SAM DUFFY Crafter
As a teenager, Sam Duffy spent weekends helping her father with restoration projects in his shop at Alfies Antique Market in Marylebone, London. Now, years later, her eye for vintage finds is a valuable asset when gathering pieces to use in her handmade craft and peg doll business Paper Sam.
“My work is very personal,” she says. “I use ephemera I discover at car-boot sales and antiques fairs, such as old-fashioned playing cards, wallpaper or stamps, so each piece is individual. Recently, I turned some 1950s compasses into heads for my dolls.” Sam first exhibited her creations at the Country Living Christmas Fair last year where she was awarded Editor’s Choice by CL editor-inchief Susy Smith: “Winning the award was so exciting, especially as it was the first fair I’d been to. It was a lovely surprise after quite a difficult year. I’ve hung it on the wall of my workshop as a reminder that hard work pays off.”
Sam runs her business alongside a full-time job as a stylist and prop maker, and is always considering ways to change and improve her designs: “When I was at the Fair, I kept a notebook to jot down ideas and feedback from customers – whether it was adding a moustache to a particular doll or experimenting with outfit combinations or colours. I love to engage with people and for them to hold the pieces and chat about them with me. It’s so important to be a good communicator. I really enjoy explaining the back story and talking about where I have sourced the different materials I use.”
With an updated website currently in development, Sam’s next project is a line of bridal dolls with dainty crepe paper crowns and painted matchstick legs (opposite), which she is excited to launch: “I’m really looking forward to unveiling them for the first time at the CL Spring Fair, especially as it’s in a new venue this year.”