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!

16 comments:

Heloise said...

What a brave honest post. May both of your businesses go from strength to strength.

Mariana said...

Absolutely loved this (Im feeling that my post felt a bit short this time, hey well.. Im in bed).
I
I think combining both -Fancypicnic and the log basket would be brilliant! Actually hey... don't you need a basket when you go on a picnic? ahahaha You could embellish those logs for a special x-mas product right?
Anyway, Im glad that you guys stuck to it and persevered... sometimes it takes long I guess, but the reward is so much bigger...and working for yourself, no boss to answer to...much better, right?

Ruth said...

Great post. And well done! Persistence and creativity and lots of other things and you've moved forward. I can see lots of your creativity in the log basket and other ideas...it's just another form of fancy picnic. Love the photos too. I admire you.

Grammatically Delicious Designs said...

Great post. I just love the visual of the forest. I live in the middle of the midwest plains. I can see forever. My husband can definitely relate to the working for yourself satisfaction. He loves farming and would never do anything different. That black dirt calls him every day. Good luck to you.

Lily Pang said...

It's heart warming to read your story. I really admire your and your family's determination. I believe you will be very success because you have the spirit for it.

Michala Gyetvai (Kayla coo) said...

Life indeed takes us on journeys we do not plan.
All the best to you Charlotte.xx

Dot said...

Charlotte - I have read this post several times. And am very impressed by your honesty and positive energy. I am sure Romy and Phaedra have learnt so much from you and their dad with this lifestyle change. And attitude to adversity.
You are a very special woman ; talented, loving brave and warm.
Big hugs from me.
Dot xx

Easterya said...

How inspiring! I think being resourceful is a must in the world we live in, but it takes courage and endurance to keep trying, it is far far from easy and I am in awe of your strength!!

Jackie said...

I would never look upon you as having failed..you have succeeded in so many ways.
Your textiles are sought after admired and have inspired . Your lifestyle is enviable, you have two beautiful and fortunate children and above all you've overcome your difficulties and succeeded in business.
Thank you for giving us a glimpse of your journey.

meherio68 said...

I discovered the Log Basket a couple of weeks ago and absolutely loved it!
I cannot wait to see it developped. My Paypal account is already itching as things are...
I also think yours is truly an admirable illustration for that sentence.

Sara Millis said...

I love the honesty of your post... I think this is what I find so inspirational about what you are doing... never giving up no matter how hard it seems sometimes is a quality of character I most admire and I think makes your business and products most appealing... these really are made with love and with passion too.

I wish you bucket loads of luck and sunshine! Have you thought about visiting some of the new food, eco and music festivals over the west and south of the country? I'm sure there are a number of festivals you may do well at with a stall... a way of getting the Log Basket & Fancypicnic out there? I've visited a couple that might be your thing so far this year.

Sxxx

Wendren said...

Your story is definitely a good example of having lemons and making lemonade. Well done.

mimilove forever said...

oo 'ello, hookah loon's at it again!
Anyroad top post old fruit an inspiration to us all...now if you ever need lodger/novelty hermit for that lovely little house in the woods you know where to find me! x;0)

Anonymous said...

So glad I stumbled on your lovely lovely blog today, it's always nice to find other blogger out and about on the net!

Agneta & Sweden

Izabela said...

wow that is so great that you are not giving up... I also think that that we all should look for a lesson in mistakes and failures, I wish you very good luck and I hope that I can be brave enough to try to make my dreams come true...
love
xxx

syed ali said...

http://fancypicnic.blogspot.com/2009/10/merry-go-round.html