Meet multimedia artist Blake LeapHart, known for his stunning hand-crafted felt flowers
Blake LeapHart has been making things by hand for as long as he can remember. As a child, he went all out on school projects (always going for the creativity points!), made Christmas ornaments with his mom, and always did some sort of craft for fun. In high school, he started his first business making dollhouse miniatures, getting a taste of what it felt like to sell unique goods to people who appreciated his artistry. After graduating, LeapHart pursued photography but found himself pulled back into handmade goods when he discovered a consumer interest in a product he’d dabbled with for fun: felt flowers.
“I always made some felt flowers to go with whatever kind of gift I was giving to my fiancée, as an accessory to the packaging,” LeapHart says. “People kept asking her about them all the time, so I started making and selling them.”
From that humble and unexpected beginning, the business has continued to grow. People can’t seem to get enough of these versatile, evergreen flowers, which make for vibrant home decor year-round. Each flower is sold individually, and buyers are encouraged to create their own bouquets.
Nowadays, LeapHart sells the flowers at multiple markets throughout the year and at select retail locations through wholesaling. You may recognize his work from the Indie Craft Parade, where his colorful, eye-catching displays draw a big crowd each year. In recent years, LeapHart has been experimenting with more seasonally focused lines, adding themed accessories to flowers to make them pop. Last year, he added miniature plastic eyeballs to some of his Halloween-themed peek-a-boo daisies and found that customers loved them.
In general, LeapHart’s bestsellers are the sunflowers. Everyone adores the sunflowers. This fall, he’s expanding beyond the standard mustard yellow and adding pumpkin spice, burnt orange, and white versions to his offerings.
Outside of markets, LeapHart’s felt flowers are for sale year-round at local shops like the Swamp Rabbit Cafe and Hallowed Earth Pottery, under the brand name St. Christopher Gardens (formerly known as Leaph Boutique).
Finding Inspiration
Recently, LeapHart has rebranded his business to better reflect his vision and inspiration.
“St. Christopher Gardens is inspired by the botanical gardens I’ve always lived around at home, like the Hopeland Gardens in Aiken, where I grew up,” he says. “When we moved to Easley, we’d go to the Clemson Botanical Garden, and I’d always find myself inspired by the nature there.”
The St. Christopher Gardens brand represents LeapHart’s line of felt flowers, but his overall multimedia studio is called Made in St. Christopher (MISC). As a multimedia artist, LeapHart’s excitement about materials largely determines his work. Besides felt, he works with clay, acrylic painting, and film (photography). But his enthusiasm for making felt flowers never seems to go away.
“When I started, it was for fun—but over the years, it’s turned into something I can do with people,” LeapHart says. “People come to the booth, and they can make something new from something I’ve made. It becomes really collaborative, and it just feels like there’s this really wholesome community aspect to it.”
How LeapHart Perfects his Craft
Making visually stunning felt flowers is an intricate process, and multimedia artist Blake LeapHart has perfected the craft of creating them.
Materials
- Merino-wool blend felt (Blake buys his in bulk by the yard from a US-based manufacturer)
- Scissors and/or die-cutting machine (Blake built his own to suit his business needs)
- Thread, as needed for pinching (depending on petal shape/type)
- Hot glue
- Thread-covered floral wire
Process
- Crimp the stems to prepare for petal attachment
- Cut out each individual petal
- Pinch the petals into the correct shape
- Assemble and adhere to stem using hot glue
- Optional step: add seasonally themed accessories (like flocked velvet skulls) to enhance the wow factor
- Repeat, repeat, repeat!
Follow Blake LeapHart on Instagram for updates about his felt garden art and more @stchristophergardens.
