The Big Launch!

The launch of the new Radiance went really really well. I had a wonderful day! I hadn't finished making the open sign yet but people got the mesage and LOTS of people came!

My friend Rachel was the photographer for the day. What lovely pictures!

There was pink champagne and surprise flowers...

There were friends who popped in and friends who stayed all day. It was so lovely to have everyone there and see so many friendly faces.

Lucy and the Caterpillar came to play us sing us some of her lovely songs. Thanks Lucy!

The birdies kept an eye on things from their new perch...

and we had a visit from their creator Joanna Coupland.

We also had a surprise visit from Helen Musselwhite who brought this AMAZING papercut sculpture inside a bell jar AND a 'We are family ' papercut picture. How lovely!

All in all it was a real celebration. Thanks to everyone who came and thanks to everyone who couldn't make it but were there in spirit. Thankyou for all your lovely cards, beautiful flowers, yummy cakes and chocolates.

I am one happy lamp shop lady!

We've got there!

Well it's the final night before the big opening. It's been a LONG day making the final preparations and this afternoon has been all hands on deck (thanks Dad and Robert and Keith and Anne and Rachel and Mia and Richard the window cleaner) to get it all ready. I'm SO tired but I couldn't go to bed without showing you. You've been on this journey with me afterall so you need to share in the moment when it all comes together . Getting the signs up this morning and cleaning the windows was the final bit of the jigsaw and brought it ALL together. Suddenly it look like a shop at last...in fact people were trying to come in (very reassuring!).

I'll show you pictures of the opening tomorrow. Night night x

You are all invited!

I know that most of you are far far away but I wanted to invite you all to my opening party. How wonderful it would be if I could meet all you lovely people after you have been such a great big support these last couple of months. Only 4 days to go and then it's opening time. It's going to be a busy few days getting everything ready as there's still a lot to do but it's coming along nicely!

It's beginning to look like a light shop!

The last few days have been tough. I'm full of cold and quite exhausted and not in any shape to make decisions BUT the decisions still have to be made! I had an afternoon off this afternoon to recharge a bit...well actually I went home for a rest and a cup of tea and just couldn't drag myself back! It felt strange being at home!!! Nice to be clean and in clothes that aren't covered in paint though!

The ceiling wiring is underway. I knew this would be the trickiest bit and it has been. Committing to where to put the ceiling roses has caused me endless angst, but as Robert keeps saying 'Perfection is the enemy of 'good enough''! They will be fine!

We have tomorrow to finish packing the old shop up before moving everything over on Thursday. That means tomorrow is also the day when all the last messy jobs have to be done in readiness for everything arriving...I'd better go to bed. Night night.x

Last weekend at number 58!

This weekend is the last one for Radiance at number 58 Market Street before we make our big move down the road to number 26. I'll be a little sad to leave. It has looked after me very well indeed for the past 4 and a half years.

We have a lot of work to do down at the new place which we'll have to do over the next few days but can't really do it without taking the current shop apart and moving everything over. The bit that I was most nervous about has been done today. We had to fix these boxes to the ceiling to hang all the pendant shades on and think about how they were all wired together. It's been a bit of a headache for everyone. I couldn't think about where I want to place all the lightfittings without seeing them on the ceiling. Now they're up I can work it all out. Shame we have to take them back down in order to wire them up!



It'll be right!

So, Radiance will be closed from Monday 22nd until our grand opening on Saturday the 6th of March. The website is up and running as usual, it'll be just the real shop that's closed!

Which white?

I said yesterday that i was uncertain about the colour I had chosen for the walls and woodwork - well seeing it this morning I was certain I didn't like it (arg)! The Farrow & Ball 'Limewhite' was just too murky looking in this shop. I've been using it for years happily but it really didn't suit it's new home. Having lost my confidence in my paint choice we decided to go to the Dulux shop (thanks for the emergency lift Fiona) and scan the wallpaper that i use (the Cole & Son Cream Cow Parsley) and mix up the 'white' from there. It's just right. Fresh and creamy and un-noticable. Will be the perfect clean backdrop.

The front door came off for it's day infront of the fire. It's a lovely old door. Paul lost sleep over how to replace the old beading behind the new pain (is that how you spell it?) of glass but I'm sure he'll work something out!

Seans having a nighmare with the electrics. He found that one of the plug sockets had got damp and corroded so he's been scratching his head alot over how to sort it all out today. He's still there actually. Likes to work when we've all gone home. I'll pop by after yoga and check it's all alright...

Day Three!

The partition went up today. Behind the partition will be the workshop area. My desk will tuck in nicely behind this wall but I'll still be able to see over the top and say 'hello'! Most of the walls have been painted today but I'm a little uneasy about the colour. It's Limewhite by Farrow & Ball which I used in the old shop and use all the time for shows etc. It looks lovely in daylight but under energy saving bulbs it looks strangely pink and weird. It'd be a right pain if I have to change it now as so much has been painted....we'll see tomorrow. In the morning Emma is wallpapering that back wall. It's going to be pretty! Not great weather for painting the outside. Tomorrow the front door is coming off and coming inside for a paint job infront of the fire!

Progress

It's been a good days work in the new shop. I'm amazed how quickly it's coming together actually. The behind the counter paneling has gone up, I have a fully shelved storeroom (WOW that's amazing), the workshop is almost painted and ready to be papered, plugs and switches have been moved and added, walls in the shop have been prepared for painting and I had a deep THINK about what to do with the third alcove that I had been ignoring! What a good team i have! Heres a couple of them. Thats Sean down a hole and Emma painting (wearing her phone number in case you need it!).

Shame about the weather though. We were hoping for a dry day to get some outdoor painting done but it rained and then even snowed. Boooooh....maybe tomorrow!

Plans for the new shop

I've been doing a lot of intricate thinking today. I went to the new shop with Paul, my joiner this morning to measure up and talk about what I wanted. There were lots of decisions to be made and it was quite exhausting! Exciting though. It was the longest time I had spent in the space so far and I saw things I'd not seen before. My studio design in SORTED and clear to me and I can't wait to get in there and spread my wings. Ahhhh. SPACE! For the shop I still have some thinking to do. It's not got the ceiling height of the current Radiance and I'm trying to work out how best to display all the lampshades...hmmmmm.....I'll work it out....

p.s If you read my Hannah Nunn blog I apologise for repeating myself. I'm posting all entries about the new move on both blogs!

Playing Shops

Here is the outside of the new shop. Looks like a house right!? We have to turn it from housey to shoppy!

I just got a little carried away in Photopaint. I thought I'd just have a play with some colours and see how they felt...then i wondered what the signage on the windows might look like....then a few lamps. Nice to get a little view of whats in my head down on paper.....

...and can you imagine lovely pots of plants and flowers outside, door open and inviting, all cleaned up with one of Emma the painters front doors so shiny and finished you can see your refelction in it ......

Today has been good. I have secured a painter (Emma Osenton), an electrician (Sean Illingworth) and a joiner (Paul Byrne of JP rennovations)...all ready to roll at the beginning of February. Exciting!

New Year, New Shop!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! I have a tale to tell that I've been dying to share for weeks but nothing was finalised so I couldn't....

A few weeks ago on a busy Friday afternoon a man walked into my shop and asked me if I had 5 minutes to come and look at a newly refurbished shop space that he was hoping to rent out. Well I'm always up for taking a peek inside peoples buildings so I nipped down the road with him to take a look. I have not been the same since. It changed my world! It was lovely space and had everything I had been asking for whilst struggling with a growing business in a small space. It is a converted ground floor of a house so is very homey and I could instantly see this working for Radiance with all the lamps and home wares. It has a fireplace and alcoves to light and a lovely window.

Then there is another room with a fireplace and large window which would make the perfect light workspace for me. There is a cupboard under the stairs for box storage. THEN there's a storeroom (oh how I've prayed for such a thing) which can also be used as a parcel wrapping room and then a kitchen with more storage and then a shower room/toilet (a big plus as I've had to nip home to the loo for the last 4 years!) AND a yard.

I have not been stopped thinking about it since. It's not a typical shop with a typical shop window. It wouldn't work for any business and I had to weigh up letting go of my huge window and tall ceilings for a smaller (but still beautiful) window in a more prominent location with the extra space that I need. I think I can make the homliness of it really work for Radiance.

If you know Hebden Bridge it's right next door to the lovely Mooch cafe in the middle of Market Street and opposite Dynamite and Ruby Shoesday.

So the negotiations have been made and I'll be getting the keys on the 1st of February so please hold my hand. Here's where I will be planning and thinking and panicking and sweating no doubt. There's ALOT to think about - shop fitting, workshop fitting, signage, logisitcs (how do i keep one shop open and one workshop running whilst creating a new one), painting, financial issues, publicity etc etc etc. It's good timing though. 2010 holds the beginning of a shiny new project for me and Radiance. A blank canvas - a new beginning.Very exciting indeed!

I hope you will come to my grand opening...although as readers of my blog you will have watched the whole thing unfold anyway!

GULP!x