Our Story

We both grew up in creative households where there was always something being made, whether it was art, music, writing, food, or the latest craft project. Shannon studied writing and drama at a performing arts school in California before earning her Bachelor of Arts in English in Texas. Born and raised in Maine, Michael explored a wide range of visual arts throughout high school and college, including oil, watercolor, charcoal, pen and pencil, sculpture, and architectural design, before earning his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science in Rhode Island and eventually returning home to Maine. Shannon moved to Maine in 2006, and we built our lives here.

 

Eventually, our paths led us into technology. Michael became a software engineer known for solving complex technical problems without obvious solutions. Shannon moved into tech leadership, dreaming up new products and services and building the systems, programs, training, and teams to make them real.​

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Our careers may have taken us into technology, but we never stopped making things together, and Shannon never stopped writing. Over the years, she's been paid to write about everything from food and wine to technology, and Michael even joined her for a stint writing movie reviews. Curiosity has taken us in many different creative directions. We've taken classes in drawing, watercolor, Moroccan cooking, boxing, tai chi, kayaking, archery, axe throwing, and even meatball making.

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Cardmaking entered the picture in 2019 when Shannon took a class and was instantly hooked. She loved the creative freedom, the tactile experience of working with paper, and having something to give when she was done. After a pandemic pause, she dove back into the craft and eventually made more cards than we could possibly give to friends and family. Donating some to a nonprofit outside Maine sparked an idea closer to home.

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Made for Good

In 2025, we founded Wicked Good Cards, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that gives people in Maine care communities free access to handmade greeting cards. It became a way for us to use our creativity to do good.​ In 2026, we created Mainely Cards as a practical solution to fund our nonprofit's operating costs.

 

As we built Mainely Cards, Shannon began creating original artwork specifically designed for dimensional greeting cards. With care communities in mind, she created bright, joyful designs that could be sent as a greeting and then left on display as a small piece of paper art. 

 

With each new design, we began to see possibilities for the studio we hadn't considered when we started. Our imaginations took over. Greeting cards were just the beginning. We invented more ways to use paper to create connection:

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• MainelyYours: Personalized, made-to-order greeting cards mailed for you.

• Card Concierge: A service that takes care of the cards you want to send throughout the year.

• Cardcrafting Kits: Hands-on kits so you can experience the joy of making greeting cards yourself.

• MainelyMail Cards: Curated sets of personalized greeting cards, mailed individually over time to support an occasion, sentiment, or life event.

• MainelyMail Letters: Immersive experiences where the mailbox becomes a doorway to other worlds, times, and places. Original characters living on the other side write letters directly to you.

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Made in Maine

​Maine is our home and our greatest source of inspiration. Its rugged beauty, history, and folklore influence both our artwork and storytelling. ​​​​​​We take the craft seriously, but we don't believe everything we make has to be serious. Sometimes the idea calls for beauty. Sometimes it calls for a story from a faraway land. And sometimes, it's a wicked good pun.

 

Whatever the idea, paper gives us a way to turn imagination into something you can hold.