Sarah Fox, Cursive Design

What it is Cursive Design, a locally made line of jewelry and just-released home accessories

Who she is Two years after a stint in political campaigning and graduating with a BFA in sculpture (she picked up some experience with lighting in grad school, too) at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, North Dakota–native Sarah Fox hit her groove designing jewelry in 2005. “I got the idea of doing stuff on a small scale at [craft fairs] like DEPART-ment. I didn’t know [selling] it would be so simple,” she says. “[That gave me] the verve to put stuff out.” After working solely on jewelry for a few years, the now–full-time artist kicked off a collection of home accessories last month.

What she makes For now, Cursive’s home-decor pieces include “glacier votives,” hand-painted, gold-leaf glass votives with intricate, glacier-inspired patterns ($14 each), and “twiggums,” flower-shaped pieces of plastic vellum that fit on the end of twigs like makeshift, immortal buds ($12). Next up, Fox has her sights set on creating chandeliers.

Why we like it The playful-yet-elegant style of items like bright blue lace earrings and faux flowers reflect Fox’s explanation of the label’s name—“[Cursive] has this beautiful way to it and it hearkens back to being a kid and learning how to write.” The affordable prices of the home accessories makes it easy to infuse your living space with natural flavor: Set your table with twiggums when you’d rather save the $20 it costs to display fresh-cut flowers, and stock up on four or five votives to create a three-dimensional, organic landscape.

Where to find it Home decor items at cursivedesign.com; jewelry at Renegade Handmade (1924 W Division St, 773-227-2707).