Christmas is over and a New Year is about to begin!

Hello everyone, Happy Holidays!!! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and are looking forward to the New Year. I know its been a long time since our last post on here, but we have had some major technical difficulties !! For weeks I had been posting on here thinking it was being published for everyone to see, (as it showed up on my preview) only to find out that no one else was able to see it...Then when I tried to republish the posts they all disappeared. Anyways, I have someone working on getting the older posts published for me, but until then I will continue to post and hope for the best.

So lets catch up on the last 4 months. Dale and I are having a blast. The store is doing well and each day we meet more and more amazing vendors and customers. We have officially moved into the whole store space now and set up a mini cafe area in the front. We offer tea coffee and sweets. We had our grand opening on December 3rd and I will post some pictures soon. The time just seems to be flying by and its hard to believe that we have been open for almost 5 months now..WOW!

The store is full of so many wonderful items .....more then we could have ever hoped for. It amazes us how many talented and artistic, creative people there are in our community and local area. We have tried really hard over the last 5 months to get the word out about the store, trying to rely on word of mouth as most advertising is so expensive... and although we knew that being referred by people was always a sure fire way to get business.... I will say we are amazed at how fast it worked! We are seeing people come from all over because someone mentioned we were here ... thank you to everyone who has told a friend!!

Heading into the New Year, Dale and I are working hard to put our heads together and come up with some exciting new ideas for the store.....we want to keep everything fresh and exciting. We want you to keep coming back for more!.....

Let me also mention the used books...all I can say is unbelievable.. we had no idea when we first started this just how popular the books would be. As avid readers ourselves we loved just having some used books to read and if they sold then great, but if not no harm done....well I must say the books are doing as well if not better some months then the crafts. We are always thrilled to see the return of our regular book buyers, looking for the one they don't have or wanting us to watch for a new book coming out. We are fascinated by the detail and organization that some of our readers have... from carrying lists with them to a detailed notebook with all their favorite authors and titles listed. It truly is inspiring to see so many people reading and recycling their books.

Well it is time for me to head out to the store and get the doors open, so I will close for now but will post some pictures of the store and the Grand Opening here later. Sorry for the delay in the posts but hopefully things will be back on track soon. Take care enjoy the rest of your holidays and we hope to see you soon!!

The Chix

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!!

Its a Real Store Now....

Its so hard to believe when we walk through the doors and see what is in front of us....this is OUR store..all these beautiful things are ours for the selling. Its so exciting to have built this from the ground up and to have nurtured it from a casual thought to this..a store front with tons of merchandise and a beautiful atmosphere. We are still arranging and rearranging everyday, just when we think we have everything, some new vendor comes along and we change the layout of the entire store to accommodate the new items. Each piece has a theme and we build off that.. its so much fun!! The antique furniture we have to showcase the products make the store that much more homey and comfortable.

Today we received a canoe.. yes I know what your thinking.. a canoe.. but its a handmade canoe coffee table..unexplainable..You just have to see it to believe it! I will even give you a sneak peek...



You can't tell from the picture but on top is a solid piece of glass, shaped to fit and its thick.Under it you can just see a bit of the cradle that holds the canoe in place. Four different kinds of wood and all handmade....!! WOW! With the canoe came a willow love seat, and chair...its beautiful as well...John the builder is certainly talented!

Anyways, the time is ticking down till the opening August 7th, we have the little sign ready to go and some brochures made up to pass around and post through town. We hope everyone remembers where we are and the opening date and stops by to wander through and see what all the fuss is about.

Thanks for hanging in there people.. we are almost there!!!!

The Late Late Report

So here it is 3am and we are still here at the store working away. The days just don't seem long enough for us to get everything done we want, plus be the fulltime moms and wives that we are. It won't be long now till the hours become more normal and we are able to sit back and enjoy our days off. Its been a terrific day here at the store, so much new product and we have met so many wonderful people.

These late nights certainly lead to alot of giggling, interesting conversations and creative thoughts. If someone were to listen in on our conversations at times they would think we have lost out minds.. or that the paint fumes were getting to us..but oh we have had so much fun. The kids were all here today for most of the afternoon and early evening..its nice being able to have our children with us, working and helping...giving them a chance to see a project from beginning to end. They are just as excited as we are..looking forward to the opening. They are all working away at little projects and crafts that can be sold here at the Cranny. I think we should have considered putting in cots, as the days and nights seem to be running into one another quite often this month! All this in for the love of a dream---so worth every minute!!

So as I mentioned, lots of new product and vendors, I have included just a few pics to give you an idea of what we are gathering.

By the next post we should be done with the cleaning and painting, and gathering of goods and will have hopefully moved on to the fun part... displaying and organizing all the amazing things that we have found and keep finding..! Thanks for stopping by and check back often.. we can see the finish line beyond the horizon and it looks GREAT from here!

Books, candles, jewellry and much much more..

Well it has certainly been a busy few weeks here again at Chix N Cranny. The building is buzzing with excitement. We have some new bookshelves that Leo built on the weekend.....and believe me when I say they are amazing!! I am so fortunate to have such a great Hubby to come and spend his days off helping us out... the same goes for Kevin. The two guys have been super supportive and have been spending alot of their free time here, helping to make our dream a reality.Thanks hubbies!!xo I will give ya a little sneak peek on the FABULOUS shelves and books....

So we have shelves and books going on shelves, we have some furniture that Dale has acquired from her house and moved to our nook..we have boxes of candles waiting to be put out, jewellry coming this week, knitting and crocheted goods, and even maple syrup and a local author's books. Everyday we are spreading the word about our vision for the store, and the looking for new vendors. Word of mouth has been the biggest asset in getting the vendors... they are actually coming to us ! It does seem that everything is falling into place and we are right on track to where we want to be.

April and Gary are all set up in the front section now,and they have used their back drops as the partition for our two businesses. We are both excited at the possibitilies that lay ahead and how great these opportunites are for the town and their Main Street.

There is still alot of cleaning, painting and finishing touches to be done, although I think we will always be working on something even after it is open....We are aiming for opening the first weekend of August, this giving us lots of time to acquire vendors and making sure we have a full newly painted and clean store to present.

Life in a small town is always interesting, and we have our share of funny stories already but it is nice to see people checking us out and asking us what we are going to be doing.. the interest is a positive sign for Dale and I and we look forward to the feedback everyone will have when they come and see us.

Finally I would just like to add alittle personal note here...although its been only a short while since Dale and I agreed to make this venture...we have had our share of "situations" that have arisen recently. Most people I know who would have found themselves in Dale's position might have changed their mind...they may have decided that with the unknowns looming overhead they would rather wait and see....but Dale has never faultered from her spot or our choice. Even though things have shifted 180' she is still stead fast to our original plan and business deal without a moments hesitation. I cannot express to her or you in words just how much that means and what a sense of relief and comfort it brings me. I know that things are never certain in life, and that sometimes you really do have to just go day by day.. but I truly appreciate Dale being willing to make those day by day choices and still come out on the other side as excited as before. Thanks Chick #1 !! xo