mike: Huey Lewis and the News

Favorite junk food
Mike: An entire box of ores, with milk of course.
Bridgette: Chocolate, chocolate and more chocolate.

What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you?
We participated in a gifting event for Sundance Film Festival and we met a bunch of famous people, all at once. Having never met any, it was a very surreal experience, even though most of them were very down-to-earth and friendly. Bridgette received a hug from Gary Coleman, and one from Dustin Diamond (Screech from Saved By The Bell).

What is the stupidest thing you have ever done?
Bridgette: Planning a beach wedding during hurricane season.

Mike: I recently cut off the tip of my pinky when dicing an onion.

If you could trade places with any other person for a week, famous or not famous, living or dead, real or fictional. with whom would it be?
Bridgette: Johnny Depp's Wife, or maybe Amelia Earhart.
Mike: Sherlock Holmes or Indiana Jones

If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?
Bridgette: Kate Winslet or Carol Burnett
Mike: Johnny Depp or Will Ferrell

If you could be a superhero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
Bridgette: To be able to warp from one place to another. Awesome!!
Mike: I wish I had the Intersect in my brain like Chuck.

What would you like to learn?
Bridgette: Several new languages
Mike: Filmmaking
Both - advanced cooking techniques

What does the future hold for you and your shop?
Hopefully great things. Scratch that - amazing things! We will keep trying new things, creating cool new designs, and providing our customers with unique handmade products. We will continue our goal of creating happiness!

You can keep up with Bridgette and Mike and their work by visiting their blog or following them on Twitter and Facebook.

Also find their full line of products at EarmarkInvitations.com.

GIVEAWAY TIME!

One winner will receive a recipe card set in the design of your choice from Earmark.

HERE'S HOW TO ENTER:
Please leave a comment on this post with your favorite item from Earmark and answer the following question: What holiday is lacking awesome greeting cards?

You may enter once per day and YOU MUST INCLUDE your first name -AND- etsy username or email address with every entry. (If you are worried about email spam, you can spell out the 'at' and 'dot' rather than using the standard email format.)

Receive additional entries (one each) if you:

Follow or subscribe to this blog, my Twitter or my Facebook

Follow or subscribe to the Earmark blog, Twitter or Facebook

(You DO NOT need to leave separate comments for each additional entry, just mention which apply)

You have until Sunday, December 5 at 10 pm (est) to enter and I will announce the winner Monday morning.

SPECIAL DISCOUNT!

Bridgette and Mike are also offering lillyella readers 10% off all orders placed through their website and their Etsy shop. Simply enter LILLBLOGTEN at checkout, valid through 12/4/2010.

Thanks for visiting!