{"id":10048,"date":"2016-05-14T09:54:17","date_gmt":"2016-05-14T13:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catchingfirefliesgifts.com\/blog\/?p=10048"},"modified":"2016-05-14T09:55:47","modified_gmt":"2016-05-14T13:55:47","slug":"oakland-press-feature-4-26-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.catchingfirefliesgifts.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/oakland-press-feature-4-26-16\/","title":{"rendered":"Oakland Press Feature 4.26.16"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beverly Hills artist builds handcrafts\u00a0stores one step at a time<\/a><\/h4>\n

\"april<\/a><\/p>\n

April McCrumb is the owner of the Yellow Door Art Market in Berkley, which showcases more than 70 local artists and their handmade goods. photo\u00a0David Brown<\/span><\/strong>
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\nWhen April McCrumb, a special education teacher from Beverly Hills, was taking down colorful bulletin board paper in her classroom one day, she decided not to throw away the scraps but recycle them instead.
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\nWhen she was a child, McCrumb used to make her own greeting cards and would write April\u2019s Ideas (a.i.) on the back of her cards, just like Hallmark did. Her love of paper and cards were rekindled that day in her classroom, and a paper artist was born.
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\nMcCrumb started designing whimsical paper photo holders and colorful, thoughtful picture frames.
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\n\u201cWhen I design frames, I always have in mind of what memories the piece is going to hold or what message is going to speak to someone,\u201d says McCrumb. \u201cI want my pieces to be a part of someone\u2019s story.\u201d
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\nIn 1996, with her husband, Steve, McCrumb started participating in local art fairs on the weekends while still teaching during the week. After succeeding for a number of years at the local fairs and acquiring a healthy number of wholesale accounts, McCrumb decided in 2000 to become officially incorporated and make a.i. paper designs official.
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\nMcCrumb and her husband then set out to find a location close to home that fit their vision for a brick-and-mortar store. McCrumb opened Catching Fireflies, a whimsical gift gallery, at 3117 12 Mile Road in Berkley.
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\n\u201cWe feel very blessed that the Berkley community has embraced us and helped us grow into what we are today,\u201d McCrumb says.
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\nThe store is bursting at the seams with handmade and Michigan-inspired products. At every turn there is something colorful and beautiful to look at. Many of the card frames and photo holders are inspirational and humorous. The store also offers many custom and special design options.
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\n\u201cSeeing the customer\u2019s face when we show them a frame with their child\u2019s name or wedding date always feels wonderful,\u201d McCrumb says.
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\nMcCrumb used her wholesale business to fund her first store space in Berkley and then asked her art fair friends for products to fill her store on consignment.
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\nIn keeping with the art fair vibe, in 2010 McCrumb spied an empty storefront at 3141 W. 12 Mile, a few doors down from her Catching Fireflies location in Berkley and decided to open up The Yellow Door Art Market, a year-round indoor art fair with more than 70 local artists selling their handmade products.
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\n\u201cWe want it to be a space where local artists can grow and expand their brand,\u201d McCrumb says.
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\nOne way McCrumb has attracted shoppers to her stores and to downtown Berkley in the past 15 years is by hosting the Berkley Art Bash. This is a fun event for the family and for shoppers who love handmade Michigan products.
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\n\u201cWe are continually blown away with our customers\u2019 choice to support independent businesses like ours. None of this would be possible without the support of the Catching Fireflies and Yellow Door Art Market fans,\u201d she says.
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\nThe Fireflies store motto is \u201cMaking Days Brighter,\u201d and McCrumb has made many days brighter for her customers \u2014 as well as for people around the country, where her a.i. paper products can be found in more than 400 stores in the United States, as well as in her Ann Arbor and Rochester Hills Catching Fireflies stores.
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\nThe Berkley Catching Fireflies opened in 2000, followed by a Catching Fireflies in Rochester that opened in 2006, and Catching Fireflies in Ann Arbor opened in 2012.
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\nMcCrumb is busy designing new a.i. paper products. She releases two to three new design products a year and is working on new flower-themed photo holders for the spring season.
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\nMany people dream of opening their own stores, and McCrumb has a few tips from her experience.
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\n\u201cI am a believer in baby steps. It is how we grew our business to the size it is today,\u201d McCrumb says. She suggests testing the market by participating in local art and craft fairs and starting with an online store.
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\n\u201cThis will help you navigate what direction to take so you can grow your business in the upcoming months and years,\u201d she says.
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\nCatching Fireflies also has locations at 203 E. University, Rochester, and 419 Detroit St., Ann Arbor. For more information, email\u00a0service@catchingfireflies.com<\/a>\u00a0or visit\u00a0catchingfireflies.com<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0yellowdoorartmarket.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n