About Us
Cuddly Buddly® is an independent, family run British craft business who design and manufacture cute and whimsical rubber stamps, downloadable digi stamps, papers, 3D Decoupage and printables 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 adorable art and quality craft supplies for card making and altered arts by other craft artists and 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 moved into a tiny cottage on a beautiful Scottish island. It was 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. After sixteen years of island life the time came to return to the mainland and Kim has recently moved to Lincolnshire with it's beautiful far reaching views and painterly 'big skies'.
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 had a successful civil engineering career for 22 years working on motorways, housing estates and construction sites plus a few unusual 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, retire from civil engineering and become a more active member at Cuddly Buddly.
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 regular news and fun 'Giveaways' on the Cuddly Buddly pages on Facebook.
The Artists & Designers who work with us
Czes Pachela is an experienced professional designer and runs Pachela Studios. Pachela Studios provide professional illustration, art and design for products such as greeting cards, book illustration, Advertising illustration and product visualisation. In fact if there is a requirement for good quality Art & Design then they can cover most illustration requirements whatever the product.
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.
Hello, I'm Eline Pellinkhof and I live in the lovely old city of Haarlem, which is close to Amsterdam and also to the beach, in the Netherlands. In 1988 I finished my studies at the Fashion Academy in Amsterdam and have worked as a freelance designer ever since. My speciality has always been designing for baby and children's clothes and nurseries. In 2000, I met Marianne Perlot from Marianne Design for whom I regularly design scrapbooking and cardmaking sheets, stencils, stamps and printed papers. In October 2010 my first book titled 'Eline's Huis' (Eline's House) was published in Dutch. This was my chance to bring together all of the various different crafts that I enjoy into one collection of beautiful decorative needle and paper craft projects for the home. It was a dream to design the craft products, fabrics and patterns in the book and I'm now enjoying working on book number two and all of the matching products. I especially like to draw animals, toddlers, babies and flowers and it is important to me that they all have a happy, cosy, and cute charm about them; I hope they make you smile too. Unfortunately, I seldom have the time to work with the ‘Eline-products’ myself any more but my small and very creative design team help me and I am able to show you on my blog the inspirational projects they have made using them.
Sam Salt, from Lilyboo Designs in Lincolnshire tells us, "I love drawing. I love it when Crafters see my work and love it straight away and then when they make cards with it ... well I look at it and think ... did I draw that, they've made it look amazing!!" It wasn't until the birth of her beautiful daughter Lily (nicknamed Boo) that Sam really started to put the lessons learnt in the art classes at school to good use when she lovingly created an acrylic fairy painting for Lily's bedroom wall and upon seeing it, her sister Lou gently encouraged her to go on and draw more. Sam's inspiration and reference for her delightful characters often comes from her children, "They were the making of me when it comes to drawing and their little faces inspire me every day. It's so exciting to be working with the team at Cuddly Buddly and to be able to offer my artwork to friends old and new."
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.
Our Crafty Friends
