Ballooooooons!

Because The Mythical Beast Sweet Shoppe can be a little hard to find we decided today to go all out on the balloons, in an attempt to lure people in- it seemed to work as we sold twice as much today as we did last weekend!

Of course there are my lovingly hand made arrows pointing the way as well



Someone very tall had to put these up



heart shaped balloons to give away to small children (and 27 year old men)

balloons inside the shoppe as well as outside

new piccies of the shoppe

First weekend of the shoppe

Here's the shoppe. We're downstairs in the little black and white building on the left. Upstairs is where the Friends of the Old Pier Society hang out with info on the Birnbeck pier for everyone who wants to know.

I was worried about being on my own in the shoppe on our first day open. But of course I shouldn't have been worried and I wasn't on my own. I had people to help deliver me and the sweets and label them. People to help with flyers and helping people find the shoppe. The people from the Friends of the Old Pier Society who have been so helpful all along. So thanks to everyone who helped me out. We also had some great customers too!

Lots to see in Weston this Saturday

As well as it being the opening day for The Mythical Beast Sweet Shoppe (your shop keepers for the day will be Chipfork and Beth) there are a lot of other exciting things happening in Weston on Saturday 12th, some as part of Weston Arts Festival, some completely unrelated. Here's what's what:

Weston Arts Festival Arts Trail- Starting at Uphill Quarry and finishing at The Old Town Quarry.

Ian Shipton Open Studio at 42 Clevedon Rd (turn off the seafront directly opposite the old Tropicana) 10-6pm

Weston-super-Mare Paint Jam- various locations around town, but most excitingly at the Tropicana (seafront)

Art in the Quarry at Uphill, featuring site specific work, live music from Badgertrap, help for the love lorn from cantfindamatch.com, sweets from Tizzy Treatz, films projected on the rock face , information about the wildlife, walks and local history of Uphill and an Ice Cream van. You are encouraged to bring a picnic to share with us as we join in on some collaborative patchworking.

Frou Frou exhibition of contemporary embroidery from Joetta Maue, Karen Ruane, Lou Trigg and Cathy Cullis will be opening it's doors as well. Frou Frou is a lovely clothing boutique and the artwork fits in so perfectly there- I suggest you go and buy some art AND some clothes.

And friend of the Sweet Shoppe Becky has organised an event at her house for the evening called 'Don't Snore, just Draw' for more info you can contact her via a comment here.

Lost in the Forest

These lovely handmade artists books arrived today from Lost in the Forest, each book comes complete with a necklace that features a genuine mermaid's tear! (Or more accurately a genuine vintage opal like charm)

Custom Made UK

It's not every sweet shop that you visit that sells Yeti's by the quarter, but this is The Mythical Beast Sweet Shoppe we're talking about and these yeti brooches from Custom Made UK look pretty comfortable being weighed out (just please don't eat them!).

Laura Donald brings us The Hulder

Laura explains:

The hulder is a mythical creature found in Scandinavian fairytales. The daughter of trolls, she is incredibly beautiful but cannot hide the giveaway cow's tail. Men can enjoy a very pleasant evening with her but, if they say a single word, will be held captive in her underground lair forever.

Better keep our mouths shut then about the fact that a package of prints has just arrived ready for inclusion in The Mythical Beast Sweet Shoppe (not quite an underground lair, but nearly)

Claire Elizabeth Platt

I snuck back into the Sweet Shoppe today with a pile of parcels that contained such strange and mysterious things as Yeti's, Unicorns, Sticks of Rock, a creature called 'The Leisure Centaur' and colour and play 'Pin the horn on the unicorn' sets. I also took along two pieces from my old partner in crime, Claire Elizabeth Platt, who is so near to the end of her MA that I can't believe she found time to make something for the Shoppe- Claire rules!

More from inside the shoppe

Setting up shelving, ready to fill with goodies, including the Gorgon sisters from Katy Parrett

And a corner full of work from Simon, ready to go up on the wall.

Julia Pott in the Shoppe

The super talented Julia Pott has sent 6 of these lovely prints to the Shoppe. Julia is popping up in all kinds of places lately- right now she can be found on her blog, over in her shop, and her fabulous animation 'My first Crush' is in the Aniboom competition- go vote for it here.