One For The Road

Alongside my love for business, which I have had for 20 years now, I am an enthusiastic wannabe artist ( I use the term wanabee in the strongest terms) and am also passionate about my van life adventures with my husband.

But, to say I am in tune with all kinds of camping would be true though. We first starting camping when the kids were little in a tent. Pitching on a rough and ready campsite with a swing rope on the nearest tree was my favourite and having a beer while they played is amongst my favourite memories. We didn't do the 'tent thing' that often but I am glad they got some experience of it.

When I was really young, my parents bought a second hand touring caravan that was placed on a farmers field in Wales. It had a river two fields away and myself and my cousin used to spend long weekends making mud pies, having sleepovers and playing in our dinghy on the river.

So, with all the positive experiences I had when I was little, it only naturally followed that I wanted to give my children the same lifestyle in their youth, which is why, when they were 10 ish or so, we bought a second hand touring caravan and had it placed on a campsite in Shrewsbury.

We had some laughs in that caravan .. we also had some cross words too but if you know family life, you know that this is all part of the territory too. World war three can break out if someone sits on their sister's bed and those extreme crimes can make WW2 look insignificant.

Anyway, fast forward to 2018 and our kids were late teens. We decided to rip the plaster off and buy our first campervan. We needed a hobby that we did together. They were no longer interested in coming with us, they had found the pub and that was far more fun than hanging around with their mum and dads.

So we did it alone..

And have never looked back.

Our first van was a Volkswagon T5 and honestly the minute we left for the weekend on the open road it felt free. Music on, no responsibilities, no obligations, no teenage dramas. Just, me and my husband on our way to experience somewhere new. The freedom we felt was addictive and after years of looking after kids and dogs and the consequent obligations they bring, we re connected and found the sense of fun that had brought us together in the first place. The kind you can lose a little along with way as you trudge your way through the extremes of mundane life verses family dramas.

That has never left us and we are now on our second van. It is a bit bigger and has all the things we need to keep us self contained off grid to continue our van life adventures.

Apologies for the rambles and my brief nostalgic trip down memory lane but there really is a link between it and it did lead to my current van life and my latest collection.

It was something that came along quite soon after starting The Sarky Cow, and it has always been a good seller.. but the more people asked me for different colours and styles, the more I wanted to upgrade my offerings. Never did I think I would be able to 'have a go' myself. My drawings and paintings come in the form of pencil, ink, watercolour and latterly gouache. But having recently aquired a new Ipad, I thought I would have a bash myself and honestly I am quite delighted with my efforts.

Not only did I extend my colour options of the T5 'lookalike' collection, I designed a roof top version and a front facing version too. I also decided to offer to add a customer's reg number to make it even more personal.

Now, my colour selections are great as you can see below and they can be used on mugs, coasters, biscuit tins and vanlife journals too.

See how my transition between personal life and business is seamless? What starts as a nostalgic trip quickly evolves into a passion project I can't put down.

And, of course, I haven't just designed mugs, there are journey planners, memory books, photo albums and coasters too. Then there is my latest addition which is a biscuit tin because, how on earth can any campervan be complete without its own personalised biscuit tin.

Anyway, I hope you appreciate my efforts and hope you agree that they make either a great thoughtful gift for a campervan lover or a fancy self treat for your own campervan. Something, you will not find on the high street I promise you.

So, thanks for reading.

Toodles for now.

Paula x