Hi there, I’m Melissa. I’ve been an illustrator for over 20 years (I hibernated for 13 of those because I wasn’t really sure what I could use my illustration degree for?)

I graduated with an illustration degree in my twenties having no idea what to do next but needing to get a Job I accidentally found myself working in retail where I stayed for 15 years! I became a Children’s Wear Buyer which I loved, but after being made redundant and with two small children, I struggled to find a job which I could work flexibly around my new role as a Mum.

I’d half thought could I use my retail experience to start my own product based business but I couldn’t really think what product this could be, everything felt like it required huge investments so instead I enjoyed being a Mum and started to draw again during my babies nap time.

It wasn’t until a year later that I realised I’d built up a large collection of illustrations and could this form the start of something? A local Summer show was looking for stall holders and I decided I had nothing to loose and so applied for a pitch with the idea to turn my illustrations into Greeting Cards and other products.

The show went really well and really was the starting point of Western Sketch which has been going strong ever since that day in 2018.

I’ve built my Greeting Card business gradually over the past 7 years, it’s enabled me to look after my 3 Children and each year has built a new milestone and achievement for me. In 2021 after surviving home schooling I decided it was now or never and took the plunge into starting to wholesale my Cards and Gift Wrap. I have since created exclusive collections for Harvey Nichols and am proud to call Fortum and Mason a stockist!

My passion lies in painting using watercolour but bringing this into the modern day, you wont find landscapes on my greeting cards, rather cakes with smiley faces or animals wearing party hats.

As an ex Buyer I have always been interested in how and where something is made. I apply this knowledge as a card publisher. I only use the very best paper across all of my products which are printed in the UK supporting British suppliers.