The Forest of Dean Candle Company
The Forest of Dean Candle Company was established in October 2020 by Ursula & Eira. Over the years they had attended various crafting workshops and love acquiring new skills, but the candle workshop they attended in September 2020 sparked a new love and after much testing in Eira’s tiny kitchen - The Forest of Dean Candle Company was born.
The Forest of Dean Candle Company quickly outgrew Eira’s kitchen and moved production to what is now their workshop at Farm & Country at the beginning of 2021.
Ursula and Eira hand pour their candles in small batches using traditional methods. They place a huge focus on creating environmentally conscious candles and regularly reuse packaging from items we receive at the shop, all of which can be recycled.
As well as being able to smell and purchase their candles via Farm & Country you can learn more about The Forest of Dean Candle Company via their website & Instagram account.
Web: https://www.theforestofdeancandleco.co.uk/
Instagram: @fodcandleco
Witherwood Designs
Witherwood Designs sells a range of home décor and other gifts which are all inspired by gardening and nature.
The idea started in June 2020 when Gemma tried botanical line drawings on an old plant pot during maternity leave from her job in the NHS. After some practice and feedback, she decided to open her Etsy store and now has a range of plant pot designs and other items including slate plant markers, wooden keyrings, and seed gifts. Gemma also creates custom design slate signs from reclaimed slate, and wedding favours which feature plantable seed paper.
Gemma comes from a family of gardeners and they consider themselves very lucky not only to have their own outside space, but to live in the beautiful Forest of Dean as well. Gemma’s children love to grow their own flowers and fruit - especially sunflowers and strawberries - and they share our home with their spaniel, two cats and four rescue chickens. All of this provides inspiration and ideas for her products, and with nature in mind, Gemma tries reuse as much of her packaging as possible whilst using eco friendly tape, biodegradable cellophane wrappers and recycled envelopes.
As well as being able to purchase Gemma’s items at Farm & Country you can also follow her journey with Witherwood Designs through her instagram @witherwood_designs or see what other bits she has to offer on her Etsy page - https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/WitherwoodDesigns
JKS Photography
James is based in the Forest of Dean and classifies himself as an ‘outdoor’ photographer. His photography came to life through his love of hiking and wanting to capture the amazing surroundings he often finds himself in. For James, photography is not just capturing an image of a location, but capturing a sense of what that location is about and how he felt at that time, so the viewer feels they were with him in that moment.
Many of James’ images are from around the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley, but he also likes to spend time in Wales, so there are images of the Brecon Beacons and Snowdonia too which are available on his website. You may get a sense that James has an interest in mythology, he has been told his images portray a certain drama and mood which shines through what he likes to take photos of and how they are composed. James certainly thinks his childhood obsession with fantasy and legends has inspired his love of the mountains and hiking, so no doubt it heavily influences his photography too.
We have a mixture of James’ local (Forest of Dean) landscape shots and also some farming inspired images which are not for sale on his website - we think they are all gorgeous and are already eyeing some up for our own homes!
If you’re interested in learning more about James and viewing some of his other work, you can visit his website www.jksphotography.co.uk
We hope you will all love James’ work as much as we do!
Handmade by Helen
Helen’s makes are all created by her at her home in Gloucester, she specialises in bespoke resin jewellery and keepsakes.
Helen began making her own resin pendants after an evening experimenting with a friend, this was followed by a flurry of requests from friends and family - us included. Helen then began to branch out, making pendants with matching earrings, trinket dishes and teddy bears. Helen was soon persuaded to start selling her makes and ‘Handmade by Helen’ was born in July 2020.
Helen comes from a particularly creative family and this is something she has passed on to her two daughters who also enjoy crafting in their spare time.
All of Helen’s jewellery is either silver or sterling silver, both of which we have personally found to be great for our sensitive ears. We are excited to be the first shop to showcase Helen’s work and we hope you will find some pieces you love. All items will be packaged in a drawstring gift bag for you to transport home.
You can contact Helen for bespoke makes via telephone - 07807 056198 or email - Helen.whitestone@hotmail.co.uk.