Welcome back to Craft Chat, a series of interviews with crafters from all over the globe. Our current focus is on select artisans found on the UK site Folksy. Today’s cozy conversation is with Francesca Iannaccone of mrs eliot books, a charming little print shop located in the north of London.

What do you get when you toss together paper, ink and a wooden accordion with an active imagination and an interest in word play? The prettiest of print shops with diverse offerings ranging from stationary to sweet sayings that sit on a shelf. At mrs eliot books, there is much to delight and charm.

Collages are cobbled together from old envelopes, fabrics, pieces of prose and the artist’s own drawings. Beautiful books are constructed of blocks of wood pasted with prints of endearing creatures and curious words. The mood of these makings is calm and serene, with an underlying affection for the subject matter.

Let’s spend some time in the studio with Mrs Eliot herself and learn more about her craft, her likes and her location:

>>Please introduce us to your business!

What kinds of things do you make?

My name is Francesca and I run mrs eliot books. I make cards, prints, original collage pieces and little wooden books.

How did you get started?

I had been working on my little wooden books for a while and wondering what on earth I was going to do with them when I discovered etsy. It was like a whole world opened up, and where before I had struggled to get my work out there, there was now a perfect little outlet and a greatly supportive community. My little wooden books started to get noticed and I was lucky enough to get some press and it went from there.
Before that, I had worked in book cover design and had my own t’shirt company but I wasn’t quite fulfilled creatively.

Is there an interesting story behind the name of your business?

I like to cut up words and sentences from books to create a new narrative and use in my work. When I was at art college The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot by Angus Wilson was the first book I bought from the second-hand shop to tear up. It was completely random, I flicked through it and liked it’s ‘Englishness’. I still use it today.

>>Tell us a bit about your town.

I live in a leafy part of London with lots of green spaces nearby but only a short tube ride to the centre of town. I’m definitely a city girl, I couldn’t live in the countryside although I do love to get away for a weekend. London is still great. And it gets more exciting all the time. We have some great new architecture by the river, one of my favourite areas to hang out.

Does your location have an influence on what you make? Please explain.

Where do you find inspiration?

I like to use winter trees a lot in my work and these first really grabbed my attention in my local park. Otherwise, it’s a cliche but I do find inspiration everywhere. Just a shape out of the corner of my eye or a pattern or a phrase or conversation can start something off.

Are there any crafters out there whose work you admire? Or, do you have a favorite type of craft?

There are so many wonderful artists out there and etsy and the blogging community has really unleashed them! Some new people that have caught my eye recently are Helen Musselewhite, gypsy and twink and Nina Invorm.

What is the best part of what you do? The most challenging?

Without a doubt the best part of what I do is getting really warm feedback from someone who has bought one of my products, when they take the time to let me know how much they like something or they send me a picture of my work in their home. I even like writing out my address labels, so many little towns all over the world.
The most challenging part is keeping ideas fresh. With so much beautiful work so available on the net now, it’s sometimes hard not to be influenced. But I have been copied in the past and it’s a horrible feeling, so it’s really important for me to be true to myself and be inspired but not influenced. It’s also hard to keep motivated. If I drop out for a week, it’s much harder to get back on the horse, I need to do a little bit every day in order to stay focused.

You have listings on Etsy and Folksy. Can you compare the two hosting sites? What are the advantages/disadvantages of the sites?

Well, etsy is really the leader, I’ve been on etsy for a couple of years and I really think of it as my main shop but it is very hard to get noticed. You have to push yourself and your work constantly to stay visible among all the great work out there. Folksy is just starting out so I have a lot less work in there (I don’t enjoy the listing process!). It is also in beta mode so we are all still very much testing it out and reviewing it. It’s got a long way to go, but with less people using it, there is a chance your work will be seen more often than on etsy. (I also have a dawanda shop by the way, the euro-etsy).

And, for fun, please name three places in the world that you’d like to visit and why.

Cape Town, seems like a lot of interesting work is coming out of there right now. Western Australia has been on my list for a while – just my family and a camper van would be great one day. Tokyo, why not!

mrs eliot books currently keeps shop on etsy, folksy and dawanda! Check her out in any currency.

You can also read about her on her website, blog and see more on her flickr site.