Island Life Magazine Ltd April / May 2016 | Page 129
Chasing rainbows
I
slanders can’t seem to get enough of
rainbows – at least when it comes to
their tableware.
Just as a real rainbow can cheer up the
gloomiest of days, a range of pottery
featuring all the colours of the spectrum
always puts a smile on the face of
customers at a Godshill gift shop.
In fact, the rainbow range was one
of the first product lines stocked by
brother and sister business partners
Nick and Annabel Robin when they
launched Daisy Daisy – and it continues
to be a best-seller. So much so, that
they are now adding more items to
the range, including toast racks, butter
dishes and a new cup and saucer.
Like many of the shop’s product
lines, the rainbow ware is fairly traded,
and hand painted in Thailand. “We’ve
stocked it from the very start and it just
gets more and more popular!” says
Annabel.
Meanwhile, Nick - who makes his own
range of jewellery from recycled and fair
trade materials - is currently working on
a new collection featuring hand-painted
ceramic beads from Peru. These, too
are vibrantly coloured and perfect for
spring and summer accessorizing.
In fact, all the shop’s gifts and goodies
are carefully chosen both for their
unique style as well as their ethical
credentials.
As the only BAFTS shop on the Island,
most of Daisy Daisy’s stock is sourced
from accredited importers, and Annabel
and Nick especially like to support those
producers working to improve the lives
of women.
Daisy Daisy
High Street, Godshill, PO38 3HH
t. 01983 840913
e. [email protected]
w. www.daisydaisyethicalgifts.co.uk
Rosalies of Cowes… from France with love!
T
he story of this unique
enterprise goes back to
2006 when the Baker
family moved from the Isle of
Wight to the South of France and
launched their original business,
then called JustFrench.
Chris, a builder by trade, had
been taking French lessons
for over 20 years as he always
knew he would one day live in
France. The first year was spent
discovering and forming a range
of stock, and then followed an
exciting four years of attending
artisan markets, shows and events
in the Languedoc region of the South of
France.
When Chris and Linda’s daughter
Rosalie moved back to the UK in 2010
to do her A-levels, they were invited to
participate in the biggest French and
German market in Europe and the British
market went mad for its French products.
Following this success, the family moved
back to the Isle of Wight and opened
a pop-up shop for Cowes Week 2013,
followed by the opening of their first
official JustFrench shop in Cowes.
By 2015, having introduced so many
Isle of Wight artisan ranges of food and
textiles into the mix, the business
was no longer ‘JustFrench’ so it
was re-launched as Rosalies of
Cowes.
The shop is now a real family
affair with products being made
by Chris’s mother, Linda’s mother,
father and sister, and Rosalie’s
auntie and uncle-in-Law, along
with Linda, Chris and Rosalie
themselves!
Following the re-branding from
JustFrench to Rosalies of Cowes
last year, a new e-commerce
website has been unveiled, that
will expand their customer base
even further afield.
Rosalies of Cowes
49 High Street, Cowes, PO31 7RR
t. 01983 298672
e. [email protected]
w. www.rosaliesofcowes.co.uk