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What is more MCM than a silver Christmas tree??
This year I am hosting my first ever Ugly Christmas Sweater Party and you can guess where I am getting my invitations from!
Do you have a thing for coordinating all your mailing products? If so, take a look at their stamps, labels and envelopes to be so coordinated you will make June Cleaver green with envy!Looking for a bargain? Don't mind last year's designs? Check out the 50% off section! They are just as awesome as the new designs!
Want to know how to order? Glad you asked! Check out the store!
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I am so excited! Diane was kind enough to give me an interview to share with my awesome readers so enjoy getting to know her!
How long have you been doing what you do?
I have been a graphic designer and illustrator
since 1982 - I am a graduate of the Ringling College of Art + Design
Do you consider yourself an artist or a
graphic designer? I am a professional commercial artist.
Let me expand on the term “Commercial
Artist”: Granted, this is an old term. Just using this
term actually refers to my long career and multiple abilities in graphics,
advertising design and illustration. The Retro Christmas Card Company is a
seasonal side business my husband and I created from our love of vintage
Christmas and my illustrations, photography and designs.
Do you work alone or do you have help?
I would be lost without the help of my husband. He
is the fulfillment department and the reason that the customers get their cards
in the most affordable manner possible and at lightning fast speed!
When did you fall in love with the MCM style?
I grew up in the 1960s - so I have always loved
images, decor, fabrics, fashions, wall papers, kitchen appliances...that took
me back to a very happy childhood. My Mom was super swanky in her dress,
decorated the house in the up-to-the-moment style - the moment being, say 1966.
I fell back in love with it 3 years ago when we bought our 1968 ranch house
time capsule. We have been restoring her to the glory days perhaps a bit
earlier than her age. We would have liked a more atomic style, but fell for a
colonial ranch with great bones.
How long have you been making cards?
We begin our Christmas Card Company in 2006 - back
then we were calling it "WhatsBuzzin". I Knoooow... crazy name. At
the time we were heavily into swing dancing and listened to a lot of Cab
Calloway - he had a song from the 1930s called "What's Buzzin'
Cousin?" We thought it was cute, it was all about saying hello in many
ways. Whatsbuzzin started out life as an all year greeting card and wrapping
paper business. The most successful of the product prototypes proved to be the
Christmas cards.
How do you create your cards? Do you draw
them on paper or do you use a computer?
We start by selecting the best ideas from a
list of inspirations that we collect throughout each holiday season. Then the
artwork and copy come together in a long process of illustrations, photographs,
and collages of memorabilia and ephemera. We select the perfect ecologically
responsible paper stock and matching envelopes. We work with a local printer
just around the block from our studio in Clearwater, Florida. We stand by the
printing press carefully balancing the colors and registration, and making everything
is just right for the new seasons’ retro Christmas Card Selections. For
a more detailed blog entry take a look here!
Your cards are amazing and sometimes quirky,
what is the inspiration for them?
I get inspired by old Christmas songs, classic Christmas movies,
vintage holiday decorations, and I also look out for trends that are being
followed by the vintage lifestyle community. Right now everyone seems to be mad
for mid-century!
