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BEHIND THE SCENES IN BROOKLYN

Design Focused, Obsessed with Beauty

We are passionate about our collaborative design process. It connects us to our customers and our artisans, and pushes us to make products that delight in every detail.

  • 1. A Spark of Inspiration

    The design process begins with a spark – either a collection we’ve been wanting to create to celebrate a specific theme, a request from our customers, or a traditional technique of one of our artisans.

  • 2. Brainstorming

    The entire Brooklyn Team will sit down and brainstorm ideas for specific ornaments, talk about which artisan group would be the best fit, and how the new ornament would fit into our existing collections. Then, one of our designers will take all that input and create some detailed sketches.

  • 3. Prototyping

    After another round of feedback, they’ll create a sample out of felt and/or a digital Tech Pack. The whole team oohs and aahs over the sample, sometimes makes a few final tweaks, and then we send them to the artisan.

  • 4. Iterations

    The artisans create a sample based on ours so that we can collaboratively iron out any issues. Whatsapp is our best friend in this process: sharing photos of samples in progress back and forth, asking and responding to questions, and being able to translate from Russian to English and back again.

  • 5. The Artisans' Turn

    The artisan group will prepare to handmake lots of each ornament by first reviewing the sample and pattern we send them. They let us know their price for each design, based on the skill, time, and materials needed.

  • 6. Launch

    After the final artisan-made sample is approved, the artisans shift into production mode. For our felt ornaments, the artisans process and then hand-dye the raw wool they buy from local shepherds for every color featured in the ornament. They use a combination of wet felting and needle felting depending on the design. An intricate dance of cutting, sewing, assembling, embroidering, and beading follows.

Our Brooklyn Team

  • Anne

    Founder, she/her

    Anne loves artisanal crafts and the holidays. She loves traveling and meeting artisans in their home studios and communities. She has spent extensive time in China, Kyrgyzstan, and Central Asia.

  • Harrison

    Head of Product Design & Production, he/him

    A fashion and textile designer by trade, Harrison has been spearheading product design across all materials, and leading our artisan partnerships around the world.

  • Tess

    Head of Operations, she/her

    An engineer and artist by training, Tess keeps Craftspring organized and running efficiently, doing it all with heart and creativity.

  • Ana

    Web and Inventory Manager, she/her

    With more than 8 years at Craftspring, Ana knows all of the ins and outs, and keeps our thousands of products organized and our inventory accurate. Ana also runs our wholesale business.

  • Pia

    Designer, she/her

    An avid knitter and seamstress, Pia is the creative force behind our new knit collection, and has designed many of our best-selling felt ornaments.

  • Edmund

    Designer, they/them

    A textile and fashion designer by training, Edmund works on designing, prototyping and sampling many of our new and intricate felt designs. They designed our sold-out pizza rat ornament this year.

  • Erika

    Illustrator & Graphics, she/her

    With training in industrial design,
    Erika is the talent behind our technical drawings, illustrations and animated graphics.

  • Rebecca

    Designer, she/her

    A fiber and visual artist by training, Rebecca creates our whimsical window displays, works on our embroidered linen collections, and helps lead our photoshoots.

  • Merissa

    Social Media & Customer Experience, she/her

    A talented photographer specializing in concert and portrait photography, Merissa creates content for our social media platforms and is part of our customer experience team.

  • Our Season Staff!

    A wonderful group of creatives and artists who help run the Holiday Markets and online order fulfillment to make each Holiday season a success!

We Love Hearing From You

Have an ornament idea?!

We get our greatest inspiration for new products and ornaments from customers like you! Have an idea for an ornament?

Email us online@craftspring.com