Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Kelly.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Katie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Ever since I was little, I’ve loved practicing my handwriting and experimenting with art. In grade school, I was the last person to turn in my spelling tests, not because I double checked my work, but because I made sure every letter looked as perfect as possible.
When I was in middle school, I remember going into my older sister’s room and looking around at the letters her and her friends exchanged with pretty and sometimes funky lettering. Over time, I slowly taught myself different types of lettering, some in cursive, some in regular type.
In high school, I made handmade birthday cards and stayed up past midnight painting canvases and practicing my hand lettering. It was around my junior and senior year of high school that people started asking if I could make canvases and cards for them, and I started dreaming of a career in art and design.
In college, I have been studying all types of art and in the spring of 2019, I will have a Bachelor’s Degree in Art History. My first three years of college, I spent months leading up to Christmas making various personalized Christmas gifts for friends, friends of friends, and some people who had heard of me through word of mouth. I have designed and printed Christmas cards, refurbished old picture frames and filled them with some of my prints, stained and written on wood plaques as big as 3’x5′, and painted too many canvases to count.
My love and dream now are to have a small business of calligraphy and design. But because I’m still in college, my “small business” is still very raw and new. I’m slowly learning the ins and outs of what it means to be in the creative business, as well as dreaming and planning for a future in hand lettering and design.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There have definitely been some “bumps in the road” if you will. Being in college alone makes it very difficult to build a business and keep up with school work, which is why I’ve kept it relatively small and simple.
I also recently got married, in October of 2017, so I’m now juggling school, a part-time job, a marriage, and working on this small business of mine. My husband is my number one fan, though. He challenges me to push forward and helps me dream.
Katie Kelly Calligraphy – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
I have a very small business of calligraphy and design that I run out of my little home in Marietta, GA. Most of what I do is personalized gifts for people including prints and canvases for events like baby shower gifts, Christmas gifts, birthday gifts, and other holidays. I have also addressed wedding envelopes including my own and a few of my friends and friends of friends.
More recently, I’ve been working on various stationery items such as thank you notes, personalized stationery, and hand painted journals.
I love calligraphy so much because I firmly believe in the power of encouraging words in our lives. My love language is words of affirmation, so uplifting words mean the world to me. Communication is sometimes lacking in our society and especially in my generation, so my passion is creating pieces that encourage people and make them see their worth and value as a human on this earth. There is heart and meaning behind the words that I design, and each piece that I make is made for that very reason. I’d like to think that’s what sets me apart as a calligrapher.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Because I’m still in college and just starting out as a creative, I’ve found success for myself in the smiles and tears that come from my customers when they see their personalized pieces, not necessarily in the number of items sold.
My goal of this business is not measured by a certain number, but by the lives that are touched and changed by the power of the words I provide for them. They say if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. Success for me will be if this business kicks off and allows for me to support myself and my family while also doing something that I firmly believe in and love.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.katiekellycalligraphy.com
- Email: katiekellycalligraphy@gmail.com
- Instagram: @katckelly
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