Wirework and Paper Art Handmade Cards by Miro Chun

I don't recall where I first came across the whimsical greeting cards of Miro Chun, but the deceptively simple designs had me at hello.

I admire the way she uses bright blocks of colored paper to highlight single elements of the hand-shaped wirework designs, adding to their playful look.

Miro generally starts with sketches or photos, extracts the strongest lines, and ably translates them into wire. No doubt practice makes perfect!

Parsley flowers, for example...

... are fine-tuned into a variety of possibilities:

Miro was born into an artistic family and is an architect. She was named after the artist Joan Miro and fittingly finds inspiration in Joan's paintings. Alexander Calder's mobiles and wire circus also influence her designs.

Miro's cards are sold in shops around the country. During the winter she readied a large batch of lobster and other creatures for Anthropologie stores after first creating a sea-worthy collection of wire samples.

Miro also makes sewn mobile cards, such as this clever football design for a shop in Pittsburgh where the Steelers reign supreme.

Her blog posts at Fold Here often leave me smiling, as she shows new designs interspersed with tidbits of daily life. And here's an interesting interview. I wasn't the least bit surprised to read that Miro's to-do lists are actually drawn as little pictures!