Today is an important day in James and my calendar as we share some pretty massive news here on our blog with our Elephantshoe community of friends, followers, clients, fans and online shoppers. In this post we hope to share a piece of our hearts and to keep you up to date with what's going on with our big baby Elephantshoe.
Change is tough, change is messy, change is never easy, you fight to hold on to what you know and love and at the same time you fight to let go . . .
We're about to go through a lot of change and never have I felt the above sentence to be more true.
We're moving from our beloved South Africa to the U.K on the 1st of August 2015 and EVERYTHING is about to change. Wowzer, did you read that correctly, we are moving to England. It sounds a little crazy when you think that we have family, our beautiful business and a happy home here in S.A.
I believe in life we go through seasons and chapters, time to learn, time to give, time to work hard, time to rest, time to nurture others and time to heal. When I look back on my life . . . only 30 years of it so far and I can see a very definite pattern of these seasons. Each one has molded me into the person I am today and although a seasons of sickness when I suffered from Lupus was very tough to handle at the time, I am grateful for the lessons and the faith that it has brought to me.
Moving to London is James and my next chapter, an opportunity to ADVENTURE, to try new things, to live life in a fresh way with totally different surroundings. We are always encouraging our followers to go out and live life to the full, to try new things, to make sure you don't live this year the same as all the years that have passed. We're taking some of our own advice and we're doing it. After all our Elephantshoe motto is . . .
Life is for living, for loving and definitely for fun!
When I shared our news with a fellow creative here in S.A that we admire and love, she wrote to me and said, "Sam once you are married and you truly love your husband - home is where you are together and that might mean another country." I loved this advice so much as I often feel I can take on anything with James by my side. Elephantshoe would not be what it is today without his constant encouragement, love and incredible hard work. We are dreaming of traveling to new places together, hopping on the Eurostar to Paris, taking a quick flight to the Greek islands, skiing in Austria, adventuring through the Cotswolds drinking way too much tea and eating scones with clotted cream, the list goes on and it feels exciting.
With all the excitement comes an even dose of fear. What if we miss our family and friends too much and missing them is unbearable? What if we struggle with the English weather? What if we lose our Elephantshoe clients? What if we sell all of the wrongs things? What if . . . EVERYTHING changes :-) I've recently come to terms with the fact that some of the things above will happen but through it all we need to constantly be positive, instead of thinking about what can go wrong, we need to focus on what can go right and build on that. We need to make the most of the life that we have been given. In fact the one quote that I LOVE and that has been keeping me extremely positive through this entire process is this one that a new friend recently shared with me,
"When NOTHING is certain, EVERYTHING is possible."
It reminds me that opportunities are inevitable and that everyone is on the verge of something wonderful. The best is yet to come.
I guess one of the hardest parts of making a decision like this are the people that you leave behind. We have been blessed to have known and worked with some pretty amazing people here in S.A who we will always support as we are just so grateful for them, we would have nothing without you! Of course it's not goodbye for good but goodbye for now and we would just like to THANK EVERYONE that has helped us to build our Elephantshoe business.
Thank you to our family and our friends, you've consistently inspired us, some of you have worked for us, from sewing to serving lemonade to folding and creating invitations. Thank you to every single Ellieshoe bride that has trusted us to create their important pieces of stationery detail for their weddings, thank you to every online shopper for spending your hard earned money on Elephantshoe goodness. Thank you to all our "I LOVE YOU" box subscribers, we hope you have felt the love every month, I can't tell you how happy I was to find that most of you consistently renewed your subscription with us. Thank you to all our clients for giving us creative freedom to build your brands and help grow your business babies. Thank you to the two lovely interns we have had in our time here, not only did they help us so much but we have become friends for life. Thank you to every supplier that has been there to help us create our products, for the quick turnaround times and the top notch quality, thank you to all the bloggers and magazines that have encouraged us, written about us, advertised for us and shared our Elephantshoe goodness. Thank you to theprettyblog for getting us started on our DIYs four years ago and for posting our free printables every month since then, you've helped us to grow our business . Thank you to our friends Blackframe photography, what can I say . . . you have been there every step of the way. Since the day James and I said, "I do" to all the beautiful photographs you've taken to showcase our work. Thank you to Isabella, a lady who started out as our domestic helper and has progressed into production fundi, quality control and friend. You have been by our side, been a part of every single Elephantshoe project and you have helped us so so much. There are hundreds of names flashing through my mind right now of people that have been our Elephantshoe community, you know who you are and just know that we are so thankful for you.
Where to from here . . .
We believe that this is not the end, that nothing is finished or closed. I guess it may sound a little lame but this is the best way I think I can describe our next steps. Just like a little caterpillar needs to go into a cocoon for a period to turn into a beautiful butterfly so our Elephantshoe needs to take a sabbatical. The Elephant must take a break, lose some weight, see the world with fresh eyes and come back to walk the tight rope. It will be fresher, better and more streamlined and ready to take on the world.
One thing I do know is that our brand will always be centered around "LOVE" - Elephantshoe, whispered "I Love you".
Over the next few months as we make our move, we will be closing our South African online shoppe and our "I Love You" Box subscription products. We will not be taking on any new custom projects as we pack up life here in Jozi and move and settle in England. We will however continue to post to our blog, facebook, twitter and instagram so that you can follow our progress and our adventures.
If perhaps you are reading this post and you are based in the U.K please be in touch, if you hear of any exciting opportunities for James and I, please let's meet for a cup of tea and possibly we could work or create something awesome together. You are welcome to mail me or leave a message via our blog or website. We are actively looking for work in England and would so appreciate your help.
For now, I will leave this post with our Elephantshoe philosophy
"To the simple life. A life of beauty. A life of love. A life made lovely by the things we say and do. The words we whisper, the gifts we give and the celebration of all things good in between. To more Yes, and less No, to squishy mud between the toes, laundry is for later, love is for now. Let’s dream in the sun or sip cocoa through melted marshmallows, because life is for living, for loving and definitely fun." - Elephantshoe
Love Sam & James
P.S for anyone wondering, Mushroom our Mainecoon cat will be joining in on the travel fun.
P.P.S we will be closing the shoppe next week Friday the 3rd of July 2015, up until then the only product now available for purchase is our new THE SERIOUS BOX OF LOVE. Please place your orders now to ensure that you receive a box of love for yourself and for your friends. We have a lot of stock to clear and we have upped the deal. 1 box costs R350 and you will receive over R600 worth of Elephantshoe goodness.
P.P.P.S We are looking for a job for our Isabella, she has been my right hand lady for 4 years and she has an eye for detail. She is excellent at assembly, hand cutting and any task that includes creating products and using fine motor skills. She has helped me to set up events, she is an incredibly hard worker and won't stop until something is absolutely perfect. We will miss her dearly.
