Shelly and Mike Clem: Photo by Kim Leeson
Finding the perfect gift can be a challenge, especially when shopping for someone with eclectic tastes.
Two years ago, neighbor Mike Clem wandered into Random in Hillside Village Shopping Center at Abrams and Mockingbird to find his wife, Shelly, a Valentine’s Day gift.
He found something he liked. It wasn’t perfect, but it gave him an idea: a book cut into the letter “S” for “Shelly.” He asked the lady at the counter if she had anything like that, and she said, “No, but if you make one and bring it in, I’ll sell it.”
“Although book letters are still the bread and butter of the business, they’ve started experimenting with other ideas as well by making silhouettes of boots, hearts or other shapes.” Photo by Kim Leeson
As it happens, Mike has quite a knack for craftsmanship. For years, he built high-performance engines for racing Formula One-style cars, and he developed a meticulous attention to fine detail while working on luxury vehicles such as Lamborghinis and Porsches.
Not only did he have the skills, he also had the tools he needed in order to take on a book-cutting project — a band saw, a drill, and other heavy machinery.
The first one wasn’t very good, Mike admits. “It took a few weeks to figure it out.”
But he did figure it out, and he soon found that people loved the idea. He and Shelly started selling the book letters on Etsy, where they flew off the shelves, so to speak.
People buy them for Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, graduation gifts, kid gifts, wedding day centerpieces, and so on.
Although book letters are still the bread and butter of the business, the Clems have started experimenting with other ideas as well. Making silhouettes of boots, hearts or other shapes, for example, or cutting shapes or letters into the heart of a book.
“It’s fun because it brings out the creativity in everyone,” Shelly says. “We have some books that we leave sitting out because we don’t know what to make them. Sometimes it takes just passing by them and seeing them over and over again.”
The Clems say they are happy to help customize a book letter, within reason, by using someone’s favorite novel, children’s books or college textbooks.
Find these books online at etsy.com/shop/LetterLounge
