Friday 30 October 2009

Merry Go Round


Each month, a group of craftswomen from around the world join together and give their responses to the same question...this month, our thought to ponder is:
'Failure sucks...but instructs'
Hmmmn. Not easy, this one. Prepare for honesty by the bucketload...
I can honestly say that good things really can emerge from failure. Just over two years ago, we embarked on a huge lifestyle change. We sold our house and almost everything we owned and upped sticks and moved here, to the middle of a glorious forest, to set up a luxurious tipi holiday campsite. We had spent several years talking about it, researching it, finding the perfect place for it and gaining planning permissions for it. We started work on it...but this happened and that happened, and the whole project faltered. Now that's a blow to your self-worth.
The woodcutter continued with felling and stripping the tipi poles and I worked in the evenings on fancypicnic products. We just couldn't be defeated by this. We had many black moments - moments that so often made it hard to get out of bed in the morning. But how can you let your children down? How can you sit back and let it consume you? Both of us have artistic backgrounds - he'd been a product designer since graduating - and being thrown into this peculiar abyss of 'now what?!' made us think. Think really hard.
The woodcutter hates waste...our tipi poles needed chopping to length and the thick butts removing...and these smoothly peeled offcuts felt good in our hands. They smelled good. They looked darn good!! There must be something we could do with these....
And there was. The Log Basket had arrived. It certainly isn't going to make us millionaires, and it is extremely hard work, particularly for the woodcutter - but it is truly a family business, one where we can spend more time with the children but at the same time work all night if need be. We're doing it for ourselves and we have discovered that working for yourself is tough but incredibly rewarding. It is immensely challenging, to say the least and throws us into many a conundrum - but we like a challenge! We can also see that from this our children are learning. They often get involved with various processes, from helping to offload the logs from the kiln and stack them, to popping the tealights into the candleholders and lending a helping finger when tying the raffia on the gift boxed packaging. My fancypicnic baby can develop alongside, maybe even become integrated within The Log Basket (watch this space), and I like that. One year on, I can see that we have room to grow and widen our product line. It is certainly different to cleaning tents and laundering sheets! It sucked to fail, but we realised that we could, and should, be resourceful - and with a bit of imagination and gritted teeth we could change things. A hard lesson to learn, maybe x
Please now pop in on my fellow Merry Go Rounders - their bloglinks are in the sidebar. We are all in different timezones, so please call back to read their posts. Have a great Friday!

Thursday 15 October 2009

The shop is lucky...

...it is getting some new stock!

Today, the Elven range arrived back from Stampington in America, following publication in the Autumn edition of Belle Armoire Jewelry. Over the next day or two, these five items will be added to the shop!

Sunday 11 October 2009

Shopping List Saturday...

...on Sunday.

My spot of window shopping may be a little late this weekend, but I hope these lovely items will tickle your fancy nonetheless. Enjoy!

1)Calm - soft wool woven bag/ memake

2)beret31/ dadaya

3)Small Arctic Fox Scarflette/ PilliPillihandmade

4)Verdigris And Rust 11.../ barefootweaver

For more Shopping List inspirations from fellow Etsy sellers and handmade supporters, do click on the links in the sidebar; if you would like to share your weekly window shopping with us, let me know!
Hope you've had a lovely weekend x

Wednesday 7 October 2009

Autumnal Air

Autumn is most definitely upon us...falling leaves, delicious coppery tones appearing everywhere, and a distinct chill in the air. How about this enveloping, multi-functional neckwarmer to carry you through the season?
Completely reversible, with red silk one side and latte and old gold shades on the other, there are so many ways to wear it! Button it up, flip it over, wrap it around...you choose! For a closer look, click here.

Saturday 3 October 2009

Shopping List Saturday

So...a week has slipped by...where does all the time go?
At the end of this busy day, here are some of my Etsy favourites this week - as ever, enjoy!

1)Large felt and velvet brooch/ dogdaisy92

2)Siesta cotton canvas cushion in orange and tan/ roddyandginger

3)Marley the Mini-Zaubermausi/ cynicthelamb

4)Purple Metal Flower Wall Sculpture FREE SHIPPING (US)/ merritthyde


For more Shopping List inspirations from fellow Etsians and handmade supporters, do click on the links in the sidebar; if you would like to join in with your own lists just let me know!
Happy weekend x