Hi! I’m Sally King McBride, Artist and Founder of The Letter Nest, a brand of elevated and educational alphabet art based in New York City.

Sally wears the Valeria Mini Dress in Peony Garden

I’ve always loved the connection of letter and image. It’s what drew me to Art History as a college major, to The Met—where I worked for over ten years in various curatorial departments—and to a deep love of picture books, which I’ve been collecting since childhood. The Letter Nest ties together wordplay, watercolor, and subtle references to Art History.

That’s how The Letter Nest began: When my friends and family started to have children, I’d make them each a watercolor name painting as a baby gift. Word-of-mouth referrals from these early gifts formed my early customer base, and digitizing my watercolors allowed me to scale the business to The Letter Nest’s current offering of Alphabet Prints, Name Prints, and Stationery.

Follow along on Instagram @sallykingmcbride of The Letter Nest

Every gift should be a reflection of its recipient, so if you’re looking for subject matter, try starting with their personal story: favorite flower, color, birthstone. Other ingredients for a great hand-made card: complimentary colors, humor, sincerity, and decent-quality paper.

My eventual goal is to write and illustrate a children’s book. I’ve been working on one idea since 2015, but having a family and running a business keeps distracting me. ;-)

They do love watercolor, especially Melissa & Doug Paint With Water sets, but I try to encourage anything as a departure point for creativity—whether they’re playing, building, or looking at picture books. Now that they’re a little older, I’m grateful to be able to leave them to their own creative devices, and to witness their imaginations at work.

In terms of evolving, I think about the advice of children’s book author and illustrator Maurice Sendak, who encouraged the artist to have many styles. So while alphabet art has become my hallmark, I do try to incorporate other commissions into my repertoire.

Meeting other business owners! Working at The Met, I had 2,000 colleagues, so it was a major adjustment to become a solopreneur. I’m slowly recreating that sense of community through meeting fellow founders, and through building my own team at The Letter Nest.

On the surface, the vibrant color palettes and feminine silhouettes immediately drew me in, but then I connected to the brand even more upon learning the details of its founding: from the parallel paths of motherhood and entrepreneurship that Alessandra and Louisa have forged, to the legacy of Alessandra’s grandmother as the inspiration for the brand. I’m named for my late grandmother Sally, whose legacy is very much a part of my work.