The Chakra Bleu! Blog

One Planet, One Chance

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:32:00 +0000

We're proud to announce a new website that we have created, in association with two authors: robert wollf and Anne Cressy.

The site features writing and pictures relating to "Exploring our Connection to Nature, Humanity and Spirit". We hope you'll enjoy it.

Visit "One Planet, One Chance".

If you would like us to consider publishing your writing on the site, please contact us through One Planet, One Chance.

Another Amazing Week!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:40:00 +0000

It's been another amazing week of long hours, hard work and wonderful discoveries. Feeling tired and work-worn, Nigel and I decided to start having Fridays off. By 'off' I mean out of the office, but still working. We've decided to have a look at some shops that stock similar items to ours, so that we can get ideas for new products and see 'in the flesh' some of the ones we're thinking of stocking. Also, our long term plan is to have our own premises and so getting out and about will help us to figure out where Chakra Bleu! would be best placed once we decide to open our own place. We never planned to be just an on-line store. Eventually, we plan to have a premises which will offer so much more than a shop!

For now, it's good to get away from the office and get some fresh air! We started with Haworth as it used to have lots of great little shops there. One of my favourites is the Rose & Co Apothecary, a lovely Victorian themed shop which is packed to the rafters with naturally-derived products. I bought some lavender balm, as I always do when I'm there as it's fantastic for all kinds of things. What struck me about Haworth, which I've never noticed before, was how unfriendly many of the shops have become. I was surprised. Now, I do understand that, in a more or less entirely 'tourism' based area, shop-keepers will become frustrated at people allowing their kids to run riot on their shops, but, you would still expect store-keepers to want to pass the time of day with their customers in a friendly way. There are always polite ways of dealing with behaviour you don't want. I was very surprised then, to arrive at a shop I always loved (I won't name names) and, on finding it closed, decided to have a browse at the window display. There, in the shop window was a sign which read 'This is a shop. We sell things. We do not partake in pointless conversation. If you want pointless conversation go elsewhere!' (not the exact words, but as close as I can get from memory). This was not the only poster in the window which referred to their dislike of 'pointless conversation'. This attitude annoyed me so much that, although I can appreciate their frustration, it actually gave me the impression that they can't be very friendly people, and Nigel and I both vowed never to set foot in the place ever again, which is a shame, because I used to love that shop.

We moved on to Hebden Bridge - a place that neither of us have visited before. What a fantastic place Hebden Bridge is, by contrast to our experiences in Haworth. It was busy, friendly, the shop-keepers were all chatty and helpful and the entire town had a great atmosphere. We went in a good few shops and bought a good few things!! Some of the shops stock items that are on our list for the website, so it was great to be able to see these items in the flesh and it reassured us of the quality. We also made an exciting discovery - Kimmidolls!! Kimmidolls are beautiful, simple Japanese figurines that have individual designs and names - each name meaning something positive, such as 'Joy', 'Patience' etc. When you visit the Kimmidoll website, each doll has a lovely message relating to its name which ties in beautifully with our 'Thought For Today' feature on the website. Kimmidolls are perfect for us, and you can be sure that we will be stocking them. I have been in touch with the manufacturer in Australia, and they have put me in touch with their only UK distributor. I feel very privileged to be able to stock Kimmidolls as well as starting my own collection. Go and have a look at them - www.kimmidoll.com - they are beautiful.

It's hard to assess the quality of something when you're ordering on-line and we are now more than happy to stock some of the things we weren't sure about before. We had a great day out and into the bargain, came away feeling as though in the future Hebden Bridge could well be the place for us!

On Wednesday we had a meeting with a lovely guy called David Humphreys from BizzFizz Coaching - a government project which offers coaching, practical help and support and puts you in contact with other business people who just might have the crucial bit of advice or information you need for your business. This meeting proved so valuable for us. David told us of a local supplier of healing crystals and gemstones as we had explained that we were reluctant to stock these items without being able to see them first. A photograph on a website goes no way toward showing you the quality of items of this nature. However, David told us of a supplier and importer of these products who - get this - is ten minutes' drive from Chakra Bleu! Not only that, but they have a shop. So, I registered on their website and, for yesterday's 'day off' we decided to pay the shop a visit so that we could look at the products. Imagine our surprise when, after 20 minutes looking round the shop, we told them who we are, and they immediately invited us into the warehouse to look at their wholesale stock! Talk about Aladdin's cave! I thought I'd died and gone to heaven looking at all the giant amethyst goedes, cathedrals and churches. We looked at crystal angels and massage wands - the fluorite ones are my favourite. There were palm stones of every kind, thumb stones, every kind of necklace, pendant and bracelet. There were agate geodes and slices, selenite and rose quartz candle holders, agate tea light holders. There was amethyst, jade, opalite, lapis lazuli, rose quartz, clear quartz, fluorite, citrine, aventurine, hematite, jet, smoky quartz, selenite, cherry quartz, tigers eye to name but a very few - in all manner of rough and polished forms! The place was fabulously laid out with everything on display. The staff were extremely friendly and helpful - and clearly very busy, fulfilling orders. Then came the added bonus we weren't expecting. We will actually be allowed to go into the warehouse and hand-pick the items we want, whenever we need new stock! Therefore, we'll be able to guarantee to our customers that the crystal items they buy from us will be, for the most part hand chosen by us. So, not only have we been given another fantastic opportunity to support local trade, but we're also able to hand pick our stock of healing crystal items, from a supplier who has been around for nearly 20 years.

The more we work on Chakra Bleu! and the closer we get to being able to launch, the more things continue to happen which reinforce in our hearts that this is absolutely what we are meant to be doing. Everything simply falls into place before us and the whole thing is gaining momentum.

We haven't decided what we're going to do with our next Friday 'off' yet, but no doubt it will uncover yet more interesting things! Meanwhile, Nigel is working every available hour building the back end of the website - a huge task and one that would have cost us tens of thousands of pounds if Nigel wasn't such a talented web designer. Indeed - without my wonderful Nigel, there would be no Chakra Bleu!

Well, that's all for now folks. I'm off to get ready for X-Factor! It's the only television programme I watch. I was so upset to see Daniel go, but I'm sure there's a place in the industry for him and I think he'll go far. I'm not entirely sure who I want to win yet, but I'm really swinging toward Diana!

Bye for now, and lots of love

Lindsey

Fair Trade Fanatic!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey) — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 19:26:00 +0000

Hi All,

From the outset, Nigel and I pledged that we would have a fair trade section on the website. At home, we try to buy as much fair trade as possible in our groceries, and, as you know, the choice is still quite limited. I guess I expected items for Chakra Bleu! to be in equally short supply, but I have been proved delightfully wrong! One particular fair trade supplier has really touched my heart - and my pocket! From the name - 'Namaste', to the products, to their background, they are simply perfect for us. Also, it turns out they are only 20 minutes drive from Chakra Bleu! so we have the double whammy of also supporting local trade, which is one of our other ambitions. This makes for a very happy Lindsey!

When it comes to selecting fair trade products with which to launch the website, I now find I am spoilt for choice. Rather naively, it seems, I assumed it would be the other way around and that I would have to trawl the earth to find enough products to really be able to say we had a fair trade section. As it is, there are so many products that I am having to reign myself in to avoid a situation where I end up over-stocking! What is it about Asian people and their amazing ability to create such beautiful, colourful things?! It really does bring home the fact that they have been the victims of a huge injustice by the rest of the world refusing to pay them a fair price for more than a fair day's work. Thank goodness things have changed, and continue to do so because the world would be a far duller place for want of these items.

So, what fair trade items can you expect to find on Chakra Bleu!? Where do I start? We have tinned candles, embossed leather notebooks, velvet and sari notebooks, incense and the most fantastic dragon incense burners! Then we have worry dolls; gorgeous, floaty prayer flags, the famous Nag Champa fragrance oil, oil burners, beautiful mango wood candle holders, stunning hand carved wooden tarot boxes and adorable sari fabric covered trinket boxes. I've chosen some lovely sari and patchwork fabric cushion covers and some sparkling glass mosaic bowls that I expect will sell out almost as soon as they appear on the website! My particular favourite item so far is the dragon incense burner, with its life-like appearance and vivid colours. These are but a few of the items we intend to stock, and of course, the collection wouldn't be complete without a beautiful hand-carved Buddah!

So, in the end, our fair trade section of the store is going to be as jam-packed as every other section. And there was I thinking I would struggle to fill it! I think, in many respects, the fair trade section of Chakra Bleu! is going to turn out to be my favourite - and certainly the one area where I will be spending all of my pocket money! :)

Namaste!

Lindsey

Sorry Mum!

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:10:00 +0000

Hi all,

Well my mum wasn't at all pleased to see that no new blog entries had appeared in the last ten days so I thought I'd better make one :)

Here's a snippet from our business plan...

Carefully Chosen Goods

We strive to check the sources of all of our products, and to make this information available to our customers. We look for:

Safe products, with clear warnings of any risks
Careful consideration of any risks to health, with clear warnings should there be any
Fair treatment and pay for all people involved in the supply chain, no child labour
Low impact on the planet and it's resources
Attention to detail and quality
Products well suited to their stated purpose
Care taken to deliver longevity of the product
Value for money

We will choose organic and fair trade products wherever possible. We will do our utmost to ensure that all products are produced using sustainable resources.

Nigel x

Progress

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel) — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 21:39:00 +0000

Top Navigation

I'm making good progress building the website. The top navigation is now live, complete with sparkles!

Note: The top navigation is the bar across the top of the screen featuring the words: Candles, Clairvoyance, Crystals, Incense & Oils, Jewellery, Personal Space

Thanks to our oldest son Thomas for suggesting the sparkles. I wasn't sure how to make the navigation change when you move your mouse over it so I asked him for ideas and he came up with the idea of the sparkles which we're all very pleased with now they're done.

Along with the navigation go the six pages it links to. These are currently short of any content which Lindsey is coming in to write once she has finished watching X Factor!

In time these pages will be the starting point for browsing our products. All of the products we intend to stock will fit into one of these categories.

Website/Content Management

In the back-end of the site, I have created the facility for making changes to pages such as the page title or the breadcrumb text.

Note: The breadcrumb is the "You are here" text at the top of each page that tells you where you are in relation to the homepage. On this page it says "Home / Blog".

Next Steps

The next step for me is to do some tidying up of the work I've done so that it will be easier to make changes to later. After that I'm going to do more work on the shopping system itself. I'm having a ball and can't wait to see the online shop go live!

We'd love to hear from you, click comment and tell us what you think!

Nigel x x

Hi All, Lindsey Here!

noreply@blogger.com (Lindsey) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 12:27:00 +0000

Hi All,

Lindsey here! Well, never have I found such tedious work so exciting! By tedious work, I mean the laborious job I currently have of compiling a potential supplier spreadsheet with all the products we want to feature and prices, etc. This is exactly the kind of work that, in previous jobs, I have found mind-numbingly boring and the prospect of which has usually left me cold. However, I am so passionate about 'Chakra Bleu!' and truly believe in this fabulous thing we are doing, that I get up each morning actually relishing the task of compiling this database!

But I don't think this is just about finally creating something I believe in - I think I'm very much tapping into my intrinsically female love of shopping!! For me, this is my dream kind of shopping! I've spent hours and hours researching where we can get the best deals on Sai Baba Nag Champa incense - our absolute favourite! I've also sourced some totally scrumptious home, bath and body products which are hand made by a small family firm down south, with so many lip-smacking scents that it's virtually impossible choosing which ones to stock in the beginning! The added and unexpected bonus of buying their products, is that a proportion of the profits goes to women's and children's charities - something which is also close to our own hearts and which we are proud to be featuring on our site!

On the fairy front, you can expect to see only the best quality figurines - especially pieces by two of our favourite artists - Amy Brown and Jasmine Beckett-Griffiths. I have a fairy by Jasmine hiding in our indoor water feature at home and am a huge fan of her alternative take on the traditional fairy image. Then there are some beautiful pieces of sterling silver chakra jewellery which I can't wait to see listed on the site. Another personal favourite of ours, which we will most definitely supply, is healing crystal lamps! We have a large Himalayan salt crystal lamp in our bedroom - a gift from me to Nigel on his birthday last month. To coin the phrase 'it does exactly what it says on the tin!' - visually, the salt lamp is one of the most beautiful and soothing lights I have ever seen and it's capacity to deodorise the air cannot be understated! It's a beautiful thing, both lit and unlit and certainly one of our most treasured possessions! So much so, that we intend to have one for every room in the house, eventually! We really cannot recommend them enough. Following on from that, we also have a gorgeous Amethyst cluster lamp, also in our bedroom, which gives off the most beautiful glow when lit, and is simply stunning and sparkly when unlit. Ooh, I feel healed just talking about them!

Then, of course, there's my joyous research into the best and most ethical sources of essential oils, base oils and aromatherapy kits. We mix and use our own aromatherapy blends at home and know the amazing power of essential oils. Likewise with crystals - Nigel and I both use crystals for healing and meditation and so are well placed to wax lyrical about the healing energy produced by them.

Books are another favourite and it's just mind boggling trying to whittle down the massive number of titles we WANT to stock, into a realistic list of what we CAN stock at first, but you can be assured that our online store will expand rapidly. There is such a wealth of information out there and we will stock an excellent range so that we have something to suit everyone's needs.

I am so looking forward to creating our 'stock room'. My goodness, it's going to resemble an Aladdin's Cave of loveliness, and the smells will be divine!! But anyway, enough chat for now. I have a mammoth amount of work still ahead of me, but for now, I'm off to continue with my database. All of this virtual shopping is fun!! We hope that, once the shop is live, you will find 'Chakra Bleu!' fun too!! Bye for now. Lindsey x x

It works!

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:09:00 +0000

After a couple of hours playing around, the blog is now working just how I want it. Progress!

Hi, I'm Nigel, welcome to Chakra Bleu! and thanks for dropping by. We'll be posting in this blog about our progress as we set up the site and business. No doubt we'll have plenty of other stuff to tell you too. We have other plans beyond selling holistic and spiritual products, such as:

A database of healers, so you can find one to suit your needs
Holistic and spiritual discussion forums
Links, information and resources

We'd love to discuss these ideas and others with you.

A bit about myself... I have a strong background in designing and programming web sites (specifically Perl) and have been working with computers for 15 years. I have a lot of experience building complex website systems and making sites accessible to people with disabilities.

The Chakra Bleu! online shop system is very much my baby. I have a lot of plans for developing a very customer focused online shopping system (and have been planning it for a long time). I'm building it from scratch (based on a website management system I have already written) so you can expect to see features being added as time goes on. We're always trying to improve so please do send your suggestions and feedback.

The first stage of the project, that I am doing now, is to build the basic shopping system. This will be up and running in November.

Sorry if this is all a bit technical but Lindsey will be along tomorrow with something a little less techie!

Thanks for visiting, and good night.

Nigel x

Hello Earth!

noreply@blogger.com (Nigel) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:02:00 +0000

Testing, testing 1, 2, 3.. Hello, earth? Can you hear me? It's 1am on Wednesday the 22nd of October 2008 and this is my first post on the Chakra Bleu! blog. Thanks for tuning in.