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Stephanie Housley - Founder, Coral & Tusk
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Today, I’m thrilled to be joined by Coral & Tusk founder, Stepahnie Housley. Stephanie is someone whose work beautifully embodies the art of storytelling through collecting and creativity and her journey is nothing short of inspiring. Growing up in the Ohio Valley, she cultivated a deep appreciation for nature and found objects—traits that became the foundation for her unique creative voice. After studying textile design at RISD, she spent 15 years as an interior textile designer in New York City. But in 2007, with a single embroidery machine in her Brooklyn apartment, Stephanie took a leap of faith and started Coral & Tusk, a brand now celebrated for its spirited embroidered textiles and home goods.
What sets Coral & Tusk apart is the magic of Stephanie’s process: every design begins as her original hand-drawn illustration before being meticulously translated to cloth. Today, Stephanie calls the mountains of Wyoming home—a setting that feels perfectly aligned with Coral & Tusk’s celebration of nature and imagination.
We delve into the idea of collecting with your eyes first, how her latest book, In Stitches, offers a window into her collections and creative process, and three of my favorite designs from the book and the stories behind them. So without further adieu, Stephanie Housley, founder of Coral & Tusk, for Collectors Gene Radio.
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Transcript
Childhood Obsession with Pockets
00:00:00
Speaker
And i'm obsessed with pockets i've always been obsessed with pockets like when i was little i asked my mom to sell pockets in every single garment that i had cuz i love like i would break the tips off of pussy willows and i would ah draw eyeballs on them and stick them in my pocket so i would always little friends that would carry around.
Podcast Introduction
00:00:18
Speaker
What's going on everybody and welcome to collector's gene radio. This is all about diving into the nuances of collecting and ultimately finding out whether or not our guests have what we like to call a bunch for listening and please enjoy today's guest on collector's gene radio.
Guest Introduction: Stephanie Housley
00:00:42
Speaker
Today I'm thrilled to be joined by Coral and Tusk founder, Stephanie Housley. Stephanie is someone whose work beautifully embodies the art of storytelling through collecting and creativity, and her journey is nothing short of inspiring. Growing up in the Ohio Valley, she cultivated a deep appreciation for nature and found objects, traits that became the foundation of her unique creative voice. After studying textile design at RISD, she spent 15 years as an interior textile designer in New York City.
Stephanie's Background and Career
00:01:09
Speaker
But in 2007, with a single embroidery machine in her Brooklyn apartment, Stephanie took a leap of faith and started Coral & Tusk, a brand now celebrated for its spirited, embroidered textiles and home goods. What sets Coral & Tusk apart is the magic of Stephanie's process. Every single design begins as her original hand-drawn illustration before being meticulously translated to cloth.
00:01:32
Speaker
Today, Stephanie calls the mountains of Wyoming home, a setting that feels perfectly aligned with Coral and Tusk's celebration of nature and imagination. We delve into the idea of collecting with your eyes first, how her latest book, In Stitches, offers a window into her collections and creative process, and three of my favorite designs from the book and the stories behind them. So without further ado, Stephanie Housley, founder of Coral and Tusk, for Collector's Gene Radio.
00:02:00
Speaker
Stephanie, thank you so much for coming on Collector's Dream Radio this morning. Oh my gosh, Cameron, thank you so much for having me. It's an absolute joy to be here. My pleasure. And first and foremost, i I just have to thank you so much for sending a copy of your book. I know I thanked you already before we recorded here, but I have to thank you again. And I'll make sure that we talk about
Nature-Inspired Design Process
00:02:18
Speaker
it later on. But I just wanted to say, I've enjoyed it so much. And the note that you included with some of your work on it was amazing. And the book was truly even better. And I'm not just saying that it's it's something that is so different than any other coffee table book I've ever seen. And even though my my newborn hasn't
00:02:36
Speaker
Developed words or anything like that yet. I've looked through it with her and her eyes are moving back and forth and it's it's been really great ah that's That's extremely kind of you to say and thanks for being interested. You know, i'm I'm so deeply grateful for every single individual person or business or anybody who's just interested in what we're doing and really value that there's a moment to reflect and and be interested in something and having a moment to sit down and look at something is a You know, to have somebody's attention at this stage in the game is ah is an honor.
00:03:07
Speaker
Well, you you deserve it for sure. So Coral and Tusk is your company and you make the most amazing embroidered items for the home, whether it's textiles or you know for the holidays ornaments or or pillows or
Influence of Found Objects
00:03:20
Speaker
all sorts of stuff. And all the ideas actually come from items that you've collected from nature and your surroundings and things that you've thought of. But what I love the most is that everything starts out as a hand drawing from you, direct from the source.
00:03:36
Speaker
And then it's transferred to cloth in some sort of fashion, but it remains your hand. Is that right? That's totally right. Yeah. So everything is inspired by something in nature, right? So that could be something that I find an object like that would be very linear. Like let's say.
00:03:53
Speaker
I find a feather, and then I'm very interested, like, oh, well, what birds live in this area that I found this feather in? And then really looking at, like, well, what's the environment that I found it in? What what tree is it by? Is it in an open field? And then identifying that feather and then creating I'm coming back to my studio, right, and then doing um some research to figure out, oh, well, this is that's so interesting. This is a rare bird, or it must have lost it during this time in migration. And then doing a drawing of that feather depicting it, again, in a very linear fashion.
00:04:27
Speaker
and then With the drawing, what happens is I scan it into the computer and then I redraw that drawing stitch by stitch. so Everything starts with a pencil and then with the software that I have, it literally is like making a hand embroidery because you're you're deciding every single time that the needle goes through the cloth is the way that I've drawn that stitch.
00:04:53
Speaker
so There's a lot of investment upfront to make each one of these designs, but then it's scalable um with these really amazing machines that we use to make many of them that have that investment upfront, but that I'm able to build a business on as well. It's amazing. and i think All of that, the culmination of all the things that you just said is such a trait that a collector has of being so immersed in everything that's surrounding you. Whether you're at an antique store and you are crawling on the floor looking at every little thing in the store or you're looking in nature at every little thing around you to give you the best opportunity that you can to to go forward with whatever you're gonna do with that collection or whatever you're gonna do with
Journey in Textile Design
00:05:38
Speaker
that idea. It's such an interesting trait. and
00:05:41
Speaker
Corland tusk as much as it started in New York, it really began a long time ago with your mother who instilled this sense of wonder and and as you say resourcefulness in you ah for found objects right like feathers and rocks and leaves and all things that really serve as the foundation of what coral and tusk is all about tell me about that.
00:06:00
Speaker
Yeah, so my mom, the you said it exactly. like she She really celebrates the absolute joy and magic in every little thing. right like she She'll stumble upon something that you anybody else would just like pass right by and not even think twice about it. And yet, like she could find it and just find the most wonderful, magical detail and just have absolute like awe about something that is in found in nature. and so without ah you know Of course, if I didn't realize this until much later. I was in high school and one of my best friends, even to this day, was like, oh, your mom.
00:06:41
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really celebrates the magic and the joy in in everyday found natural objects. And you know it's like one of those things where you're like, oh my gosh, but that's so true. And what what a gift to have you know as a parent show you this route. So even without thinking about it or you know cognizantly thinking, oh, I'm going to appreciate nature, or oh, I'm going to value the way that the pine needles are a stemming off of this branch on this particular type of conifer tree,
00:07:10
Speaker
you know it's just a it's a It's a built-in, hardwired celebration of the of the world around us. Yeah, it's really impressive. And I think anyone that sees you know what you're doing and and or someone who's followed you, but maybe doesn't know that story, when they hear that, I think it it sums up everything that Coraline Tusk is just in that one anecdote right there. And what I think a lot of people don't know is that your background is actually in textile design, right? you You started doing that in New York and you did it for so many years, but then you ended up going out on your own.
Influence of Wyoming on Creativity
00:07:45
Speaker
I did. Yeah. and So i I studied textile design. Well, I was not sure what I was going to study. You know, it was like, I was the first person in my whole family to go to college. And so there was a like, oh my God, you're going to go to art school? Are you sure that this is like this is a cool idea? So yes, I'm going to go.
00:08:02
Speaker
look at thats That's what I'm good at. That's the only only thing I know that I'm good at. So let's let's start there. And then you know I was like, well, I should really study something that's like functional and makes sense. So I was going to do furniture design. But I was just so jealous and envious of all my friends that had gone into textiles. And I didn't even know that that was a field. you know I had been very familiar with cloth and with hand embroidery as just a hobby. And I'd never thought of that as a discipline that would allow a career. so Once I discovered that that was, in fact, a major that I could could focus on, I never looked back. It was like a perfect fit. So I studied textiles, and my now husband and I moved to New York ah in early 1999. And then I worked as a textile designer for woven fabrics for interiors, first for an American mill, a vertical mill, and then for a mill that was based in India.
00:08:58
Speaker
And during the time that I was traveling in India, you know, like one night I had insomnia and I was like, Oh, I can't, I can't sleep. And I was going to, did you ever have that game um called memory? Yeah, sure.
00:09:10
Speaker
Okay, I loved that game. like I credit having a good memory today because of that game. So all of my friends were having kids, and I thought, oh, I'm going to make an A to Z, nautically themed, embroidered memory game. Because I'd always done hand embroidery, but just as like as a way to pass the time. So I didn't and i certainly didn't think of it as like a ah career path.
00:09:32
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So I started on that and then I was like looking at something and I thought, well, oh my gosh, i'm never A to Z, that's 26 letters, times 2, that's 52, plus I'm going to have to make some like really magical case for this game to go in.
00:09:47
Speaker
I was looking through Martha Stewart magazine, and I saw her sewing room, and I thought, there's got to be a machine that would allow me to make some of these, right? So still very much while I was working as a textile designer in India, I got with my friend, and I was like, Hey, do you think that we could find somebody to be able to do this? Because I had i had gotten the tabletop machine, um and that was wonderful. So like, I got the machine, it was pretty expensive, And it was like, it felt like an indulgent thing. So I was like, Oh, gosh, I have to, I have to pay this off. So I started making the first rounds of, of items that I was just exploring, like, what am I going to do? Like, is it going to be the game? Well, what can I sell quickly? And it was the first year of the um Brooklyn flea. And so while I can make an assortment of things, take it to the flea market, see what happens.
00:10:36
Speaker
And that's really where I got the beginning of it. It was really just trying to pay off the machine. And then it just eventually and very naturally grew into having a very, very small business. And I had it on the side as a small business for the first four years until making the plunge ah to focus on it full time in 2012. Wow.
00:10:58
Speaker
It's a great story, and and I think you know the the interesting thing about textile design is, like you said, like people don't really know that it exists. And there's so much talent out there of these people that are making the fabrics that everybody's sitting on day-to-day in their home or at work or in their office, whatever it may be. But to be able to to spin it off and do what you did is is really impressive. and I wanted to know because. New York is such a different beast from where you're at now in Wyoming. You grew up in the Ohio Valley and was moving back to Wyoming kind of this way to get back into your nature roots and maybe get some new inspiration.
00:11:38
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, our move to Wyoming was, you know so both my husband and I grew up in the Ohio Valley and I was really fortunate to always grow up by a lot of trees and creeks and woods and you know a lot of farmland and stuff like that. It was just so beautiful and pastoral. um And then after 18 years in New York, you know both my husband and I were like, gosh, we you know we've we've had a great run and we certainly couldn't have the flexibility and the privilege and the um ability to have built our own businesses and for those to you know have a strong foothold without being in the city. But it really had it had run its course, and the the cons had started to outweigh the pros. And we just were like, we're missing, you know we're not feeling totally fulfilled. And we both
00:12:27
Speaker
wanted that like the the lack The void really was um access to nature. and so you know like We would drive up upstate and go hiking every weekend, but that still like wasn't really and doing the job. And so we thought about maybe buying a place upstate. But again, like that that totally didn't feel right.
00:12:46
Speaker
And we both had come out to Wyoming as kids. His his his family had the first flour mill in Driggs just right over the pass on the other side of the mountains ah from Jackson in Wyoming. And I had come out. My parents brought me to the Tetons and Yellowstone when I was four. And then my husband and I came out again on a road trip very early in our relationship when we were 17 and 18.
00:13:11
Speaker
And then we visited again in 2012. And for some reason, we've been really, really blessed to be able to travel a lot. Wyoming just really captivated both of us. And I think it's just because it's one of the most pristine, preserved states in the lower 48.
00:13:30
Speaker
and There's just vastly open spaces. um And it's like, it's, it's one of those things, you don't know exactly why you love it, but you just love it so much. Like when I first moved here, or when we were first thinking about moving here, it's like, no matter which direction you look, your eyeballs are just happy. Like,
00:13:48
Speaker
you're just fulfilled with every vista, every view, every little detail is just happiness. And so when we were thinking about like, how do we really find this balance? We thought, well, let's look for a place in Wyoming. So over the course of um nine months, we came out four times and we looked at 80 properties. So maybe maybe this is how I'm a collector of like,
00:14:16
Speaker
of real estate listings. Yeah, we exhausted our real estate agent, but we finally found like the perfect place. So we thought, okay, let's go ahead and and get this place and we were like, okay, we'll be here for summers. But everybody kept saying, you know, the winter is really, really crazy. And so we thought, well what does that mean? Like, it's really crazy. right so but Like, let's do, let's do a trial year. um And it was also, you know, this is 2018, summer of 2018. And so people were not working remotely. And so we thought, well,
00:14:48
Speaker
How's that going to work with our businesses? like Running them from the middle of nowhere. like you ah The internet was really unreliable. um And we're you know we're an hour from a jug of milk. like We are in the middle of nowhere. So we gave it a trial year. But I mean, within two weeks of being here, we were like, we will do anything to stay forever. like We just love it so much. Oh, that's great. Yeah.
00:15:11
Speaker
Well, i'm I'm curious to know because you know it's obviously a completely different change of scenery from being in in Manhattan. Is it so much easier for you now and you know to create new collections for Crawl and Tusk that that you have all these amazing surroundings near you and you're not walking through you know city buildings, avenue to avenue? Yeah. yeah I mean, i think that I think that the natural environment lends itself automatically to have it's sort of like um It's just by osmosis almost. you know like just If you're immersed in something, there's just a constant stream of information that's feeding your baseline in a way that you don't have to try as hard. so i like I will say that i I have always had a fascination with the natural world, and so I would glean and absolute joy from like watching a squirrel or a raccoon in the park.
00:16:09
Speaker
you know, in Brooklyn, but here it's like, oh, but now from here, I get to see such a ah vast biodiversity of both flora and fauna that it certainly helps direct and guide sometimes in a linear fashion. And sometimes it's really just about having the space, the like the mental bandwidth, and being open to feeling just really fulfilled and happy by my day-to-day life.
Experiences as Inspiration
00:16:39
Speaker
And so it's like one of those things that when you're just um you're in a better place, you just do better. Is there an object that you love to collect that just never fails to offer a source of inspiration for you? Is it leaves or plants or or certain animals?
00:16:56
Speaker
You know what it is? It's really experiences. so like it might be it Sure, it might be finding something that is a direct line of inspiration, a flower, a leaf, an animal. But then it's really about like oh like watching especially like watching um wildlife interact in its natural habitat.
00:17:17
Speaker
And then thinking, like putting together the clues, like, oh, well, that's so interesting. like why are they Why are they by those trees? Or why are they rubbing their, like why are they scratching themselves that way? Why is that? like what are What are those marks on that tree? Oh, well, that's when the elk or the mule deer are going to be losing their antlers and so they're they're rubbing against the tree. That's what those marks are. They're not bear claws, right? they they're like And so then it's really about like learning. like it's It's about observing and then learning and then doing research or seeing something fascinating or reading. you know like I i've just recently learned that birds, when they migrate, especially for a long time, that half of their brain is sleeping.
00:18:03
Speaker
So when they're on multi-day journeys, one eye is open, keeping an eye out for predators, and the other eye is closed, sleeping. So I mean, birds are in theory, so that's uni-hemispherically Well, there's a second word to it. I don't know what it is, but they're half their brains are are on off, right? and And there are other animals that are like this. And, you know, it's like when you stumble upon a fact like that, like that makes me crazy with like, wow, like how am I going to capture like, what does that mean? You know, like, how does that work? Right. And how do you emulate that in one of your drawings and
00:18:38
Speaker
Bingo, exactly. So like another example would be, um have you ever seen like but of the Yellowstone special where you see the fox hunting in the snow? Right, right.
00:18:50
Speaker
So he like leaps, he leaps straight up in the air and then plunges face first into the snow, right? And so you're like, that's usually, that's a delight. Like it's an absolute treat to watch that because then all you're seeing is the hind, the back half of this fox with his little back feet and his tail in the air. And you're like, oh my gosh, it's and it's a riot, right? It's a visual treat.
00:19:13
Speaker
But then when you learn about that, you're like, oh, foxes hunt using the magnetic field, the Earth's magnetic field, right? So they you typically hunt northeasterly about 20 degrees off of magnetic north, and they have a 74% success rate when they hunt in that way. right So there's all of these things and you're like, gosh, like not only is that ah fun, right but then when you really learn about how the planet is so in sync and how these animals are using magnetic fields to get their prey and you know under feet and feet of snow, like that's fascinating. So that's something that I can take
00:19:52
Speaker
and And oh, i'm goingnna black I'm going to really think about that. Well, how does that visually translate? And so I made a pillow, a pocket pillow, that's one of our signature products, where I have the winter winter foxes and it's a snow scene and there's two pockets and one is plunging directly down so his back ca is out of the snow.
00:20:11
Speaker
And then the other one, a clever little friend, is popping up out of another hole, holding a little mouse that he's found. You know, so that's something that I can be like, I'm going to collect this information, I'm going to think about it, and then I'm going to figure out how can I visually communicate my wonder um with this, you know, just like, stunningly phenomenon.
00:20:32
Speaker
I
Storytelling and Inspiration from Nature
00:20:33
Speaker
love that. Have you noticed any changes in the ways that you collect from you know being in New York to now being back you know in the middle of nature? or Or has your practices truly just remained the same and it's all just about where you're at at that time?
00:20:48
Speaker
I think it's a little bit of both. So, you know, before I might've thought that all evergreens were pine trees. And now I'll be like, oh, there are like, we have five very specific type of conifers here. And so now I've learned like, how do I know what type of conifer that is? Oh, I'm going to really pay attention to the types of pine cones that I'm finding on the ground around this tree.
00:21:15
Speaker
So then i'll I'll start to collect um you know maybe one of each of them, and then I'll bring them home and I'll start to draw it and sketch it and think about it. And then I'll teach myself, oh, this is this type of tree based on that. And then I'll collect the information about, like well, how does that pine cone actually start to form on what part of the branches, right? So I'll just all end up collecting the information about how something works, but I might not take a bunch of pine cones home. You know, like I'll use one as like a study and then um and then I'll build i'll build my my information bank on that study.
00:21:58
Speaker
Well, sometimes it's it's better to not have too many of the same thing and maybe one of each variation. So that that that makes sense. That checks out. but Otherwise, it would just be like ah i like, I'll be like, you know, building my own den for the winter. Well, then you start driving yourself crazy with like the small little nuances of the same pine cone. You're like, is this one different? Is it not? Exactly, exactly.
00:22:23
Speaker
A topic that is really common on this show is storytelling. And for you, everything that you do is about the story, right? That fox diving into the snow. It's all about the story and and the reason behind that, whether it's expressed for you through words or or the drawings that you make.
00:22:41
Speaker
And it's so clear to see the inspiration when you look at these. When I'm looking through your book, I can put myself in an imaginary moment of where you may have seen this bird or where you've seen this fox, whatever it may be. But I'd love to know what's most important for you. Is it the item or the inspiration that you collect or the story that comes from it?
00:23:01
Speaker
I think it's the, well, okay, so is, as well, it's like, is this a chicken or egg? Because without the, with without the source of inspiration, you don't have a story, right? So it's like, if you don't have that pinecone, if you don't have that fox, if you don't have these animals, then there's no seed, there's no starting place for any of then the stories to become. so i I kind of, I can't see one without the other. And I think that for me, what's really fortunate is, you know, I'm i'm able to have the the privilege to witness any of this, like regardless of my location, to be able to see these things, but then also to be able to have a free imagination, you know, and like not be so locked into rules or the black and white of anything.
Affordable Collecting
00:23:53
Speaker
And again, like going back to my mom, I think just like,
00:23:56
Speaker
She really encouraged me to be a very imaginative child. And so I think that that just really provided me a ah level of freedom in magical thinking that maybe a lot of people didn't have or don't have, or it's been squashed by becoming an adult in a way. like right of fun So you know I think that i couldn't I couldn't think and develop these stories without the inspiration, but I also couldn't develop the stories without having that support and encouragement. A question that I get asked often, you know, off of off of the air here, for lack of a better term, is how can I get into collecting? How can I, you know, collect something? It feels so expensive and intimidating and all these things. And I know you're a big believer in the contrary of that, that it doesn't have to be expensive, right? You don't have to shell out a bunch of money to collect something.
00:24:56
Speaker
Has that been something that, you know is does that harken back to the the philosophies and lessons that your mom taught you? Or is that something that you learned over time? Because it's really easy to get caught up in collecting things that cost a lot of money.
00:25:09
Speaker
Right. yeah i mean i think like I think because I've never had like a lot like a ton of money, it was never like i was like, well, that's not really a temptation like for me. so I was just recently in New York for for the book tour and I was running through the park and I was looking at all of the amazing different seed pods that fall off of the trees and the different leaves and the different barks. and I thought, like what a magnificent treasure this place is right in the middle of Brooklyn. right and so I think that if you if you do want to have access, no matter where you are,
00:25:50
Speaker
there's always in a point of entry that is absolutely free to discover the wonders of nature, not to feel like I'm on like a PBS show. but like there I wouldn't be mad if my show is a PBS show, so let's keep it going.
00:26:08
Speaker
great um So I think the beauty in the beauty in collecting things from nature is it's If they're there right so even in a city even on one of the biggest cities there are moments and in green spaces and opportunities to find a lot of just treasures that are just around and accessible so i think that that's something that's it's transport to no matter where you are.
00:26:35
Speaker
you can get into collecting that. And then, you know, my my what I really enjoy about collecting that is then that that grows my fascination and my interest in learning more about the natural environment. So now, even if there's not a lot of um really interesting natural flora and fauna in an area,
00:26:54
Speaker
there will be birds. So like now when I go places, I love to think about like, oh, what birds are passing through. and And I might see a lot more birds in cities than I even see here. So I think that it's a very accessible thing to get into. um It's probably maybe the most accessible thing to get into collecting is just these, you know, moments in nature.
00:27:18
Speaker
Yeah, and you know it's something that I find myself doing more and more often and something that I think is not preached more, which is kind of making something out of nothing, which is really a ah big philosophy of of coral and tusk. right It's taking this leaf and turning it into something that's tangible. right But I just find myself doing that even a lot more at home.
00:27:39
Speaker
you know, using a champagne bucket for florals instead of going out and buying a vase or a vintage cigar box to store napkins. And I love the idea of just using things that have been collected or that you already have and displaying them differently. Does it ever occur to you though that people collect coral and tusk pieces and are always waiting for your next drawings and kind of sitting on the sidelines seeing what you do next?
00:28:08
Speaker
that's So nice. Yeah. we I mean, we're we're extremely blessed with the people who do collect coral and tusk items. um You know, it's a great spot to have had this business now for 16, almost 17 years this December, because there are some people who still write and say, Oh, I i got this.
00:28:29
Speaker
at the first flea market. you know i remember your I remember your tent and I got this t-shirt for my little one and now he's off to college. and you know it's like it's There are these really amazing stories and people who would say, I visited your first studio in Williamsburg and I still remember your Mastiff Paco and I loved being able to just come in and see all of the little things. and so There are these really incredible collectors that have, they' you know they're day one-ers, they've been there since the very beginning, that do continue to support what we do. And even if that's just, you know it's a like, it's an interest, it's a shout out on whatever, it's them telling their friend, um it's them keeping it in their kid's you know treasure chest of of like items that they want them to hold on to and have for a long time.
00:29:19
Speaker
So there there are people who are interested in seeing about you know what what am I working on next.
Creating 'In Stitches'
00:29:27
Speaker
Sure. I want to make sure that we talk about your book in stitches. um As I mentioned earlier, I have a copy that came from you and I absolutely adore it. I feel like every time I'm going to look through it, I'm going to find something new. But I'm curious to know, were there any similar processes to creating the book in comparison to how you collect things?
00:29:50
Speaker
Yes, and I mean, it was so fun. The entire book process was just so fun because um i'm working with Rizzoli was really fantastic and they really gave pretty much total freedom on how to organize the book and what what are the contents, what's the flow, like how's it all going to work out.
00:30:09
Speaker
and so you know, when doing it at first, it's like, I'm going to draw on my collected memories of every single thing that I've ever loved about books. Like, I wanted it to have like, every single interactive moment and way to do this and way to do that. ah When I just realized, well, you know, the purpose of this is to really show and share um and open up the archive of a pretty enormous collection of design one-of-a-kind you know designs that I've done to this point. I've made over 3,000 original drawings and then embroideries. And that's ah that's a lot, right? And no home can have all of these items. And what a beautiful um vehicle in which to display this collection of original artwork.
00:30:56
Speaker
And so it was just so exciting to think about, OK, well, here's our focus. we're really gonna We're really going to try to share um the designs themselves rather than products, and really focus on like what is the art behind each one of these things, and then what is the collection of memories and stories that ah support each one of these individual um artworks.
00:31:20
Speaker
And so then it was like, oh, well how how should we share this? Well, let's let's organize it by um individual type of like regional theme. ah you know So it's coastal, or it's woodland, or it's desert. um And then honing in on what what which designs really help best communicate my fascination with those individual areas of natural habitats ah and animals that belong in that region.
00:31:50
Speaker
A big part of collecting anything is how we store it or how we archive it. you know for our personal whatever you know It's our personal pleasure to you know store it in a nice box depending on what it is or to store it on a nice poster, whatever it may be. We all have this way that we like to store our collections or display them.
00:32:11
Speaker
And yours, you know I find it so interesting because a lot of it is ideas or photos that you've probably taken you know as inspiration for your drawings. How do you archive and organize your collection?
00:32:24
Speaker
So we have several systems in place for that. So we have the um we have a ah Google spreadsheet that has a link to all of the different things. So we're pretty organized in that. We have the a link to the original drawing that I have it as a scan in Dropbox. And then we have I have the physical drawing that I keep in flat files here in my studio.
00:32:48
Speaker
and then We also have um you know the inspiration photos for that also archived along with all of the product photography that we've ever taken um of each of those items.
00:33:02
Speaker
and because we copyright everything that we do. And then of all of the original prototypes, I keep here also in my studio, and I organize those by the products that they are. So at this point, we have this, um it's pretty much like a spreadsheet system in conjunction with organized bins that are you know weatherproof and all that kind of stuff, ah flat files.
00:33:26
Speaker
And then we also use a visual tool that's just like a Google Slides, where we organize every single design by theme, but also by product category. So if we're thinking about something like, well, what what are all the things that we've ever done with foxes on them? Now we have a quick visual guide to be able to go back and look at those things. So that's just a really helpful organizational tool that we have recently just developed, which is really nice.
00:33:52
Speaker
You describe In Stitches as this celebration and you know of discovery and nostalgia. And sometimes when we review our collections or we start to kind of dig through them, it sparks an interest in revisiting a certain area or sector, or in your case, a certain maybe piece of nostalgia that you drew forever ago. When you were making the book, did it remind you of a collection ah you thought you could perhaps revisit on a larger scale at some point?
00:34:22
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, it's sort of like being able to amass all of these things in one place was like, oh, well, it is a like it's a collection of a body of work that's like you know years and years and years worth of of collecting and doing. And then it's like, well, ah what are these other types of collections that I want to be building? And it did get me thinking, well,
00:34:49
Speaker
I've focused on these certain areas. Are there other areas that I would really like to be thinking about? Or what what have I not yet explored? right so So some of it is just about thinking, this is a pretty fleshed out arena of thought. like How else can we platform this into other types of of collecting? and you know and then And then it gets more about, like well,
00:35:17
Speaker
ah thinking, you know, and and then like, one really fun part was like, developing artwork for the book itself, like in making these collages, and then making these one of a kind pieces and then thinking, well, how can we how can we catapult some of what we're doing into more three-dimensional forms or more sculptural forms or art just for art's sake. And that's something that was so fun about doing the book, too, is that like you're really thinking about it from and from an art standpoint um rather than a product standpoint. Right. I'm sure it gave you a ton of ideas that hopefully we'll see down the road.
00:35:54
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. I mean, it becomes this, it becomes this totally different thing because you think like, oh, a book is that while just you have plenty of content, just throw it together. That's, that's kind of easy, right? Like there is plenty of content to work with, but then really learning how to be intentional and meaningful in every single thing. So like,
00:36:15
Speaker
you know For example, for the chapter intro pages, i there's ah ligito with so many designs, it could have been so easy just to use something that we already had to introduce the chapter, but then thinking, well, no, the point of the chapter intro page is to really set the tone for the viewer for the rest of the of the content that they're going to be seeing. So be very intentional on what's the scale of the thing that I want to use on this page that's this size.
00:36:43
Speaker
So instead of working backwards where you're using contents you already have is really about creating new new types of things that are specifically engineered for this purpose and what ah sort of emotional response is your reader going to have by seeing it in this context versus using existing components. I love it.
00:37:07
Speaker
Before we wrap it up with the collector's dream rundown, I picked three of my favorite moments and designs from the book. And I would love it if you could tell me something about each collection. Perhaps it's something that you collected that inspired it or the story behind it. And the first one is from page 48 and 49. I think that maybe be these are perhaps some of my favorite pieces that you've done and it's these merit badge drawings and. I love them because they could be so interesting in so many different applications like I want these as patches for to put on a vintage jacket or a vintage hat. I love how you show it as a textile on a chair and you know they'd be so great framed as a physical patch almost and you know in a home library or in a kids bedroom tell me about these because it's truly I think my favorite piece.
00:37:55
Speaker
Oh, that's so nice. Oh, that's great. um Yeah, so I was, up so I was a brownie, you know, the you're a brownie before you're a Girl Scout. And um I was obsessed with the handbook. There's something about the color palette the of the handbook when I was a brownie that was like just totally satisfying. And so in the layout of it was just perfect. And so like in each of these pages, I mean, the first part like was a little boring to me, but then it was like visually stunning. So each of these pages would have a badge on it and a description as to how you can earn the badge.
00:38:28
Speaker
And I was like, Oh my God, I'm obsessed. Like I want all of these badges. I want to do whatever it takes um to collect all of these badges. And that's how it started. And so I just loved the idea, like now becoming an adult, like I loved the idea of being able to have something and that symbolized your investment in learning about something. And that might be nothing you've ever learned about before. And knowing enough, and then a lot of it's being in service of others, which I love,
00:38:57
Speaker
that component, and then building your your skill bank ah in order to earn this badge and then collecting those. And then that is a symbol of your, you know, ability to do many different types of things and learn about many different types of things, which I loved. And so I thought, well, a fun way to do that is to honor each of these little animals and then build, you know, a decorative elements around each of them um to help symbolize that you know, something about the the bear, or I love the way that there's these little stars that come off the fox, um and then to put them together in this overall format of this running yardage. But we did start out in the beginning where they were just individual badges that were pins that would go on, you know, you could put it on anything.
00:39:44
Speaker
Yeah, amazing. i mean I think they would be so fun as like patches that you could sew on or iron on to a jacket or or a hat or um something fun like that. i I just thought that they were ah such a ah throwback to exactly what you said. It reminded me of of you know Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts type of things that you would get for for doing a good job.
00:40:05
Speaker
Yes. Yeah, exactly. And like who doesn't who doesn't love that? like who Who doesn't want like a little, like, here's a really darling thing for something that you did a great job on. Right. Yeah, I love it. The next one is on page 66 and 67, and you show a photo that you took in Japan of this group of ferns. And I chose this because I think it's the perfect depiction of what we've kind of talked about this whole episode. And it's finding something in nature and then turning it into a collection of yours. And you know while there's a lot of things in the book that that show that, I just thought that this one was was quite interesting. Do you remember the moment that you saw that? Yeah, totally. We were just walking on this path. um And I love ferns in general. And yeah, I mean, have you been to Japan?
00:40:51
Speaker
I've been to China a few times, but I've never been to Japan, and it's like on my bucket list. Okay, well, I kid not ah cannot encourage a trip there enough to anybody, but you would really, you you you specifically, you would freak out and absolutely love it, I think. I think so too. Yeah, so we were walking along this path, and like there's there's just overwhelming beauty at every turn in Japan, and there's just like, um A sense of calm even in really busy environments there's a sense of of calm and organization and a respect for your natural surroundings and so you're kind of in like a really great mindset when you're there.
00:41:34
Speaker
and That makes it easier, I think, to recognize these really beautiful moments because you're really much more open and perceptive to these things. So it was just a simple like glancing over. I think I had stopped the time I shoot. I don't even remember exactly, but I just glanced over and I saw this perfect organization of ferns that were exactly the front, the ends of the tips of the fronds were making just in perfect circle around, leaving a little opening. And I'm obsessed with pockets. I've always been obsessed with pockets. Like when I was little, I asked my mom to sew pockets into every single garment that I had because I loved like, I would break the tips off of Pussy Willows and I would ah draw eyeballs on them and stick them in my pocket so I would always have little friends that would carry around.
00:42:21
Speaker
And so the way that these ferns made this pocket was just total perfection. And so um that really lent itself to thinking, like well, what who would live in this like little pocket of ferns? And so again, like here's where it's fun. It's like, well, you know something, like obviously a fox couldn't live in there because the scale doesn't make any sense. But how fun is it to imagine like ah this fox? Because also in Japan,
00:42:49
Speaker
the foxes really prominent at a lot of shrines that you might visit. And there's all these really interesting depictions of these different types of fox that are there. And so I thought, well, how wonderful because a fox is a central character in the Koral and Tusk collection. So I thought, well, how fun would it be to have this fox that really is prevalent in both Japan and in here live in this perfect organization of of these ferns?
00:43:18
Speaker
Yeah, no, it's great. You can easily imagine you know peeking through the fern and seeing the little fox face in there. it's It's great. The next one is page 208 and 209 and the holidays are coming up and I felt it would be perfect to talk about the ornaments that you show in the book because I feel as if You know, these are something that you could gift to people or something that you can collect for yourself. And they just, they they decorate a tree so well. And they're so fun with the drawings that they they have this vintage feel to them. Do you do new ornaments every year?
00:43:51
Speaker
We do, and here's what's funny, so your your question and comment earlier about collectors for a long time with coral and tusk items, you know, every year we get sent photos from people who have been collecting these ornaments since, I mean, I can't remember exactly the first year we started doing them, maybe it was,
00:44:10
Speaker
two thousand eleven or maybe two thousand and ten In any case, we've been doing them for a long time. So some of these trees that these customers send us photos of will have ornaments from that long ago that have been long discontinued because, to answer your current question, Yes, we introduce new ornaments every single holiday. um And so by this point, we've done like, you know, ah hundreds of different designs for the ornaments. And so it's really fun to see what people have collected over the years and see their trees and
00:44:46
Speaker
who they've given them to and how they've grown over the you know as their families have grown and they're you know now their kids are having kids. and it's just a it's It's really great to share these as collectible items.
Future Collecting Plans and Reflections
00:45:00
Speaker
Yeah, I know, they're fantastic. All right, Stephanie, let's wrap it up with the collector's dream rundown. You can answer these questions based on any of the things that you've collected, whether it's collections you've made or whether it's ideas that you've had. So the first question is, what's the one that got away?
00:45:16
Speaker
So the one that got away is um we went on a trek in Nepal and we went to this really beautiful place called Tiger Tops, Karnali Lodge, and it's on the periphery of the Bardia National Park in Nepal.
00:45:29
Speaker
and um When we got there, it was like amazing. We went on an elephant. We saw this rhino and a baby rhino. And then we saw these tiger tracks. And so we saw these tiger tracks, and we were were right behind it. And we just missed seeing the tiger itself. So that's the one that got away. Next time. Yeah, next time. Next time.
00:45:52
Speaker
The on deck circle. So what's next for you in collecting? Maybe it's something that you recently saw and you're working on the next collection or what comes to mind? Yes. So I'm turning 50 next year. And so I want to go to Bhutan. We've just booked a trip there.
00:46:08
Speaker
And it's somewhere I've wanted to go for many, many years. And the reason I want to go there is, you know, they have so many different things that are very specific to the country itself. And they have these blue poppies that are actually in a different class from the other poppies. They don't produce opium. um And they are a national, they're the national flower of Bhutan in a national symbol because they grow in these really harsh, very, very like high altitude harsh environments. And so I'm really excited to be able to hopefully see some of these blue poppies. And then there's also animals that I've never seen before there. So they have, um it's like a yak, it's like a takimind and they have um
00:46:50
Speaker
these blue sheep. And then there's a very small chance that we could see a snow leopard, but theoretically, we could see a snow leopard. That'd be amazing. I can't wait to see what what collections you come up with from that trip. The unobtainable. So this is one that, you know, i I phrase as too expensive in a museum, a private collection, just complete unobtainium. So maybe this is something that you're not able to see with your eyes to really ah get a good enough picture to to draw it or or whatever comes to mind.
00:47:19
Speaker
Yeah. so it's funny I started thinking about this and I was thinking, well, like, oh man, like maybe a wooly mammoth. But then I was listening to this podcast and there's this company called Colossal and they are really working on bringing wooly mammoths back from extinction. So I'm going to table that. I'm not going to say that because maybe that's within our lifetimes. Who knows?
00:47:41
Speaker
but i won say but yeah um So bison they used to be in every single one of the United States except for on the coast um and in the deserts of Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of New England.
00:47:57
Speaker
But they they were the biggest, um most widespread herbivore species on the continent of the United States. And I would have loved to have been able to see so many bison ah roaming all around this country. The page one rewrites. So if you could collect anything else, whether it costs money or not, money is no object. If it does, what would it be?
00:48:20
Speaker
land um and I would land land for conservation um for like just a preservation of habitat of wild habitats it's so that they would not be developed ah so that wildlife would have the opportunity to thrive you know like we At this point, only 4% of the Earth's mammals are wild animals, um and half of those are marine mammals. So when you think about it, you know, like at the at the jump, 100% of animals were were wild, and now it's only 4%.
Conclusion and Book Giveaway
00:48:56
Speaker
So I would um collect as much land as possible for conservation and preservation. Amazing.
00:49:04
Speaker
How about the goat? Who do you look up to in the collecting world or who do you just think is a great collector? Well, I would say Beatrice Potter. It's not exactly like she was a collector in the way that she spent a lot of time outside observing and then illustrating the natural world around her. You know, she was a really collector of of information and She also got the first patent on making a stuffed toy from a fictional character in 1903, which I didn't really realize. I knew that it was important, but in 1903, yeah, she was the first one. And so she was really all of these things that she was a collector of these
00:49:47
Speaker
it the ability to translate her fascination with the world um into illustrations to share with with you know all of us for you know hundreds of years. The hunt or the ownership? Which one do you enjoy more?
00:50:02
Speaker
Oh, the hunt. um i'm a real like i mean experience I'm an experienced maximalist. so like If I'm going anywhere, I do a lot of research before I go because I want to have the best of. like i want to If I'm going somewhere that I'm going to go to a city, I'm going to research like the best of the type of food that I want to experience in that place. or If I'm going to a new um natural place, I really want to know, oh, this is going to be a great trail run, or I'm going to study the Topo maps and figure out if there's like a walk-up peak that I'd be able to hike to. um And so so it's really about the the build and the the hunt and the gathering of the information first. I mean, of course, the ownership is that you have these experiences that will drive and inform everything else that you do, but it's really about the build.
00:50:55
Speaker
Most importantly, do you feel that you were born with the collector's gene? I mean, I think like not in a traditional sense, but in the sense discussed today, I feel like, oh, yeah, totally. I love it. Stephanie, thank you so much for coming on the show today. It's been such a pleasure to talk to you and as a thank you to everybody who listens. And since you sent me a book, I'm going to pay it forward. And someone needs to email me when they listen to this episode, Cameron at collector's gene.
00:51:24
Speaker
and the first person to email me, I'm gonna send you a copy of Stephanie's book because it's just fantastic. And I think any collector should have this book at their home. So thank you again for coming on the show. I can't wait to see everything that you do at Coral and Tesco and Forward. And it's been ah such a pleasure to have you on today. Oh, Karen, thank you so much. You're an absolute joy to speak with and so, so fun.
00:51:48
Speaker
All right, that does it for this episode. Thank you all for listening to Collector's Gene Radio.