Sugarlumps, a cosy tea shop and imaginative pre-school play-space in Nutfield Road, South Merstham has opened its doors at the front of the gift shop formerly known as Rocket + Fairydust.

Sugarlumps provides an escape for those who fancy a lovely cuppa a slice of cake, either with or without the children. The inviting tea shop has tables and chairs in the front room where you can sit and watch the world go by, and comfy armchairs in the back room to sit and watch the kids have fun with the toys and books provided.  Displayed around the walls of the 2 rooms are gifts and treats handmade by Rocket + Fairydust, perfect for browsing while the kids play and you enjoy a cuppa!

Sugarlumps, in conjunction with Rocket + Fairydust offers tea, coffee cake and gifts, as well as shopping evenings and a venue for birthday parties.  Conveniently, Sugarlumps has street parking and outside seating for sunny days.

The brains behind Sugarlumps and Rocket + Fairydust are good friends Steph and Kirstin.  They are local mums of young children and this all-encompassing layout comes as a solution to a dilemma that many new parents face.

“Merstham has a distinct lack of friendly meeting places, and we were inspired to join forces and create Sugarlumps after a friend of ours mentioned that they had to drive 3 miles to get a decent cuppa.  I think I’m one of many parents looking for an inviting space where not only my kids will have fun, but I will too,” says Steph.

We are both creative people,” says Kirstin “Our background and strengths complement each other well and have helped us create the best possible space for grown-ups and kids alike.”

Sugarlumps serves coffee and tea along with delicious Danish pastries, cakes, cookies and healthy drinks and snacks for the kids.  Rocket + Fairydust’s resident artist Kirstin has an onsite workshop where she creates hand-painted gifts for children and grown-ups!  Much of her work is on show around Sugarlumps and can be ordered directly from Kirstin.

Sugarlumps & Rocket + Fairydust opens during the week from 9.00 till 3.00 and on Saturday mornings from 10.00 till 1.00.  Birthday parties can be booked during these hours and additionally on Saturday afternoons.  Please take a look at their Facebook pages for details of Shopping Evenings in the run-up to Christmas.

Running a business is a complicated business, and this past month business has been extremely complicated!  In August I announced that the shop would be closing down and that I would continue from a smaller workshop and concentrate on trying to gain more online sales.  But because of the terms of my lease and other issues I am going to have to stay put until the Spring of 2013 – so Merstham is stuck with me for a while longer!

I have been trying to find other ways to use the shop and have a few ideas floating around in my brain, and once a decision has been made I will be sure to let you all know!  I’ve been reading a book called ‘Screw It – Let’s Do It’ by Richard Branson, and his motto is ‘have fun and the money will come’ – I’ll let you know whether this theory works in practice!!

But in the meantime the shop will stay open, albeit with a reduced amount of stock and shorter opening hours!  I have decided not to sell much stock from other makers – just a select few – and concentrate on getting orders for my goodies such as the personalised paintings and door hangers.  I’ve added a ‘buy it now’ button to my website, and I’ve signed up with online selling sites Etsy, Folksy and Poppito – so now it’s easier to buy my stuff!

Having to worry about businessy things has left me feeling very deflated and uninspired so in order to kick start my creativity I’m going to do some painting for myself – I’ll post pics on Facebook once they are done, and who knows – maybe someone else will like them too!

Thanks for sticking with me, and hope to see you soon!

The Rocket + Fairydust handmade gift shop has been open for just over a year, but I have decided to close it down and get back to my roots….  First of all I’d like to explain why I opened up in the first place and why I have now decided to close the shop down.

In the spring of 2011 I had been running a small business from my garden shed for 2 years – designing and creating personalised paintings and door hangers for children’s rooms.  I had also painted a few pieces of furniture for my daughter’s bedroom which led to commissions for other painted furniture.  I quickly outgrew the shed and decided to look for a larger workshop.

I had found the perfect place with a big window out on to the street where people would be able to see me paint, come in for a cuppa and chat and hopefully order from me.  Then I saw the shop that was to become Rocket + Fairydust.  It had a workshop at the back and 2 showrooms at the front.  I got greedy!  I thought it would be a piece of cake to have a shop attached to the workshop and that it would virtually run itself!

I had the bright idea of filling it with handmade gifts and treats, all locally sourced and beautifully designed by talented individuals.  I would create gorgeous window displays and people would be tripping over themselves to come in and buy stuff!  Sadly the reality of opening a shop during a recession has proved to be a lot harsher.

I have found out a lot about myself over the past 14 months – the main thing being that I am not the world’s best retailer – I can’t sell to save my life!  I can chat about all sorts of nonsense to anyone that comes in, but I absolutely cannot tell them my stuff rocks and they should order something right now!  I’ve been really lucky in that many of my customers came back again and again – and I really appreciate their loyalty.  I have also discovered that I am not a natural when it comes to marketing – I have loads of great ideas but no confidence to follow them through!

So, these are some of the reasons why I have decided to go back to my original plan of having a workshop and concentrate on painting again.  I’ll leave the retailing, visual merchandising and marketing to the pros and get back to what I do best – creating lovely bespoke paintings for kids.  So, to conclude – the shop may be shutting – but the Rocket will fly on!!

PS If you know of a workshop available to rent in or near Merstham please let me know – the garden shed is now full of other stuff!!!

Rocket + Fairydust is a lovely little shop in South Merstham selling painted furniture and personalised gifts for all ages.  From fun and colourful kids furniture to more subtle shabby chic items and the whole spectrum in between!  So far designer Kirstin and her team have provided happy customers with drawers painted with skulls, racing cars and aeroplanes, a bed decorated with hot air balloons and toy-boxes covered in butterflies, fairies and monkeys – although not together on one box!!

One of the services on offer is a painting service for your furniture, in addition to the large range of unpainted furniture ready and waiting to be painted available to buy.  Pop in for a chat about your requirements – Rocket + Fairydust provide a free design service, and if you are not 100% happy with the finished product then Kirstin will repaint it until you are!

Kirstin can also design and create hand-painted and personalised canvasses for your kid’s rooms, as well as door signs and hand-cut MDF names.  Rocket + Fairydust also sell lots of other beautiful and unique hand-made gifts and homewares such as mobiles, quilts, cushions and wall art.

To continue the theme of ‘hand-made with love’ Rocket + Fairydust host crafty parties for kids aged 4 and upwards.  They organise parties with any theme in mind ~ pirates, princesses, monsters and fairies!  Prices start from just £10 a head.

With such a talented assortment of designers and makers you would expect the prices to be sky high – but you will be pleasantly surprised!  The prices at Rocket + Fairydust are kept very reasonable in order to encourage recycling and renovation ~ and to discourage old furniture from being dumped in landfill sites.

So Rocket + Fairydust is green as well as every other colour in the rainbow!

Had it up to here with the usual venues and entertainers for kid’s parties?  Would you like is something different – well look no further – because Rocket + Fairydust also do Craft Parties!  You can bring the kids to us, make a lovely big mess, then take them away and let us do the clearing up!!

Whatever your child is into, I’ll incorporate it into the activities and decorations. So while you may not be able to escape from princesses and pirates entirely (if that’s their thing)… we’ll do it differently by designing and creating a crown, or making a telescope.

As it’s only for 1½ hours there’s no time or need for games, but we’ll keep the party atmosphere alive with music and decorations to match your theme; and of course you’re welcome to bring cake, sandwiches and nibbles.

Each party is based on a maximum of 8 children and 2 adults for 1½ hours and includes decorations, music, jugs of squash, party bags (based on the activities so only for option 2 & 3) and pre-printed invitations.

The venue is available to hire on Saturdays only. There are 3 timeslots on offer:  10.00 – 11.30; 12.00 – 1.30; or 2.00 – 3.30.

There are 3 different options to choose from:

1)     £80 ~ Venue only, where you just pay for the room, decorations, music, squash and invitations.

2)     £100 ~ As above but with 3 age appropriate themed craft activities per child.

3)     £120 ~ As above but with the addition of a cupcake decorating activity

To book: info@rocketandfairydust.co.uk.  Please bear in mind that I’ll need plenty of notice (preferably 28 days) to get the party room looking super-partylicious!!!

I’m pretty sure that some of the visitors to my shop come in, take a look around and think to themselves “I could do that!”  Well here are some pretty convincing reasons for you to trust me to do the job instead!!

1)     Look at my clothes!  They are totally covered in paint – and I like to think I’m a pretty neat painter!  Granted, I have been using the same boots and gilet for a couple of years, but my jeans and T-shirts get rotated on a regular basis!  You may think a pinny will be sufficient to protect your skinny jeans, but that paint has a way of finding somewhere unwanted to splat itself upon.

2)     Look at my hands!  Do you treat yourself to a lovely manicure?  Do you have beautiful soft skin?  Now compare your hands to mine…..  short, unpainted nails, rough skin, a couple of war wounds from using scissors to get the lid of a rusty can of paint (really bad idea by the way), and paint of all colours all over them!!!

3)     Look at my workshop!  At the back of my shop I have a couple more rooms to work in.  I have the rainbow room where I do mostly clean jobs like sewing and upholstery, or small jobs like the personalised paintings and door hangers.  This room also doubles up as the crafty party venue.  Next to this room is the messy workshop where I sand and paint the big pieces of furniture, and mix up the paint colours.  The floors of both of these rooms are both pretty paint splattered.  Do you really want your dining room / conservatory / kitchen floor looking like that!?

4)     Look at my yard!  Maybe you think that one day you’ll lug that ugly old wardrobe out on to the patio and paint it there…  Trust me; I thought the same thing when I took over the shop a year ago.  ‘Ooh’ I thought ‘a handy yard for me to paint in when it’s nice outside!’  The trouble is that the weather conditions are never quite right – too hot and the paint dries too quickly; too windy and the bugs and dirt are blown on to the wet paint; too cold; too wet; too snowy….

5)     Look at my years of training and experience!!!  If I haven’t already managed to put you off then the best reason to get me to paint you furniture is because I know what I’m doing!  I know which filler to use in to use in those holes.  I have a huge box of screws, nails, knobs, hinges and brackets to replace the missing ones and fix the wobbly bits.  I know what grade of sandpaper to start with, and when to move up a grade.  I know which adhesive will stick that peeling laminate down, or when it makes sense to remove it altogether (and how).  I know whether the dark wood / orange pine needs a water-based or an oil-based primer.  I know when to use a brush or roller to apply the primer.  I know how to apply the paint to avoid streaks, lumps, drips and patches.  I know how many coats to apply and how long to leave it between coats.  I know how to clean the brush and roller afterwards!!  I know which type of paint to use and how to mix the perfect colour.  I know whether to finish it off with a wax, glaze or varnish to protect it for as long as possible.  And better than anything else I can draw a freehand butterfly beautifully in 30 seconds flat!!!

If I haven’t bored you half to tears then hopefully I’ll have convinced you NOT to try this at home, and let me loose on your furniture instead!!  Also, I’ll probably get it done quicker that you will!!!!!

It has been a long time since my last blog post and I really must try harder!!  I haven’t got a good excuse for the beginning of the year, other than lots of painting to be done, but more recently I’ve been very busy ~ I have totally reorganised the whole shop!

It all began at the beginning of April – I had to get my accounts up-to-date for the pesky tax man….  Seeing the facts and figures all laid out in black and white was quite scary.  It suddenly became quite plain that a lot of my stock had been sat on the shelves from the moment it came in.  I realised that I needed to stop being a lazy shop lady and pull myself together.  I had to take the hard decision to ask a lot of my stockists to remove their lovely pretty things – but if you come in and find something missing, just ask and I’ll do my best to help you out!

I have decided to concentrate on the things that sell the best – namely the painted furniture.  With this in mind I have turned the front room into the painted furniture room – where we have furniture painted in lovely bright colours for the children, and other shabby chic pieces painted in subtler shades for the grown-ups!

The back room is now home to the furniture that needs a new lease of life, chairs that need upholstering, shelves that need a lick of paint….  It all looks a bit brown, but if you can bring a big dollop of imagination with you then you’ll be able to see past that!  The furniture I have on display is just a fraction of what we have in storage, so please ask if you can’t see what you are after.

I can also paint your existing furniture in the workshop at the back of the shop.  So if you have something that does the job perfectly, but just doesn’t look very pretty, please email a photo to me at info@rocketandfairydust and I’ll give you a free quote.  I can also keep my eyes peeled for the perfect piece, or point you in the direction of some great junk shops to go treasure hunting in!  Also, don’t take your old furniture to the tip – bring it to Rocket + Fairydust!!!!

I have retained 20 or so of my best selling suppliers, and will blog about them soon.  So in addition to the furniture, we also sell complimentary ranges of cushions, doorstops, bespoke artwork for children and grown-ups, decorative items, Decopatch kits, kids jewellery and hair accessories and of course – bunting!

I’d love you to pop by soon and see what I’ve been up to, and maybe you’ll be inspired to bring a tatty old piece of furniture back to life!

Maybe you already follow us on Facebook and Twitter?  Perhaps you’ve had a look through the website and thought – ‘Hmmm, that looks interesting!’  Possibly you’re mulling over the idea of coming to see us at the shop!?  Well, before you come, here are a few pointers!

What will I find there?

The shop is absolutely jam-packed with amazing hand-made goodies for kids aged between birth and 12ish.  Mostly girly stuff, but there is the odd thing here and there for boys too!  There are 2 rooms to riffle through plus our workshop so you’ll need to set aside a good amount of time to have a thorough poke through all the shelves.

Why should I visit?

If you are on the hunt for a Christmas or birthday gift and want to steer clear of buying something made of plastic from the High Street then we are the shop for you!  We sell all sorts of unique and unusual gifts, and nearly everything has been hand-made by local designers and makers.  The website is handy to give you an idea of what we sell, but seeing everything for real and getting the chance to pick it up and give it a squeeze is much nicer!

When

We are open every day except Sunday – from 9ish till 4ish (sometimes earlier – sometimes later – I am also a mummy and therefore have to remain flexible for my family!)  During December we will be staying open on Thursdays until the till stops ringing!  Please check the opening times on the homepage!

Where

We are to be found in sunny South Merstham, on the same parade of shops as Juniors (the kids hairdressers) and opposite the Post Office / Chemists. Click here for a map of where we are!

We look forward to seeing you soon – and tell the kids that they can play with our big box of toys or do some colouring while you shop till you drop!

Cuddly toys are for life – not just for Christmas!

Every child loves a cuddly toy and we’ve got a range of toys that will surprise and delight!  From sock dinosaurs to rag dolls, and teddy bears to kitten bags…  All available in a range of colours; pinks, yellows, greens, and blues – you name it; we’ve got it, making our cuddly toys suitable for both boys and girls.  All are unique and hand-made with a touch of festive sparkle!

Our cuddly toys are desperately looking forward to going to new homes this Christmas, so light up your child’s day with a new bunny, cat or dinosaur in their stocking!  Prices range from £5 to £20 – the expression on their face will be priceless!

So don’t delay – come and see us today!  Each toy is unique, so once it’s gone it’s gone….  (although we could make you another!!!)

It’s the countdown to Christmas!!!!  Here at Rocket HQ we have the elves working round the clock producing fabulous gifts and treats for your children to unwrap on Christmas morning!  We also have a direct line to Father Christmas, so if your little ones have a special request bring them down to the shop and I’ll make sure he gets the message.  You can pick up a form from us to fill in to receive a letter from Father Christmas – with a suggested donation of £5 which gets donated to Children in Need and the NSPCC.

One of the most popular presents by far are the personalised paintings – and this week we have painted lots and lots of fairies – including one riding a pink scooter!!!  We are also painting lots of desks and matching chairs – one is going to look like Lighting McQueen!

As well as big lovely presents we also have plenty of little bits and bobs in the shop to fill those festive stockings – from bracelets and bangles to Decopatch dinosaurs!

We also have a lovely Christmas range including cool reindeer cushions, Swedish style heart hangers, funky felt tree decorations, Christmas activity books and the stockings to hang up on Christmas Eve!

If you aren’t able to make it to the shop during the day then please come along on a Thursday evening when we will be open till late, so you can do some child-free Christmas shopping!

Hope to see you soon!

Kirstin x

Hello!

For this weeks Rocket Blog I’d like to tell you all about a fab new crafty pastime called Decopatch!  It is a very simple but effective craft technique that requires little skill but produces amazing decorative objects.  Decopatch is ideal for any age from 4 to 104!

All you need to create your own Decopatch masterpiece is the object you’re going to cover (and it works on anything!), a brush, some special glue / varnish and a selection of beautiful Decopatch papers.

Decopatch is a similar technique to paper mache which we have all done as children, but with beautiful papers that allow you to decorate and transform all sorts of items around the home. It is great for kids as it’s easy to do and it doesn’t take too long.

Decopatch paper is easily applied to any kind of surface, flat or uneven, and is the only paper which produces a smooth texture.  Decopatch paper is deepdyed and glazed, unlike tissue paper it will not break apart when glued and the colours will never fade or run.  Because it is a very thin, but strong and flexible paper, Decopatch is especially easy to use. Decopatch paper can be applied to most materials, for example metal, wood, plastic, glass, paper mache, wicker, ceramics and cardboard – your options are endless!

In our lovely little shop we sell all you’ll need to get Decopatching~ the glue / varnish, brushes, papers plus all sorts of items to Decopatch ~ cats, dogs, horses and gekkos; large letters and small words!  We even sell Decopatch kits for £9.50 which have everything you’ll need neatly packaged up in a bag to take away!  If Decopatch doesn’t float your boat then we have lots of other crafty kits including sewing kits and jewellery kits starting from £6.00.

All our crafty bits and bobs make great Christmas or birthday presents so pop over to the shop and see what tickles your fancy!

Hope to see you soon!

Kirstin x

PS. It has been lovely to meet some of our Facebook and Twitter followers recently – in the shop and also out and about at fairs and craft markets!  One of the lovely ladies we met was from 850 miles away in the Shetlands!  Thanks for following us and spread the word!! x

Hello!

Welcome to my Rocket Blog.  Each and every week, I’ll be sharing with you what’s on my mind (you have been warned!).  This week, I’m all about personalised paintings as I sell more of these than any other product.  Halloween and Fireworks night have passed and Christmas is hurtling towards us!  So this blog is both a gentle reminder to get your orders in for your personalised paintings by 16th December so we have time to send them to Father Christmas in the South Pole, but also to share a bit about the method behind the madness!

I’d like to think their popularity of the personalised paintings is because they are designed and created by yours truly!  But realistically it’s because my customers get to use their imagination, which I transfer onto lovely pieces of art.  Each canvas is hand-painted to order and can be any image that pops in to your head!  From dinosaurs to aliens; ponies to mermaids – anything is possible!  Our most popular choice for boys is big diggers, and for girls it’s got to be fairies!  Quite often the best personalised paintings are created when your child gets a say in the design – this is also true for the painted furniture!

The other big bonus about having a personalised painting made to order is that we can do any name, whether it is a traditional one or an unusual spelling.  We can also match the colour scheme to the décor of the bedroom, or to the child’s favourite colours.

The canvasses are 30cm x 40cm, painted using acrylics and protected with a coat of glaze (ensuring the colour hold true for years to come).  And at £25 I’d like to think they’re pretty good value too.  But eager to suit all budgets, we also do smaller door hangers for £15 or plaques for £20.

In fact we have lots of other personalised items at the shop, from cushions to large letters, so why not pop to the shop for a browse and a chat?  But please don’t leave it too late. Father Christmas has lots of little helpers, but there’s only me in my workshop and I’d hate to disappoint.

Bye for now.

Kirstin x

Back to work today after an extended bank holiday break, and I have lots to do!!! Opening hours should now remain constant (except for any major childcare issues!) and the summer break is nearly at an end…. Are your kids ready to go back to school? Don’t forget – we are THE place to come when those birthday party invitations start rolling in! You won’t find a more unique range of presents on the High Street – or anywhere else!!

On another note – we are having the website redesigned and revamped (upcycled??!!) and it is going to look amazing! Please check back regularly to keep an eye on it!

This week I am having to open later and shut earlier – Sorry if this is a problem – I hate the idea that I might miss out on a customer because we are shut!! It is the Summer Holiday and so I am having to juggle working at the shop with looking after my 6 year old daughter… a very tricky juggling act indeed!!!! We will also be shut on Bank Holiday Monday and Tuesday as we are going on a mini camping trip! Back to normal on Wednesday 31st August xxx

Come along to the grand opening and have a look around our lovely new shop! The rocket will blast off at midday!

We sell painted furniture and handmade gifts for kids, as well as having an onsite workshop where we can renovate furniture, re-upholster chairs and make roman blinds and soft furnishings…

Many of our stockists are local designers and makers creating fantastic goodies!

We will have drinks and nibbles for the kids, a crafty table for the kids to create a masterpiece for our gallery, face-painting and balloon modelling!

The lease for the shop has finally been signed!!! Everything is coming together at last!! So we are happy to anounce a PARTY!!!

Come along to the Grand Opening of the shop at midday on the 11th June for drinks, nibbles, crafts, cake and most importantly – shopping!

The address is 38 Nutfield Road, Merstham – see you there!!!!

We have spent most of today at the new shop clearing out all the rubbish that the previous tenant left behind… I was convinced we’d find some treasure – but sadly no!! It was all left behind because it was RUBBISH!! The electrician and plumber are nearly finished, and the redecoration starts soon! Also the carpet fitter is coming to measure up on Thursday!! So its all going on!!! Its going to look lovely when its finished – and then we can fill it full of beautiful handmade goodies and upcycled furniture!

The shop dream is slowly becoming a reality!!! Tomorrow I’ll be down there clearing out the rubbish and saving all the bits and bobs that can be upcycled into something beautiful!!! Very exciting!

We are still intending to open a shop – just waiting for the electrician and plumber to finish up!
We will be selling all sorts of gorgeous hand made gifts for kids – sourced from local designers and makers. In addition to these goodies Rocket + Fairydust will have an on-site workshop where we will be creating hand-painted kids furniture. You will also be able to order personalised gifts, murals, artwork and roman blinds!

We have found a fantastic shop to rent locally, and will let you know as soon as we have a moving in date!!