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A new start for 2017!

Oh gosh, I haven’t blogged in 9 months. That. Is. SHAMEFUL. I have committed the cardinal Bloggers Sin, hammered home by every “Writing a Blog for Dummies” article EVER: I’ve not kept it up.

Oh ********.

In my defence, I have had a baby and spent most of the last 9 months trying to keep him alive / healthy / germ free (failing) and happy. Does that get me off the hook m’Lord?! No??

Oh well, I’ll just skip over the excuses then and jump straight to repentance. I pledge to hence forth, forthwith, forever hereafter BLOG MORE. Preferably once a week. (Certainly one a month. Depending on how germ free I manage to keep the little one…).

Anyway, since returning to work I’ve set myself a New Year’s Resolution to record little video postcards of new and exciting product ranges when they arrive in the stop. I’m not what you’d call a particularly natural presenter, and I do have the tendancy to repeat myself and OVER ENUNCIATE. But still, we’re all lumps of clay aren’t we? (Some of us are just a little lumpier than others…).

So here are the first two. Enjoy.

New We Started With Buttons Range!

Carol Hicks Creative’s Glass Puffins – I LOVE…

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Introducing the Theo Paphitis #SBS Shop!

Woop woop! Another month, and another development for Rockpool!

Roll out the red carpet, prepare the fanfare and get that credit card ready – we’re very happy to announce that we’re going to be part of the brand new Theo Paphitis #SBS online shop, due to go live on Friday 8th April!

Our business has gone from strength to strength since winning out #SBS award in August 2014 , and we have so much to thank Mr P and the ever supportive community of small, independent businesses for. We’re therefore so pleased to be joining the gang on a brand spanking new online shop, selling oodles and oodles of products and services from small independent UK businesses. Make sure you check if out once it goes live; some of our favourite businesses will be represented – some local, some further afield but all fabulous! KERNOWSPA, Karen Davey, Cover My Cast, The Cake Nest, Gorgeous Gifts and many many more…

We’ve had a sneaky peek and we’ve discovered some gorgeous products we’re just itching to get our hands on. We’ve got out eye on this fabulous Green Floral Birds Print make up bag by Lylia Rose and we know mini-RT will love this Creature Peeper Insect Magnifying Jar by One Stop Bug Shop.

Can’t wait to get shopping! Have a lovely weekend one and all.

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Gazing at the sun…

Afternoon from a bright and breezy Barbican, and welcome to our first blog of 2016! (On 21st February… shameful).

We’re now happily set up in our new home at the front of The House that Jack Built, and have spent the last 6 weeks enjoying THE WINDOW. We love THE WINDOW. We can wave at passers by, scowl at overly loud motorbikes screaming down Southside Street, survey (and often tut at) the weather and generally be part of the rest of the window-owning community. We loved our first shop, but having access to natural daylight really is a game-changer. Yesterday a lovely lady came running in to buy a bag we had in our window display, which she had seen the night before whilst out on the Barbican for dinner. All hail the power of THE WINDOW.

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If I had one criticism of the beloved window it is that it desperately needs a clean – there’s a point around 3.30pm when the sun begins to set and peaks through the lane opposite and the shop is bathed in beautiful sunlight (when the clouds allow). However, its on occasions like this that I realise the window looks like it hasn’t seen the mercy of a squeegee since Mr Drake himself was wondering round looking for a nice flat patch of grass and wondering why everyone else is getting so het up. If only there was someone you could pay to do this kind of thing for you…

Anyway, we’re very happy in our new home and have had lovely feedback on the new shop. And the move isn’t the only new change for 2016; we now have the lovely Louise working in the shop on Mondays, meaning we’re now open 6 days a week. Louise is the mastermind behind Everyday Wonders, one of our very popular crafty suppliers, so she loves chatting about all things handmade.

We also have a couple of new stockists in the pipeline which should be hitting our shelves in March – keep your eyes on our social media for further info!

Right, I’m off in search of a sponge and bucket. 🙂

 

 

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To Did and To Do…

Seasons Greetings Rockhoppers! I trust this post finds you well, if not a little stressed (if you’re lucky) or downright desperate (if you’re anything like me and have only bought a pathetic smattering of gifts so far). Still – fractiousness, desperation, staying up until 3am wrapping gifts or making the cake – its all part of the Christmas tradition, right? RIGHT?!

Anyway – as the sun sets on 2015, I thought it would be nice to reflect on what, I think we can all agree, has been a pretty bonkers year for Rockpool. But no one wants to read a blog post about “these are all our achievements in the last 12 months, aren’t we great??,  so in order to keep it brief, I’ve done what I always do; I’ve made a list. (One can never go wrong with a list).

“To Did List in 2015”:

1. Said goodbye to a job which wasn’t really my cup of tea, despite the lovely people I worked with.

2. Realised I no longer had an income and that, for some pinickity people (like the bank manager), this might be a problem, so agreed a lease on a small shop on The Barbican in Plymouth.

3. Turned said shop into a cosy little home for Rockpool Trading.

4. Grew.

5. Grew some more.

6. Ended up with double the number of stockists we had when we first opened, covering a broader range of products from candles to cushions, bags to bunting, spoon fish mobiles to fairy doors and everything in between, all of which are lovingly handcrafted in Devon & Cornwall.

7. Had a lovely summer chatting to folk from all over the planet who were visiting Plymouth, as well as broadening our customer base in the city.

8. Got nominated for a Plymouth Herald City & Waterfront Business award for Rockpool. Terribly exciting – never been nominated for anything before. Celebrated with a piece of red velvet cake.

9. Got shortlisted for a Plymouth Herald City & Waterfront Business award for Rockpool. Even more exciting. Bought a posh frock and attended our first ever awards ceremony where were were Commended in the category of “Best homeware, gift shop, arts and crafts, hobbies and interests retailer”. Celebrated with lots of bubbly.

10. Attended the Plymouth Christmas Market and met lots of lovely local folk and publicised our cosy Rockpool home on The Barbican. Also ate a LOT to keep warm. Nearly lost Christmas cheer, having to listen to Christmas hits solidly for 11 days.

11. Rediscovered Christmas cheer, and made the most of the festive season by selling at fairs in Plymouth, Tavistock and Edinburgh, bookending the country with our handmade wares, as well as online and of course in the shop.

12. Waved a sad goodbye to our buddies at Funky Poppy who are moving out of the House that Jack Built at the end of the year after 5 happy years in the wonderful independent shopping arcade.

“To do lists for 2016”:

1. Move Rockpool into the front shop at the House that Jack Built, and make it as cosy and comfy as our first shop was. (Squeeeeeeeeeee! SO excited!!!).

2. Sleep more.

See you in our new pad in 2016 folks!

This one!

 

 

 

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And the award for the best independent shopping arcade goes to…

Greetings Rockpoolers! Hope we’ve all had a good summer? Apologies for the radio silence – we’ve been holed up in the shop, making the most of the lovely tourists on Plymouth’s historic and beautiful Barbican. We’ve met and chatted to everyone from Birmingham to the Bahamas, and it reminds you how lovely folks are.

Meanwhile, BIG NEWS: the summer has been rounded off with a lovely achievement for us. Rockpool has been shortlisted in the snappily titled “best homeware, gift shop, arts and crafts, hobbies and interests retailer” category at the Plymouth Herald City and Waterfront Business awards. After only being open for 6 months, this was entirely unexpected and so amazingly appreciated. As a small business, positive feedback is just so so lovely, so to be listed among other fabulously successful independent retailers in Plymouth is, well, awesome.

It got us thinking about how many successful independent businesses have come out of The House That Jack Built since it opened it’s doors as an independent shopping archade in 1982. For over 30 years it has been the home of the individual and the artisan, the quirky and the off beat, the crafty and the unusual, and it holds a dear place in the hearts of locals and tourists alike. But aside from this, it has also given the opportunity for small businesses like ours to start out of the uber scary journey of trading, without the crippling rents and rates that can come with a prime high street spot. Case in point: 3 of the current businesses in The House That Jack Built were nominated in our business awards category alone, and 2 (ourselves and our lovely neiughbours Funky Poppy) have been shortlisted. Another shortlisted business (Eva’s World) is an alumni from the arcade, and there are at least 4 other businesses on the Barbican who started in this little rabbit warren of shops and galleries.

In short, every city should have a House That Jack Built, because without it, Plymouth might not have the fabulous range of independent shopping it has today. And we wouldn’t have the excuse to buy a posh new frock… 🙂

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It seemed like such a good idea at the time…

Well, it was a long time coming, but I’ve finally, FINALLY finished the newly branded Rockpool website!

And oh my word what a mammoth effort it was. It was like giving birth – except with a lot more tears and tantrums and a little less pain. (Only a little less mind…). These things always seem like a good idea at the time; “let’s rebrand the website!!” we thought. “Let’s update it! Give it some zing! Some wow! It’ll be eeeeeeasy!!” That was 6 months ago. What started out like a simply refresh turned into A PROJECT. And the problem with PROJECTS is they have a habit of taking over your life. We’re all very happy with the way the site is now, but there were definitely sleepless nights along the way (should the background be blue? Or white? Or multi-coloured?! Will more people buy things if that heading is fractionally to the left…? What do you want oh Great General Public? WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US?!).

Long story short, by the time the new site was launched on 1st August, I think we were all pleased it was done and not taking up almost our every waking moment. And all those involved were still speaking to each other, which is fantastic. We’re so super grateful for all the help and advice we got along the way, and especially grateful to Naomi from Ambient Photography who did such a fab job with our product photographs.

We hope you all like the new website as much as we enjoyed…. no, sorry I can’t lie. We hope you all like the new website because frankly we’re not making another one any time soon.

Enjoy your summer everyone.

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What I was doing when I should have been blogging…

A month. Shocking. But in my defense, I was out revelling in all the joys Devon and Cornwall (and…ahem…Scotland) has to offer. It is the summer after all – and as the Hurricane-formally-known-as-Bertha hoolies it’s way towards the South West, I thought I’d reflect on a fabulous 4 weeks in the Westcountry sunshine…

Week 1 – Watching the inimitable Elbow at the Eden Sessions. An unlikely Mother’s Day pressie from my 1 year old (he knows his Mother well), Mr RT and I were lucky enough to catch the boys from Bury in surely one of the most picturesque venues in the country. If you’ve never seen a gig at Eden, make it a priority – it’s breathtaking (if not a long walk back to your car). And speaking of breathtaking views, the following night we pitched up, with 20,000 others, to MTV Crashes Plymouth. (Yup – Elbow one night, Example the next – who says we’re not eclectic??). The event was certainly loud and proud, and while I’ll save my rant about the lack of bars for another post (and in any event I vented my spleen in a strongly worded complaint to Plymouth City Council to which, incidentally, I’m yet to receive a response), you can’t say this kind of massive event isn’t fantastic for Plymouth, and the wider Westcountry. Plus, on a scorching evening on the Hoe, it’s hard to be grumpy. (Even if you’ve queued for 3 hours for a beer).

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Week 2 – Saw Rockpool attend The Wild Tribe Children’s Festival; the first children’s festival to be held in Plymouth. As new parents we were probably a bit biased, but we thought it was fantastic. Theatre performances, puppets, storytelling, marshmallow toasting, all sorts of messy crafty type things, bands, stalls, amazing food (including Yum and Stuff and Thorough Bread – check them out) and, of course, your local, friendly online retailers. Fab day – can’t wait for it to come back next year.

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Week 3 – Did Accounts. De-fleed the dog. Packed for…

Week 4 – Holidays in Scotland! Too much to cram in – amazing evenings at Hampden watching the athletics at the Commonwealth Games, shows at the Edinburgh Festival suitable for 1 year olds, fabulous fun with much-missed family and more wine than is probably healthy when we all have to get up at 5.30am for the little ones. Even though it’s a long way from the Westcountry, Scotland feels very much like home – can’t wait to be back there again soon.

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So home we are, and back to the lovely day job. More fairs coming up in the next few weeks, and who knows, maybe even the odd new product line. Keep your eyes on the skies Rockhoppers…

 

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Oooops – There Goes May

Oh my God I haven’t blogged in nearly a month. That is disgraceful! Rest assured I feel suitably ashamed… And on a completely unrelated note, the RT team are off on hols to Spain soon, so next week’s entry might be affected as well… Normal service will resume shortly, I promise.

Anyway – aside from my poor blogging over the last month, life in Rockpool Trading-land has been pretty swell. The news in brief is as follows…

New lines have been added to the website, the sun has been (mostly) shining (aside from the odd clap of thunder), have attended fairs in Devon & Cornwall and had a lovely time nattering to lovely people, attempted (and failed) to find a dog groomer to sort out our walking bush of a labradoodle, continued the ongoing quest to teach myself to crochet, carried out more research new suppliers who might join our happy RT family, realised mini-RT can now turn the gas hob on, banished mini-RT from the kitchen until he’s 10 and old enough to make Mummy breakfast in bed on her birthday, successfully got tickets for MTV Crashes Plymouth, watched in horror as some Polish lass in the in the Eurovision Song Contest did something unspeakable with a butter urn, got mini-RT his first mini-passport for his upcoming travels, went to the cinema twice in one month and felt momentarily young and extravagant, voted (and then ranted at anyone who would listen about the results), and had a mini-pedicure.

All in all, May has gone off without a hitch.

Finally, had a quick semi-business, semi-pleasure trip to Liskeard last weekend, and Mr RT was highly amused by a sign he saw in the window of the local Boots. Only in Cornwall people, only in Cornwall…

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Dogs, pinnies and Gruffalos…

Evening All.

OK, so tonight’s Rockhoppers blog-writing tipple of choice is a well known brand of alcoholic Ginger Beer. (“You don’t have to have a drink to write a blog, but it helps…”). Scrum.

Anyway – like bin day, the blog is a day late this week due to the Bank Holiday. (Insert your own joke about rubbish here). This Bank Holiday weekend saw the RT team revelling in our gorgeous Westcountry surroundings, including a sponsored walk on Dartmoor to raise money for pooches with epilepsy (who knew eh?), enjoying a rather splendid meal at River Cottage in the Royal William Yard (fabulous food from Mr Hugh F-W) and finally a trek through Cardinham Woods in search of a Gruffalo (No joke. You really can go and hunt a Gruffalo…).

All of this was rather splendid, but also rather outdoorsey, so it was lovely to spend Bank Holiday Monday in the serene surroundings of the Moorland Garden Hotel, manning the RT stall at the Moor Things Vintage and Lovely Summer Fete, organised by the always reliable Miss Ivy Events. As always, the day was well organised with bags of character and atmosphere, and from a personal point of view, we had a stonkingly good day with loads of interest in our products (especially our beautiful range of handmade pinnies from What Jess Did Next – after all you can’t get much more vintage than a frilly pinny…). The only dampener was the fact the hog roast pretty much sold out before I got to it (humph – too busy having such a lovely time with the bloomin’ customers, honestly…). But my empty stomach aside, the day was a big success – it’s great to see the vintage and handmade scene is alive and well in the outskirts of Plymouth.

Therefore it’s with a twinge of sadness that we wave goodbye to the May bank holiday. Oh hang on, another bank holiday on the horizon, you say…?! Why, splendid – don’t mind if we do…

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Bank holiday babbling

Easter Monday, and this evening’s post is delivered from my sofa, where I’m scoffing the last of the Easter egg haul, finishing off the open bottle(s) of wine from the bank holiday weekend, and waiting to find out who killed Lucy Beale. (Although I suspect they’ll keep us dangling for a few months yet, little scamps…).

Super excited to be back on the craft fair scene over the last couple of weekends. (We kick-started in style with the Diverse Events Easter Fair in Saltash, and then had a fab time at the Producer’s Fair at Crocadon Sawmill the following week). I was a little rusty, and had forgotten how tiring it is running a stall all day, but I’ve loved being back in the world of the 3D people. I also forgot how much of a boost it is nattering to other small business owners – it’s easy to think you’re the only one doing this when you’re sat in your little box staring at a screen for 18 hours a day, but then you sit in a hall or a marquee with loads of like minded people and you realise that however hard you’re finding it or however big of a hash you feel you’re making trying to start a business from scratch, you’re not alone – there a lots of kindred spirits crashing their way through the process as well, and in the end we’re all just trying to do our best in an incredibly difficult market. To quote Winnie the Pooh, it’s so much friendlier with two. And therefore it’s infinitely friendlier with 22…

Anyway, the first fairs are done, several gorgeous handmade items have found a new home in exchange for some lovely spondoonies for Rockpool and loads of new crafty pals have been made. Throw in a few Easter eggs, and so far April’s been pretty sweet.

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