Most-Used Tool: Adobe Photoshop
Website: 24thAveDesigns.Etsy.com
After her son was born, graphic designer Cristina Fox started her small business 24th Ave Designs in 2015. After making wedding invitations for three years, a different request pivoted the direction of Cristina’s business.
“I had somebody ask me if I could do a special gift for them, and I did,” Cristina says. “It just started taking off from there with the handwriting.”
That special gift was a tea towel emblazoned with a handwritten recipe that she restored. Cristina, who lives in Roanoke, uses programs like Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to restore handwritten recipes, letters and notes to be printed on towels and plates, among other things.
From well-loved family recipe cards to love letters sent years ago, Cristina can restore nearly anything.
“It really depends on how old the image is, but some of [the restorations] can take up to two hours,” Cristina says.
Customers send Cristina a scanned image of their keepsake, which she then restores and has printed on the ordered item.
“With the family recipe cards, it just brings back memories of people’s holiday seasons or their favorite food that they made with their grandparents or mothers,” Cristina says. “I’ve even had one person [who wrote] a letter to their girlfriend and asked to marry her that way through a canvas.”
Cristina says her customers come from all over the country.
“I like hearing the stories,” Cristina says. “I’m really close to my family, and I feel like it’s something really important that people can hand down to their kids.”