From Working at Target to a Velvet Craft Gold Mine
Artistpreneur Adrienne Page, founder of Velvet Raptor, lives and works in Minneapolis, the headquarters of Target. She did a stint at the corporate giant after college. “It was just sucking my life away,” she says. “I quit and bought a camera.”
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With that Nikon film camera, Page taught herself photography while working as a manager of a couture bridal salon. “I was always inventive and creative and I loved art. I should have been an art major but I thought, what would I do with that?”
Page parlayed her bridal industry experience into wedding photography. “I would have these velvet albums made for my clients. That was included in my packages.” The photojournalistic, documentary style of her shots caught the eye of major magazines. When she needed samples of her work, she had custom velvet albums made as portfolios.
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“I just kept having this obsessive vision of velvet photo albums,” says Page. She spent years researching production. She wanted just the right fabric and had to figure out sourcing for all of the components. She finally determined how to make her product cost effective but true to her sensibility.
Her old school, classic photo albums are hand sewn of acid free paper, covered in imported velvet then de-bossed in her studio with an antique press. “It’s a vintage machine from the 1800s. I found it in Pennsylvania and had it modified to fit my albums.”
Images courtesy of Velvet Raptor
She named her venture Velvet Raptor because raptors are gliding and strong. “They aren’t a tweety bird. They reflect the velvet feel of my product and there’s a sleekness to the word ‘raptor.’ It also crosses the line between masculine and feminine,” she explains.
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Mohawk, a socially responsible paper mill, supplies the acid-free paper. It is the first U.S. paper mill to match 100% of its electricity with renewable wind power and the first U.S. premium paper mill to shift toward carbon neutral production.
Everything Velvet Raptor sells is assembled using 100% recycled book board and non-toxic glue. Page’s bindery hand sews the paper and puts on the imported velvet in hues of blush, dove, sea green, tourmaline, emerald, gold leaf, and avocado. Page does the debossing herself in Caslon, an actual vintage letterpress type. She makes many custom monograms. “I use heat and pressure to go into the velvet and really flatten it,” she says.
Many photographers use her albums now as a part of their packages. The lush, washed velvet covers are part silk, giving the albums a luxurious feel and sheen. They appeal to retails stores with a modern-vintage nostalgia, like Cursive in ABC Carpet and Home, and BHLDN, Anthropologie’s online bridal retailer. In addition to heirloom, archival-quality albums, Page makes eco-friendly greeting cards and guest journals. With elegance and an antique press, this Target-alum turned artisan has managed to find a creative way to leave an imprint.
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