One Upper East Sider has turned her obsession with the musical "Hamilton" into a greeting card business.
According to her website, Shop Sweet Lady, it all started when Meg Smith, 35, wanted to give her sister a card and instead of settling for store-bought, she designed her own. She joined Etsy in 2013 and began putting musically-inspired cards on her profile. Some had Beatles quotes, others had lyrics from "The Sound of Music" and even "Hedwig and the Angry Inch."
After hearing about "Hamilton" last July, Lin-Manuel Miranda's musical was added to cards as well.
"I wanted to send them to my friends, my friend wanted to send them to friends so I figured if I was going to make them for my group of friends, they would be something that other people would want to see online, and I was right," Smith wrote in an email to DNAinfo.
The cards are $4 a piece or $10 for a 3-card set.
The "Hamilton" greeting cards feature lyrics from the production: "WERK," "Young, Scrappy, Hungry" and "I'm Not Throwing Away My Shot." According to Smith, she found inspiration in the story that was told through the music.
"The musical 'Hamilton' is lyrically perfect, we all acknowledge that. There are some stand out lyrical moments," she said. "Just like 'Rent' has 'No Day But Today' 'Hamilton' has 'I'm Not Throwing Away My Shot.'"
Like many of her customers, Smith adores "Hamilton." She's seen the musical five times and has even won the in-person lottery at the Richard Rodgers Theater.
Smith was also interviewed on the Hamilcast podcast about her theater card collection. Earlier this year the Museum of the City of New York ordered her Hamilton cards for their gift shop.
But the Ham-spiration doesn't end there. Smith's Etsy shop also has downloadable images of various actors in the play that are drawn to look like religious icons. The cost is $10 per download. The "Hamilton Prayer Prints" include a glowing Lin-Manuel Miranda holding a book.
"In recent years I noticed the patron craze in every medium. Barnes and Noble sells literary figures as saints on candles," she said. "I thought creating a collection of Hamilton Patrons as prints would be a funny nod to the fact that the show and the characters have, in a year, become icons."
So far, no one connected to the "Hamilton" production has reached out to Smith, but she's eager to reach out to more musical theater enthusiasts through her cards — especially if it involves discussing "Hamilton."
"Its one of those shows that pulls you in and brilliantly tells you a story and you need to soak it in more than once."
MORE 'HAMILTON' COVERAGE:
► "Summer of Hamilton" is coming to New York
► Alexander Hamilton's New York
► "Hamilton" Effect: Upper Manhattan Real Estate Gets Boost From Musical
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