CRAFTY CARDS

CAROLINE KENT, ILLUSTRATOR

“As a kid, I was always drawing; my seven-year-old self would be so delighted to see what I’m doing now,” says Caroline Kent, founder of Scribble & Daub. She now produces letterpressprinted and hand-painted cards that are stocked in places such as Liberty and the Conran Shop. Her pared-back designs have been lauded by Vogue and she is a favourite among the fashion set.

Kent, previously a contemporary art curator at a gallery in Edinburgh, says, “The idea of receiving something handwritten and hand-painted, almost like an individual piece of art, is rare and precious these days. Especially as our world becomes more and more digital.”

Her cards start life as hand-drawn scribbles in dip pen and ink, before she sends the images to a letterpress workshop in Rye, East Sussex, near her studio. “They come back to me and I hand-paint them all,” she says.

Away from her business, she says she will of course be sending out handmade cards to friends and family. She likes to get her two sons, seven and four, involved: “Last year we got green poster paint and painted upside-down handprints to look like Christmas trees, and then made wrapping paper with champagne corks dipped in white paint.” Her sons love crafting as much as she did as a child. “I want to teach them about the joy of giving something to someone that you’ve made.” scribbleanddaub.com