The Arts and Craft´s Store Opening Day

Dear Readers,

Hope you are all doing well! 

It´s a been a while since my last post but today I´m back with a new story.

More than a year and a half has passed since I first introduced you to The Caramel Family and I showed you some pictures of the Arts and Crafts Store I set up for them.

Shortly after,I intended to post a story about the opening day. Even though the story was written long ago I haven´t got down to it until now. 

In today´s story we´ll see Vivian and Lance running their store and assisting their first customers. 

The day the Arts and Crafts Store opened its doors in Sweet Berry Valley, Agatha Buckley was as excited as a child on Christmas morning. As an arts and crafts teacher and the headmistress of Berry Grove School, she has to order art supplies for her students from a catalogue. However,today she was going to experience the feeling of shopping art supplies in person for the first time.
Lance and Vivian were delighted to see that Agatha was their first customer. She was very kind to them when they phoned her to know her opinion about opening their new business in Sweet Berry Valley.  

Agatha couldn´t belive her luck when she found a copy of "Art School".Last time she tried to order this book from a catalogue it was out of stock.

Vivian kindly gave Agatha some helpful tips for choosing the right type of paintbrush depending on the purpose she had in mind.

She also wanted to buy a new palette. Vivian recommender her a wood palette for oil painting. 

Without a doubt Agatha was finding shopping in-store much more enjoyable than ordering art supplies from a catalogue.

She also had a look at the different easels.Lance offered her a special discount if she was interested in buying them for the school. It was such a great deal that she ordered some.

Before leaving, Agatha thanked Vivian and Lance for their help and wished them the best of luck with their new business.
"I´ll be back soon!" She said with a big smile.

Agatha was really satisfied with  her shopping experience!
She´ll be a regular customer, for sure.

Camila-Hunter-Smith was the second customer of the day.On her way back from the bakery she stopped at the art store to buy some sketchbooks and pencils for her triplets.

Camila and Vivian were talking cheerfully and were completely unaware of what was going to happen next.Lance, who was restocking the shelves, didn´t know either what the triplets were up to.

"Oops!We´re in big trouble, mum is going to be mad with us" Gerard said in a whisper.

Camila didn´t lose her temper. She just gave her kids a mild scolding. Deep inside she knows they are just curious kids who don´t mean to do any harm.

They were relieved to know their mum wasn´t too mad with them and they offered themselves to put the paint pots back to their place.They are good little boys after all.

Once everything came back to normal.Vivian got Camila the sketchbooks and the pencils she wanted to buy .She really hoped buying a sketchbook for each of her kids would stop them from developing their creative skills on the living room walls.

When Camila and her triplets were leaving, Peace arrived at the shop. The big blackboard sign grabbed her attention."Perfect timing" she thought. She was running out of coloured pencils for her mandalas.

After browsing around the store for a while, Peace asked Vivan if she could have a look at the roll up pencil cases.

Peace liked the fact the pencil cases were handmade.Actually, she thought she would be able to make something similar herself.Both were lovely but she was more into bright colours rather than pastel ones so it didn´t take her long to make up her mind.

She also bought some coloured paper to write to her friend Apple and a wrapping paper roll to cover a cardboard box. Peace wanted to reuse it and turn it into a fancier storage container for her craft supplies.

Peace was another happy customer!She couldn´t wait to get home to use her new coloured pencils and write to her good friend Apple to tell her about the new store in town.
 

Someone who was also looking forward to the opening of the arts and crafts store was Lucy Fenton, the nursery teacher. She believes art has an important effect on  children´s development.That´s why she provides children at her nursery with lots of activities that foster their creativity.She bought crayons ,colored pencils, modeling clay and finger paint. She doesn´t mind messy play at all.
 

Carlie was happy to give Lucy Fenton a tour around her parents´shop. The first day Carlie went to school Lucy was very friendly and asked Carlie to sit next to her. Since then they have become good friends. 

A little latter, Eric Cakebread and his father Frank entered the art shop. Eric was a young art lover who wanted to become an artist himself.His father promised him he could buy some art supplies once the store was open and today was the big day. When Eric heard that a new family of artists had move to Sweet Berry Valley to set up an arts and crafts store, it was music to his ears.

Eric started browsing the shop.He was so excited! 
Those art portfolios were the perfect size to store his drawings.

It was great the shop also stocked for canvases. 

"Wow! So many interested books! he said to himself.

He was enjoying choosing art tools to get him started in his new hobby.

"Are you enjoying it here son?"asked his father who had been having a chat with Lance.

"Of course,dad! This shop is the best! Look! I´m going to get some colored pencils for Milo, a pencil case for Melinda and this painting for mum."

"That´s very nice of you Eric but I thought you wanted to buy something for yourself, so go ahead and get something you like." 

"Well, I´ve already done it ,dad!" Eric said looking at all the stuff on the tables.
"My!No doubt you liked this shop, son! Don´t you think you got a bit carried away? 
"Dad, you said I could buy something I liked and there are so many things I´d like to have that I find it hard to choose just one.You also said you were going to support my love for art"

" I do support your artistic hobby but I think all this stuff is a bit too much." All of a sudden Eric excitement faded away. His father could sense his son´s disappointment and tried to put a smile back on his face."Eric,since your birthday is coming soon,would you like to get these art tools as an early birthday gift?"

Eric´s face lit up again "Thank you, dad! I don´t need any more presents. All these art supplies are like a treasure to me"

Frank looked at the pile of stuff on the tables and asked "How are we going to carry all this? It´s a long way back home,my son".
   
"Hold on,I´ll be right back!" Eric rushed into the street without an explanation.
 

Shortly afterwards, Eric came back with an empty trolley he had borrowed from the supermarket. 
"You see, dad? Now, we can easily carry everything back home".

Lance and Vivian gifted him with an easel for being such a  good customer but mainly for showing such a big interest in art.Eric reminded them of themselves when they were his age.

He hasn´t been happier in ages."Thank you so much,Mrs and Mr.Caramel. When I grow up I hope to be an artist as good as you two. I really admire your artwork.You´re very talented

!". Lance felt touched by Eric´s words and invited him to visit his art studio.

He also offered him some free lessons on painting techniques and Vivian didn´t charge for the painting he chose for his mother.Eric´s father was overwhelmed by The Caramels´ generosity so he invited them for dinner." I´d love you to come home for dinner one of these days" That´s the least he could do to show them his gratitude for being so kind to his son.

Eric and his father left the shop with a trolly full of art supplies and the satisfaction of having met The Caramels,a kind and generous family who will contribute with their business to boost creativity and art appreciation among the villagers of Sweet Berry Valley.

As you have just seen, the opening of the arts and crafts shop went quite well and the Caramels were very pleased with their new customers. 
That very same day, over dinner, Vivian and Lance started making plans for the future. They talked about the idea of running workshops for children and the possibility of taking orders to deliver to other parts of the country as a way to expand their business. Their daughter Carlie suggested that they could also organize birthday parties and drawing contests. Her parents thought they were brilliant ideas.
Hopefully if their business keeps going well they will be able to carry out all their projects.

Hope you have enjoyed the story or at least some bits of it.

I´m not very proud of the story but I really like some of the miniatures I made and how the little shop turned out.I´ll probably write a short post to show you these miniatures in more detail.

Hope to be back soon!

I´m determined to keep publising some old stories I have as draft posts on my blog.

Take care and stay safe!
Hugs!