Welcome
Hello and welcome to my website! My name is Tori Higa and I love to draw, paint, craft, design, and create. I plan to share my work and inspirations through this site. Please feel free to wander around and check back often for updates. Be sure to stop by my blogfor all of the up to the minute news and latest happenings with my business.
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You can see more of my designs here, on Cardstore.com, a great site to get custom photo cards and other types of greeting cards.
Look for some of my work in the International Sanctuaryonline store. You can now "purchase with purpose" select handmade cards to help fight human trafficking.
If you are a wholesale customer, click here to see the iSanctuary 2010 PDF catalog. Just send an e-mailfor the wholesale pricelist and terms.
Thanks for stopping by!
About...
I launched Tori Higa Stationery in January of 2004. My duties included product development, illustration, graphic design, sales, marketing, bookkeeping, manufacturing, sourcing materials, etc. So after the birth of our first baby in September 2007, I knew that I had too much on my plate and something had to give. I knew that I wanted to focus on design (and not all of the business stuff) as well as rejoin life again in general. So when the opportunity arose to partner with International Sanctuary, I jumped at the chance. International Sanctuary now handles all of the business and manufacturing for Tori Higa Stationery and I am freed up to continue to design for the line as well as take on other design and illustration projects. Wendy Hicks, co-founder of International Sanctuary, is a close friend who has done an amazing job with continuing my business and helping the brave young women in her organization build a brighter future. Needless to say, I am thrilled with what International Sanctuary is doing and feel honored to be a part of it. I also love my new life as a full time mom and full time designer – my two favorite, most challenging, most inspirational, and rewarding jobs to date. (You can read more about "the merge" here.)
I recently moved from the Los Angeles area to Starkville, Mississippi and although it's very different, I am loving the change of pace, making new friends, exploring new areas over the weekend, spending lots of time with my amazing husband and son, trying to cook dinners on a more regular basis (or at least heating things up more), enjoying nap time for my son – which equals design time for me, and finding inspiration all around. (But I still miss my friends, family, the beach, Trader Joes, and the Coffee Bean everyday!)
I am busy working on some exciting projects - but never too busy to take on another job if it's the perfect fit. Please feel free to contact me any time for comissioned pieces, illustration projects, or liscensing opportunities.
August 2010
Inspiration for Artistic Expression:
My decision to become an artist was definitely inspired by my parents. Although my parents are not artists themselves, I never had any reason to doubt the possibility of becoming an artist when I grew up. I am so grateful for that undying support and encouragement that they still offer to this day.
My husband, Branden, has also been an unbelievable inspiration in my artistic life. I am convinced that I wouldnt be in this profession if it wasnt for his patience, encouragement, constructive criticism, unending support, and creativity.
I am also of course inspired by the most amazing group of girlfriends a girl could want, design blogs, flea markets, coffee shops, Anthropologie, people watching, old ladies with a story, tea cups, great shoes, Italy, old sketch books, pretty pictures, patterns, Audrey Hepburn, art galleries, art books, textiles, and anything vintage.
Inpsiration for Vintage Fabric Handmade Greeting Card Line:
Margaret Higa, my husband's late tutu ("tutu" means "grandmother" in Hawaiian), is someone who used her creativity her entire life. She was always working on a new project or learning a new craft even in her old age. I think that was one of the things that kept her so young at heart. An accomplished seamstress, Tutu decided to take up quilting when she was in her early seventies. She enjoyed the art of quilting for the remaining years of her life. During a period of about twelve years she made over 400 quilts! She even kept a portfolio of all of her work. At her memorial service her son asked everyone in attendance to raise their hand if Tutu had made something for them at one time or another. Practically everyone raised his or her hand. Thats not to mention all of the quilts that she made for the Pediatric Aids Foundation with her quilting group.
In a round about way, she was actually the one who inspired me to start my stationery company. After cleaning out her sewing room , she gave me a huge pile of vintage fabric from the 1960s. Not knowing how to sew, but not being able to turn down the offer of yards and yards of fabulous fabric, I decided to incorporate the fabric into my card designs. For that reason, I have dedicated my Vintage Fabric cards in her loving memory.
What inspires me most about Tutu is the fact that she never stopped learning and she used her creativity in so many ways. When I reach old age, I hope to have the energy to keep designing and learning new crafts just as she did.
Margaret Higa as a beautiful young woman
(long before her fabric collection and quilted works of art would touch so many)
Click on each image to view a sampling of my Cardstore.com designs. Please visit the Cardstore.com site to see my entire collection.
My handmade greeting card wholesale customers (past and present) include over 300 boutiques as well as established chains Anthropologie and Kates Paperie.
All cards are handmade with vintage fabric unless otherwise noted. Proceeds for this line go to International Sanctuary, benefiting survivors of human trafficking.
Click on each image to view a sampling of my illustrations.
Click on each image to view a sampling of my custom stationery.
I have done work for Amy Lau Design, Victoria's Secret PINK, Kitson, and various private clients.
Please feel free to view a sampling of my handmade greeting card line
All cards are handmade with vintage fabric unless otherwise noted.
I have been fortunate to have had my work feautured in some very inspirational publications - both online and in print. Click on each title for more information.
ONLINE
At Home With Kim Vallee
Brides.com blog
The Haystack Needle
Cardstore.com blog
Shop Friends
Little Designer Book
Hapa Hale
Country Living blog
Print + Pattern
Design for Mankind
Paper Pony
Pink Bathtub Designs
IN PRINT
SHOP for my customizable greeting cards, invitations, and announcements at Cardstore.com.
SHOP for my book, Today's Top Stationery Artists and Tody's Top Stationery Artists 2on Amazon.com.
SHOP for my customizable plates, mugs, and more at Ink Garden.
VISIT my blogto see what I’m up to (and please feel free to leave a comment if the mood strikes – I love comments!)
CHECK OUT my post on the Craft For Health blog.
READ my posts over at Mom Inc. Daily. I am thrilled to be a regular contributor to Cat Seto’s brilliant collaborative blog where “creative moms unite.”
READ more about me on Another Girl At Play
- one of my all time favorite inspirational sites that the lovely Alex Beaucampcreated long before the design blog craze took over the web by storm.
SUPPORT International Sanctuaryby learning about their cause, spreading the word, volunteering, or making a
“purchase with purpose” from their online store.
Contact
All wholesale inquiries for my handmade greeting card line should be directed to:
Wendy Hicks.
310.779.8700
wendyk_isanctuary.org
Please feel free to contact me directly for illustration work, custom design, or just to say hello.
tori_torihiga.com
Tori Higa, 2004-2011 All Rights Reserved
