Shopping Handmade: Illustrated Ink!!

It's been a while since I've done a Shopping Handmade feature, and this time is dedicated to just one seller & artist, Leila from Illustrated Ink, that created two great custom pieces for me to give as housewarming gifts to two of my bffs!





I had been following Leila's blog (Tattoo Tales) for quite a while, when she showed off this lovely napkin holder she had painted with a winged cupcake and her usual colourful old tattoo style! So I got this idea of getting some custom made, not for myself since I have no place of my own, but for two of my best friends who have recently got their own homes!


Leila was super helpful and willing to work with me, so once she got the holders, we started discussing colours and how to better paint each one of them to fit the kitchens where they were gonna end up in! My friend Gema has her kitchen in lilac & green, so we went for a nice purple for the main colour, and Pilu's kitchen is more white & metallic, so we went with silver for the main colour.


Once both napkin holders were done I was blown away as what a great job Leila had made painting them in different colours, and even having the same design, how different each looked in their custom colours! Definitely something only handmade stuff can achieve!


When I got the package, both holders came lovely wrapped, all ready for gift giving, and Leila included two gorgeous postcards that I greedily decided to keep for myself!










Both my friends absolutely loved their napkin holders, and really oooooh'd and aaaaah'd at the fact that they matched their kitchen and loved the super cute cupcake painted there! Both love using it, for decorative purposes, and also during dinners and lunches with friends, when they both get many questions about where they got such an unique piece! They always say it's a special handmade piece that their friend bought directly from the artist, and I think that impresses people even more!

Gema's purple napkin holder

Pilu's silver napkin holder

I have to confess I can't wait till I can ask Leila to make me a pair of custom napkin holders for my own place! In the meantime I'm planning on getting a pair of her prints, and maybe one of her locket necklaces!