PAPER TRAILBLAZERS.  SnowCloud Paperie, founded right here in Eau Claire, was created by Maddie and Olivia, two elementary school students who wish to share their creative delights with locals. With the support of their mother, Alena Chiang, the stationary-inspired business first began through the Kids Artist Markets events, an offshoot of the Eau Claire Artist Market.

Illustrated journals, miniature balloons and bouquets of flowers drenched in every color of the rainbow. These are just a few of the hand-made products making up the artistic endeavors of a new, kids-run stationary venture in town.

SnowCloud Paperie, founded right here in Eau Claire, was created by “partners in chaos” Maddie and Olivia, two elementary school students who wish to share their creative delights with locals.

With the support of their mother, Alena Chiang, SnowCloud Paperie has continued to take shape through connections made possible thanks to Eau Claire’s arts community.

Their pop-up business sprung from the lively Kids Artist Markets events, an offshoot of the Eau Claire Artist Market led by downtown shop Tangled Up In Hue (505 S. Barstow St., Suite B, Eau Claire).

At Dotters Books in downtown Eau Claire, SnowCloud Paperie currently sell packs of 10 paper stars (pictured) for just $4 each.

As vendors, the two girls got their first experience selling mini journals – each one uniquely hand-illustrated. Slowly but surely, the business was born from their love to expand on creative hobbies, learning important values of teamwork, friendship and individuality along the way.

“One of the things that they really like is teaching other people and seeing how seeing something like a star makes people so happy,” Alena said. “(Maddie and Olivia) are so creative; It’s been really fun to watch them learn all of this on their own.”

“And, there are only so many (paper) stars you can have at home,” Alena added.

Since then, SnowCloud Paperie has grown to offer in-person crafting workshops at Dotters Books (307 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire), along with retail offerings at the bookstore and Paper Palette Company (507 S. Barstow St., Eau Claire).

Maddie and Olivia’s best-seller? Origami lucky stars, the two girls said. As Olivia adroitly knots the paper stars, Maddie then meticulously tucks and puffs each individual object into its final form.

Each step of the packaging process is completed by the girls, with a little help from Alena as she supports the marketing and distribution of their goods. At Dotters Books, the girls currently sell packs of 10 paper stars for just $4 each, Alena shared.

A paper star by SnowCloud Paperie, pictured above. Sometimes called a "lucky paper star," the two girls use narrow pieces of rectangle-shaped paper to fold, puff and tie into a knot. The process typically takes about one to two minutes, the girls shared.

“(It takes) one to two minutes usually, for one star,” the girls said. “We just made a bunch of them up (with) cute packages and then we started selling them. Now, we’re making paper bunnies and paper flowers.”

Beyond crafting paper goods, the girls have expanded their offerings as they host recurring craft workshops during Dotters’ storytime sessions led by Margaret Leonard, the store owner. 

Curious locals of all ages, kiddos especially, are encouraged to stop by their upcoming Dotters pop-up at 10:30am on April 18.

“We have been doing craft pop-ups at Dotters Books’ storytime every single month,” Maddie said. “February’s (pop-up) we made a Valentine’s bouquet of flowers; Ms. Margaret said that was their biggest storytime (event) ever.”

Family remains a core source of inspiration behind Maddie and Olivia’s business venture. In fact, their paperie’s moniker, “SnowCloud” is a direct link to their respective Chinese family names.

Even at a young age, the girls have had the fortune to travel around the country – and world – in which their awareness of new paper methods and stationary trends has only flourished, Alena said.

“I want to make paper rainbows,” Olivia said, as she eagerly handed me a handful packages of paper stars – to show the multicolored patterns SnowCloud offers.

“(Olivia) just learned how to make rainbow rings,” Maddie added. “She can (also) make origami balloons and we’re trying to figure out a way to put fairy lights inside of them.”

As SnowCloud Paperie continues to host more creative workshops in the Chippewa Valley, the girls’ creative passions will surely bloom with it. Maddie and Olivia expect to take part in future kids markets, whenever they can.

“Eau Claire is such a creative, amazing community,” Alena said. “The fact that we have a children’s craft (market) is amazing. I’ve lived all over the country – in huge cities – and I’ve never seen anywhere that we could just do this so easily.”

Follow SnowCloud Paperie online via Instagram (@snowcloudpaperie), for updates on Maddie and Olivia’s new paper creations and pop-up events. Purchase the girls’ paper goods at Dotters Books (307 S Barstow St., Eau Claire), Paper Palette Company (507 S Barstow St., Eau Claire) and upcoming artist markets in the summer months.