I began Piper's Place as a side project while I was in my second year at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising (FIDM.) I wanted to keep all my Illustrator and Photoshop skills I had acquired in tip-top shape while I was taking my other classes. I soon realized my personal projects could easily be turned into products. Having run small websites and businesses before, I decided start a small business that I could manage while I was finishing up my degree. I was very excited at the prospect of being able to run another small business, but for the first time I could apply my skills from school into this new business. Within no time, Piper's Place was born.

The concept behind Piper's Place is creating beautiful products while leaving the lowest footprint possible- hence my method of digital shipping. I have always been a bit of a DIYer, so I was very excited to share this concept with others. My method of shipping products through email means there is no packaging materials, no delivery vehicles, and no gas is needed to get my products out to customers. Products sent as files versus pre-printed also gives customers options, which is very important to me. Choosing their paper and where they choose to have the files printed are just a few of these options my customers get to decide on. This promotes shopping at and supporting local business. Having the ability to choose any paper can lead to customers selecting eco-conscious options. All together, this creates a healthier, more sustainable environment, while still delivering my products to my customers (worldwide!) that I could have shipped to them the standard way.

Many people have asked me about how I came up with the name Piper's Place and why everything in the shop is signed "Piper and Jamie." Piper is the name of my kitty who I adopted in June of 2011 when she was just 4 months old. From day one she has always been full of energy and life and has been terrific help with any project, meal prep, packages received in the mail, and pest control (only the occasional unfortunate spider or fly.) I had thought of many names for my Etsy store, but Piper's Place really stuck with me.

Since college, I've been focusing on my career and creating new items for Piper's Place has slowed down considerably, but I am in no way done. I see many great things for the future of Piper's Place, new products, more customers, and much more!

-Jamie