MADE: Card designer treasures her work – Greater Wilmington Business Journal

In a world dominated by bouncy, bridal calligraphy, Mirthos Papers greeting cards are most often splashed with a signature bold, unruly cursive lettering, the dots of is adorned as imperfect stars.My handwriting is the edgy wild child thats still beautiful, said Mirthos owner Hilary Meehan.

Playing alongside a popularized minimalism-heavy design realm, Meehans maximalist, yes-frills approach-easily distinguishes her cards on the rack.Last October, Meehan moved into a space provided by Brunswick Community Colleges Business and Industry Incubator program in the Leland Industrial Park, and earlier this year she fully rebranded Mirthos as its own entity apart from her other art ventures.The move to the Leland studio was prompted by a need to escape an over-filling spare bedroom that housed greeting card inventory, envelopes, packing supplies, art tools and of course, paper.I was busting out of a spare bedroom, she said. This is a great opportunity because this is a huge space.The Brunswick Community College program (open to non-students like Meehan) gives startups three years to rent space at a rate that moderately increases annually, and a team of business mentors regularly checks in to aid in her growth.Although she said she had long felt called to make the jump to start her own business, Mirthos launch may be better described as a push off a ledge. When the pandemic hit, Meehan was let go from her corporate, official jobby job, as she called it, at an architectural firm in Virginia.This is a pandemic love story here, she said. As an artist, architect and interior designer, Meehan said the circumstances prompted a lightbulb moment while surrounded by art supplies in her Richmond apartment and nowhere to go.It was just too heavy of a time to do a lot of really serious fine art and I just needed to do something loose and wild, she said.She started crafting abstract pieces that she then made into one-of-a-kind cards to connect with family and friends, and later began selling the cards as originals out of her familys Southport store, Lantanas Gallery & Fine Gifts.I always made art, Ive always tried to sell it and market it, and I also adore greeting cards and sending letters and mail to people, she said. Ive had pen pals all of my life, so it was just this immediate like, Wait a second. This is my business!For nine years, Meehan ran Lantanas, acting as the general manager, buyer and merchandiser to support about 80 local artists the gallery sources from. There, she had experience attending trade shows as a buyer the same venues she now attends as a seller, seeking to get her cards in the hands of more wholesale clients across the country.My time at Lantanas taught me innumerable things about small business operations, marketing and also wholesaling, she said. I knew I wanted to get into the wholesale markets and be the person offering my work.Most of her greeting card designs are text-heavy sprinkled with the occasional expletive often carrying uplifting or cheeky messages.Meehan draws inspiration from imagining a card for a specific person (whether it be a real-life friend, or design icons like Iris Apfel or Betsey Johnson).Greeting cards are the jewelry of the mailbox. And it is a completely affordable luxurious surprise that you can send to a friend. It always makes somebody smile, she said. I love mail. Youve got a hot pink envelope in your mailbox all of a sudden you know its not a bill.Though she still dabbles in periodic architecture or interior design gigs, Meehan is focused on scaling up Mirthos and expanding her product line. With more than 100 stock keeping units (SKUs), Meehan is adding more card designs and will soon introduce new stickers, notepads and more.As she grows the business and gains more wholesale traction, Meehan hopes to show other female creators that forging their own path is possible.She said, I love the idea of being an inspiration for other creative, and especially with young women in the area, that you can make your own business.

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MADE: Card designer treasures her work - Greater Wilmington Business Journal