Get to know Kate Alarcón, the designer / maker behind the gorgeous Instagram sensation, CobraLilyShop. She'll be teaching ten lucky people how to make paper ranunculuses this Saturday, May 7th at Click!
What do you make / design? I make and teach paper plants and flowers. What is it made of? Mostly crepe paper, but I also sometimes use tissue paper and cardstock. How is it made? By hand. I hand cut all the leaves and petals and assemble them myself. It's very time intensive but also extremely fun.
How did you get started? At first, making flowers was just one of a hundred other crafts I did. But I started to really dive in after feeling frustrated at my limited ability to garden. I loved the idea of having flowers all over the apartment, but didn't have a place to really grow them, so I started to build up my flower-making skills. Then, when I was pregnant with my daughter, I wanted to make a flower garland for her room. It was a big part of my experience of preparing to bring her into our family. She was an extremely lively baby; the doctor would always have to kind of chase her around my belly to get a heartbeat. Her personality seemed to me to be really bright and vivid and vivacious. I felt like a pastel room wouldn't suit her. So I made these over-sized, brightly colored dahlias, peonies, and roses for her room. After that, I was hooked. (Also, I was right about her temperament!)
Career highlight thus far? I really like the different ways my business allows me to interact with other creative people. I like trading ideas on instagram, creating projects for Design Sponge, and getting to teach those projects in workshops. Its really satisfying to me when someone says they're excited to try a tutorial, because, as a craft nut, I've felt that excitement about other people's projects, and it's one of the things that makes life feel joyful to me. I like feeling like my job is to help creative people nurture themselves, either by making their own paper flora, or by filling their spaces with the flowers I've made.
Anything else we should know that’s not included above? Specific inspiration? Aspects of your work / business / general awesomeness that sets you apart from the pack? I think, among paper flower makers and enthusiasts, I'm probably known as the crazy lady who will try all kind of weird things to make an idea happen. I don't really have a specific wheelhouse, like a specific genre of flowers; I like to experiment with everything from showy blooms to delicate wild flowers and orchids to creepy carnivorous plants to cacti.
We're so excited to have Kate at Click! for our inaugural class this Saturday, May 7th, and have a sneaking suspicion it's going to happen again. Sign up for our mailing list to make sure you don't miss out (this class sold out in 2 days!) or email hello@clickdesignthatfits.com to be put on our May 7th waiting list. XO, CLICK!