As her bio says, Patricia — the mastermind behind the whimsical felt jewelry and hand-carved stamps of Memi The Rainbow — is truly “an Italian girl living in Paris.”  She looks to the city of Paris for inspiration, peeks outside of her window at the sun setting over rooftops across the way, and travels to flea markets for vintage children’s toy treasures.  Patricia’s playful attitude, adoration for Parisian life and love for vintage toys and collectibles bleeds through to her art, with an array of stamps and felt mascots that pay homage to the City of Lights, pop-culture, childhood, and retro goodies.  Patricia allowed us to glimpse inside her charming studio and gave us some insight into what influences her work — from walking the streets of Paris to her adorable “Lamp-Lapin.”  Check out her lovely craft room overloaded with vintage collectables, hand-carved stamps, and jam-jars filled with fabric buttons, after the jump, and don’t forget to drop by Memi The Rainbow.

” [My favorite] tools, I ought to say, are “my stamps.” Indeed, they are both the outcome of my artistic creation and the tool [which I use] to create other ones. Since I discovered my love for carving stamps, I’ve become a compulsive carver and I have crafted as many as stamps as I was compelled to.”

“Yet, two other tools have an utmost importance in my daily work: my magnificent carving tool — which is able to cut rubber as butter — and my mocha, which is able to wake me up for any occasion with its tasty coffee. I’m still Italian (winky face).”

“First of all, my Lamp-Lapin (Bunny-lamp) [is my favorite item]. ”

“Sometimes as a joke, I define my biggest source of inspiration as the bunny lamp when it’s turned on.”

“Secondly, at a flea market, I bought a typographic drawer that, after having cleaned it up, I hung on a wall and filled it with my littlest mascots (both purchased and made by me).”

“I also [adore] my little collection of vintage toys. Some of them are from my infancy, while others come from flea markets and e-shops. I’m not real a collector, but I adore old plastic stuffs.”

“Last, but not least, I organized all my littler creations, such as fabric covered buttons, in little jam jars: I find them to be so cute!!”

“My favorite crafts are rubber stamps: once I define a design, I am able to reproduce it endlessly, but each stamp is still different from the other ones.”

“Amongst printmaking, hand carved rubber stamps are maybe the funniest ones! I also like to create mascots and other items in felt, with which I seek to evoke my infancy and funny childish tastes.”

“The town in which I live is my biggest inspiration! The city of Paris, with its streets overcrowd with people from all corners of the world, ethnic districts, shops, flea markets…”

“…sunsets on roofs that I can see across my window…maybe it does exist, a real Parisian culture, but this kind of coagulated little world is my cutest inspiration.”

Thanks, Patricia!