excitement baby

Life is good. I officially have the keys to my little shop and am moving stuff in this weekend. I am planning to open on Tuesday although I won't have a lot of the wholeslae stuff I have purchased. I have only a tiny, smidgen of worry about this venture. All in all, I feel positive and really excited. I am not having that same, stupid conversation with myself where I doubt what I am doing and fill myself with worry. I really think this will be successful and it is exactly what I want to be doing right now. I am a little but bummed out that I am not doing it with someone who I used to be friends with. We had spoken a fair but about having a shop in Jordan or Beamsville and it is kind of sad that she isn't part of this. I guess things happen for a reason though and I am proud of myself for realizing a dream and making it happen. It has been loads of fun (although quite expensive) to buy things for the store. I am having jewellery (of course), art work, hand made bath products, mineral make up and more. I think it will really appeal to the Paris market. I am planning a grand opening party for the beginning of June but that's still up in the air right now. In the meantime, I have been ridiculously busy with custom orders. I have 123 items on my order board! Luckily most are smaller. Still though... I am SUPER excited that next week I will be working in a new studio! I think it is going to be a welcome change and hopefully inspiring!

Brick and Mortar Baby

Well it has been a few weeks of change! So, I was all set to rent a studio space and I had found a decent place with plans to move in this month. Then there was an issue with the renos and it became clear that the move in was going to be set back significantly. In the mean time, I learned of an amazing opportunity with much more retail promise. It is right downtown Paris Ontario which is a thriving little community with lots of foot traffic. I am getting the keys on April 21st and plan to be open on April 24th. I am going to be nestled in with a thriving cafe, a yoga studio, a bakery, a hand crafted furniture place, an art gallery and more. I think it is the perfect setting for me and I am so excited! When I was thinking of the other space I was excited as well but I was really worried about the location. I was going back and forth in my head every day...should I do this or should I go back to the corporate working world? Since I have made the decision to rent in Paris I have been sleeping better and have not been filled with self-doubt. I just have a fabulous feeling that this is going to work. Granted, it is still a gamble but I think you have to take a chance once in a while to truly reach your potential. Obviously the main thing I am going to be selling is my jewellery but I am also going to sell hair accessories, tiny paintings, hand made bath treats, hand made mineral makeup and perfumes. Who knows what else! I have been really busy ordering signage, buying packaging and working out displays. I find that all very enjoyable though and I am ever-more excited about this shop. In even more exciting news...Piper Shaw is three on Saturday! She is so excited, as are we. We are going to spend the day at the Toronto Zoo and then we are having a bunch of family on Sunday. It is going to be so much fun and this little lady deserves all the fun in the world!