The company

Chelleline Cards offers imaginative and minimalist cut-paper collage greeting cards and stationery products. Our sweet, charming designs are guaranteed to make their recipients smile.

We strive to provide a true alternative to the traditional greeting card. Each card must be imaginative and unique, whether in color, concept or design.  Our inspiration comes from childhood toys, sea creatures, and fairy tales, among other things.  Since each card is pieced together by hand, we like to say that we are “putting the ‘hand’ back into ‘handmade.’”


The people

Michelle Lin started the business in Brooklyn in 2007 out of a desire to work with her hands again.  She began by selling on Etsy and at craft fairs, and later expanded to brick-and-mortar stores.  She holds degrees in biology, English literature, and law, but her passion lies in paper.  (And literature!) Michelle divides her time between Cary, North Carolina and Montréal, Québec. 

Emily Lin, Michelle's mom, has been designing for Chelleline Cards since April 2011. Her designs are well-known and recognized for their playful and quirky qualities as well as their sophisticated use of collage techniques.  Michelle coaxed her out of retirement in 2011 to design for Chelleline Cards, thus completing her career full circle.

Dmitry (Mitya) Guimon, Michelle's husband, designs and photographs for Chelleline Voyages, a line of unique travel postcards. A computer scientist by training, Mitya's creative side can be seen in the extraordinary perspective of his photos, which often give viewers the feeling of seeing everyday sights anew. Read more about Voyages here.

Michelle and Mitya launched Colors of Montreal in December 2012, a blog about life in Montreal told through Mitya's photos. You can also find Michelle on the Chelleline Cards blog.