Hello
My name is Shellie. I am the face (and hands!) behind Footprint & Feather. I'm a mum, a wife and a sewing enthusiast. I've been sewing since I was about nine years old and I have always had a passion for creating unique and beautiful things. I have a degree in Fashion and Textiles and I'm putting it to use by making baby keepsakes which are deeply personal to me.
My Story
I created Footprint & Feather from a place of love and loss.
In 2024, when I was pregnant with my twin boys, I made each of them a blanket and a hat, embroidered with their names. It felt so important to create something personal for them, especially as they were identical twins.
Unfortunately, at 27 weeks - just 5 weeks before we were supposed to meet our boys - we received the devastating news that we had lost one of our precious babies. Our sweet Aspen's heart had stopped, and in that moment I felt like mine would never be whole again. Our surviving twin, Archer, then spent 7 long weeks in NICU and the feeling of leaving the hospital each evening with empty arms is one that will stay with me forever.
After Aspen's funeral, all of his belongings went with him - his hat, his blanket, the only outfit he ever wore, and all of the personal little items that we chose for him. I was left without anything physical to hold onto. No way to feel close to him in the way I so desperately needed.
I searched for something that could help fill that space, but nothing felt right. Memory bears made from clothing weren’t possible. Urns, while beautiful, didn’t feel like something I could hold. Reborn dolls didn’t feel right for our journey either. This needed to be something that our whole family could hold that felt personal to us and to him.
So I created something myself.
A weighted teddy bear, made to be the same weight as Aspen when he was born. Something real we could hold. Something that felt like presence, not just a memory.
After many attempts, I finally made a bear that felt right. I embroidered his name proudly onto its foot, and for the first time, I had something that brought a small sense of comfort into an unbearable space.
When I shared this with our funeral director, she gently told me that other families had been looking for something just like this. That perhaps it could help someone else, too. So I began, with the hope that I might ease a small part of someone else’s pain. If they could feel even a tiny bit of comfort, just as we did when we held our Aspen bear, then I had to make these bears available to as many people as possible.
Since then, I’ve been honoured to create keepsakes for families all over the UK who understand this kind of love and loss. The messages I receive—of comfort, of connection, of finally having something to hold—mean more than I can ever fully express.
Every piece I create is made with care, compassion, and deep respect for the story it carries.
Each baby's life deserves to be honoured, whether they get to stay with us or not.
