new exhibition

Landkarten des Lebens (Life Maps) - Bibliothek am Wasserturm (06.01.2020 - 31.03.2020) Berlin

2019

Looking back over 2019 I feel like it has gone by so fast (just like every year). I've introduced a couple of new things to my shop, one if them being fair trade recycled frames. This is something which took a lot of research because I wanted to make sure the frames were sustainable and also vegan friendly. The glue used to combine the recycled wood is vegan and cruelty free. I also reached my goal of 200 hand drawn maps and I'm looking forward to reaching 300 😊 I took a while to post about it because I have been overwhelmed with orders the past couple of months but that is of course a good thing 😀

This year I have had some great feedback from customers and it always makes my day when I know I've created something truly special. I know most people wouldn't think to contact the creator or producer of a product to let them know how it was received, but because I have one on one contact with the customer throughout the process we build a rapport and sometimes I am lucky enough to find out how their partner or friend reacted to their map.

I have also recently introduced tea towels. This also took a lot of work to look into as I wanted them to be organic, fair trade and again printed using vegan friendly ink. Luckily I came across Cotton Smiles who produce beautiful tea towels and I'm so glad I can work with them to create a present idea for the second cotton anniversary.

In 2019 I also had an exhibition in Berlin (another one coming from January - March). I created my first wedding location map to help wedding guests orient themselves around over the wedding weekend.

Going to be introducing a new product this month! Fair trade organic cotton tea towels printed with your personalised map!

I have been looking into these for a while and decided to order a test tea towel with a print of a very personal personalised map.... This is the second map I created for my lobster, who inspired my whole business model over 3 years ago. Anyway, he loved the tea towel! So I decided it would be a great item to offer.

First year is paper (my maps 😉) and second year is cotton (my tea towels).

After a lot of research I am excited to introduce these upcycled frames to my online shop!

Since I am trying to make as little impact as possible with my creations, I wanted to know where all the materials I use come from. I was able to get these frames custom made by Kater Pawel using repurposed wood therefore using existing resources.

Originally, Ponal Classic Wood Glue was used and I tried to find out if this was vegan and cruelty-free. The company gave me the run around (meaning they just won't admit that they test on animals) and I eventually looked elsewhere. The creater of the frames agreed to switch to UHU glue which is vegan.

lovely review

Out of the Studio

The shop will be closed until 31st July since Chantelle is out of the studio during this time.

You can purchase a personalised map again from the 1st August.

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Der Laden wird bis 31. Juli geschlossen sein, da Chantelle nicht in ihrem Atelier sein wird.

Du kannst ab dem 1. August wieder personalisierte Landkarten bestellen.

Landkarten des Lebens / Life Maps

In dieser Ausstellung präsentiert die Illustratorin Chantelle Bell eine Auswahl an personalisierten Landkarten, die die gemeinsamen Reisen von Pärchen zeigen. Sie stellen nicht nur die geografischen Plätze dar, sondern repräsentieren die Erlebnisse und Höhepunkte der Beziehungen und sowie des Lebens. Jeder Platz ist verbunden mit einer Erinnerung. Zusammen bilden diese die Karten von ihren ganz persönlichen, kleinen Welten. Diese Verbindungen von einem einfachen Ort und persönlicher Bedeutung möchte die Illustratorin mit ihren Illustrationen feiern.

In this exhibition the illustrator Chantelle Bell presents a selection of her personalised maps, which show the journeys individuals and couples have traveled. They don’t just show the geographical locations, but instead represent the experiences and highlights of their relationships and lives. each place is connected to a treasured memory, and the collection of these memories creates a miniature personalised world. With these maps, Chantelle is aiming to celebrate the connections made.

upcoming exhibition!

the future is round the corner

For this order I had a lot of figures to draw which usually makes me nervous (since I’m not the best at it) and I’m much more comfortable drawing buildings. With buildings you know where you stand and they are just really fun to draw. However, I DID have fun drawing this map. The customer sent me posed photographs to work from which really allowed me to capture the individuality of the family members, how they stood, their physical traits and how they grew up into adults. I am really happy with how it turned out and I definately won’t be afraid to draw figures again when I remind myself of this success :-)

friendship

Give your friend a beautiful reminder of the wonderful memories, laughter and experiences you’ve shared.

I ordered these fabulous new business cards from Hatch Print, an environmentally friendly printing company based in the UK which uses vegan inks in their production. They are also extremely helpful and friendly if you have an issue with your order and available on live chat.

It is always important to know where your products came from so you can decide whether you are happy to invest your hard-earned money there or not. I was on the look out for a printing company which only uses vegan ink, as gelatine isn’t necessary for an amazing finished product, and unlike most of us are told, isn’t just a by-product. These are their Premium style business cards but they also offer seed paper!

(This is not a sponsored post, I am just spreading the word since I am so happy with their results!)

updating

Just editing my website today. I decided to change the background for my shop page to include recent map commissions. Also going to be ordering some new business cards!

a little wedding present

meow