I had been collecting imagery of Victorian love tokens and puzzle purses, and wanted to use the form to tell a story.  Influenced by folktales and modern stories about female transformations into animals, I wanted to explore the ideas of gaining freedom from gender-roles and freedom to explore sexuality and queerness.

I was also influenced by articles about ecofeminism and queer-ecology which I found quite influential in thinking about the way I presented the narrative as breaking down the hierarchies and barriers between natural and unnatural.

I drew from the simplicity of folk art imagery in as well as the handmade nature of the original love tokens.