For this month’s Designer Showcase, we are featuring a Mother-Daughter team whose personalities are as bright as their canvases.
Marie Barber and Malin Barber Mooney are the duo behind Colors of Praise. Known for their unique design style, breathtaking artistry, and vibrant colors, Colors of Praise is a brand every stitcher should know about.
ABOUT THE DESIGNER
Marie grew up in Sweden and from an early age loved art and being creative. She loved to paint and draw, and her ideal Christmas each year was fresh art supplies. She got the opportunity to be an exchange student in the US at 16 and landed in Alabama. There she met her now-husband and eventually returned to the States to study at the Art Institute of Atlanta.
Growing up, she was surrounded by castles, wool tapestries, and all the traditional and stereotypical symbols of European life. The grey landscape that surrounded her gave her a passion and zeal for color. She loves all things bright and exotic, as shown in her work.
Her mother was passionate about the needle arts, but Marie admitted she wasn’t always appreciative of the craft in her adolescence — little did she know then what her future had in store.
HOW IT STARTED
Marie worked as a freelance Graphic Designer for a few years before landing a job at Cross Stitch Magazine. After seeing one of her illustrations, the company immediately accepted her as a new cross-stitch designer. She spent 15 years there and got to work on all kinds of projects, including a partnership with Disney.
After being let go when the recession hit in 2008, she needed to make a change fast to support her family. A friend and mentor, Judith Carter, helped Marie transition her artwork to needlepoint when she saw the industry as an opportunity for Marie’s work to be featured and her business to grow — and that it did.
After making a few canvases, she submitted an application to attend the TNNA Trade Show and was accepted. She spent the next several weeks painting furiously, photoshopping images, making price lists, and preparing for her first time selling her designs for needlepoint.
That first trade show came up quickly, and it became a sink-or-swim moment for her as she and her husband invested as much money and time into this idea as possible, hoping it would pay off. As the new kid on the block, she was in the middle of a large convention center where shoppers started on the ends — she spent the first 4 hours without a single person coming to her booth. Fear and worry set in, but she leaned on the fact that she did her research and was determined to offer what no one else in the market was doing. That uniqueness and determination landed her $15,000 in orders in 3 days. She immediately moved full speed ahead and hasn’t looked back since.
A NEW ERA
She is now focusing solely on designing, as her daughter Malin has taken over the responsibility of running the business’ operations and marketing. Marie is happiest when painting in her studio and calls herself blessed to have Malin be and do all the things she can’t.
Malin has been with Colors of Praise since the beginning, when she attended her first market at 13 years old to help her mom. She began working for the business full-time in 2018 after graduating from Jacksonville State University. Malin is a military spouse and credits Colors of Praise and the flexibility of the needlepoint industry to her success in being able to work amid the moving and changes involved with military life. She and her husband Will just had their son Liam, and he is among the 6 grandchildren that Marie gets to dote on.
Malin is a bubbly and outgoing businesswoman who understands the industry and is looking to find unique opportunities and areas of growth that drive Colors of Praise forward, just as her mother approaches their designs. Together, they make up a dream team founded on family bonds, a commitment to their customers, and an everlasting spirit of joy and creativity.
DESIGNS AND PRODUCTS
Colors of Praise is most notably known for their large-scale tapestries, which started as a personal passion project for Marie.
As part of their commitment to unique products and offerings, they have found new ways to incorporate needlepoint into your wardrobe with necklaces, hip belts, and purses.
