With the current pandemic pushing most of us to spend even more time on social media (both in our personal life & business), it might start to feel like scrolling has become a serious hobby. As Head of Marketing for Shida, I have to admit, I’m definitely a bit of a scrolling enthusiast. Social media provides a constant source of entertainment and inspiration for me, but sometimes even I can feel a little bombarded by it all, that is until I stumble across something that truly sparks joy! That’s where Claire from Paper Thin Moon comes in.

After working on a mutual project together, we thought it’d be a great chance to take you behind the scenes at Paper Thin Moon and, of course, introduce you to Claire.

(Hannah) Can you start off by telling us a little bit about your background and what lead you to start Paper Thin Moon?

(Claire) I studied fashion design after I left school, but my career has been in journalism. I worked for newspaper magazines for over twenty years, starting with the Sunday Times Style and Culture sections when I was in my mid-twenties. I left my job as picture editor at the Financial Times Magazine in 2013 when my daughter was about six months old, stopped commuting into London and started thinking about setting up my own business. In those early years I didn’t really know exactly what I wanted to do, so I started Paper Thin Moon as a blog and I’ve sort of figured it out as I’ve gone along. I always knew I wanted to do something creative - in that I wanted to be designing and making something of my own. It had often felt as though I spent my time commissioning photographers, makeup artists and stylists to do the creative jobs I wanted to be out there doing myself, rather than sitting in an office directing other people’s creativity.

How would you describe your creative process?

It varies depending on what I’m doing (it could be thinking about designs for the ceramics, styling or making my floral artworks) but it almost always starts with considering colour and texture, and then how something would fit into a home and enhance a person’s surroundings and sense of wellbeing. I’d like to think that what we make helps bring a little joy into people’s lives, and really, I design shapes and choose colours and materials based on what I’d like to have in my own home.

What themes, inspirations or concepts drift into your work?

Nature is a huge inspiration, particularly since I’ve moved back to a more rural location. I love being close to the sea and find the changing light at dusk and sunset a constant source of inspiration. I come back to nature when being drawn to colour, too. Often ideas evolve from a combination of colours I’ve seen together when I’m out on a walk, or flowers I’ve planted together in my garden, or even the way something has faded or gone to seed in autumn.

What does a normal day look like at Paper Thin Moon?

There are no normal days at the moment! But usually, when my kids are at school, I’ll drop them off and then drive to my office, which is five minutes away. I’ll always start by going through emails and catching up with any admin, but otherwise, I try to give myself set days and times to focus on tasks. Dealing with orders and spending time on marketing and promotion, especially on social media are both hugely time consuming, so I like to factor in set times to dedicate to that and have other periods where I can focus purely on designing and making. The latter is definitely taking a back seat at the moment!

I know that you collaborate with your Dad on the final ceramics, what’s it like to work with a family member?

It can be tricky because the boundaries can be a little blurred! My Dad is very easy going, which helps. But I have to be careful to respect his knowledge and expertise when I come to him with ideas for new shapes and designs. Luckily that mix is working well at the moment as so many of the shapes he was making in the eighties are coming back into favour, so we’re revisiting some of those and giving them a contemporary twist.

When working on new collections at shida, we spend time looking at trends within the interiors industry, amongst others. What is your favourite interior looks for the year ahead?

This year I plan to inject a lot more colour into my own home - and I mean bright colour! I think I’ve been playing it safe for too long and more recently I’ve noticed how colour can really lift my mood. I’m designing and making some cushion covers for my living room sofa as the current ones are looking a little moth eaten (and not in a good way!) and it’s all about injecting a punch of colour for me right now. I’ve even been looking at colours I wouldn’t normally entertain - I’ve got my sights on some deep yellow taffeta curtains inspired by the ones in one of the bedrooms at Ett Hem hotel in Stockholm. And I’ve got a bit of a thing about lilac at the moment too.

Are there any fellow creatives that you’d recommend following for inspiration?

I’ve just discovered Roberta of @hunt_the_pearl via the 91Magazine blog - I love everything about what she does. Also on Instagram, I love following the work of photographers @annahilja and @aamuomenatarhassa as well as creatives @abbymonroe and @forest.finders and floral artist @errer_ Also, Stockholm-based interior designer @studiohilda

Running a beautiful homewares business, I’d imagine that your home is full of wonderful finds and trinkets - do you have a favourite?

My favourite things are the ones I’ve had for the longest, namely the bits that have come from my family home that I remember from growing up - they’re few and far between, which makes them all the more special. I’ve got a Picasso inspired bird jug that my Dad made in the eighties, a pair of tiny brass candlesticks with intricate petal detailing and butterflies on the handles and a sepia photograph of my Nan as a child that I keep in an ornate black wooden frame that used to be on the mantelpiece over the fire in our living room. My mum has also just recently given me the patchwork bedspread she sewed by hand that I remember vividly from childhood, partly because I had a patchwork waistcoat that she made me from some of the same fabrics.

You left London in 2011, as more people are opting to move out of the city in search of space (and a different pace) what is your advice for someone looking to make the move?

Make sure you’re ready before you take the plunge. I think I was, but it was a bit of a shock to the system because I’d lived in London for longer than I’d been in the countryside as a child and a teenager. It had been a prerequisite that we’d be close enough to London for my husband to commute and for me to be able to get there in just over an hour on the train. I missed London a lot at first, but having wide open spaces on our doorstep soon made up for it. And being close to the sea. On a practical note, check out how much your council tax will be before you move - ours doubled! And we had to have two cars as there’s no reliable public transport and my husband commutes into London every day, which is obviously costly. We hadn’t really thought about such things. We were a bit naive really, looking back. We fell in love with our house when we found it and we just decided we’d somehow make it work.

And lastly, I saw that you visited and wrote fondly of Oslo (pre lockdown), I was born there and enjoyed reading your take on the city! When this strange time we’re all in at the moment is over, where’s first on your travel list?

Oh, there are so many places on my list! I have a landmark birthday coming up this year and my plan had been to take a long-haul trip somewhere completely new and exciting (Japan and Vietnam were top of the list), but I think we may have to postpone this to 2022. This year I think we’ll stay a little closer to home. I have high hopes for long weekends in Lille and Antwerp, and I’d like to get to Romania for a longer break in the summer if we can.

Head over to www.paperthinmoon.com or follow Claire on @paperthinmoon.

Intro and questions by Hannah Dewar

Answers by Claire Holland from Paper Thin Moon

Photography supplied by Paper Thin Moon & Shida Preserved Flowers (styled flower frog)