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From YouTube: Made in Arlington | Mira Jean Designs
Description
Kate Hougen is the owner/proprietor of Mira Jean Designs. The company's mission: to make homes brighter via art-inspired and sustainably-designed textiles and home decor.
Small businesses are an important part of Arlington County. To learn more go to http://www.arlingtoneconomicdevelopment.com/
A
So
my
name
is
Kate
Hagan
and
I'm,
the
founder
owner
and
designer
of
Mira
Jean
designs.
I
am
a
textile
designer
and
I
start
by
painting
and
then
turn
the
paintings
into
repeat
designs
and
textile
designs,
and
then,
from
there
I
turned
the
textiles
into
home
decor.
It
started
the
first
couple
textile
designs
and
experimenting
with
the
textile
design.
Work
happened
when
my
my
kids
actually
came
home
from
school
with
a
ton
of
artwork.
A
It
was
the
end
of
the
school
year
and
the
art
teacher
sent
them
home
with
a
big
box
full
of
artwork,
essentially
and
after
a
while
I
kept
looking
at
some
of
the
paintings
and
drawings
illustrations
that
they
did
and
got
to
thinking.
You
know,
there's
another
there's
another
way
to
celebrate
that
artwork
and
there's
another
way
to
turn
it
into
something,
that's
functional
and
that
we
can
enjoy
year-round
and
so
I
started
experimenting
and
I
photographed.
A
In
particular,
my
daughter
came
home
with
a
self-portrait
about
three
feet:
tall
and
I
photographed
it
and
then
I
started
playing
around
with
turning
that
photograph
of
her
artwork
into
a
textile
design,
and
that
was
one
of
the
first
first
Mirajane
designs,
textiles.
When
you
look
at
children's
artwork,
so
oftentimes
they'll
have
such
a
great
use
of
color.
It's
really
bold!
It's
really
whimsical.
A
So
the
process
for
designing
textiles
actually
takes
quite
a
bit
of
time.
The
first
step
is
to
actually
do
the
painting
and
even
before
I
paint
I
have
to
get
inspired,
and
so
I,
usually
literally
start
the
day.
Every
day
walking
the
dog
around.
With
some
of
the
trails
near
my
home
in
the
neighborhood
and
I
notice,
I
stop
and
I
notice.
They
take
time
to
look
at
how
the
seasons
are
changing,
how
the
light
is
changing.
What's
blooming.
A
Drawing
from
that
inspiration,
I
go
back
into
the
studio
and
I
sketch
a
little
bit,
but
mostly
I
just
dive
right
in
and
I
start
painting
and
then
and
I
photograph
them
from
there.
I
go
back
into
the
studio
and
it's
a
lot
of
work
on
a
computer
working
with
the
photograph
of
the
original
artwork
and
Tarina
into
a
repeat
design,
the
textiles
they
can
become
any
number
of
things.
I
mean
I,
sell
them
all
by
the
yard.
A
So
when
you
sell
your
fabrics
by
the
yard
people
can
people
can
do
whatever
they
want
with
them?
They
can
turn
them
into
create
something
out
of
them.
That's
their
vision.
So
that's
a
really
rewarding
part
of
the
process
to
see
what
other
people
might
create.
I
do
also
create
centrally
home
decor
items.
Decorative
pillows,
throw
blankets
booths,
little
pouf,
cubes
or
little
mini
Ottomans
for
kids
to
sit
on
and
play
with.
A
The
goal
of
mayor
Jean
designs
is
twofold:
I
think
for
people
to
take
something
like
their
child's
artwork
and
turn
it
into
something,
that's
functional
and
that
can
add
a
pop
of
color
and
help
brighten
up
a
home
and
a
living
space
both
by
being
something
that's,
you
know
carefully
made
and
a
high
quality
piece,
but
also
inspired
by
something
that's
special
to
them.
They.
The
second
goal
of
me
urging
designs,
is
to
create
textiles
and
home
furnishings
that
are
sustainably
designed
and
art
inspired.
A
It's
just
there's
such
a
great
community
of
talent
in
Arlington,
because
there's
no
way
one
one
small
business
owner
can
do
it
all
I
think
it's
really
important,
as
the
small
business
owner
to
set
goals
for
yourself
that
are
both
realistic
and
aspirational
to
keep
the
business
growing
and
I'm
looking
forward
to
working
with
Arlington
County
as
I
the
business
has
grown.
Year-Over-Year
I
understand
there
a
lot
of
resources
that
can
help
small
businesses
and
workshops
and
so
I'm
looking
forward
to
participating
in
some
of
those
to
help
grow
the
business.
A
In
my
case,
it
took
me
a
while
to
actually
launch
the
company
SEP
again
an
idea
at
something
I've
been
thinking
about
doing
for
a
long
time.
You
may
not
end
up
in
the
place
that
you
thought
you
would
end
up
in
when
you
first
began
that
adventure,
but
it's
going
to
take
you
to
the
right
place
so
just
keep
at
it.
A
For
years
dreamed
of
being
a
textile
designer
dreamed
of
owning
my
own
business
and
to
be
able
to
work
on
something
and
really
love
doing,
it
really
feel
passionate
about
it,
enjoy
it
and,
through
a
lot
of
passion
and
hard
work
and
tenacity
and
persistence
to
to
see
that
grow
into
a
business
and
a
way
to
provide
for
one's
family
and
to
make
a
living.
That
to
me
is,
is
the
dream
come
true.