colette paperie | blawg-it: Aurora Farmer's Fair

Aurora Farmer's Fair

It just so happens I'm in town two years in a row for the "world's fair" otherwise known as the Farmer's Fair in Aurora, Indiana. It's a super tiny town but for some reason, this place is the place to be the last weekend of September.

Take a photo by the oddly lightweight, randomly placed white horse? Sure!

I'm nuts for nuts... always.

High school friends together again!

The skillful hands of the DEEP FRYING booth... disgusting. (read: awesome)

Angie enjoying some deep fried PICKLES.

Um, I feel this kid might be a little young to be "shooting" me. :)

Looks easy enough, right?

And she's down!


Trying my hand at the BB gun booth. Creepiest. Carnie. Ever.

Pretty good for the first time I've ever shot a gun?

I've always just called this "the quarters game"

A walking taco, my favorite fair food!

Second favorite, but I can only eat one bite of an elephant ear.

My name is Keli Catalano, and I'm a graphic/web/card designer in the Twin Cities, specifically Minneapolis. I graduated with a design degree from Columbus College of Art + Design in Columbus, Ohio in 2005.

I own the greeting card collection of Colette Paperie, my pride and joy. It is a truly rewarding experience designing and producing cards as my job. It allows me to be creative when the mood strikes, be productive when the mood strikes, and have some ice cream when the mood strikes... you get the idea. It's been an amazing experience so far and I've learned a lot about working out of a studio space (yeah, it's really just a second bedroom) and trying different ways to market my product. We are now featured in over 25 retail locations nationwide. Wowza!

I take Colette on the road to Chicago, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Grand Forks, Fargo, St. Louis, and Minneapolis of course whenever I can. You can find killer deals at the shows and you get some very valuable face time with moi! What more could you ask for?

The card process is very "wash, rinse, repeat"
(but I love it):

1) Design unique, clever or just plain ridiculous card + choose envelope color that complements it. (this is the hard part.)
2) Photograph card on an old antique wooden desk with my Canon Rebel (Thanks to my pal Amanda for changing my life by suggesting I buy one.)
3) Edit photograph to make it look legit.
4) Create a listing in the shop and share it wherever possible.
5) Cut card.
6) Fold card.
7) Package card.
8) Sticker package.
9) Update my wholesale catalog with the new card.
10) Repeat.

One hobby I've picked up just from being home all the time: Yoga. I can't recommend it enough for stretching out all your muscles and tendons and just making you feel good. And it's nice to say you're more flexible than you were when you were oh, 15. Which for me, was not all that different from now. But whatevs. Sitting at a computer all day really makes me addicted to hot yoga so I can actually move this old bag of bones around a little. I also have an ungodly amount of mindless old TV sitcoms on in the background while I design cards. I like some good tunes, too. Oh, and I am apparently decent at bowling. Other hobbies? Having a drink out to lunch with my old co-workers when they aren't allowed. :) I also take classes when I can to learn more crafty skillz I'll never, ever have time to use. There are about a million things I want to make/do but am bombarded by the cards.

For several years I worked in apparel companies doing technical design. If you don't know what technical design is, you probably don't want to know. I was stuck dealing with stitching, measurements of leg openings, different kinds of fits, many pointless meetings, dealing with sketchy overseas vendors, oh and possibly a personality disorder by the end of it. Those days are long gone and happiness has ensued.

Some obsessions of mine are elephants, antique white milk glass, square-shapes, victorian furniture, old circus posters, typography (obviously,) making my own soap, oh and flying by the seat of my pants. As the old saying goes...Life is short!

Want to know more?
Drop me a line and say hello!