Etsy Design Awards 2019: the London makers and creatives awarded top prizes at first global 'Etsies' competition

London wallpaper artist Sian Zeng is the Grand Prize Winner of the new "Etsies" — the first global Etsy Design Awards — scooping nearly £12,000 in prize money.

Etsy is the popular international online shop where smaller makers, typically one-person outfits, sell their handmade designs. It's ideal for Christmas presents.

There were thousands of entries for the awards and of the 160 finalists, 25 were from the UK.

The international judging line-up included UK interior designer/stylist Sophie Robinson, who was also a judge for our own recent Homes & Property Home Design Awards. She found "high standards of talent and innovation, and an impressive breadth of design".

Founded in 2005 in a New York flat, Etsy now connects 2.3 million sellers with over 40 million buyers worldwide. The platform has been a big success in Britain, where standards for makers are high. Deptford-based Zeng's win confirms this.

Born in China, living first in Hungary and then the UK, Sian Zeng trained in art in all three countries. Founding her business on Etsy in 2009 after graduating from Central Saint Martins, now her charming wallpapers sell in 23 countries.

She lives with her husband in Eltham and at her studio in SE8, laboriously paints full-size artwork for her fanciful designs. This can take up to 10 months for the more intricate patterns. Results are scanned and turned into "repeats", with numerous visits to printers to finalise colours.

Themes include dinosaurs, fairy tales, flowers and woodlands with a glimpse of London houses. A unique optional magnetic under-layer lets you personalise your wallpaper, moving around extra magnetic motifs, including your own "speech bubbles." Shop the collection on Etsy here.

Several more Londoners were award finalists. With backgrounds in architecture and design, home-based Tottenham twin brothers Roshun and Dee Ayus sell their sharply styled lamp shades on Etsy, 3D printing an innovative bioplastic made from sugar cane, corn starch and cassava. "We're pushing the boundaries of materials and making," they say.

In south London, freelance illustrator Bryony Fripp works from home, too, "assisted by Margot, my sausage dog and model". Her personalised hand-drawn illustrations depict anything from family breakfasts, "love story" maps, or a favourite dog walk.

Also with a dachshund, this time named Stanley, Aimee Furnival of Another Studio lives in Honor Oak in south-east London, where she designs "original, playful, affordable gifts." She adds: "Typically, Etsy customers are savvy, thoughtful and unconventional."

She made a mini pop-up garden to send by post in 2010, but has had more than 100 more product ideas since. Bestsellers are little brass clip-on house plant animals. Also appealing are her £16.95 brass mini models of Battersea Power Station and the Barbican.

Working from home in Croydon, Erin Plant started with a patchwork playmat, made for her first baby. The mat was so admired, she marketed her idea. Now her speciality is "sensory toys," including best-selling soft alphabet blocks which she stitches when her two children are at school.

"Etsy is wonderfully flexible and so personal, she saus. "You feel you know your customers."

Mara Lagonigro and Paul Scott run their luxury stationery company from the spare room at their terrace house in Walthamstow. Most popular product is their Wedding Planner, including the "gender neutral" version, perfect for LGBT+ weddings, which featured in the Awards.

Etsy is two-way, they say. "We reach thousands of people all over the world, whose feedback then helps us create new products."

Vegan cushions in super-soft fake suede are best sellers for Alice Acreman, a textile designer with a studio space at her terrace house in Walthamstow. She's also selling silk scarves with hand-rolled edges, and kimono jackets.

It costs nothing to set up an Etsy shop, and just 16p to list an item.

Etsy will take a five per cent transaction fee, plus a processing fee of about four per cent.

Before placing an order check where your goods are coming from as this could affect shipping times and costs.

See all Etsy Design Awards winners worldwide.