the ARTIST

An Artist, a Mom to 3+3 amazing adult children (+3 adult children through marriage), a Grammie to 2 sweet boys, a daughter, a sister, and a friend!

ME: Carol Massa, Full of color and life, an artist in the stationery world! Old school trained, that loves watercolor and all things art related, definitely a RIGHT brainer. A guru of whimsical watercolor maps (not just for weddings), and designer of custom hand-painted wedding invitations suites living in the Chicago area, working day in and day out with clients on their custom maps and suites since 2008. Accomplished and published in the wedding market for custom hand-painted wedding invitations and our custom watercolor maps.

“Technically" located in the northern burbs of Chicago but we service clients throughout the United States and internationally. Most of our consultation process can be done via emails, slideshows, and/or phone calls…if you are in the area…great, we can meet for a personal chat about your event.

During the design process, we do more than design your invitations or map, we build a relationship while turning ART into stationery. We take pride in our work and the quality of our materials and designs. We use the latest softwares, professional printers and top of the line luxury papers and paint supplies. The artwork and companion background papers are “our" designs (no stock images or clip art are used here), we create designs to collaborate with all the pieces from start to finish. It is truly custom and becomes your brand.

REBRAND: Sometimes you have to do it. At the end of 2015, we found ourselves in a rebranding mode for various reasons, Eight21 Studios is the same ART, just a new name! …well sort of. A little behind the name, the sister company was started in 2012 as my canvas side of the business, after my dad unexpectedly passed away on August 21, 2012. He was a great encouragement, always saying “you can do that", “you can paint that" sometimes more confidence than I had in myself. When I was faced with the rebrand and deciding on a new name, this just fit so the two merged to what we know now as EIGHT21 Studios. We would do something and hashtag it #821, the kids would laugh thinking Papa has his own #hashtag. I think he would be happy with how we have all rallied together and how far we have come. I decided since the rebranding I was going to add the hashtag in the artwork, especially the watercolor maps. It is like a “Where’s Waldo" kind of thing. I hide it because I don’t want it to stand out, I already add my signature on the bottom of the maps or the backside of our personalized notes much like a “Hallmark", but like an angel sort of thing that is watching out for everyone, traveling to different destinations. My way of carrying him with me and my artwork. You can find the hashtag on an airplane, a boat, or even a rowing team from Georgia. Just a little fun fact about the company name, our hashtag, and our dad. #821

So let’s get started creating and designing your super cool map and dream invitations!