Sarah Kelleher
Novembers Designer of the month winner: Sarah Kelleher gained a first-class honours degree at Loughborough University in Printed textiles and since then she has had many years experience in the textile industry which led to Sarah starting her own greeting cards business in 2014.
Instagram: @sarahkellehercards
Website: www.sarahkelleher.co.uk
Facebook: sarahkellehercards
About Sarah Kelleher: Sarah's interest in pattern and design goes right back to her childhood when living in the sleepy Cotswold village of Naunton where she'd draw and create clothing to keep herself amused. From a very young age, with the encouragement of her family, she began to create clothes and discovered that she was indeed, very talented. After completing her degree, she worked in the design studio at Sock Shop, where Sarah designed the brightly coloured hosiery and funky socks that were hugely fashionable at the end of the 1980's. The popularity of the printed tights gained licensing contracts with many of the fashion designers of the time so Sarah gained experience working alongside the teams of Viviene Westwood, Helen Storey and Joe Casely-Hayford. With the invention of computer aided design and the use of an Apple Mac, Sarah's work reached another level. No more endless painting of colourways and tedious repeats, the computer did it for you. So, when Sock Shop relocated to The Lake District Sarah decided to persue a career in freelance design and was lucky enough to work with many high street names including, John Lewis, Next & Debenhams. Three children followed and the freelancing happily fitted Sarah's lifestyle for many years until she began to question her work life balance and creative control when working for others. This is when Sarah Kelleher Cards was created, the first trade fair being PG Live, Islington in 2014. Since then Sarah Kelleher Cards has gone from strength to strength, stocking hundreds of independent stores from one end of the country to the other and a few of the bigger players too. Sarah has been out of the limelight for the last year due to illness but she's back and will be exhibiting at Spring Fair in February. Pop by, say 'Hello' and have a look at her new Fabulous Foils card range, it still has the trademark handmade feel but with gorgeous opulent gold foil to add depth and glamour.
Favourite textile technique: I have always loved the unstable nature and fabulously bright colours of ink and fabric dye. You never quite know what you're going to get, the freedom is liberating, especially when used with wax crayon as a resist material. In contrast I have been using procreate recently on my iPad, it offers a different kind freedom, the ability to make mistakes and correct them easily !!
Inspirational Designers: Since Art College I've been drawn to the warmth of the work of Paul Klee and Kaffe Fassett but more recently I've been inspired by the work of ex Liberty designer Sally Kelly, her prints are exquisite.
Dream job: This is difficult to answer, I absolutely love what I do now. The greeting card industry is just wonderful, bursting with energy, talent and generosity.