Collage creations

Seeing things differently

We love seeing creativity in action, especially when it involves our customers finding unique ways of putting our stationery to work. Which is why we were so excited to hear about Denise Fiedler’s novel use of one of our most popular products. A San Francisco-based artist and crafter, Denise didn’t see Business Cards, she saw beautiful collage gift tags that she could sell through her business, paste.

The start of something special

Something of a local legend, Denise has lived in San Francisco for over thirty years. She describes the city as “beautiful and calming, with just the right balance of urbanism and nature”, and it’s had a big influence on her work over the years. She started her company paste in 2009 and has been handmaking her collages of animals, flowers, chairs and shoes using vintage book paper ever since.

As paste grew, Denise found herself attending more and more design and craft fairs to drum up business. At these busy events she wanted to give people something to remember her by, so turned to MOO for some Original Business Cards. “Printfinity was perfect for me because I could print a different image from my collage series on every card. I ended up with Business Cards and a pocket-sized portfolio.”

Fast forward to 2013 when Denise was exhibiting her unique paste collages at the famous New York International Gift Fair. Fate intervened when one customer was so charmed by the Business Cards laid out on the table for people to take away that he asked if he could buy them. All of them!

Denise never found out what he planned to use them for, but the seed of an idea was planted, “I realised that my Business Cards would make the perfect gift tags, especially as you can actually write on MOO’s cards.” Bringing her idea to life was simple, because she already knew which collages were most popular with customers. She also developed some new designs specifically for the tags.

It's in the making

Once her printed collage design has been pasted to the front of the card, Denise punches a hole and loops through Irish waxed linen twine for a vintage craft effect. Ta-da! The transformation from Business Card to gift tag is now complete.

So what next for paste? Denise is currently exploring new design categories, with a city series featuring images that evoke the cities of Paris, London, NY and San Francisco perfectly. And there is more to come, as Denise hints, “I’d love to expand the business and with the success of my gift tags I see more printed products as the way to do this.” A range of Postcards or Notecards perhaps, Denise?

Whatever she decides, we can’t wait to see what other interesting paste and MOO collaborations she comes up with. We have a feeling that Denise is full of surprises!

Have you found an interesting or unexpected use for your MOO products? Or have you, like Denise, used our Business Cards as gift tags? Share your creations with us on Twitter - @overheardatmoo - and we’ll retweet our favourites.

Written on:

06 Nov 2014

Categories:

Business Card Ideas, Postcards, Printfinity