My name is emily. I love baking, “adventuring,” biking, climbing rocks, sewing and cutting paper and I am the artist behind bird mafia, a company I  started (with my super side-kick and husband, Scott) as a way of sharing my  love for the boldness and beauty of cut paper by hand-making crafts  hand-printed with cut paper designs, as well as constructing cut paper art  pieces. We make every effort to always use the most eco-friendly materials  we can get our hands on and, as vegans, we never use any animal derived  materials.

What inspired you to go into the craft business, do you still have a day job?  I love “making” more than just about everything (with the exception of some special people). Whether it’s baking vegan goodies, making handmade candy,  sewing a stuffie or cutting paper… a day is not complete without making  something and happily, bird mafia is my full time job.

Describe your creative process when designing/making your product line.  I call what I do “cut paper design,” because that’s exactly what I do.  Every one of my original designs begins as a single sheet of hand cut  paper. I draw out the design –> cut the design by hand with an xacto knife –> burn that design on to a screen –> screen-print the design by hand –>  and then finally, get to the sewing machine! This way each of my designs looks like cut paper… because it is! I also create fine cut paper art,  like my cut paper shadow boxes.

What’s the best thing about what you do? And the worst?  Best thing is, of course, doing what I love. The worst, bookkeeping (hands  down.)

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Website: http://birdmafia.com
Shop: http://birdmafia.etsy.com