Rosie Marshall talks about jacking in a television career to make people smile with her artworks

ART has always been Rosie Marshall’s first love.

But it was a spur of the moment letter to Oxford Street store Selfridges that enabled Rosie to turn her dream into reality.

Rosie, 34, a former pupil of Acland Burghley School in Burghley Road, Tufnell Park, now runs the up-and-coming design brand Rosie Wonders - selling kooky handmade jewellery on a market stall at Brick Lane, enamelled necklaces on the website Asos, and intricate greeting cards through King’s Cross boutiques such as Drink, Shop & Do and high street staples such as Selfridges, Liberty and Urban Outfitters.

Rosie, who grew up in Spencer Rise, Tufnell Park, before moving to Newington Green, certainly comes from an artistic pedigree. Her mother is an artist and poet, her aunt is a professor of textiles and her Godmother is a weaver. She was also part of a stellar year at Acland Burghley where every single art A-level student came away with a glittering A grade.

When she finished her education, Rosie at first left art behind and began working her way up the television industry to become an assistant producer - working on techno-contest Robot Wars, a documentary on Eminem’s mother, a World Aids Day special for MTV, and the real women campaign for Dove soap.

“But it was just not creative enough for me,” she admitted. “But I had always made cards for my friends. So I started brazenly sending cards to places like Paperchase and Selfridges. It was just on a whim.

“When Selfridges got back to me and said they wanted to sell the range, it was brilliant.”

Rosie Wonders has now been going for about five years - and Rosie would love to expand the range into products such as cushion covers, fabrics and wallpaper.

She said: “I am trying to expand into a business that employs people. I need to grow.

“With the handmade jewellery, the idea is to expand so I can sell more. Each piece features a little illustration that I have done and vintage charms and beads from all over the world. It’s all one of a kind - even the earrings are mismatched.

“But the cards just fly out. I don’t know what it is about them but people really like them.”

With the festive season coming, Rosie is looking forward to imagining all the people who will be opening one of her envelopes.

“People are really cynical about things like Valentine’s Day,” she said. “But I always think, ‘How many people are waking up to one of my cards?’ It’s the same as being a florist - generally you make people happy.”

Check out Rosie’s creations at www.shop.rosiewonders.co.uk

MEYREM HUSSEIN