Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Local Featured Seller: Carved by Heart

 Who are you? Carved By Heart. It's run by us, Alice and Carl, a wife-husband team.

Where are you located? Durham

What do you create?  From wood we carve plaques, house signs, bird feeders, mailboxes, wind chimes, and clocks. We personalize many of our carvings and take custom orders. Our slogan, "If you think it; we carve it!"

What is your favorite place to visit in the "triangle"?  It's hard to pick a favorite. We enjoy going to Brightleaf Square because it has such a magical feel to it. Also love the historic and restored buildings (we love wood!) in downtown Durham.
  
Log Cabin Mail Box
 When did you start creating?  We started creating two years ago, but Carl was building items long before then. He built a log cabin in New York and furniture to go with it. I (Alice) am not the builder, but the admirer. I also do the admin work for our business and the promotional.

We took a while to get ourselves focused (we do lead dramatic lives with step-kids, teens, and two dogs), and didn't find Etsy until a friend where we sell at a brick and mortar store in Raleigh--Gifts With A Heart---told us that Etsy is a great place to sell so we opened our shop last October.

What is your most cherished handmade item?  I loved a moose clock we sold a few months ago. It was simple, rustic, and adorable. Carl liked a rustic twig moose clock that we had in our hallway until it sold in a private sale.

Of course, anything personalized in my son Daniel's memory is cherished by me.

Why did you choose your medium?  Wood is so beautiful with its own personality. With Carl's love for carving and crafting, this medium lets us create so many varieties of products from clocks to wind chimes to toilet paper dispensers.

House Number Sign
 Who inspires you?  My son Daniel was four when he died in 1997 from cancer treatments. A lot of our work is inspired by his short life. We design items for the bereavement community----personalized garden plaques, wind chimes, photo plaques, etc. We sell at a grief/loss site as well.

Where do you create? In our garage. All the tools are in there as well as a recycled work space. No room for the car!

Why did you choose your company name?  We debated about it for a few days and then when we narrowed it down to three choices, we ran them by a friend in California and she thought Carved By Heart was it. The name does reflect what we do.

What are your goals?  We want to increase our business. We've been on Etsy for about 9 months and have seen an increase in visibility and sales. We want more sales (who doesn't, right?). We also do wholesale birdhouses and would like to see that door open wide for us.
 
Wind Chimes
What do you do when you are not creating?  We think of ideas for new products. Carl comes up with the best ones. I'm an author, so I am usually editing a novel or hoping for another book deal or writing at my blog. Carl has taught our boxer, Levi, to sing when he plays the harmonica (Carl plays, not the boxer), so that provides us some fun. We'd love to take Levi to the Blue Note Grille one evening and see if he'll sing when a member of a band plays the harmonica. 

After you've browsed the wonderful selection of wood items at Carved by Heart on etsy, don't forget to like them on Facebook, follow them on twitter, and read up on Alice's blog.

NCTriangle Team Members who'd like to be featured, please contact Shore Debris.

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