Today we’d like to introduce you to Inga and Evija.
Hi Inga and Evija, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
We are two of the kind designers/fabric artists, Inga And Evija, who handcrafts one of the kind fashion accessories. We began our journey in the summer of 2000. We put our backpacks and only with $100 and no English left behind our studies in Sport University, family and our small Eastern European country Latvia in search of the American dream. We landed on American soil for the first time in sunny Orlando, Florida and quickly became part of the working class. We worked as housekeepers day and night in local motels making little money while living in a student exchange place far from the job. We slowly moved up to waitress jobs in Medieval Times and Pirates dinner shows. We were adventurous, ambitious and fearless, our English started to improve and little by little our hearts become more and more attached to this beautiful country and all the opportunities it has to offer. One faithful day in the summer of 2003 while venturing to Tampa, FL we met our artist friend Pam who inspired us with her creativity and introduced us to Art and Atlanta city, changing our lives forever. We moved to Atlanta in 2004 and our passion for Art was born. We began to look at the world in a whole new way and developed a passion for designing and repurposing. We managed to buy small sewing machine and came up with the idea of making wallets and handbags from clothes from our closets, we decided why not to give a new life to old clothes which we don’t wear anymore and that’s when passion for recycling/upcycling/ repurposing was born.
Now we are living our passion for which we are grateful for every single day. We turned our passion into business, our lifestyle and purpose. We live and breathe our art. Being able to live our dream of being mindful artists, creating beauty and meaning in the world is an inspiration. Focus, dedication, and a positive attitude of gratitude have been the heart and soul of our business vision since day one. We are passionate about positivity and sustainability so the combination of designing from repurposed fabrics and spreading positive energy around the world just makes us smile big. Our pieces are as unique as they are, our funky artistic designs include hand-painted canvas, photography, humorous and inspirational messages, and different styles of fabrics incorporated into accessories for color, originality and a conversation piece. By living in the present moment as much as possible inspires us to create. Our mission is to create cutting-edge fashion accessories using recycled, upcycled, repurposing process that provides our customers with unique eye-catching products which will leave them with an uplifting satisfied feeling. “Our Goal is to Put a Smile on the Face of the World by inspiring, entertaining, bringing joy and laughter into people’s lives while cherishing our Mother Earth
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
Our creative journey has been full with ups and downs but all of it is worth it. We have learned to focus on progress not perfection. We have learned that secret of happiness is enjoyment in the journey; even sometimes we have felt like giving up when our finances were so low that we barely could afford food when we were more in surviving mode than thriving mode sometimes it was hard to focus or inspirations didn’t come to us that easily but both of us are people who don’t give up we just keep on moving forward. We have traveled all around USA showing our art, so many hours on the road, so many sleepless nights, heavy liftings setting up booths and temporary shops from music festivals to art festivals to the biggest holiday markets in the country. There is so much going into running a creative business, it’s not just that we only design and create products, there is so much work needs to be done behind the scenes, business licenses, opening/ managing tax accounts in different states, organizing receipts, keeping up with social media with website, Etsy page, shipping, customer service, getting to markets, setting up tents, going to networking events, etc.. outdoor markets are the hustle bustle in itself, we have to rely on our boss which is weather, sometimes we have lost tents and product after rain storm and high winds have hit the market, we have been stuck in mud. I guess it’s all part of the journey.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Our style uses all types of recycled fabrics giving each piece a new life. You will find each one of our items hand-crafted and thought out to suit your designing palette. You will see detailed stitching, hand-painted canvas, photography, humorous and inspirational messages, different styles of fabrics incorporated into wallets, pouches, luggage tags, crossbody bags, and totes for color, originality and a conversation piece. Our pieces are unique artsy funky cool. When we create our items we make sure we put positive energy into each piece, it’s very important to us to do so because we understand everything is energy that’s why it’s so important to create from our hearts and put much love into our creations.
While we create we usually listen to inspirational motivational podcasts, watch fun movies, sometimes we have friends over in our studio who paints with us or help us cut fabrics and such, we all laugh together, community is important to us and creating pieces together with people is so much fun. Each piece is a tiny, unique piece of art, and it is also a tiny unique piece of our heart. Our vision is to “ Spread the power of positive energy around the world. Respect, uplift, and treat all human beings with honesty, fairness and equality. Create a movement of up lifters. Touch lives to as many people as possible, put smiles on people’s faces. Help raise higher vibration on the planet. Respect the Mother Earth. Inspire people to be unique, always follow your passion and experience the wonder of life”.
The most proud accomplishments so far are that our product is showcased in Art Institute of Chicago and High museum gift shops. Our goal is to showcase our pieces in many museum shops across the world. We have had our temporary shops in the biggest holiday markets in NYC in Union sq and Bryant park. We have traveled all across the USA showcasing our art pieces in Art markets, holiday markets, Music festivals, pride festivals and so many more events. We have seen almost all states while traveling with our art. On our journey, we have met so many wonderful people, some of them have become our lifelong friends. We are currently in the process of writing a book about our story and art journey, how we found our lives purpose through our art. We also just starting to work together with Amani women’s center where they have sewing program called ‘stitching lives together’ where refugee women participate in. This sewing program has opened up a world of opportunities for the refugee women and the possibilities are endless and we are proud to be part of it.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
When the pandemic hit, all of our art events got canceled and shops where our product is sold temporary got closed. We were in stress for a moment but we quickly pivoted into making facemasks since we know how to sew. First, we started to make masks for first responders health care workers and then it became in need for all of the people so we were pretty busy making face masks during the pandemic time. Pandemic taught us whatever happens, there is always a way. We have learned If you feel helpless to help someone, that’s what we did by starting making masks for healthcare workers and it turned into face mask making business for a couple of years.
Pricing:
- Wallets $16-30
- Pouches $30-35
- Cross body bags $35-40
- Totes $58-65
- Luggage tags $15
Contact Info:
- Website: www.IngaAndEvija.com
- www.etsy.com/shop/IngaAndEvija
- Instagram: www.Instagram.com/IngaAndEvija
- Facebook: www.Facebook.com/IngaAndEvija
