So Much Work, So Little Time!

hello loves! so. kickstarter was a no and i was super discouraged for getting turned down and had to spend an afternoon feeling bad about it, and then i got up, dusted of my knees and started plotting new ways to make it work. those of you who know me personally, know i never stay down for long! we found a new website, much like kickstarter, called indiegogo. i LOVE indiegogo! so, we started a capital campaign and it can be found here.
additionally, we started making final decisions about fixtures and got them on order. the only details on fixtures left to worry with are 1}ordering the sink and installing, and 2}finishing out the cashwrap with logo.

i can't wait for the day that i'm posting pics of the finished shop!...and, i'm loving journaling the process along the way! so. that's it for today... i will soon be posting updates to the campaign with the map of the salesfloor as well as planograms with where the products will go. as one of our family members said on the phone today....'it really sounds like you are serious' ....lol. um. yeah. i think it's official...lol. goodnight lovelies! ~o

kickstarter is a no......

well. i have some good news and some bad news. the bad news is that our idea and concept wasn't accepted by kickstarter. the good news is, we still have two months {as we will get a better deal on the lease if we sign prior to the season beginning} to work really hard to try to facilitate starting the shop on our own. hopefully, by the time April rolls around, 'our place' will still be available. i'm trying not to be super sad about it. but. everything happens for a reason, and i'm sure there is a good one that i'm just not seeing at the moment. .... of course, my knee jerk reaction is to do a heartsy~like deal again. but, while that would give us much needed capital, i swore i would never do it again. so, that is not an option no matter how much i want this shop. sad.snowy.day. big hugs all around..... o

Sunday, happy Sunday!

hello lovelies! as promised, another blog post and pictures of what~we~are~referring~to, as 'our place' ...lol. we actually didn't get to spend that much time yesterday taking photos. not as much time as i would have liked, but we were on our way to visit with family, so we vowed to go back and spend more time there today! this first pic is of our sweet sweet picket fence! While we were outside milling about, the workers called in the property management for us to have a chit~chat. this particular neighborhood is all owned by the same group, and the little shop we want is actually situated right behind the beautiful and historic Branson Hotel. We asked a few pertinent questions and, because it was a bit cold out {february, go figure! the one day we want to hang out outside in the sun, it's actually chilly!}, we went across to the hotel to talk, exchange info, and tell them about Ophelia's Apothecary. The area between the hotel and 'our place', we were told, is where there will be farmers' markets on the weekends and in the evenings, turned into a little local hangout with live music and art. The hotel is a.....m.....a.....z....i...n....g. really. i can't say enough about it, and while the website does give you a good idea of the time and attention to detail these peeps have, it still isn't quite the same as seeing it in person! We shared our vision of the shop and tried to communicate our passion for what we do. hopefully it came through! then, we were on our way....

now, today, after having barely had any sleep because of thinking about it and planning, and drawing sketches.... we decided to return to get a few more photos.

this photo is inside from the back wall looking toward the front {and a great shot of heather!} this is the view from where our sink will be located. i find it so so so very important to have a sink on the sales floor for customers to try out scrubs and to encourage them to try new products for their bathing routine!

this photo is taken of the inside down the east wall of the shop. i would like to situate the cashwrap in between the first window {out of view here on the right}, and this second window further down the wall, facing west so that it will be open with full view of the shop. as you can see, much renovation is in the process! everything will be white washed and lovely!

and, finally, a photo of the outside! the usable space measures about 25 x 20, if i had to take a guess, maybe a little more! as you can see, not much work has been done outside.... nothing a few fresh coats of white paint, some landscaping, and a big 'ophelia's apothecary' sign can't fix! now that my blogging for the day is complete, i'm out to the studio for mixing, blending, and pouring candles! goodnight loves! hugs, the divine miss o

Down the Yellow Brick Road.....

wow.... how things have changed since i last blogged! really, obviously, blogging doesn't come first nature for me! lol. i spend tons of time online, and i can totally get behind facebook, twitter, pinterest {oh my, how i need a pintervention!}, etsy, goodsie, you name it..... but blogging...blogging is hard for me! we have a renewed passion to open a brick and mortar, now that we are in Branson, so, this renewed passion is the launching pad to journal making our dreams come true!

so, you ask, why do we want a brick and mortar? for starters, while we love love love our little at~home studio, we really want to grow the business in a practical and logical way. we don't have the space to have employees come to the house to help during the peak seasons, and we really want a space that will allow us to interact with customers and get the product in the hands of {and on the hands of} our clients. Branson is THE perfect place for this! The downtown historical district is alive and thriving with the recently built Branson Landing and has really brought the downtown a much needed boost of money and traffic. we were just down there today, and for the second weekend in February {typically smack dab in the middle of the 'off' season}, there was hustle and bustle about that just made me want to be a part of it. so. that's the why!

now that you know the why, let me explain the how! last night during a late night biz brainstorming session, we stumbled upon kickstarter. wow.....what an awesome site that is! if you aren't familiar with kickstarter, let me enlighten you! kickstarter is a site where you can pitch your artsy~smartsy ideas to peeps around the world and offer them incentives to help back your project. i love love love this idea! .....and, it's just what we need right now.... an injection of capital to help our dreams take flight. now. don't get me wrong.... the site is not a place to fund your life, or pay off bills, or a place to grab wads of cash like winning the lottery. there is still work involved like promoting your project, finding backers, updating progress along the way, and, of course, having a good, solid plan in place. we submitted the preliminary information and it will need to go through some vetting prior to the actual campaign going live. we are saying our prayers and holding this dream in the highest of intention so that we can see it all take shape!

so. for tonight let me leave you with this vision.... imagine a small, little whitewashed house built in the 30's. lots of windows to wash the shop in a warm glow. bundles of lavender hanging to dry along the wall. whitewashed cabinets and tables leading to an old bankers table turned cashwrap. a custom perfume blending bar lining one wall. amber glass apothecary jars, marble, herbs, and essential oils stir your senses. this is our dream, and i just know we will get all the backing we need for it to take flight! tomorrow, i will show you pictures of the little house we found..... it's the perfect spot and is owned by an investment group looking to turn the historical houses into wonderfully eclectic shops. we would be situated near a salon, a wellness center, a photography studio, and a boutique. they have plans to host a farmers market every weekend and live music, wine, and gallery type walk in the evenings on the weekends. the house we are interested in is in the process of being remodeled, so, i will tell you now, you gotta have vision to see it working.... but, don't worry, we have enough vision for us all!

sweet dreams my friends, xoxox ophelia