**Forest Flower Launches...**

Wow - what a weekend!
After a very frantic Friday trying to get everything set up - Folksy shop , facebook page , cards and leaflets with relevant web addresses etc designed and printed - Saturday was a breeze!

We arrived at Gorsley Village Hall with plenty of time to set up our tables and were welcomed by the smell of bacon butties wafting through the door from the little kitchen out the back...mmmm...

Setting up the stall didn't take too long

My mums hand knitted soft toys in the vintage suitcase got a fair bit of attention!

Once we were all set up I got a chance to wander round and chat with everyone else and there were some wonderful things on display!

Next to us was Frankie Martin who makes the most wonderful mirrors - go and have a look at his website Imagine Mirrors for some truly unique and practical works of art! I fell in love with the big woodland mirror complete with otter and kingfisher, but sadly it was a little out of my price range! Still - it gives me something to aim for!

Sarah Teague makes the most amazing miniatures in fimo clay and had on display a conservatory complete with pots of flowers and trees, a gorgeous pair of pink wellies and even a little black and white cat sat on the sofa! Plus a mini market stall packed to the gills with miniature cakes, pies and treats. Sarah is purely a hobby crafter and does not sell her work- although she could without a doubt!

Another interesting lady I spoke to was Ann Allen whose hobby is basket weaving ( again she doesn't sell her work) and has even woven her own coffin! She is involved in a group called Transition Newent which is part of a grass roots movement aiming to raise awareness and seek local solutions to the twin problems facing the world: Climate change and Peak Oil.  Their purpose to help communities prepare for the transitional time ahead when cheap oil is no longer an option and it will become necessary for communities to pull together and become more self sufficient. They encourage the re-learning of essential skills such as horticulture and environmentally friendly construction and the boosting of local economy by supporting local business and producers. Do have a look at the Transition Culture website and if you are interested in joining in there are groups popping up all over the country so there is bound to be one near you...

There were plenty of other things for visitors - patch working, cake decorating, spinning, plants, a vintage car restored to it's former glory, rag rug making, stamp collecting and even a pet dog show! A steady stream of visitors all the way through the day kept the atmosphere buzzing.

The weather was absolutely perfect and Riley had great fun in the little children's play area outside with all the other local children that turned up and, as promised the surroundings were perfect for a picnic.

All in all it was a fab day and I really hope that another event like this is organised for next summer - and that we are invited again!

**BIG**DAY**

So today is the day I have been building up for over the past couple of weeks - the proper launch of 'Forest Flower', my own little enterprise producing handmade lovelies. Yesterday was a crazy day spent setting up my Folksy shop (more about that later but if you are impatient just click on the link opposite...) and designing and printing off cards, price labels, leaflets etc with the shop address on them. As ever in my life everything was left to the last minute but maybe it's cause, secretly, I thrive on stress!!

We are off to Gorsley Village Hall very shortly to set up our tables at the Hobbies Fair I mentioned a couple of posts ago. After a week of grey, drizzly, windy (even frosty!) mornings we woke up this morning to beautiful clear blue skies and the promise of a beautiful day to follow. I do hope so as the village hall is set in lovely surroundings and I know the organiser has arranged for a number of 'outside things'. It should all make for a great family day out so if you are in the area, bring a picnic and come and join in....

Needless to say a detailed account and lots of piccies will follow... ;)

How the time flies...

I cannot believe it has been 7 - yes 7!- months since my last post.
Well things have been a bit hectic what with trying to get Owen's new shop up and running not to mention Lara's Den... It's been hard times for many as the recession seems to have caught up with many of our customers and, in turn ourselves. The almost three months of continued bad weather really didn't help matters as we couldn't even get to the shop to open up on several days during January.
But spring is here and the lengthening days and warm sunshine has lifted everyones mood and the bikers are coming out en force once again which means trade at both branches of Bikerdean is picking up nicely - here's to a long, hot, busy summer season!
I have been busy too - orders for my personalised bunting have been slow but steady - with one order coming from the Merthyr Tydfil Fairtrade Steering Group who wanted bunting for their stall in the fairtrade colours - I even managed to make it using fairtrade cotton hand dyed and loomed and quite 'rustic' to look at but great to work with. The staff at Fair Trade Fabric were really helpful and even sent me some samples so I could get the right colours - if you want to try some of their lovely fabrics go to http://www.fairtradefabric.co.uk/ where there is also a very interesting page on why 'fair trade' is so important.

I have also been making lots more lovely fabric things for Lara's and for my own shop I am currently in the process of building at http://folksy.com (which is like Etsy but UK based). I will let you know when it's open for business!

Some news...

A hectic few weeks have finally ended with an exciting and busy Saturday with the Newent Onion Fayre bringing thousands of people into the town of Newent and lots of new visitors to Lara's Den. It also marked the grand opening of the other half's new shop Biker Dean (second branch - he is creating his empire!)

After all the hard grafting and late nights that he's put in, with the help of friends, staff and family, it was good to open the doors to customers for the first time - Amazing considering we only took the shop on 4 weeks ago! Check out the website - http://www.bikerdean.co.uk/ for more piccies and news on the Biker Dean blog (to be completed later today!)

Also this week my brother has finally got his own website showcasing his photographs up and running - http://www.antsphotos.co.uk/ . He has been a hobby photographer for many years and has produced some amazing and unusual pictures. We will be selling a selection of mounted small prints at Lara's Den and maybe a few larger framed pictures at a later date but if there is anything you like on the website you can contact him by email for a quote.

Lara's Den Poster

Above is a basic publicity poster I have just knocked together for Lara's. Everything going fairly well, obviously it is early days yet and as the street is tucked away behind the main street with access only through the Newent Association for the Disabled charity shop you really have to kind of know it's there - though they are doing an admirable job of pointing people in the right direction!
I have taken several orders for personalised fabric bunting and we have all sold a couple of items each plus we have a big wool delivery expected in the next couple of days which should boost the stock and, hopefully, the interest.
Also happening at the same time as all this is the other half opening a second branch of BikerDean in the shop next door! (it was too good an opportunity to miss). He is having to put in a lot of hard grafting, on a very tight budget, to get the building up to standard - concreting floors, new wiring, plasterboard, painting etcetc. - as well as continuing to keep the shop in Coleford ticking over - which means he's been doing 14-16 hour days. But thanks to the help of staff members and willing volunteers it is all coming together and he hopes to be opening for the Onion Fair (Sept 12th).
What with all this going on I have barely had time to breathe, let alone blog but hopefully, once all the hard work has been completed and both shops are established we may be able to relax again!

Well, here we are, the day before official opening day for 'Lara's Den'!

Yes, I know this is all a bit sudden but the unit on the street only became available last Friday and we decided to take a chance and go for it! We don't have masses of stock for it - remember the original 'opening date' was the middle of September but there is just enough to give the punters an idea of what we are doing. We still have the room upstairs - which, incidentally, is looking amazing now, all painted with the floorboards stripped and varnished. That will be my workroom and further display space and also a bigger room for Riley to run around in!
I think the street looks lovely - next door to the left we have 'Pins and Needles' run by a lady called Bron, selling wool, haberdashery and cross stich kits plus a few of her own handmade items (includng gorgeous little knitted mice). Bron spins her own wool and hopes to do classes as well.
To the right we have 'The Cake Box' selling homebaked yummies - looking forward to trying them out, think the diet might suffer a bit though!
We also have 'Sweet Memories' - an old fashioned sweet shop - more temptation, darn it.

Upstairs (next to my workroom) is 'Granny's Attic' selling collectables and jewellery.

We will also have an artist displaying and selling her work.

A few of my stitched items along with some of my jewellery in the window and on the old bookcase.

A selection of handmade items for sale in 'Lara's Den'

Busy, busy, busy...

Well the last week has been a little hectic as the reality of running a home, keeping on top of the paperwork for Biker Dean, designing and making stock for the shop and keeping a small child entertained kicks in! Thankfully the sun has come out the last couple of days so I can let him out into the garden again which eases the tension somewhat.
We are lucky to have some handy volunteers who have got stuck into the shop, ripping down old wall paper and painting so when we paid a visit on Saturday the transformation was quite something! Light flooded through the windows now the dirty old nets have been removed and the horrible dark brown wall has had it's first coat of paint. Riley had a whale of a time stomping around in the dust and flaked paint, even grabbing the broom to 'sweep' the floor!
There is still a way to go but it's getting there...

The 'much improved but with still a way to go' interior!

Getting carried away...

Did not have a good day yesterday! After getting on with housework early so I would have some time to make things for the shop I managed to drop a whole bottle of extra virgin olive oil on my nice clean kitchen floor - cleaning oil off the floor is hard enough but it becomes really difficult when there are shards of glass to contend with as well.
Then, later on my angel of a son managed to tip a cup of tea over himself (it was nearly cold, fortunately) and a pile of clean, freshly ironed clothes I was just about to put away.
Well, I'm not ashamed to admit, I cried. Which made him cry. So I gave the rest of the day up as a lost cause and, as a result, got nothing made for the shop. D'oh.
I did, however spend a little time surfing the net and discovering a new online bead shop that I absolutely love - http://www.jillybeads.co.uk/ and got a bit carried away ordering things for my new jewellery collection - inspired by the Forest in Autumn. I am lucky to live in such a beautiful part of the country and the magnificent view from my conservatory/workroom is so inspirational.
But today is another day and, thankfully the sun is shining (although the garden is still soaked) which means Riley can play outside and hopefully I can get on with something a little more constructive than crying over spilt tea!

Lara's Den

So - we went to see our new shop. I say 'shop', what it is actually is a room in an old (and I mean old!) town house in Newent that in it's previous incarnation was an 'olde worlde' shopping street/museum. The room we have been allocated is at the front of the building directly above the Newent Association for the Disabled charity shop. It has two huge sash windows complete with original, slightly bubbly glass and a very quaint wonky door frame with door cut to fit!

To say that it needs a bit of work is probably understatement of the century - but it is basically sound and all the electrics are being sorted this week so we can get in there and clean up.

We are going to call it 'Lara's Den' and it's going to be a wool shop/haberdashers and hand crafted gift shop. We are sharing the floor with an artist and a lady who sells collectables. Downstairs is another crafter who does spinning and hopes to do workshops for children.

The whole 'Shambles' area is tucked away behind the high street and is a warren of very old buildings, many of which are falling apart, and, sadly, destined for demolition. It really is like stepping back in time...

**STOP PRESS***STOP PRESS**

We have been offered a shop unit in a former museum in Newent, Glos. It is 1st floor room in a grade 2 listed building that in it's former life was dressed as a Victorian drawing room. There are several other shop units around a central courtyard and so far it looks like there will be an old fashioned sweet shop, a cake shop and a couple of other artists/crafts people there.
I haven't actually seen it yet but mother-in-law, who has always dreamed of having a little wool shop, has signed us up for it so it's go, go, go!
The aim is to get it all ready for a grand opening in time for the Newent Onion Fair in September, which usually attracts huge numbers of visitors to the town.
This means that I am not just crafting to fill a small table stall but to stock a small shop! In less than 6 weeks. Never let it be said that I don't like a challenge.