Dove of the East
As soon as Cindy, co-owner of Memory Villa, saw photos
of Dove of the
East products, she knew she wanted to share this line with everyone.
This luxurious collection inspired by the Far East is a welcome addition
to the scrapbook industry’s trend towards global scrapbooking
supplies with irresistible patterns and exquisitely crafted charms.
We asked Doveen Schecter, owner and creator of Dove of the East, to
share the story of these beautiful products with us. What inspired her
to create them? What is the history of her company? “I started Dove of the East about 18 months ago when I launched at CHA in Atlanta. That was actually where I made my first sales! Since then Dove of the East products are for sale in 6 countries and 19 states! It’s been a lot of hard work and a lot of luck. I’m getting ready for Anaheim in January with the launch of the India and Japan Journey collections!”
“China Journey is a scrapbooker’s and stamper’s dream box with 29 amulets, charms and embellishments tucked into little organza bags in each of the six drawers. From the hand-carved jade amulets to the stampable shell tags (works well with Staz-On ink), coins and dragonflies and more, there is something to spark the imagination of each person who opens the drawers and discovers it for themselves. I chose the characters on the front of the box because they have personal meaning to me and to everyone! Embrace, Family, Heart, Hope, Dream, Journey. For me the box feels magical as if it belonged to an empress or a healing goddess, filled with healing charms, with magical and mysterious meanings. I love symbols and their power to mean so many different things to people over centuries and generations. From the strength of the bamboo, on one side, the bird in spring to the dragons chasing the pearl of wisdom in a swirl of clouds, the box seems to have a power of its own and means different things to each person who owns it. I like that it can be a box for a man or a woman. Since the box was launched I have met so many amazing people, scrappers and artists of all kinds and this feels like the gift that the box has given back to me.” “I’m an American living in Hong Kong, married to a German photographer, who I met in Russia where I was working in marketing for an American company. I’ve been very fortunate to live all over the world, mostly as a kid with my journalist parents and later in Thailand working with Cambodian refugees. I’ve been collecting little bits of my nest since I was 6 when I lived in Japan, keeping them in my memory box (an old cigar box) and in journals. For years my friends and family teased me about all my bits of things and my collections of stuff, including jam labels, matchbox covers, shells, and lots of boxes from all the places I’d been. Now I’m having a wonderful time translating those obsessions into beautiful boxes that let me share my treasures with other creative people. So first came China Journey, representing the place I live now and the place where I was born and also the place where my 6 year old son was born. I left Hong Kong when I was three, but have come full circle to make it my home for the last 8 years. I’ve always had to reinvent myself, either because I moved a lot or because of an injury from repetitive stress from computers more than 10 years ago.”
“The Russia Journey box is a fairytale and tzarist fantasy of old Russia. As a child I attended Russian public school in Moscow for two years and then went back several times until I later worked there for 2 years as an adult, met my husband and moved further eastward. Even though I went to school there under communism, I was very influenced by the fairytales and romance of pre-soviet times. The box is a way for me to keep those memories long after I’ve made my home in the Far East.” “We left Moscow for Hong Kong together where after a short corporate gig, I became a freelance writer for the last 6 years writing for banks and telecom companies. Eventually, through a local shop with American rubber stamps, I became obsessed with stamping and started to make invitations with small jade amulets and coins attached. Then on the Internet and through American girlfriends, I found scrapbooking. I researched everything online before I knew how to find my way to CHA. I went to trade shows in China and found a great printer and box maker and sourced all the charms, bags, even the handles myself. I wandered the markets and wholesalers and found things I loved. With the help of my husband and my parents I was able to get started.” “There have been many magical moments, like when the first boxes were finished and my husband and I stopped in China to have a coffee in Starbucks to celebrate before crossing the border back into Hong Kong. I am always awed and amazed by the times we live in that allow us to make our home in Hong Kong, produce our own designs in China and see customers enjoy them and use them in the US. I feel very lucky to be part of the great energy in China, working with young people who have studied English, work hard and are ambitious about the future. I also feel lucky because Dove of the East allows me to keep coming to the states to the shows so that I can see my family and friends and make lots of new friends all over the country!”
“I love what I’m doing and I hope the products will inspire others to use their imagination and creativity to express their own memories of the past and dreams of the future.” Doveen Schecter See the Dove of the East product line Visit the Dove of the East Website |
