Our Story

We are a husband/wife duo who makes play and life fun through illustrations, toys, children’s books, pins, stickers and more in our small business, Quack + Beans.

Meet Chris and Tia! 

You might have seen us around locally at fairs and events, but here is our official "hey welcome," learn more about us page.

Chris, AKA Ducky, is the idea guy who helps come up with the silly things we produce, designs and builds our event displays and wooden products, and even dabbles in illustration. He also plays around with 3D modeling/CAD to create his own products from 3D printing. 

Tia has been a professional graphic designer for 10+ years and loves illustrating, coming up with punny phrases, and more recently, writing and illustrating her own children's books. She is a cat-lady, but also an animal-lady in general, loving all animals. Tia also runs our social media platforms - she loves a good calendar and to-do list when it comes to Quack + Beans planning. 

We run our small business ourselves and have a wonderful network of friends and family who cheer us on! This isn't our only job either - we both have full time jobs - so Quack + Beans has turned into a passion project/side hustle that just became a fun thing for us to do together. 

The Beginnings of Quack + Beans

Initially, we started our business under Tia’s name as a way for her to sell various art products of hers. Then, during COVID, she finally decided to work on her dream of making a children’s book, and that is what really gave our business momentum. She didn't plan on really selling her first children's book, What's My Real Name, until a good handful of people encouraged her to give it a shot. 

We went from her small online-only shop to establishing Quack + Beans in May 2023 and doing fairs around Noblesville, Fishers, Carmel, and Irvington. We also now have products at a few local consignment shops in the area: The Hidden Peak Collective, The Source Indy, and Grafton Peek Mercantile.

We design and produce as many things as we can in-house with the exception of outsourcing the production of our children’s books and Pinholes. We pack our products with love and with items we can reuse like bubble wrap - Tia has been collecting the bubble wrap for ages, so if a Pinhole is wrapped in it, please know we are reusing what we can!

So, Why the Name Quack + Beans?

Our name is a hybrid of our personalities/nicknames.

Chris always goes by the nickname Ducky on any sort of social media or games, so that’s where Quack came from. And, Tia often associates herself with cats, and our favorite thing about cats is their cute little toe beans, hence the Beans name. And, then, Quack + Beans was born!

We also think it sounds funny - people chuckle when they see or say our name - and we hope that they remember us! 

What Do You See in the Future of Quack + Beans?

We eventually would love to do more art prints and get more into apparel such as totes, shirts, and, hopefully, some punny fun golf gear.

Tia is currently working on her 4th book which we are hoping will be finished by the end of 2024.

Where You Can Find Us

We were on IndyNOW