English Home

146 THE ENGLISH HOMEFrom crisp pastel stripes and nostalgictypography to quirky messages anddoodles, Katie Leamon’s distinctivestationery range is simply charmingWistful deer rub noses with cheeky robins alongsideline drawings of fir cones and bumble bees, whilstexquisitely drawn rocking horses and modelaeroplanes on a brown paper background capturethe essence of a simple, carefree childhood with a wonderfulvintage feel. Since launching her company in 2011, Katie Leamon’sstationery range has gone from strength to strength, and hercards, giftwrap, writing paper and gift tags can now be found inSelfridges, Liberty, Oliver Bonas and, most recently, in thestationery department at Harrods.“I have always loved stationery,” Leamon reveals. “But it was mybrother who gave me the push I needed to launch myself properlyinto selling the greetings cards I had made using a home stamp-making kit in a friend’s shop on Bermondsey Street [London].”An unaffected simplicity runs through the collection, celebratingthe craft element and the honest, natural, locally sourced materialsfrom which everything is made. “I take inspiration from all over- I love vintage typography and I collect antique bits and bobs. Iam always doodling in my head,” she reveals. One of the biggestsuccess stories has been the marbled papers and cards – atechnique Leamon originally learned at school. The eclectic range is designed from a London studio, whilstLeamon’s family heads up the production team in Essex, where agrowing number of helpers are employed. “For the hand-printedcards, we use a modified Victorian press,” says Leamon. “Thismeans that each card has a tangible feel and is completely unique.” A Christmas range has always been an important part of thebusiness, and this has expanded naturally over the years. “Last yearwe launched the Christmas crackers, which were really popular,and for this year we have introduced three new cracker designs:monochrome, marbled and Hello Deer.” Already, the crackers areflying off the shelves, and despite printing extra stock, the HelloDeer design has already sold out. nFEATURE``````SUZANNA BALLAuthenticallyENGLISHCLOCKWISE FROM TOP Leamon’s design studio is based in Waterloo.The brand’s production studio is located next door to the family homein the Essex countryside, where Leamon’s mother and sister are incharge of a growing team of full-time and part-time helpers.English inks are used to create the delightful designs.Products are hand-printed on carefully selected premium papers.``````FEATURE``````JILL SHEARER``````PHOTOGRAPHS``````KATIELEAMON.COMTEH UK DEC15 Auth English.indd 146 14/10/2015 10:18