Maisy and Grace: venture

I'm guessing this is going to be one of the hardest posts I've ever had to write. Well, I've only ever written five! Might be a long one too so I hope you've got a cup of tea there. I'll just come straight out with it....

I'm saying goodbye to Hapene Flax NZ Ltd.

Maybe you've already heard, or perhaps you don't even know what Hapene Flax NZ Ltd is! I guess you could say it was my first 'baby'. A little idea with a little piece of flax, that I nurtured and grew and developed and loved, and I guess you could even say flax became my life!

Life changes doesn't it. Twelve years, 50,000 pieces of flax, 3,000 emails, six cats, one husband and two children later....I'm ready to hang up my flax hat. A decision that has taken three years to make, but more so in the last year, a decision that has been sitting quietly in the back of my mind, already decided upon, but just not actioned.

It was just over a year ago that I had my second prem baby. My eldest boy Enosh, he wasn't too early, but still a wee thing at just 4lb 11oz. As

for Asher, he was born 8 weeks early at a teeny 3lb 10oz. It has been the hardest, yet most rewarding, year of my life. I won't go into detail (he's totally fine by the way, a big happy boomba now!), but the year has flown by and the kids are growing up before my eyes....or should I say, 'not' before my eyes. I'm always busy busy busy. Seems like so much to do, and so many hats to wear. I know there are others out there who can totally relate. Taking care of your family + creating all of your products from scratch + marketing + accounts + administration + customer service + every other little detail that being in business involves = worn out, pulling her hair out mum! It's the 'me having to design and make everything' that is the biggest thing. No-one else can do it for me. I'm the artist. Yes, there are parts of jobs that I can get others to do, but people come to me to get the work that I do.

I'm not an energetic, carefree twenty year old anymore. I know I'm only in my thirties and still have a lot of life to live, but right now, my priority is my family, and my health. I want to take the kids to the park, be free to join my sister and nieces for lunch, go for adventures with my boys through the forest, play tackle, bake cakes and do messy art. And believe it or not, we'd like more kids, totally aware of the fact that my dodgy kidneys are a precursor for preterm labour and teeny tiny babies. That also means I have to reduce stress levels, take it easy and keep my silly blood pressure down. Hard to do when you're wearing all the hats!

So it's haere ra to Hapene.
I'm ready to let it go. I've been fortunate to have received worldwide exposure, awards, extensive press coverage, and regular orders throughout the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. It has been an amazing experience from which I've learnt SO much, and I couldn't have done it without my family, especially my mum! I'm ready for someone else to take it to the next level, make it a huge success, and fulfill all of these dreams I have written in this big book called a twelve year visual diary, AKA business plan. The potential is huge. Huger than huge. Who is going to make it happen? Could be you! Of course, I can't sell 'me', and I can't sell creative talent.

But what you'll get from me is:
The Patent, 12 years worth of product development, Marketing and business plans, the reputable Hapene branding with the incredible exposure received over the years (see here), product photographs, www.hapene.co.nz and www.hapene.com, beautiful professional website with online store and content management system, all new branding design, stock and materials, trade secrets, full procedures, equipment, suppliers details, client database, Facebook page.....I'll stop here because this post is going to be way too long! I will give all of this and more to the RIGHT person/persons/company, for the right price (not the highest). I totally don't expect to be compensated for the blood, sweat and tears poured out over 12 years for this. I'm completely realistic. I just want the chance to be more of a mum, and less of a "I'll be with you after I've finished this wedding order". And I want Hapene to live on, and fulfill its potential.

Which brings me to the HELLO part. Hello garage (it will be my husbands dream come true to have garage space!). Hello walks on sunny days. Hello time to organise my linen cupboard, attack the sewing pile, finish painting the boys rooms, play with the kids! Hello Maisy & Grace! Uhhhhh....what???! Yup, Maisy & Grace. A lovely little online store I started a little while ago. Merchants and makers of vintage inspired homewares, art, craft and design. The philosophy: It's the simple pleasures which MAKE LIFE BEAUTIFUL.

This is something that's been quietly brewing away over the last few years, as my intrigue and passion for the ways of old have slowly infiltrated my life and my thinking. Inspired by my Grandmothers mainly. I guess also as you have more children and your life evolves into a more 'domestic' way of thinking, your ideals and outlook on life change too. I tried to incorporate this passion and love for all things beautifully vintage and classic into Hapene Flax NZ Ltd, but it just didn't quite fit. The quest for a 'simple beautiful life' was getting more and more complicated!

So enter Maisy & Grace. You could say they are my idealistic multiple personalities. Maisy, on the one hand, is like your Nana - she preserves, irons, sews, and loves a simple life with a 'waste not, want not' attitude. Grace, on the other hand, is like your favourite Aunty - creative, a baker, the ultimate hostess who loves pretty things. I wish I was them! Well I can try, and the online store is a take on the good old fashioned General Store - a place where Maisy and Grace inspired homeware is showcased, recipes and housekeeping tips are shared, and where you can get a little (or big) piece of this simple, beautiful lifestyle.

The beauty of this little venture for me, is that I get to share everything I love, and I don't have to make every product from scratch! This is my new extra curricular activity - every woman needs one! Especially when you have an overactive mind like I do. I will still dabble in a bit of creativity - upcycled products, letterpress, sewing, painting (once an artist, always an artist), perhaps a bit of weaving every now and then. And perhaps I might even put my degree to good use and get back into a bit of interior design work - but maybe when the kids are all at school! In the meantime, I'm going to aim for a simple, beautiful life - selling these lovely wares, hiring out vintage china, styling the odd event here and there, and most of all, being mum.

If you've read all the way to here - CONGRATULATIONS! This is a mammoth post! I hope you'll join me over at my new venture. Thank you for all of your support and encouragement over the years. And if you think you have what it takes to make Hapene a huge success....email me - christall.lowe@xtra.co.nz

Take care all,
Hei konei ra,

Christall x

It all started at my Grandparents house. Lots of significant things in life seem to start there. Perhaps it's the rooms full of hoarded memorabilia, old dolls prams and "stuff", or the peeling bright blue paint of the tongue and groove, or the red guard's van (yes that's a real life train caboose) in the backyard, that trigger an explosion of ideas. Or perhaps it's that this early 1900s bungalow, formerly my great Grandmothers house, is "home". It is an eclectic treasure trove of family memories, always with a hearty meal at the ready, a cup of tea and a good yarn.

Anyway anyway, that's another story for another time. So, what started at my Grandparent's house then? Not only my first creative venture when I was 8, and my life changing venture at the age of 20, Hapene Flax NZ Ltd. But the beginnings of Maisy & Grace, and the exhibition that came forth from what I would call a journey of self discovery - when rummaging around at the family 'home' I found things belonging to my Grandmothers, and great Grandmothers, and I was drawn to rediscover life as these women had lived.

What I found out about them inspired me. Their stories were real. Their living was simple. Times were tough and they were tougher! All completely different women, of completely different origins - yet their blood runs through my very veins, and in some respects, has made me the person I am today.

"Whakarongo ki to Kuia - Listen to your Grandmother" pays homage to four incredible women who have gone before me, who have influenced me in ways they could never know, and who I live to make proud.

Finding all these darling artifacts of old gives me goosebumps (not in a spooky way!) - my mouth literally waters, and my heart does flip flops - it's like I've been whipped back to the early 1900s and I can smell the kerosene and the lavender and the mothballs and the rose scented pillows.

Anyway, enough rambling, on with the show. It takes you back to washing by hand in the bath tub, making bread, high tea, preserves, simple food and long summer days in the garden. It's romantic but honest. My love affair with the things of old has begun. And long may it continue.....

(Well, this has been my very first blog post, and I'm having a little trouble with the images - I wish Blogger had a bigger 'window' to work with! Maybe Blogger does and I just haven't worked it out yet. So, I will publish this as my first blog EVER, and will share the actual exhibition with you in my next post. But here is a little sneak peek - I managed to get these images on the page in the right place yahoo!)