Interior designing and tea sampling

Things are moving on with the tearoom. I'm hoping to get in for my second viewing this week with my uncle who's a builder to show him what kind of changes I might want to make to the property.
I'm also going back to the Business Gateway this week to meet with my advisor to firm up my finance figures.
I've been spending some time getting excited about the look of the tearoom and have started working on a mood board.

Lots of pastel colours, quite feminine, but not too girly. My home is really quite girly, shabby chic but I'm not sure that is to everyone's taste. I've been researching sinks, shelves, chairs, lights. This is my favourite part of the project, the interior design. But I feel nervous about it too. What is no one likes it except me??!!

Out in the West End yesterday, Stuart and I stopped for a bowl of soup and some cake in a new Vintage clothes shop.

 

The soup was lovely, and I wanted to steal the lovely big soup plate.

Stuart had tea in a pretty cup and both had slices of cake, but I'm afraid I ate mine before I could take a picture of it...

I've also managed to get my hands on four old chairs this week for the tea room. My plan was to paint all furniture in pastel colours and distress them a bit. I'm still undecided. 

While I'm waiting for all the official bits and bobs to come together, along with a the interior design of the tea room, I've turned my attention to the tea. I think I'll offer around 6 different teas and I want them to be special. I've been in touch with suppliers of tea that I like as a start. I spoke to someone this morning who is sending me some samples this week. Yum.

Back in the saddle!

So as you know from my last post, I had some bad news regarding that property I missed out on, but all it not lost, oh no! I've found another couple which are even BETTER! Better location, nicer street, near my home, in great condition. It is looking good. I can already see myself in there. I've already decorated the place. So excited about the decorating bit.

I don't have any interesting photos to show you at the moment of the property, but how about a couple of pictures of cake that I baked this week. Coconut and Lime Cake. One for me and one for a friend's birthday.

That's a pretty big slice for one person I admit!

At the weekend, I went to stay in Stuart's family caravan on Girvan. There are lovely beaches nearby. I'm always on the look out for heart shaped stones.

I started to collect heart shaped stones but to avoid cluttering my flat with hundreds of them, I thought a nice picture of them would do.

I was given some flowers this week to cheer me up after my disappointment last week. 

The colour of the carnations is magnificent. Very sumptuous.

I think that's all my news for now until I have some real news on the tearoom. Have a great weekend x

Back on the property search... boo hoo

Well, after a very productive week last week doing financial projections for the tearoom, having the first meeting with my new accountant and catching up with an old friend in their new café business Café Wander, I had some bad news on Friday morning... One of the worst things to go wrong, again, someone else had jumped in and put an offer in on my place!! Argh!!!

So not quite back to square one, I've still done all of my research, but I'm back on the search for a property, and feeling a little bit sad. The property search part is so difficult. There just isn't an abundance of suitable, affordable places here in Glasgow. Saying that, I'm off to see another property this afternoon and hopefully if it is suitable, I can haggle a bit on the price of the rent.

Anyway, enough of the moaning. To cheer myself up, I bought myself a book on how to make macarons. I'm going to make some this week. I have a little idea that if I get really good at making them I can sell them in the tearoom.

Ooh they're sooo pretty!

Numbers or cake? Cake please

The last post I wrote I was feeling positive about a property that I'd seen for Cushion and Cake. I'm really excited because it feels like things really have started moving.

I've set up a few meetings this week with advisors and accountants and the like. I'm hoping to go back and see the wee property this week too.

Trying hard today to sit for more than five minutes and put the figures I've worked out for my start up costs into my business plan. I'm struggling.

I've looked at some expamples of business plans but they don't seem to be very helpful to me. I could really do with seeing a business plan for a little tearoom.

There are a million other things I'd rather be doing right now than working out numbers like researching cake recipes and sourcing cool stuff for the tearoom.

 I guess to be a business person I have to do both...

Bad Timing to Find THE Property....

I'm so excited but I'm trying to keep myself under control. First of all, I'm going on holiday with my family and best friend to France tomorrow. My aunt has bought a house near the Vandee and this is our first visit to it together.

I'm also sooooo excited about a property I saw yesterday. I think it may be the one for the tearoom, but I'm frightened to say that in case the worst happens when I'm away on holiday. If any of you have bough your own homes, you will know that feeling where it just feels right and you visualise yourself swanning around doing your thing, well I felt like that in this place. My timing is bad though isn't it? I can't really make a move until I come back. Please, please don't let anyone else go and see it while I'm away!

Car Booting Cushion and Cake

I thought I'd try Cushion and Cake at a car boot sale yesterday. I didn't take my hand made items but I did take cakes. The cakes completely sold out and made me quite popular with fellow stall holders.

I took some other bits along with me like shoes I've never worn and some clothes and purses. Sold NONE of them. So glad I didn't take my cushions.
I spoke to lots of nice people however. One woman in particular used to have a tearoom in Sussex and she still has most of the china from her place. I bought one of her trios. It is exactly what I'm looking for.

I got this too. I'm not really sure what it is, but it is a very pretty box. It will be nice to display smaller items in at craft fairs or eventually, in the tearoom.

And finally, this lovely little plate and dome. for £3!

So I suppose any money I made on cakes I spent immediately on tea and cakey stuff. Success!! 

Screen Priniting and Wild Swimming?

I'm excited. I started two new courses this week to expand my crafty skills (makes me sound like a witch doesn't it?). I'm doing Creative Photoshop on Tuesday evenings and Screen Printing on Thursday evenings.  My first Photoshop class was fine, but spent mostly familiarising the class with the Mighty Mac, but as I use a Mac, this bit was a bit boring... I can't wait to get started on actually making art work. 
I thought I'd do Photoshop so that I could prepare artwork and images for screen printing. The first screen printing class last night was good, but again, I have done screen printing before so it was a bit of a refresher last night on the process.

I can't wait until next week when I can get stuck in. I had lots ofideas on what my first print will be. I think I'm going to do a bumble bee and we've to do something really simple, using only two colours. I thought a bumble bee would be pretty cute.

 

I'm going to draw my bee myself rather than use an image like this one.
I mentioned in my last entry that I was hoping to view a property for Cushion and Cake. Well I'm going to see it early next week. I don't want to say I have a good feeling about it because I think I've had a good feeling about ALL the properties I've seen so far! It is the one on Saltmarket in Glasgow. The location is fine (can be a bit wild at night, but I won't be open a night) and there are plenty of galleries and quirky places around so I think I'd fit in pretty well. More on that next week hopefully.
I wanted to talk about a new book thati recently got. I'd wanted it for a while and it is called Waterlog by John Deakin.

I learned about this book from Elspeth Thopmson's The Weekend Book. Waterlog is a log of the writer's adventure, wild swimming his way across Britain, in the sea , in lidos, in rivers, pools and moats. I love swimming and being in water so this is the book for me. I was hoping to keep it for a holiday I'm going on with my family next week but I had to make a start on it on Wednesday evening. I only read a couple of chapters but was already inspired to get swimming, so, I went to my local swimming pool yesterday and tried to recreate some of the experience Deakin describes in his book even though my swim was far from his 'wild swimming'. There is an outdoor pool not too far from Glasgow in Gourock. 

Gourock Swimming Pool

I've been trying to tempt someone to come with me for a while now to no avail. Looks like I'll have to visit this one myself, but I'd better be quick before the end of the season. I wonder if I have time to go today....