Meet the Owner
Hi friends!
I’m Kandice, the Creative-in-Charge around here at Barque. In 2008, I bought the store I had worked for in college (it was called Calligraphy Etc. at the time), and in 2014 we changed the name to Barque. Here are a few fun facts you may or may not know about me:
- My degree is in Interior Design from Texas Tech with a minor in Architecture. I’ve always loved design, but after a summer internship, I decided that was definitely not a career that would make me happy long term. 🏙
- I’m a self-taught graphic designer. Before I had the store, I worked on the wholesale side of the invitation industry, so I started there and over the years have learned to accomplish new tasks in Illustrator as needed. For as many the tens of thousands of invitations as we print for our customers every year, I certainly get plenty of practice! 😉💌🖥
- When scrapbooking was really popular, my work was nationally published, and I was a professor at Creating Keepsakes University events (yes, scrapbooking universities were a thing!)✂📕🖌
- The beach is my happy place (even though I’ll sunburn in less than 20 minutes!). The sound of the waves is relaxing... it recharges my soul and refuels my creative spirit. I always come home inspired from a beach getaway. 🏝
- Being a dog momma is one of my favorite things- we have a house full of redheads and I love it! 🐾🏠❤
- I have my scuba certification, even though I’ve always had a fear of deep water. At first I agreed to help my Mom check it off her goal list, but there’s SO much to see under the surface - now I don’t want to miss out on all the pretty ocean things! 🐠
- Cooking is a creative outlet for me (apart from my creative “day job”), so I prefer to cook at home rather than go out to eat. It’s a little more effort, but it’s fun too! 🥗🥘
If you've never been in our store, I invite you come in and look around. It changes on a weekly (and usually a daily) basis. If you're not local, feel free to browse our online store - we're adding more to it all the time - and we ship anywhere in the US.
Thanks to our great customers and their support, I feel blessed that I'm living out my dream job. It's an honor to serve our local (and online) community of shoppers, and I'm glad you're part of it.
Warmly,
Kandice
Photo Credit: Cristy Cross Photography