Hi, I’m Kirsty!
Illustrator & Designer / Tea Drinker / Avid History Lover / Always on the lookout for a good looking stamp
Hi, I’m Kirsty — British illustrator, ex-healthcare worker, and chronic collector of handwritten letters, old bus tickets and stories...
I create illustrations for the sentimental, the nostalgic, and the superrrrrr romantic.
For Keeps Illustration is for people like you… the ones who care deeply, laugh loudly and believe life’s way too short not to celebrate the ones we love (and keep their old voicemails).
My work blends storytelling and nostalgia with a big splash of vintage charm. And everything I create is designed to be kept, loved and passed on… a bit like Nan’s biscuit tin of treasures, or the sketchbooks I’ve filled for years and plan to gift to my daughter.
Before I become a professional illustrator, I worked in healthcare. I was studying nursing, working in dementia care and in the ambulance service and that chapter still shapes how I see the world. I notice the small details and deeply care about preserving the memory of a person, a place and a feeling.
I always strive to make space for people to feel seen, and that’s what makes my creative business more than just pretty pictures. It’s ‘People Work’ and it always has been.
If you’re here, it’s because you want to work with someone who’ll listen to your story and turn it into something tangible and worth treasuring.
Or because you just like a good old-fashioned hand-drawn thing in this overly digital world…
MY JOURNEY TIMELINE
From burned out Healthcare worker to Professional Illustrator
COVID happened, the world stopped, and healthcare became a different world… I picked up my paintbrush in a more intentional way and what began as a quiet creative outlet became the seed of a business that celebrated memory, meaning and being human.
2020 - The Spark
Opportunities I never dreamed of began to unfold — from being featured in magazines and TV sets to pitching dream collaborations. Alongside client work, I’m launching creative communities and workshops, making space for others to reconnect with their own creativity. All whilst becoming the Designer and Illustrator I’ve always aspired to be.
2025 - My Dreams Have Come True
I started a Children’s Picture Book course and the illustration world totally opened for me. I began to develop my style, which is now recognisable - and use my newfound skills to create commissions for my family, friends and then onto more people!
2021 -The 1st Keepsakes
2022 - I Said Goodbye
I made the decision to leave providing direct healthcare and begin focusing on my creative side. I tucked myself away in an office, and slowly dug myself out of Burnout.
I left behind my old career and stepped fully into life as a professional illustrator. From intimate weddings to creative workshops, I poured myself into building a business that felt both deeply personal and endlessly expansive.
2023-2024: The Leap
The beliefs and values that shape my work:
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I believe that to care deeply is a way of moving through the world that helps us to remember the reason we live, the reason we love and the reason we keep on going.
Here at For Keeps Illustration, sentiment isn't weakness… it’s a superpower.
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I don’t just make pretty paper and artworks… I make things you’ll want to keep: the kind of keepsakes that get tucked into drawers, revisited years later, and passed down with a story. These aren’t throwaway details. They’re heirlooms for the people who notice the little things. The things that show we were here.
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Illustration is my medium, but empathy is my method. Because at the heart of it all, creativity celebrates what makes us human.
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The things we save in shoeboxes? They’re rarely the ‘important’ things.
They’re usually receipts, notesn postcards with messy handwriting. I think that says everything about who we are and how we lived.
Noticing doesn’t just preserve a moment — it tells the truth of it. -
No templates. No shortcuts. Just real human creativity — to design with intention. Because your story isn’t generic. And neither is the way I honour it
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Creativity isn’t exclusive. It’s a human instinct. And it belongs at your wedding, your kitchen table, your Tuesday night.
Fun facts about me
◦ I rewatch Clarkson’s Farm and Downton Abbey like comfort food.
◦ Sharing a pot of Yorkshire tea is my love language.
◦ I keep shoeboxes of cinema tickets, postcards, and notes.
◦ I love a spicy romantic fantasy book (IYKYK)
◦ I have a petite Jack Russel called Frankie who’s named after Frank Sinatra (she’s the bestest)
◦ My celebratory drink of choice is either champagne in a teacup or a well-poured pint of Guinness.
◦ I adore well-made TV adverts (random, I know)
◦ A dream job of mine would be to work with Historians and Historical societies/bodies and Museums to illustrate their books/info booklets/ merchandise and more…
Here’s some nice things people have said about me: