Paper Design

I am excited to reveal our first blog ‘Paper Design’ number one in a series which will be released throughout 2018. This series will showcase interviews with some of the amazing women who have supported, inspired and been part of Saloukee’s 10 year story in business.

First up we speak with with paper engineer and paper cut designer Sarah Louise Matthews and what a talented lady she is at paper design!

Our month one showcase is all about paper design. This is not only material which marks our very beginnings but also the first wedding anniversary – a gift marked with paper. This year for us is all about celebrating our 1-10 years in business.  So during March, I will also be making new work made of paper. Plus recommending other brilliant independents who work in the same medium.

I got a full time job off the back of one of my internships, where I ended up working for four years, the whole time continuing my own work as a side-hustle. As time went on it became harder to juggle both, but I was worried that I couldn’t yet afford to continue living in London on the income from my own work alone, so I just continued to burn the candle at both ends. My team ended up being made redundant due to our employer’s financial problems, which turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it gave me the push to see if I could make my own business properly work. Yes it was hard, yes I had to move out of London, and yes there were times when I thought I couldn’t make it work, but being able to dedicate all of my time to my own work was life-changing!

In the (almost) two years since losing my job, I have had my work on the cover of a magazine, written a book, taught 300 people over a weekend of workshops at the Southbank Centre, had my work in numerous shop windows (including the Selfridges one!) and so much more.

This may not really answer the question but, like many others, my creative business has been prone to somewhat taking over my life, teaching me that I need to be more time-realistic rather than time-optimistic.

Part of me sees it as building the foundations of my business and ‘paying my dues’, but the other part knows that it’s just not a healthy or happy way of life to aspire to.  I am (quietly) ambitious and have always been a hard worker (my family would probably say too hard), but I am increasingly aware of the importance of work/life balance … finding that balance isn’t easy though – I’m definitely still working on it.