Practically every day, someone asks Cason and Kathryn Rainwater if they’re twins. “Even our mom struggles to tell us apart,” jokes Cason. And while Cason’s three years older, the sisters understand the confusion: Not only do they bear a striking resemblance — and share a preppy, upbeat personal style — they live together in a Peachtree City, Georgia, townhome and run their collaborative Etsy shop, When It Rains Paper Co., from a studio on the ground floor.
Specializing in all things paper and personalized, the two spend their days brainstorming new designs for calendars, party invitations, notebooks, stickers, and more. The goal: to put a decidedly modern spin on the traditional Southern hospitality they grew up admiring in their mother and grandmother. “Every party our grandmother threw was done to the nines, with place cards and a favor you could take when you left,” says Kat.
Even with all that togetherness, the two entrepreneurs don’t seem to get sick of each other. “Part of our routine is that we wake up every morning and have breakfast together,” says Kat. “And now, two years after we quit our day jobs to work on our shop full time, we’re still like, ‘How lucky are we?!’”
Read on to learn how the Rainwater sisters turned their side gig into a full-time career.

When did the idea of launching your own business take root?
Cason: Honestly, we never really planned on running our own paper business. But we’ve always had this love for planning the perfect celebration, whether it’s hosting a book club or throwing a friend’s birthday party. Seeing an event from start to finish — invitations, centerpieces, flower arrangements, all of it — has always been a passion of ours. When we were both in college, we worked part-time at a paper and gift store, but after we graduated, Kat started working as a 4th-grade teacher, and I went into the 9-to-5 corporate world I’d always dreamed of.
Kat: One year, we wanted to plan a trip to Europe. Some of our friends had done the backpacking thing, but we wanted to do it Blair Waldorf style. We debated how much we should spend and thought maybe we’d babysit on the side or walk dogs to make extra money. Then, one of us — we don’t even remember which one! — threw out the idea of opening an Etsy shop, and we had that light bulb moment. We went live in June of 2011, and that next summer we went to Europe for a month. Our Etsy earnings funded the entire trip, we’re proud to say. But even then, this was just fun travel money. At no point did we really consider it a full-time thing.
In those early days, when your shop was just a hobby, what type of goods did you focus on?
Cason: The first few years, the bulk of our business was stationery, but we toyed around with a lot of different things. This is so silly, but we tried to make candles early on, with the idea that we’d wrap the jars with our paper.
Kat: I never want to melt wax again. It was a hot mess express.
Cason: After selling, like, five candles, we were like, Nope, that’s not for us. So we weeded through other crafts that we didn’t enjoy as much, and narrowed it down to paper goods: invitations, garlands, favor bags, personalized cake toppers, calendars.
And when did you decide to turn When It Rains into a full-time pursuit?
Cason: Kathryn loved teaching, and I loved my work, but with our shop, we discovered this hustle spirit that we’d never had before. So we made a pact that one of us wouldn’t quit our day job until we could both quit our day jobs, and we knew it would get worse before it would get better. For almost a year, we’d come home from work and work on Etsy ‘til the wee hours of the morning.
Kat: Then in summer of 2014, we quit our jobs. It was a huge deal to finally be able to devote all of our time and effort to this. Over time, we’ve really designed a career and a lifestyle that we love.
How has the business changed since then?
Cason: In the beginning, we invested in a good Epson printer and did all the printing ourselves. Fast-forward to today, and we still do a ton of stuff in-house, but we also send large jobs to a handful of commercial printers. When somebody’s ordering 200 invitations, it’s so much more cost-effective for me to design it and send it to another printer.
How do you divide the workload, and how do you handle your partner being your sister (and roommate)?
Cason: I work on the graphic design side, and I have a degree in business management with a minor in marketing. Cat does all of our party supplies, and she’s got the best handwriting — mine’s awful — so she does all our hand-lettering. We each have areas we take control of, but we always get feedback from the other and bounce ideas around.
Kat: And as far as design, we have such similar tastes and personalities, we almost always see eye to eye. Our shop’s style is reflective of Cason and my interior design and fashion sense: lots of black and white with pops of color. Some girls are very Free People, and Cason and I are Kate Spade all the way. We live by the motto ‘Live Colorfully,’ for sure.
I suppose working with your sister could be a good thing and a bad thing, but we’re constantly goofing around and being silly at the studio. And we can be brutally honest. We’re not worried about hurting each other’s feelings. At the end of the day, we love working together.
You offer so many different types of paper goods. What are your best sellers?
Cason: There’s a real seasonal cycle, that’s for sure. From October through February we cannot keep our calendars in stock. Beyond that, our personalized cake toppers do well, and in terms of paper goods, we’ve just launched five new designs of state-specific moving announcements. We hear from customers about those every day, asking, “Do you have anything for Tennessee?” or “It would be so cool if you did a crab for Maryland!” About a year ago, we added acrylic trays, and we design the paper insert for those.
Kat: It’s been so fun to see where we can take the love of paper and apply it to other products, though everything still falls under our tagline: Paper, Party, and Personalization.
Follow When It Rains Paper Co. on Instagram and Facebook.
All photographs courtesy When It Rains Paper Co.
51 comments
Jafeth Moiane from handicraftafrica said 4 years ago
Inspiration story. Congrats!
Francine from HomespunHeartofMine said 4 years ago
What a FUN Etsy shop, Cason and Kathryn! Your cake & cupcake toppers are my favorite! It must be a "hoot" working with your sister! I know when my two daughters get together they have a ridiculous good time!!! Congratulations on the feature and many blessings for your continued success! :D
Sue from SuesAkornShop said 4 years ago
Lovely shop and items. Congrats on the feature!
Megan from MegansMenagerie said 4 years ago
Such a fun shop! Congratulations on the feature!
Shulamit Raanan from ShuliDesigns said 4 years ago
Congrats on a great feature! You are so talented... I love your work!!!! :-) I wish you all the best in the future!
Barbara Gable from CrazyLovely said 4 years ago
I love your shop! And we are neighbors! How fun!
Renee from RandMhandmade said 4 years ago
Beautiful shop! You look like your having so much fun while working!!
Melissa from adorablyimperfect said 4 years ago
I love your creations! I'm so happy for both of you!
DivineOrders from DivineOrders said 4 years ago
GLORIOUS! Congrats on the feature. Thank you Cason and Kat for sharing your wonderful adventures, lovely designs and terrific camaraderie with us. - Peace
Theres from MoonyWool said 4 years ago
Totally adorable. Great shop and products. Love your studio!
JOANNA from BUSTANI said 4 years ago
Beautiful shop! Congrats on the feature!
Sujata from TreasuredMemoryLane said 4 years ago
Lovely and inspiring shop! Congratulations on the feature!
Cathy from msbijouxbeads said 4 years ago
Fun shop, great feature!
Christina from TheWildPlum said 4 years ago
You two are too cute! Congratulations! Thanks for adding some much needed sparkle to my day with this feature!
Madeleine Keller from ThoseGoodVibrations said 4 years ago
Y'all are so cute!! I love the colors and the polka dots! Your aesthetic is so polished but also so fun!!
Mary Moorkens from MaryMoorkens said 4 years ago
Love this fun shop and fun products. Showing that you can find your product, make it your own and then make it fun for others - perfect !!
Monica from ThreeBarDGifts said 4 years ago
What a nice story! It's great that you can work together and create such a wonderful shop. Congrats on the feature !
Lemonada Designs from LemonadaDesigns said 4 years ago
Your shop is so cheerful! Congrats and more blessings!
Debra Gilstrap from 1225VintageStreet said 4 years ago
Great interview and your shop has so many neat things. Much continued success!
Snazzy Living from Snazzyliving said 4 years ago
Beautiful shop. Congrats on your feature!
LivingVintage from LivingVintage said 4 years ago
Awesome story. Great designs. Congrats!
Bare Stung Art. from BareStungArt said 4 years ago
Oh they are some cool chicks
Nicole from KarmaCodeOne said 4 years ago
Terrific shop ~ Friendly and bright it was fun to read about you both ! Cheers to much continued success.
accentonvintage from accentonvintage said 4 years ago
Lovely designs! Congrats!!
ClassicMemories from ClassicMemories said 4 years ago
Very nice shop. Congrats on the feature.
Patti Jacob from envisionandCREATE said 4 years ago
Love all the pics of your work space! Thanks for sharing your story, congratulations on your feature!
Greg and Mary from LightingAlchemy said 4 years ago
Lovely story and AMAZING work!!
Greg and Mary from LightingAlchemy said 4 years ago
CONGRATULATIONS!!
June from isewcute said 4 years ago
Congrats on the feature! It's wonderful to see you working together and making your business grow. Beautiful shop!
Melissa Partridge from ColorMelissa said 4 years ago
Such a Fun & Colorful Shop!! Congrats on the feature!
Gwynne Collins from DaysLongGone said 4 years ago
Great shop! Congratulations on your feature!
Mary Jo and Rachael from SouvenirAndSalvage said 4 years ago
We love how you made the pact to quite your day jobs together! What an inspiring goal to set for yourselves personally and professionally. It's also to see a company dedicated to bringing back the joy of going all out for parties, correspondence and personal communications. Truly lost arts that need to be restored. Best of luck to you in this venture!
Georgia from JewelMeShop said 4 years ago
You have a great shop! Congrats!
Cristy Ramos from ArtisanBathandBody said 4 years ago
Beautiful shop! Congratulations on the feature ♥
Elizabeth Mazurkiewicz from CrossStitchElizabeth said 4 years ago
Great work, I love so sincerely happy people. You are wonderful. Congratulations !!!
allwood1 from AllWoodToo said 4 years ago
You work is lovely. Very fun and colorful! Thanks for sharing!
Kashuen Collectibles from Kashuen said 4 years ago
It is truly a blessing to have two people work together all the time and will not get sick of each other. It take real passion to hold two people together like that. Beautiful shop.
Rhonda Stubbs from RhondaCorner said 4 years ago
What a fun shop and you two sound like a blast. Your items look great. Keep up the great work and best of luck for future endeavors.
Richard from LeedsRadio said 4 years ago
Very nice shop. Congratulations on being featured.
Ashleigh Kimmel from WithWonderPaper said 4 years ago
I love you two and am so thrilled that others are getting to learn how wonderful you are! Congratulations on achieving this huge milestone. So excited to see what's in store for y'all in the future!!
Celina from lytomagic said 4 years ago
That stationary is lively and lovely! And WOOHOO Georgia girls!! Love this story!
FuchsiaMoon from TheFuchsiaMoon said 4 years ago
What could be better than working with your own sister? Wishing you continued success!
Cassidy L. from DotsAndString said 4 years ago
These sisters definitely seem like they are having a blast! Really fun article and shop!
Sherri from ButterflyFeetDigital said 4 years ago
Lovely shop, congrats on the feature!
Olesya Bagriy from BelkaUA said 4 years ago
Beautiful story and shop!!! Congratulations on the feature!
Teerasak Borkam from TribalAndHarem said 4 years ago
??
Rachel Bingaman from BingArt said 4 years ago
Really great products! I love your shop- so fun and so many bold and bright colors/patterns :) :D
Katrina Dzerkale from Dominna said 4 years ago
Such a uplifting story :)
Flair Nouri from FlairPaintings said 4 years ago
Great work! I love your story. It is so inspirational :)
Cat Encio Dolls from CatEncioDolls said 3 years ago
Congratulations on the feature!
branda Moreno from branda said 1 year ago
Lovely work!! Congratulations!!!! :-) :-)