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Cecily Plum:

Cecily Plum is to be featured in Baby Surrey and Baby Hampshire Winter editions - which is very exciting! We are also running a small ad in both, which has been designed by the nice people at Little Media.



On the Home Front:

Oli went through the night last night- woo hoo! I'm still tired because I stayed up until after midnight working on website stuff though.

Ante-natal and Post-natal care

Netmums have been running a survey recently about the amount of ante-natal and post-natal care received by Mums; I’ve also been contacted about a news article being written on the topic: it seems that people are thinking about this whole issue again.
I believe that quality ante-natal and post-natal care are vital. The chance to meet others in the same boat, an informal situation where you can ask questions and discuss issues, a forum for learning from a range of professionals; this is what ante-natal classes should be about. And once baby’s born, we need these things even more.
I was lucky when my first was born, I had weekly ante-natal classes for about 8 weeks where I met a bunch of other Mums I’m still close friends with. We had excellent classes on everything from Baths to Bottle Feeding. Once baby was born we had access to weekly ante-natal classes, presided over by a health visitor, and basically a chance to have a good natter, talk to a professional and get baby weighed.
By the time number two was on his way the ante-natal classes had changed to about 4 sessions in an evening - completely useless for those of us who already have children (perhaps that was the idea) - and no ante-natal classes at all.
Personally I think this is a terrible thing, but I’ve brought it up with midwives, health visitors and doctors and they don’t seem that bothered. Only the pregnant and new Mums I’ve talked to realise how significant the loss of these services is to us New Mums who so often feel isolated and even miserable during and after pregnancy.

Photo-shoot!

Well, we have been open nearly two weeks now, and it's very exciting! Thank you to all our customers so far, it's been a great two weeks and I'm full of plans for the future.

The first thing I'm planning is a photo-shoot for some of our existing stock, as well as for some new things which are a secret at the moment :-) . It's very exciting organising a photo-shoot, but also a bit bewildering for the novice. Luckily I have a professional friend to guide me. We're currently looking for a pregnant model, the studio is all set and I have a list of shots I need.

I plan to take photos of the photo-shoot (if you see what I mean), and perhaps a video too, and I'll post them here and on the official Cecily Plum Blog too.

Special Things at Cecily Plum

I was going to call this post "Special Offers" but then I realised I want to mention two things - one is a special offer and the other a special e-zine.

1. Cecily Plum Style Notes - our online magazine

I am really proud of the first edition of our Cecily Plum magazine, Style Notes.



Style Notes has articles on maternity fashion, stories from Mums and interviews with designers. We'll have a new one every other month, so keep an eye out at the beginning of December for our Christmas and New Year edition.

If you have anything you'd like us to cover in Style Notes, we'd love to hear about it, from the issues around breast-feeding in public to Christmas party fashion dilemmas.



2. Cecily Plum Showcase - our special offers




The Cecily Plum Showcase is an ongoing promotion of some of the favourite pieces in our collection. Every three days we choose a small selection for a 10% discount, so if you like something that's being showcased, get it quickly as it won't be on offer for long!

On the front page of Cecily Plum you can see a preview of the items we're showcasing at the moment; the current showcase runs until the evening of Weds 8th.

I joined technorati, because it's supposed to help my blog traffic, which probably helps my company! Hooray!

Here's a button to click:



you can add me to your favourite blogs now. Yay!

Open!

Cecily Plum is now open! Last night we put the site live, and sent out emails to all the people who had signed up.

We immediately had a query about the Lin and Leo bags - they'll be in stock really soon! And today we've made sales!

I am very excited, and looking forward to the future of Cecily Plum.

xx

Opening Soon

Things are all coming together now, the website is almost finished and stock is arriving daily. It's all very exciting, and it's great to see all the beautiful things I've ordered.

I've taken a few snaps of the unpacking (you can see I'm no photographer), and once we're open will post some images of our collection.





The lovely BabyMel changing bags arrived last week.


I love the Bump Boxes, and wish I'd known about them during my pregnancy! They look so good in their pink and black boxes.


The Zita West skincare comes in such beautiful bottles and boxes, I think these are going to make great gifts.


The all important packaging materials - sturdy white boxes, crisp cream tissue paper, rich wine and cream ribbon and mini lavender and camomile bags (it's the little touches that make a difference). I'm also so proud of my lovely stationary and business cards designed for me by TRG designs in Exeter.


All ready for packing and sending! Two breast feeding tops, one from Carriwell the other Bara Glad.

Wish me all the best for the launch on Wednesday 1st October!

Moving along

We're getting closer to the opening day of Cecily Plum! People have been signing up to be informed when we're open (which is great!), and for their 10% discount.

The jewellery commission is going well; I hope to have photos of the first version within a week.

On the home front
Makers of fab baby carriers Snug Baby have a competition for one of their carriers; I could really do with one for Oli, so here's hoping!

Busy Busy!

I've been very busy over the last few weeks!

I have been down to Somerset to source materials for Cecily Plum's unique jewellery, plus to meet maternity wear designer Harry Duley.

Harry Duley was great, her clothes are really lovely. Plain jersey basics in a range of colours - these are perfect for Cecily Plum. I am also going to order a limited edition range of Harry's clothes, and commission my own, specially for Cecily Plum.

On the home front:

The house renovations are still ongoing, with the dining room the next target for completion. Baby Oli is growing like mad, and seems to be teething again (still no actual teeth though). Bertie starts Meithrin tomorrow afternoon (pre-school at the Welsh medium school), which is very exciting!

Items Coming Soon ...

Photobucket Album

Web design Company Ditched

Well, the web design company haven't done any work on the design for a couple of days now, and I am fed up with them, so have sent an email telling them to stop working on the site.

Hubby has done a beautiful new holding page for me: http://www.cecilyplum.com, and will develop the rest of the site.  I'm planning to use Roman Cart for the e-commerce.

On a more positive theme, I am really looking forward to viewing some maternity collections tomorrow, and meeting with one of the designers, very exciting!

Website Woes

I am having trouble with my website. It was commissioned from webcreationuk, for them to exactly copy my design, with the design done within a week.    

To start with they didn't copy my design, but started with a new one, which I didn't like (communications problem between here and India where it seems they actually do the work). Then they promised to copy mine, but had another communications problem, and didn't. At this point I was ready to burst into tears!

It's now over 2 weeks, and they still haven't got the design done, and don't seem to be doing a very good job of copying my work.

I may decide to ditch the company and do it myself (losing the hefty deposit). I am currently investigating how possible this is. I just want to get started!

Supplier Found

Suppliers
I am very pleased to have found two great Breast Feeding clothing suppliers for my shop. One will supply basic, useful tops, the other gorgeous Scandinavian design. Once the shop's open I'll post links to all my suppliers here.

At the moment ...
At the moment I am organising all my stationary and printed advertising materials. There are some great designers and printers on www.MumsClub.co.uk, but first I've contacted an old friend of my husband for a quote.

I am also awaiting the first view of my website, the first draft should be ready by the end of this week - I am very excited!

On the home front
Hubby has been busily finishing off the current phase of plumbing, plus doing some plaster-boarding. Soon we'll get the builders in to put skylights in the bathroom and baby Oli's room.

Bertie is happily watching a feature length Thomas the Tank Engine which he has dubbed "Big Long Thomas" much to Hubby's amusement.

New Breastfeeding Supplier Wanted!

The main supplier I had lined up for breast feeding clothes is no longer available, so I have to find someone new, and quickly! This gives me the opportunity to find something a bit out of the ordinary, and I'm looking at Swedish designers, plus those using organic cotton.

I am somewhat distracted from my search by baby, who is very pleased to learn he has hands, and is very cleverly batting the toys on his baby gym. Plus he's just today discovered his feet, and spent a happy five minutes watching them.

Busy and wet

Well, I've been busy organising. I am going to see an agent for a few different maternity lines, plus one of the designers, in two weeks time - it's all a bit daunting as it will be the first time I'll meet these people; so far all communication has been by email. I'll have baby with me, so hope he's his usual quiet self.

The meeting's in Cambridge which is a long long way from Aberystwyth. I'll be stopping with family in Hereford on the way, then I think I'll make a detour to Nassington (nr Peterborough), to see friends, then drive home via Hereford again.

I've also been talking to the people who organise the Baby Show, who are keen to get Cecily Plum at their Manchester show this November. But I think it's a bit too soon - I estimate it will cost around £2k in total, with accommodation etc etc. I'd like to do the NEC one in May instead. I think I'll pop along to the Manchester one as a research exercise. Will give me a good idea what I'm getting into.

On the home front - Hubby has been plumbing today, and there's been quite a lot of horrible black heating system water leaking out of places. It all seems to be fixed now, but was very messy for a while.

Company Formed!

I have a fully formed company, registered, and with a company number!

Here is the excerpt from Companies House.

Apart from this, I have been in touch with suppliers trying to work out when I can see them, plus it turns out Autie Jill used to be a fashion buyer (I thought she was a cosmetics buyer) for Co-operative, so I want to go and see her for some advice.

I have also been madly ebaying - we have so much junk to get rid of - I've spent most of the day describing baby clothes.  I hope they sell for a reasonable amount.

Website is commissioned! 

I've paid the deposit, and Cecily Plum begins!

Back from Somerset

Well, I went down to Somerset to see the parents. It was a very productive trip, not only did my Dad (an accountant) give me invaluable advice on my business plan, I also got a haircut for the first time in about a year!

The business plan will need a bit of work, not least of which the figures, which Dad thinks are a bit over-optimistic.

I also managed to commission some jewellery whilst I was down in Somerset.  My ideas are going to be tried out, then I'll go back in a few weeks and we can source some materials, and go ahead.  The best part is that they'll be done on a sale or return basis, so great for cash flow.

My parents had some comments about the webpage, so I've made a final few alterations.  I'll get Simon to have a look, and then pay the deposit to start the process! It's about time.

"But why?"

Well, there was no more sicky or squitty today, so that's a clear improvement. However I rue the day Bertie learnt to say "why?". All day we have had conversations that run thus:
"It's time for lunch now."
"But why?;
"Because it's 12 o'clock."
"But Why?"
"Because, because, because it just is."
"But why?"
"Arrgghhhh."
I have also had to find reasons for baths, not inserting screws into interesting looking holes in Daddy's power tools, and the existence of the toaster.

Anyway, on the business front. I have moved a tiny step towards a web page. I have been sent an invoice, and sorted out when I'm going to pay it (next week), so that work can start. The company I'm using is WebCreationUK, and the page I've mocked up for them is this:

I created the background with a great tool called "Repeating Motif Generator" (for Mac), which can be found here: 

Fell asleep

Didn't get much business stuff done today.

Sicky toddler was sent home from nursery yesterday, and today he was squitty-bottomed and very out of sorts.  There wasn't a lot of time as he needed lots of cuddles.

Did manage to start the process of commissioning my new CP webpage; I sent the final mockup of the design, and they've confirmed the quote.  Soon I'll have to pay the deposit, and then I really will be committed.

I meant to do some things this evening, but fell asleep whilst trying to get the littlest son to sleep.  I think I fell asleep before he did.

Blog the First!

Well now I have to post something on my shiny new blog.

The point of this is to record the setting up, and later the running, of my new business.  I've written a business plan, talked to the bank, emailed suppliers, and found a base.  Now I have to actually start.  Maybe writing it all down as I go will help me keep going.

As people keep saying, it won't be easy with a three year old, new baby, husband and house renovation all happening as well.  

I'm on maternity leave, and really ought to be relaxing and enjoying my baby, but when else will I have 9 months of being paid to stay at home?  It's too good an opportunity to miss, and I really want to know if I can do this.