about caroline

Caroline Armijo grew up in Germanton, a small Southern town in the piedmont of North Carolina. When she was four, she declared to everyone that she wanted to be an artist as she grew up. Later Caroline realized that she wanted to have her own gift and greeting card business as a little girl. She started her first business Hummingbird Gifts with her friend Sarah in middle school. Although the business never took flight, the idea stuck.

After graduating from The School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Caroline worked for a small advertising agency. During her tenure, she began developing gift products that she gave to her friends for Christmas and weddings. In February of 1997, she created fortunehearts, the name sake of her first online gift business, which has been featured in Brides Magazine, Skirt! Magazine, Daily Candy, and Bust's Girl Wide Web.

In December 2003, she completed her MA in Liberal Studies, focusing on creativity, art, cultural institutions and lifelong learning. She plans to publish this work on her web site Art and Play in the fall of 2007.

In April 2006, Caroline launched MerriMail, the first creative living subscription service that includes delightful gifts (a surprise present) and thoughtful ideas (a brief newsletter that compliments the gift).

Caroline lives in Washington, DC's Chinatown with her husband Henry. She practices Tai Chi and teaches classes at Paper Source. Follow all of Caroline's projects at carolinearmijo.com.