About

Paper Memories was founded by me, Sarah Morgan, back in 2001 with the aim of creating beautiful, bespoke, handcrafted photo albums and guest books that people would treasure.

How it all began

I’ve always been a crafty type. As a child I loved to draw, and as I grew, my passion moved into watercolour painting and sketching, but everything changed, however, when I got married.

My wedding experience

When I got married, I loved all the preparations but one thing I struggled with was finding the right wedding stationery. After weeks of searching I thought ‘Why don’t I make my own?’ So I did just that.

Not only did I love the creative process of designing and creating my own wedding invites, guest books, guest list and photo albums, but I was overwhelmed by the positive feedback from my guests.

Soon, this one off project became my full time hobby. I started attending wedding fairs, checking out wedding stationery online, and I always felt that I could do better!

A leap of faith

So in 2001 I decided to be brave and founded Paper Memories, so that other people could enjoy handcrafted wedding stationery. Over the years, like all businesses, we have evolved, designs and some products have come and gone so for now I just concentrate on guest books and photo albums.

2020, The Year everything changed!

None of us could anticipate how quickly our lives would change in 2020 when Covid first made an appearance. There is not one single person who was not affected by the pandemic which sadly is currently ongoing. Couples all over saw their weddings cancelled, not once, not twice, some sadly a few times. Like most businesses I had no work and was left wondering what would become of Paper Memories.

Like most things in life when we are faced with a dilemma you examine it and decide how to deal with it. If like me you have your own business time is sparse as you do EVERYTHING, from paperwork to marketing and suddenly I found I had time. I had time to do all the things I never had time to do so, apart from a new found love in baking I decided to do an online Graphic design course.

I passed with a diploma which gave me the confidence to take this further. I wanted to do the course in order to develop my designing skills for Paper Memories to keep up with current trends. At that time though, no one was getting married so … Sarah Mae Artworks was born.

Sarah Mae Artworks…the silver lining.

After getting my Graphic design diploma I started designing cards and prints, I opened up a shop on Etsy and since then I haven’t look back. I was back working and able to pay my bills, Sarah Mae got me through all the lockdowns and that 18 month period of uncertainty.

The future looks bright!

I now combine both Paper Memories & Sarah Mae so you will find a page dedicated to Sarah Mae on the website which shows a small selection of my greeting cards. I get enjoyment out of both so for now we will see how it goes.

I hope you love the site, if you have any suggestions or questions please don’t hesitate to contact me or get in touch via my Facebook page.

Thanks,

Sarah