giveaway: lillian of the little matters

A month or so ago, I featured Lillian's work in an inspiration board I did. I had the pleasure of getting to know Lillian a little bit and would love to share with you her little shop - The Little Matters. Make sure you enter the giveaway Lillian has offered at the end! :)

TELL ME A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF

Hello! I'm Lillian; a, literally, quite "little" illustrator, designer-maker, and graphic designer based in London, UK. I originated from Hong Kong, but I'm British Chinese and spent my whole life in London. After graduating from university, where I studied graphic and media design, I tried a few different things- interning, occasionally selling work at markets and the odd freelance jobs. Until I decided to start my small company, "The Little Matters", where I started selling my illustrations as greetings cards and prints, as well as small sculpted brooches, which began with and was inspired from my otter series.

WHY DID YOU START YOUR OWN HANDMADE SHOP?

I heard about Etsy from a friend- and just loved the idea of a handmade community full of craft-lovers like myself! Which is when I took my first step to opening an account and putting up a few of my cards on sale. It was quite an exciting experience, the idea of having your own little shop online where people can view and share your work. I was delighted to get my first few sales! And after the positive reception of my "otter" series a month later, I was determined to continue building my store.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE(S) IN YOUR SHOP AND WHY?

I have a few that I am quite happy with, but I would probably choose the "Kangaroo Joey Card", a card with a detachable bookmark, that looks like a baby kangaroo who was inside a pouch. This was a Mother's Day-based card I designed with my mum in mind :) She reads a lot, and I wanted to give her that little reminder of me when she does, since we don't live together anymore. I really focused on the attachment between parent and child when I was doing this kangaroo card- a bond that continues forever, even when the child leaves, like when the baby kangaroos (known as Joeys) finally feel confident enough to leave their mother's pouch. I think all parents would feel this, though the relationship can be a bit different when they're an adult, they're always a child in their hearts.

I linked this with the physical feature of the card- though the Joey leaves the pouch (after the card is read and may or may not be thrown away), they are only moving on to be something else (in this case, a bookmark!), and though the parent and child relationship changes to the adult and their parent, they can still be reminded they are always their child. I love multi-functional things, and greetings card-wise I think this one worked out quite well.

WHAT INSPIRES YOUR WORK?

This really comes from everywhere and depends on the time period I'm living through. I do have a tendency to begin projects from interesting facts or stories, and this could be quite broad. The otter series began when I saw the Youtube video of the sea otters holding hands, where the star sign series just began with my friend telling me about a 13th star sign I never heard of! But sometimes it could just be a gift I make, that I design with a specific person in mind, and spurs off into a series of other works; in those cases I guess the person I have in mind is my inspiration. Occasionally, I just become fascinated with a new discovered medium, or one I haven't used in a long time. The possibilities are just endless.

ANYTHING ELSE?

I really enjoy what I do, and am very happy to have chosen this route in my career. I really believe design can influence life a lot, this not only being in illustration/graphic design, but all kinds of creativity. I hope my work can bring a smile to many, and be a little bit of positive energy in this current busy and stressful life we can often find ourselves in.

GIVEAWAY:

Lillian has offered to giveaway 2 amazing things from her shop! A Vintage Camera Brooch and a set of otter cards (there are a few to choose from in her shop - "Will You Be My Otter Half", "I Found My Otter Half" and "You Otter Keep Warm This Winter")