A Little About Me

How I became the laser cutter artist behind Cornish Whispers

A little about me, and how I became the laser cutter artist behind Cornish Whispers

At school, I excelled in two very different areas: Food Tech and Art & Design. It came down to a choice between art college or catering college, and I chose catering. I worked hard, put in plenty of unsociable hours as a chef, and saved enough to go travelling for six months. I loved the job, but travelling showed me just how much living I’d been missing out on.

While I was away, my then-boyfriend (now husband) had started a little side hustle selling ringtone discs and fascias for Nokia phones — which tells you exactly what era we’re talking about. I took it over when I got back, and it became our first business together: Fonestuff.

I soon got bored of phone accessories and discovered a wholesaler called Tobar, whose traditional toys and nostalgic treasures I fell completely in love with. We started listing them online, and when we got our first sale, we placed a wholesale order of £50. Before long the house was full of boxes, and it felt like such a shame that no one got to actually see all these wonderful things, so I suggested we open our first shop, in Looe.

We began selling on Amazon, back when it was still mostly books and CDs, just as it started welcoming independent sellers like us. We quickly outgrew our little Looe shop, which had barely any room to pack online orders, so we took on a second shop in Totnes with a basement to fulfil orders from.

We made hay while the sun shone, but as Amazon grew, so did the competition, and we knew we needed to do something to stand out. My idea was to personalise our wooden toys to make them more special, so we invested in a laser cutter.

It was a small £500 machine that we squeezed into our home utility room, and I taught myself to use it by making Christmas baubles. Then I noticed people making papercut family trees in frames, and thought I could do that in wood, frame and all. No one else was doing it at the time, so I became unbelievably busy every evening after closing the shop, making family tree after family tree. It would be years before I ever engraved a single toy.

With no training or qualifications, imposter syndrome crept in fast, that nagging voice telling me I wasn’t good enough, that I was playing at something real designers and makers had actually studied for. But that first design became the foundation of my style: what I think of as papercut design translated into wood. It led me to create all sorts of other wooden gifts, and slowly, the voice got quieter.

Eventually we bought a second laser cutter and set it up in the shed. I’ll never forget the day it arrived: a huge red machine, plonked on the grass outside our house with no obvious way of getting it indoors. As luck would have it, our neighbour came home at that exact moment with his entire cricket team in tow, and they all grabbed a corner and carried it in for us.

Cornish Whispers had well and truly taken over my life, and the toy shops took a back seat. In 2018, we made the leap: we closed the shops and rented an industrial unit, which meant we finally got our house back, and room for an even bigger laser cutter, which we named Bertha. With Bertha came the space to dream up even bigger designs.

Then Covid hit. We were able to keep working, and as everyone wanted a way to mark milestone birthdays, celebrate a new baby, or make a wedding day more memorable, we became busier than we’d ever been, all while homeschooling three children. Thankfully, chaos and busyness are where I thrive; I have my chef training to thank for that.

Over the years, we’ve shaped Cornish Whispers into exactly the business we want it to be. We care deeply about what we make, and put love and attention into every single piece. We use only PEFC and FSC®-certified plywood, sourced from sustainably and responsibly managed forests of the highest quality. We also give reclaimed wood, such as old floorboards, scaffolding and pallets, a whole new lease of life, sanding it down and engraving it into something new. Every piece is hand-finished with a natural wax or oil for a smooth, lasting finish.

Our aim is simple: to give you a quality, meaningful, thoughtful keepsake, something to be cherished for years to come.

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Thank you for reading today. If you are looking to bring a touch of coastal elegance and rustic charm into your own living space, we have carefully crafted pieces that make any house feel like a home. From our beautiful Family Tree Wall Art to our intricate Wooden Shell Coasters resting on an elegant Rustic Wooden Oval Table, our natural wooden creations are designed to take pride of place in your living room.

Come and explore our home décor collection and find the perfect addition for your space.