Krystle Fitzpatrick, Earth & Fern
Krystle Fitzpatrick has been crafting objects from wood using laser machines that etch and cut for over four years now. Her products, which include wall-hanging signs you are beautiful and you are light, along with intention blocks used in her yoga practice, reflect the positive energy she carries and shares with others. She creates custom items by request, too, usually for businesses and special occasions like weddings. She most often works with wood, though the occasional other material is incorporated into her work.
“It all started with a wood burning tool probably four or five years ago,” she says during our meeting at Protohaven in Wilkinsburg. “My husband who’s an engineer had learned about TechShop and was a member there. He would catch me in the basement making gifts for people. One day he said, ‘Do you know there are lasers that can do this with precision?’” She got started at TechShop with a class in Adobe Illustrator and learned to use computers to design items she already had in mind.
Watch this laser in action! Krystle has programmed the machine to etch the name of the roll - in this case “Hometown Pepperoni Roll” - and to make a rectangular cut. Add a magnetic backing and ta-da! She created a label system showing what’s available in the beautiful display.
Intention Sets by Earth & Fern.
The first item she created was related to her full-time work as a yoga instructor. She asked herself, “How can I make it so that we can visually see something and come back to it throughout the class?” She created small wooden blocks etched with words like balance, grace, kindness, and purpose. She didn’t originally make the intention blocks to sell them, but people attending her classes at One Point One Yoga in Garfield started asking to buy them, so she started taking orders. Krystle’s business Earth & Fern naturally grew from there.
“It was just basically a hobby that turned into a creative outlet for me,” says Krystle, “which turned into working with more and more people, not just making things that I wanted to make but also having people come to me and say, ‘Hey, I have this idea. I feel like you can make it happen on a laser.’ And then I’m like, ‘Okay! Let’s do it.’” That collaborative spirit is exactly what got her started on a project with Rolling Pepperoni Owner Katt Schuler. The project: to make a set of custom display shelves for RP’s scrumptious handmade rolls. The shelves had to meet certain criteria, both in design and function, and Krystle met the challenge!
Katt and Krystle hit the drawing board a couple times to come up with the right solution. The first set of convertible shelves Krystle made for RP are at Stage AE on Pittsburgh’s North Shore. Krystle used plastic and wood to create precisely the right display. Depending on how many rolls and varieties are available, the display can be adjusted from just one tier to as many as three tiers tall! Krystle’s design meets all the criteria Katt was looking for to show off RP’s savory baked creations. And very soon RP will be rolling out new sets of these shelves at more locations where RP rolls are sold!
No story about Krystle would be complete without mentioning that she wears a lot of hats. “My whole life, I’ve never wanted to be put in a box,” she says. One day she’s teaching yoga at One Point One, leading breathing exercises at Children’s Hospital, and developing a prototype for a client with Earth & Fern. The next, she’s applying for grants and working with a rehabilitation physician on a mindfulness, movement, and breathing app for kids with physical disabilities. After spending even a small amount of time with Krystle, you find that she has this perfect blend of positive energy, ingenuity, and practicality. We’re thrilled to be working with Krystle on the perfect display for our rolls! Keep an eye out for Krystle’s work at RP retailers.