Sometimes my best ideas come to me in the middle of the night, when I really would rather be sleeping!!
Last night after being woken up by the rain I lay awake for over 2 hours planning sports survival kits and the contents to go into them. The first one I thought of was for ten pin bowling as this is the sport I know best, but then I felt this could be adapted to golf, darts, football and other sports too! I also thought I ought to find a way of making the containers collapsible so that they are items I can sell online, so i was trying to design box flaps in the middle of the night! I really do need to keep a notebook next to the bed so that I can write my plans down and go back to sleep without fear of forgetting them by the morning!
So that is what I am working on today and hopefully will be adding to my Gotshop soon, sporting survival kits, I think I really need to get them on there for Father’s day!!

My first attempt at a pillow box, which can be flat packed!
Jackie 🙂

I have read, heard and seen on TV that starting your own business is hard work, but just having a small craft business shouldn’t be too bad should it????? I also didn’t realise how many different roles you need (maker, promoter, shop assistant, events manager, social media marketer, accountant etc.etc. Plus still being mum and housewife!) I think the one I am finding most difficult, especially to get right, is the social media and networking side. There are so many articles and books written about how to manage this but I never have enough time to read them, I think I need at least an 18 hour day!
For just over a week now I have been working on more survival kits for the shop (these are not for sale online because they would be difficult to post) and I have been putting in almost 12 hour days, so no time for anything else (except the house keeping)!!!

So I apologise if my blog is not up to scratch but hopefully it will improve with time!
Jackie 🙂

Finally I have an online shop and a website that links to it. This was my plan for January which should have been a quieter month but we had work to do at our pop up shop on Wharf Road in Grantham, called Grantham Creations, we were painting walls and painting furniture for display units, as well as whitewashing some lovely wooden pallets and a pallet table made by my other half, these were for my garden display. Then February found me very busy making Valentine’s boxes for sale in the shop, followed my Mother’s day boxes. Finally i have had a pretty free week which has given me the time to sort my online presence, so now hopefully I will be able to keep it all up to date and make some sales!!
Here’s the shop display

Seller Profile.

Well the remnants of hurricane Bertha passed through today, so I spent the rainy, windy day working on my website and feel like I have made a good deal of progress! Hopefully I will be able to add my shop very soon and my full website will be properly up and running!

So here is my first blog! It’s been a strange week, on Monday i was feeling a bit lost after poor sales on Sunday, but by Tuesday i was back on track and I think i know the direction I now want Sunshine Cottage to move in, with some new products but cutting down on the existing ones, making the business much more focussed!