We never thought it would take us nine months to get
Radiance opened again after the
boxing day floods. In fact, I asked my studio landlords if they could lend us a room to store our stock in for about six weeks while we got sorted. How naive I was! We have had one delay after another and it's been an excruciating and scary wait BUT finally the building, joinery and painting is DONE. Our landlord and landlady took such good care of the building and many flood precautions have been taken for the future and it's looking and feeling better than ever.
Miraculously thanks to our wonderful customers we have stayed afloat!
You may remember last year I tried to
sell the business to free me up to concentrate on my own work. Well, I struck a deal! It wasn't what I was expecting and actually came as a surprise to all of us. My daughter Ffion had been covering for Matt in the shop and discovered that she absolutely loved being there. She practically begged me to keep it. 'Let me do it Mum. I'll give the shop the love that it needs'. It actually was a prayer answered. How often had a wished for 'another me'. Ffion is more like me than anyone else in the world and I knew that with her keen eye for design, products and photography, and with her organisation skills, programming knowledge, and her love of a good spreadsheet that she could do it!
Then it flooded :(
But it wasn't long before we found the silver lining. All my 'oldness' was covered in mud and washed away. She got to design the shop just as she wanted from the bottom up. She got to choose new products and bring a bit more Ffionness in. She has been working SO hard this summer. She has made a beautiful new
website. She has been photographing new products. She programmed a new stock system for members of staff to communicate about orders.
And she is VERY excited.
So you won't find me in the shop much anymore. I'll be in my studio being a creative whirlwind :) Ffion will be the new face and the new voice of Radiance. She is amazing and brave and I am so very proud of her. It's great to be keeping it in the family.
We will be working like crazy to get it ready to open on Saturday the 10th September. Come and help us celebrate if you can!