Our Story

The Art of Letters, LLC was created out of an urgent need for a very unique and special gift for an equally unique and special friend. In December of 2007, with Christmas just a couple of days away, I set out on the quest of finding the 8 letters needed. I grabbed my overworked, almost worn out, somewhat broken camera, and to my excited amazement, the complete name was found within an hour. I then had the task of figuring out how to finish the piece. I had just taken the huge leap of faith months earlier, after much praying and many conversations with my husband, Chip, to leave the world of retail management. I was now living the dream of a lifetime being a stay at home Mom for our two amazing children, then, ages 3 1/2 and 6 months, for which I felt so blessed to have the responsibility of raising them in a Christian home and helping to lead them to Christ. We knew this was just another one of the many blessings from the Lord to have this opportunity, yet we were still being extremely cautious with our funds, since we had been adjusting to living solely off of Chip’s police officer salary. So, needless to say, the price, along with the time involved to have my gift framed, was not an option. I needed to be able to give it to my friend the following day, so I went through a couple of options on what I could do to make it look as good as it possibly could, then worked all through the night to get it ready, fighting with my computer most of the way. The time was here, she was opening her gift, and her excitement of realizing it was their last name from pictures I had taken, is something I will never forget! She almost immediately wanted one for another friend, then for another and another. She told me I needed to start selling them, which was so exciting, yet humbling at the same time, because this is someone who has an amazing sense of style for decorating, clothing...everything. Her business knowledge was also a huge help in the start up phase. Now here I go, I start thinking of names, researching them to see if they’re already taken, and one just really felt right for me, and it was available! The Art of Letters, LLC became a registered business just 2 weeks later, on Jan. 11, 2008, to be exact! I began driving around with the kids searching for more letters to build my collection, so I not only would have the complete alphabet, but multiple choices for each of the letters. I had always wondered what my talent was, and quickly realized this was it. I’ve always been more of a detail oriented person (which is the seeing letters in things and in different angles part), have always loved taking pictures for as long as I can remember (so this part was natural for me), and have sometimes considered myself just a bit obsessive-compulsive at times (therefore, I could verify taking many pictures for each letter - and it was ok!), so this was the perfect fit! It was something I loved doing as a hobby, taking pictures, and now, I’m able to transfer this into a business that supplements my husband’s income.

At this point, the friends that had received the gifts from my friend, were placing orders for others. And, the best arts and crafts event for spring in Birmingham was coming up soon. After going back and forth, I completed the application, nervously mailed it and received our notification that we were accepted just two weeks prior to the event. Talk about crazy...we now had to figure out our system, how much materials we needed to take, where to purchase them, and all the other pieces that come along with operating as a business for the first official time of being available to the public. We never slowed down - my best friend Jill and my Mom taking order after order, while I cut each mat by hand, and Chip completed the assembly line by putting each piece in its frame and handing the new artwork over to its very proud and excited new owner the same day! One customer actually cried because she was so touched to have something so special for her family - that was our biggest compliment and a wonderful confirmation right from the very start! All four of us conducting this business out of the 10x10 space for 3 days - we still laugh when we think back to how we began our journey. Chip’s parents also played a pivotal role by keeping the children so we could work our hearts out! They, along with my Mom, still enjoy time with the kids while we “go to work” and Jill still comes to help at some of our shows, as have a few other family members and friends along the way.

We were immediately, very pleasantly and humbly overwhelmed with the positive response and excitement from each and every person that saw our version and quality of the fresh new personalized artwork that we helped bring to this region. We have come a long way since we began. We knew from the very start (with our retail background) that we wanted to provide the highest quality and absolutely best service available from the very beginning. Chip decided that in order to provide the quality and variety of framing in the timeframe for which we required of ourselves, we needed to have our own frame shop. So, we heavily invested in framing equipment, and this has been instrumental in our customer service, as we not only provide the best quality, but also the quickest turn around time. In most cases, we can ship the following business day (which is unheard of for most companies), and for some, within just a couple of business days, which is another thing that sets us apart. There is the rare occasion of being out of stock of a particular frame, in which case, that usually just adds a a couple of days to the processing time.

We have been unbelievably blessed to have learned so much along the way thus far, met so many amazing customers and other vendors, some of which are now our friends, been to many places throughout the Southeast thanks to all of the wonderful arts and crafts venues, and have decorated many, many walls in homes and businesses in every state in this great country, The United States of America! We have even shipped to a military base in the Phillippines.

We give God all of the glory and can never thank Him enough for opening this amazing door for us! To have the opportunity to be home with my family, and own a business (which, that still sounds strangely funny to me), and to have the opportunity to share our story of His many blessings to others as we travel to different festivals and meet new people, is my dream come true! He never ceases to amaze me!