About Us
Cuddly Buddly® Crafts is an independent, family run Scottish craft business who design and manufacture cute and whimsical rubber stamps, downloadable clipart, printables, 3D and decorative papers for Crafters worldwide to use in their hand crafted creative projects. Cuddly Buddly products are exclusively sold direct to the Crafter at our online Shop where we also sell a comprehensive range of quality craft supplies for card making and altered arts by other leading manufacturers.
How on earth, you may wonder did we arrive at the name 'Cuddly Buddly'. Kim originally started as pcDoodles but with so many other 'doodles' around it was becoming really confusing as to which was what doodle! When she began drawing her teddies many of her customers commented on how they felt the little bears made you want to cuddle them ... and so, in an attempt to ease the confusion, Cuddly Buddly was born - it's a family term of endearment we use especially towards younger members when a seriously squishy hug is being sought. Since then the name's stuck, like honey to a bear's paw!
Graphic Designer - Kim MacFarlane was born and raised in England where she attended Norwich School of Art and worked in design studios and publishing houses. Working alongside other designers, photographers, editors and printers for both small businesses and large international corporations Kim's old commercial portfolio displays various works ranging from black and white logo design to four colour monthly magazine design and production. Kim left the hustle and bustle of outer London city life in the mid 1990's and now resides in a tiny cottage on a beautiful Scottish island. It is in this peaceful environment that she re-kindled her artistic interest turning from the previously serious demands of corporate design to the cute and friendly little characters that she creates today. "I truly appreciate being given my own computer," says Kim. "It's enabled me to explore the digital media and work from home. I left the commercial studios many years ago when I was a new mum and I'm delighted to be able to return to the drawing board after such a long absence; it's not something I ever dreamt would be possible! If you don't find me tucked away at my computer or crafting at the table it probably means the rain has finally stopped and I'll be out pottering in the garden or walking my dog on the shore!"
Rubber Stamp Manufacturer & Customer Liaison Manager - Alex MacFarlane was born and raised on Seil Island off the west coast of Scotland, reached by Clachan Bridge, the infamous "Bridge Over The Atlantic"! A graduate in Civil Engineering from Strathclyde University, Alex's favorite job was working for the Ordnance Survey during two summer seasons on Loch Lomond and The Trossachs. His first job in construction was on a Water Works during a particularly harsh winter when a record low temperature of -27C turned Scotland into Siberia! Moving to the warmer south of England Alex met Kim and had a successful civil engineering career for 22 years working on motorways, housing estates and construction sites plus a few unusual yet equally serious jobs including the World's first 10 looper rollercoaster "The Colossus" at Thorpe Park. After years of supporting Kim in her creative interests, Alex decided the time had come to take off his hard hat, pack up his theodolite, semi retire from civil engineering and become a more active member at Cuddly Buddly. Alex is now primarily responsible for the rubber stamp manufacturing, photography, order processing and customer liaison.
Events and Advertising Co-Ordinator – Katie Forster was born in Hong Kong but was raised in England. Her career started at Pinewood Studios Limited where she worked for eleven years covering many departments, Accounts, Personnel and the Photographic/Stills Department. She continued her film connections when, from Pinewood, she went to work for a small photographic laboratory who again specialised in film and television work. Katie stepped down from her full time role within this company when her twin daughters arrived. Continuing on part time for five years Katie decided it was time for a career change. Teaming up with her 'Big Sis' Kim and her wonderful brother-in-law Alex seemed the only sensible answer and Katie is delighted to accept the challenge. If you don't find Katie tinkering on her computer or playing with her girlies, you will find her out on her wonderful horse 'Beryl' enjoying the Buckinghamshire countryside. Keep up with Katie's planned events and regular news and product updates with the Cuddly Buddly pages on Facebook.
And our Art & Design Friends
Printables & Cuttables Designer - Susan Banks Vena was born in Liverpool and brought up in the UK and the Far East and can't honestly remember a time when she wasn't 'creating something'. For many years she worked as a bilingual secretary and now teaches English in the central Italian region of the Marches where she lives with her policeman husband Tony and their two exuberant cats. Over the years her many interests have included sewing (both clothes and costumes and soft furnishings), writing, decorative painting and pattern making. After taking a computer course Susan discovered the marvelous world of digital graphics and papercraft and has never looked back since. A chance 'cyber' meeting with Kim a few years later was the beginning of a treasured friendship which later gave her the privilege of working on the Cuddly Buddly Printables and Cuttables lines with Kim's wonderful artwork. She is also to be found as the "Craft ROBO™ Expert" in the Techie Support section of the Cuddly Buddly Forum. In addition to teaching and designing Susan runs her own home based business creating party and special occasion stationery and gifts.
Children's Book Illustrator - When Kim Sponaugle was 8 years old her grandmom entered her picture in a "colour the bunny" contest at a local restaurant. She won, and the prize? A paint-by-numbers set - it must have been Providence! That was quite a while back but her love of drawing and painting has only grown stronger. Kim is an Art Institute of Philadelphia graduate and has worn many illustration hats including sketching hundreds of children as a cartoon pastel artist. In 2007, she started Picture Kitchen Studio and has had the opportunity to illustrate more than two dozen children's books. When not working at the Picture Kitchen Studio drawing board, she enjoys laughter and fun with her husband Jerry and son Josh in Salem County, New Jersey. Kim has really enjoyed working with Kim MacFarlane on the Fairy Fun Family and Bee of Good Cheer lines and hopes to continue to create lovable characters that will bring much delight to Cuddly Buddly's crafting friends!
Barbara Anne Williams from Bits of Ivory, designs from her home in the beautiful Cache Valley of northern Utah where she finds inspiration in her natural surroundings, home and family, and old books. Her first serious attempt at artwork was a calligraphy class at the university where she fell in love with paper, ink and the history of the art. As a freelance artist she has been creating and selling digital artwork for crafters, scrapbookers and card-makers at Bits of Ivory since 2001, and is thrilled to be offering her artwork through Cuddly Buddly Crafts.
Take a peek at Barbara's inspirational blog to keep up to date with her creative news, views and samples.
Sam Salt, from Lilyboo Designs in Lincolnshire tells us, "I love drawing. I love it when people see it and love it straight away and then when they make cards with it ... well I look at it and think ... did I draw that, it looks amazing and I feel so proud." It hasn't always been such a fun and arty time for Sam though as despite taking A-Level Art at school it wasn't until the birth of her beautiful daughter Lily (nicknamed Boo) that Sam really started to put the lessons learnt at school to good use when she lovingly created an acrylic fairy painting for Lily's bedroom wall and then kept on drawing fairies, fairies and yet more fairies! It's thanks to the intervention of her faithful sister Lou, whose gentle encouragement and canny knowledge of what a crafter likes that Sam turned her hand to capturing these sisterly ideas and bravely ventured beyond the land of fairies. Sam's inspiration and reference for her delightful characters also comes from her children, "Lily was the making of me when it comes to drawing and her little face inspires me everyday. It's so exciting to now be working with the team at Cuddly Buddly and to be able to offer my artwork to friends old and new through their shop, this gives me more time for my drawing and Lou gets more time to spend with our amazing Design Team and look after the Lilyboo Inspirations blog and craft her beautiful cards too."
... And our Fabulously Crafty Friends who lovingly create our super samples.
I'm Annie, mum of two grown up boys and grandmother of three. I live in Cornwall with my husband and our cocker spaniels and when I'm not crafting I love nothing better than a barefoot stroll along a sandy beach. I've always enjoyed crafting and my earliest memories are of sitting with a colouring book and paint box trying desperately to colour within the lines. My grandmother taught me to knit and sew when I was just 4 years old and as a teenager I knitted Aran jumpers for pocket money and then for pin money when the boys were babies. I still keep my kneedles clicking knitting for the grandchildren and occasionally find time to make a counted cross stitch project, but my passion now is 'colouring in'. I started cardmaking with rubber stamped images in 2005 after taking early medical retirement from a demanding secretarial job. At first I was just stamping floral designs, but once I started blogging in 2007 the world of cute characters opened up and I soon found the Cuddly Buddly stamps. Although I started off with water-colouring my stamped images with Adirondack dye ink pads, I found the 'magic pencil' technique on line and now I have discovered ProMarkers - there is always something new and fun to learn and share with friends in the blogging world!
Chrissie is a mum of two and granny of one, who was born in Staffordshire but moved south to train as a teacher in Bristol, where she worked for ten years before marrying, having her first child and moving to the USA for three years. She has lived in Hampshire since her return and worked there until her retirement several years ago. Always enjoying crafty things, her love of card making sprang from the request to make her daughter’s wedding stationery three years ago, since when she has become totally ‘hooked’. She loves singing and belongs to the Portsmouth Choral Union. She sells her cards to raise funds for the choir. She began blogging just over a year ago and loves the interaction with other bloggers.
Hi my name is Clare, I live in Warwickshire with my wonderful and very craft tolerant husband, my gorgeous young son and a very soppy rescue German Shepherd Dog. I have crafted one way or another almost all my life, I learnt basic knitting skills when I was four years old and soon moved onto sewing, making many of my own clothes as a young teenager, I then became interested in cross-stitch and needlepoint. I’ve also dabbled with watercolours along the way. I started making cards not long after my son was born, thinking it would be a way of saving money as shop bought cards were so expensive, however, it wasn’t long before I was completely hooked on card making as a hobby and I now enjoy every minute I get to spend in my craft room. To see more of Clare's beautiful creations visit her blog.
Hi There! I'm Daniele, a 50 something self confessed crafting addict! I started scrapbooking after the birth of my grandson 18 months ago, then started making cards about 12 months ago and now I'm exploring all things inky to learn different techniques. My blog is called 'Musings of a Chocoholic' as I work at Thorntons as the store manager and as I love chocolate it seemed an apt name for my blog. I have two grown up children and both are into crafting in one form or another. My daughter now shares my passion for papercrafting and my son produces 3D digital art so we are a real crafty family.
I'm Dawn, Mummy to 2 young children, Abbie and Alex and soon to be married to Chris. We live in Derby and have 2 cats called Phoebe and Monica. I've been making cards and crafting for a few years but had a little break, and found I missed it too much! I enjoy getting messy with the children which usually involves a large amount of glitter and paint. I enjoy lots of paper and computer crafting but always get drawn back to card making and my Craft Robo. I also enjoy a spot of caving when time allows. I have just ventured into the blogging world and am enjoying experimenting with this.
Sonia was born in Liverpool but has lived most of her life in Ellesmere Port apart from a few years she spent in Germany when her husband was in the armed forces. She has two grown up sons and a wonderful husband who she tells us, "Never moans about how much I spend on crafting goodies!" Her first experience in crafting was cross stitching. Sonia got into card making when she couldn't find the card she needed and wandered into her local crafts shop to gather the goodies to make her own. From then on she was addicted and still is! Sonia says, "I love rubber stamping and watching the image come to life as you add colour. I have been a member of the Cuddly Buddly forum for a good few years now, its like having an extended family." Keep up with Sonia's latest by visiting her on her blog.
Hi! My name is Veronica and I'm a Mum of three grown up Sons, wife to William my other half, we have 2 wonderful Grandsons and another Grandchild on the way. I work part time as a Civil Servant and live in Cumbernauld on the outskirts of Glasgow. I have always been a lover of all things Crafty and started very young with scissors, much to my dear Mum's dismay!! In High school I learned dressmaking and needlecrafts and loved my time in the art room too. I still do the odd bit of sketching from time to time. Card making was intoduced to me many years ago by a very good friend and I started making, instead of buying my cards. It soon became an obsession, taking over the dining room. When my eldest Son married and moved out, I had the perfect craft room. The next step for me was having my own blog, sharing my cards and ideas with other crafters and also learning new skills. I found Cuddly Buddly by chance one evening and loved the cute images from the start. I now have quite a collection and use them often for my cards and scrapbooking. I am really delighted to be one of Cuddly Buddly's Crafty Friends.