A Cumbrian business is spreading joy by miniaturising pets across the county.
Cheryl Lall, 31, who lives just outside of St Bees, started 3D printing as a hobby and said she never imagined she would become a business owner.
Now the proud owner of PawPrints 3D, she works full-time creating models of people’s pets which come in all shapes and sizes and range from traditional models to Funko Pop inspired designs.
She said: “It started as a hobby in the first wave of lockdown. I’ve always been very artistic so I thought if I get a 3D printer I can make my own models to paint.
“It was actually a family member who said to me why don’t you design people’s dogs and I said, I don’t think anybody would buy them, but I decided to give it a try.
“So I did a couple of mock up ones and put an advert out and within an hour I got a first order, so I thought oh that’s all I’ll get. But I tried again and put an advert on a dog group on Facebook and I was inundated and fully booked for the first month, it was crazy.
“When I first started out I was a self-employed cleaner but COVID put a stop to it, so when this came up I thought, if this lasts us through lockdown I’d be happy with that, anything over is a bonus. For it now to have lasted over three years is a dream come true.”
Cheryl works from a studio space in her back garden where she works on her models and maintains her website and social media.
She added: “All the models are royalty free stock models that I buy in and then 3D print myself, once I get a photo of a pet I match it to a model and then print it. It’s then a lot of prep work before painting. I then use the photo from the client to paint it as accurately as possible.
“Painting and drawing has always been a hobby for me from a young age, but I never found anything I was really good at other than painting models and its just developed from that.”
As well as selling her models and creations online, Cheryl also sells her work at the TEGRetail market every month which takes places in Whitehaven.
She said: “There’s always something to do, I never expected in a million years to be a business owner – it’s very new, I really never expected to get to this point.”
Cheryl added that her most popular model at the moment is her Funki Pets design inspired by Funko Pops – the incredibly popular pop-culture focused collectables known for their oversized heads and wide round eyes.
Every Funki Pet comes with its own laminated card, which is a playful take on the box Funko Pops are sold in.
Cheryl said: “I at first put a few of them in for free with other orders to see what people’s reactions were and everyone thought they were brilliant so I listed them on my website.
“At the minute I’m getting more orders for them than traditional models, they’re basically a cartoon version of your pet.”
In addition to cats and dogs, Cheryl said she is open to doing all kinds of different animals.
She added: “I do have a soft spot for painting German Shepherds because I have one myself. But I don’t just do dogs and cats, I’ve done rabbits before and I can do pretty much any pet or animal.
“I’m also now doing a geometric design of pet which are seeming quite popular.”
Over the years she has been miniaturising pets, Cheryl said there had been a few stand out requests for unique models.
She said: “I’ve defintely had some unusual and quirky requests for models. Someone asked for a two foot pig dressed as a waiter. I was limited to the size I could do so I had to split the model into six parts, print the individual pieces, combine it and paint it.
“The client was really happy with the finished result and it’s one of the biggest I’ve ever done! I also got a request for a Dachshund cut in half so the client could fit a slinky into the middle of it!
“But everything I do I try to personalise it and whatever the request I get I try to fit in with what the client wants to make it really unique for them.”
