About Deer & Sparrow

About me...

Photo of Judith, owner, artist and designer at Deer and Sparrow

Hi, I’m Judith, the artist and maker behind Deer and Sparrow. I’m from the UK (Northern Ireland) and I moved to Zürich with my husband for one year, 13 years ago!

I’m a home bird at heart and miss my family a lot, but for now life is here and Switzerland has a lot to offer (although I do miss the seaside).

Cups of coffee or tea are one of my favourite ways to spend time, either with friends or curled up on the sofa under a blanket with a good book.

I like to read thrillers, mysteries and occasionally literary fiction. I enjoy cooking and baking. I often cooked/baked with my mum and aunt growing up, and Northern Ireland has lots of yummy breads and sweet treats which I love to make here from time to time.

I love spending time with my family in the mountains. We often go on the themed hiking trails with my children, taking photographs and marvelling at the beauty of nature. Of course, I love to paint and create. At the minute I work mostly with inks, which I find a very relaxing medium, it’s fascinating to watch the ink move on paper.

 

About Deer & Sparrow

Deer & Sparrow is all about helping friends and family to connect and to nurture relationships.

Friendship, community and belonging bring so much joy to our lives and although we are more connected than ever with technology, life is also busier, and loneliness is on the rise. Families and friends live further apart, and our neighbours can often be strangers.

We want to celebrate, commiserate, sympathise, encourage, reminisce and enjoy all those other little moments that make up the every day, yet physical distance and responsibilities mean that we can't always be present despite our best intentions. 

My aim here at Deer & Sparrow is to inspire you to reach out to the people in your life and let them know that they are thought of, seen and belong. And I want to encourage you to do this is in a tactile way because giving something tangible helps to create stronger connections. 

With that in mind I've created a collection of greeting cards, gifts, homewares and Swiss Souvenirs. Everything is made to help you to champion friendship and kindness through heartfelt designs and keepsake products to inspire thoughtful giving and kindness with ease, colour and creativity. 

Each product is inspired by life, traditions and, of course, the people and places we love, and is made with love, care and high quality materials so it can be cherished for years to come.

It’s all about connection and letting those we love know we care.

 

 Values

CONNECTEDNESS - Connection is really the core of what happens at Deer & Sparrow. I want to bring people together, after all life is meant to be lived together. We need to feel like we belong, and we do that by nurturing our friendships. 


CREATIVITY - Being creative is part of who I am and in business this value is my permission slip to play, to experiment, to take risks, to not be afraid of failure, to learn from my mistakes and to keep learning. It's also exploring thoughts and feelings and creating something which helps you to connect with family and friends in a thoughtful way.


INTEGRITY - Being honest, working hard, doing the right thing and having high standards in the work I sell. I choose to use high quality materials, and when possible, purchase my supplies from other small businesses.  It’s also being responsible with the amount of waste I produce, with my packaging and my customer service.


FAMILY & FRIENDS - My family and friends are so important to me and most of the big decisions I make are based with them in mind.


KINDNESS - Life is hard and the impact that some kindness and joy can have and how it can ripple out is amazing. I love that, I want more of that in this world.


NOSTALGIA/ TRADITION - There are definite hints of nostalgia and tradition in my products. I think it’s important to live life looking forward but so much of who we are is because of where we came from, special moments, wonderful traditions and all the wee things that add up to make a friendship. These are things that should be treasured and a time when a little sentimentality can be indulged.

 

 

Sustainability 

The main materials in my work are wood and paper. In addition to opting for FSC® paper and plywood when possible, I also plant trees in Switzerland through https://www.almightytree.ch.