Mar 16, 2008

Tenn. artist’s custom creations finding national acclaimBy Chandra Harris-McCrayKnoxNews.com

Lisa Norris finds her bliss in decorative papers, discarded photographs, spare buttons and fanciful fabrics.

Random doodads make her happy when she uses them to create bound books, albums, stationery and collages.

Vintage fashions, patterns, fabrics and illustrations are what mostly inspire Norris’ projects.

Her creations come to life in her 1954 Chattanooga rancher, where her business, Made by One Girl, is housed.

The Southern belle is gaining national attention with an excerpt of how she turned her joy into a business in the book “Country Living Crafting a Business: Make Money Doing What You Love.” Her custom creations have found their way beyond her hometown into New York, Chicago and Atlanta shows. She’s even gone wholesale, selling to big-name companies like Anthropologie.

Notoriety keeps coming, but Norris lives up to the name, Made by One Girl – she designs, takes orders, answers her own e-mails and puts her hand on every piece she makes. When backup is needed she enlists the help of friends and two part-time employees.

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