Life in the Village

After getting through a great Christmas and settling into village life Sweet Tooth have entered 2010, a brand new year and exciting time.

We are getting to know our neighbours including 'Brixton Cornercopia' a deli serving a mean lunch menu and own brand chutney's, sauces using locally source produce, 'Leftovers', a shop with antique fashions and vintage finds, also fish mongers, hairdressers and others.

See the Village's launch night's video here.

Jenny's Jams

On our shelves you will find Jenny's wonderful jams, marmalades and chutneys.

http://www.jennysjams.co.uk

Launch Night

In all the excitement, we forgot to take photos of our opening. But did manage to take a few featuring the cameraman and interviewer who were filming for the night. Here's one of them tucking into a 'Dip Dab'.

Sweet Tooth...the sweetie shop...

The decision has been made to go with Sweet Tooth... very excited. We are just now planning the shop layout, researching, visiting factories, having fun selecting candy, tasting chocolate from Canada and Japan and of course working very hard. We will be open in 2 weeks time!!

See our progress in pictures

The shell

Interior painted white, shelves up

Recycling wood from another shop to use for Sweet Tooth's shelves and partition

The perfect bubblegum pink colour!

Stocking up with lots of goodies

Nearly there!

Results Day

Today I find out if any of my proposals were successful. I'm feeling really anxious.

Checking emails now, drum roll please...and guess what!

ALL 3 of my proposals have been accepted!!

WOW! I am sooooo happy, I can't stop smiling.

So, should I run with all three shops or focus on one? decisions, decisions!

Completion

Proposal Deadline 5.30pm

Emailed over the 3rd and final proposal at 5pm. It's been non-stop, but i'm feeling good.

So much to do, so little time!

At the library trying to complete, read, spell check, re-read and send off the 2nd proposal all in the free 1 hour time slot allocated. . . done it, just.

Gremlins in the computer!

Computer not working – noooooooooooooooo!

Submission time

Submitted a proposal today, 1 down, 2 to go!

Proposals

It has been a busy few days, taking part in castings and catwalk shows for a high street fashion retailer. Now that's finished I can f

inally settle down and get working on the proposals...yes that’s PROPOSALS. I have 3 ideas and as I can not decide on one, i'm going to submit all of them and let my angels work their magic.

One of the projects involves art and working with children, which i've done for 10 years. My

2nd proposal is about

showcasing and selling products and fashion created by like-minded designers as a co-operative.

As

designer of leather accessories myself this seems like a fun idea.

The 3rd idea came to me in a dream yesterday, so vivid it surprised me. It is so different to what I usually do. I dreamt I was in a sweet shop, but not any old sweet shop, this one was mine. Everyone who entered and left this sweet shop had big smiles on their faces. I could smell lemon, vanilla, strawberry, bubble gum flavours and my mouth was watering, I could taste it!

Also Friday 13th is such a lucky day for me (despite what others like to say about the number 13)... I know this is a good sign.

I 'day-dreamed' this poem today too. I wrote this is 15mins!! . . . the last time I wrote a poem I was 9 years old!!. I'm quite proud of it, so I'm going to include it in my proposal. What do you think?

Take a trip back in time to,

the rush after school,

to be the first in the queue

to spend pocket money on penny sweets,

sugared mice, mojo’s & refreshers too,

Allsorts & love hearts, that say I do!

Black jacks & liquorice you either love them or hate them,

Candy whistles, watches & cigarettes,

To fake ’em,

Pretending we’re grown & putting on lipstick,

A treat after school or for a best friend’s birthday,

Filling our bags with as much as we can,

Stuffing small mouths with jaw breakers & gobstoppers,

Fire balls & popping gum leaves a lasting sensation,

Turkish delights, bon bons, toffees & pear drops

Scary fangs, kola bottles & marshmallows too,

Or like me

an orange lollipop will do!!

Miss Candy Drop

Xx

Exploration Night

4pm Made my way down to the Space Makers Agency 'Exploration Event', to view the available spaces/units. Loads of creative souls there, I met Dougald, Gaia and Julia from Spacemakers, fashion designers, writers, market traders, chefs, bloggers, community activists, the curious, sewing groups, students, local people and more.

It was a fun night, running round taking pictures of all the vacant units (my favourite is unit 66!). We have been given a week to submit a proposal of our business idea. . .A WEEK!! I have no clue what to do and there's so much to think about!!

The story so far...

As this is Sweet Tooth's very first blog, I feel it is my duty to take you back to when it all started. I am transferring my notes written on paper to screen for you to read.


Visited the Piano House in South London and a leaflet with the following information caught my eye.

'What would you do with a space in a 1930s market arcade in Brixton? If you have a good idea, you could be part of the largest empty shops project in the UK.

The Space Makers Agency is looking for ideas for creative, community-oriented and enterprising projects to make use of empty spaces in Brixton. Projects could include new and existing businesses, as well as community groups, arts and theatre projects and other imaginative uses of space.There are currently 20 units in the market being made ready for occupation. rent free, for up to three months.

On Tuesday 10 November, the empty shops will be open for viewing from 4.30pm. Anyone interested in taking on a space is invited to come to a meeting at Brixton Village at 6.30pm'.