CHENNAI: Talk of a kid's birthday party and what are a few things that come to your mind? Multi-coloured balloons, glazed confetti, and glitter? But when the guests walked into Mitul Ryan's first birthday party almost a year ago, they didn't see any of this. They gaped at the vibrant paper fans and models that brought life to the party hall. Seeing the guests' reaction, Grace Mayudharan, and Mayudharan Muralidharan, the child's parents beamed with pride. It was their creative brainchild.
Grace and Mayudharan in their shop Crafter's Nest in OMR make homemade miniature gifts, cards, scrapbooks and photo albums. They decorate event venues using paper crafts. Did we mention that they also conduct workshops for kids and adults in these crafts?
So how did it all begin? An engineering graduate, Grace always loved making paper crafts right from her younger days. "Back in college, I never bought greeting cards, but always loved making cards on my own. The designs were unique and my friends loved them," she recalls. But the idea of commercialising the hobby was Mayudharan's. "He suggested that I should start a Facebook page where I upload the photographs of these crafts and accept custom orders. It sounded like a great idea to me," says Grace.
Mayudharan, a tool-and-die maker helped Grace to make dies. Eventually, he was drawn towards the art of this craft, and decided to quit his job. He joined the Crafter's Nest. "Our parents weren't happy at all with this. We both are engineers and our parents obviously wanted us to have regular day jobs. But we were so passionate about paper crafts. It didn't turn out to be a bad option thankfully," says Grace.
Recently, Grace attended a decoupage workshop in Thailand, following which she conducted a few workshops in the city. "It is a new and interesting concept; many people are approaching us. We don't use plastic and it is completely eco-friendly," says Grace, whose products were recently displayed at the Summertime Madness Pop-up, a few weeks ago.
The couple's son Mitul often travels with them for events and workshops. "He helps us to set the backdrop and even knows where to keep the flowers and other items," she shares.