The Après Hour started the way a lot of things do, with an idea that wouldn't quit. For the past two decades, my designs have traveled with me everywhere: on flights, work trips, family vacations, road trips, birthday parties, and to the sofa for movie night and game days. Many of the earliest versions were colored on the canvas with sharpies (which I learned the hard way is terrible), mapped on grid paper and then counted, and later hand painted. Everywhere my designs went, I heard some version of the same thing: you should sell your designs.

One evening after a full day of meetings, I sat in my hotel room and thought "finally, the hour for ME." It was my "après client dinner" hour, the window to unwind and relax. The name "après hour" swirled in my head, and the next morning waiting for my flight home to Boston, I reserved the URL and Instagram handle, with zero business plan beyond a hunch.

What makes us different

Every design starts with a hand drawing by me, which I then refined again and again until the lay of the stitches conveys the emotion and feeling in my head. As someone who began stitching as a little girl, I appreciate the difference in designs that look beautiful on paper and designs that actually stitch well. Designs where it's unclear what color belongs at that intersection? A recipe for frogging.

During the pre-launch stage of the business, I realized I wanted more transparency into the labor supply chain than most third parties could provide. While mono canvas is almost all produced overseas in a single factory—a part of our supply chain the industry knows quite well—I wanted the rest of the process to take place in the U.S. where I could feel confident in not only the "what," but the "who," of our process.

To bring our designs to canvas with true precision and color depth, we developed our own proprietary technology, built on techniques borrowed from precision textile screen printing, and refined into a methodical process that aligns to the unique weave and weft of every canvas. We source archival-quality inks and work in small batches, which allows us to operate at the highest of standards. It's an investment in doing things the ethical, artisanal way, the way we believe this industry is headed.

What makes us the same as everyone else

As original designs, each of our canvases is protected by U.S. copyright law, and we take that seriously (both for ourselves and in our respect for other artists). While the colors chosen are the ones we envisioned, you should feel free to color swap to your heart's delight. After all, this canvas is intended to spark joy for you, not me (that part is already done!)

We're just the beginning step in your canvas's journey. The rest is in your hands.