Week 2 and going strong!

We have officially been open for two weeks now, and the vendors are still pouring in. Sales have been great and so many great compliments on the stores atmosphere, and the choice of product as well as the crafts themselves...it really is going exactly as we hoped.

We have an exciting change that took place this weekend.. and I believe it transformed the whole building. Dale's hubby Kevin is so talented that we bribed him into coming down and spending the day with us building... and build he did. As you remember this is what the entrance at the side of the building looked like when we opened.....

and after just one afternoon... it has been trasformed into this........

Kevin and Dale built this beautiful arbor around the door step...its such a huge change in the look of the building and will keep getting better with some lights strung through it and grapevine too.
It just changes the whole feel of the building and store..! Thanks so much Kevin for all your hard work in the heat and for not complaining too much about Dale and I and our "suggestions"!

Now I promised some vendors I would post some more pictures of the inside and the transformation.. so here you go:




And a few more shots.....




I do believe that the inside is quite different from the chocolate brown days!! I will get some better pics of the whole store so you can see how it all works together..it really is beautiful!

So lots of new things happening this week, we are preparing the big sign to go up out front in the next couple of weeks, Leo cutting the board, Vicki painting it and then some sealant and it will be ready to go. I think that will help draw attention to the building as well as letting people know we are here to stay! More permanent looking!

Some really unique items came in this week, but I will save them until I have some better pics. For now I will continue to list our vendors and their items as Vicki started last week.
Lets see, we mentioned Carol the knitter and sewing vendor, Marilyn our painting lady, Quinn the hemp necklaces and wooden beads, Isabella and Cyril the author and maple syrup couple, next would be John our canoe, walking sticks and willow furniture maker. John just so happens to be a neighbor of mine, and I was so excited when I first saw his work....have a peek ad let us know what you think.


We think his work is fabulous...not to mention the canoe coffee table is extraordinary and has proven to be such a conversation piece.


Our next wonderful vendor would be Edna, she crochets and creates beautiful doilies, afghans, baby blankets, tea cozies, stove hanging tea towels, coasters, hangers, and much much more. She is so talented and has many years experience making her products. You can see her pineapple pattern doily above on the wicker chair.



We are looking forward to the Deseronto town wide yard sale that is happening in a few weeks and hope to have a very busy store!!
Have a good week and stop by real soon to see us!

Our First Few Days...

So we have been open for 4 days now and things are going really well. We have had such great response from the community and visitors. We still find it hard to believe that this is our store. We have been so busy with finding new and exciting vendors that the time is flying by.. its soon going to back to school time..WOW!

Lets see, which vendors have we not shown or mentioned yet. Lets start at the beginning...We have Carol our knitter and doll lady...she has crafted some funky cats and these great Amish dolls....and yes we know they have no faces...haha..The Amish want the children to use their imagination and create their own. We have received many compliments on these guys already!

Next we have Marilyn our hand painted everything vendor. She is so talented and can paint on just about anything, from garden stones, milk pitchers, bowls, wine glasses and even old windows. My personal favorite are the wild roses she painted below...are they not amazing?



Ohhh one my other favorites is the Happy Hippy, Quinn. She has such a great eye for making jewelry from the color of the beads and rope to the unique use of seeds. Her work makes you stop and look ...even if its not your style! The other great thing about Quinn's work, is the price !

We also have a wonderful couple by the name of Isabella and Cyril. Isabella writes books, and we have some in our store for sale. She has written a book on the history of agriculture in Hastings county, as well as the search for Gold in El Dorado. As well Cyril her husband has some terrific Maple Syrup and his candies melt in your mouth.




Well as you can imagine I could list vendors and pictures all day...however I need to get back to work. If you haven't had the chance to stop by our store, please do, I think you will be pleasantly surprised! In our next few posts we will be sure to include more pictures and information about the MANY kinds of vendors we have so you can truly get a feel for the talented local people we are working with. We hope to soon be featuring a VENDOR OF THE WEEK on here, where we showcase one vendor and their product. I think this will give everyone a better understanding of just how rich this community is in talent and creativity, and just how many beautiful handcrafted products we carry!

It is our hope that one day soon the community will consider us the place to go if you want something unique and well made for any occasion. Its hard in Deseronto to find gifts for all ages and occasions...but hopefully not for long!

Thanks again for checking in! Now back to the fun part..finding more vendors to help us fill the store!

The Big Day Has Arrived!!

Okay so I am not so sure that either of us slept last night... we were here till all hours in the morning doing the last minute touches..and making sure we were ready to open at 10am! Its was a family event, as both hubbies and the children were here....all thrilled and super excited for us! It was a terrific day, we had some sales and tons of people wandered through to check us out. It is still so hard to believe that we did it.. we pulled it off!! From the first moment that things started to fall into place we just knew that this day would come...one way or another it would happen...and it did. With the amazing help and support of our families this dream became a reality today.

We both want to be sure to thank our husbands. Without their unwavering love, guidance, help, patience and advice that they gave us, the hours they spent building and painting, the moving of furniture and hammering of nails....the suppers without us and the housework undone..they stood behind this vision that we had and believed in us enough. Thank You Kevin and Leo..from the bottom of our hearts

We are also lucky in another way, we are both so blessed to have wonderful children who although were bored of spending their summer days helping to paint, or paper, sweep or mop..they still came back day after day. They all worked hard to make this the business we could be proud of today when opening that door for the first time..and oh so proud we are!!
Thank You Arlisse Hart Alyssa and Bria...we love you all!

And lastly we want to thank Deseronto, for being a community built on families,and friendships, and the for the wonderful support and feedback we have received over the past three months that we have been here working on this project. So many people popped their heads in to peek around, and see what we were working on...they asked when we were opening and what we would offer. The word has certainly spread and for that we are deeply thankful because it is the support of this community that will make our business successful...and we look forward to a long and gratifying relationship with all the local people of this community and the surrounding ones.

So Thank you everyone.. for helping us make it here today!
WOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!