The Rose Collection

Today and tomorrow morning are the last days to shop at The Rose Collection at The Coffee Garden, 8 Coltman Road. Still some beautiful items for sale - so make your way down there one last time. We appreciate all your support!

CLEARANCE SALE
Come in to the Coffee Garden before the end of February and get 10% all Rose Collection purchases. We'll be closing at the end of the month, so if you've had your eye on anything, now is the time to get it :-) Hero capes, step n catches, beautiful baby clothes and accessories are all in stock!

ROSE COLLECTION CLOSING 29 FEBRUARY

A little while ago, a wise mother encouraged me to ask the question: why are you doing what you're doing? The topic of conversation was homeschooling, but I applied it to The Rose Collection too.

I started the Rose Collection to help our local community here in Zimbabwe. Over the 14 months that it has existed, we have indeed helped a number of people; we've learned a lot and we've all grown in ability and business acumen.

But over time, The Rose Collection helped a smaller number of core artisans, and required more and more of my time. The original idea was to build the business up and hand it over to the community to run themselves; but the Rose Collection has come to rely too heavily on me - for marketing, customer liaison, product deign and delivery. There is no possibility of it existing independently of me.

And so I have had to question whether The Rose Collection is THE BEST way to help our local community, and the answer is no. There are more sustainable ways to develop local businesses that can benefit more people and which can exist independently of my input and time and which will last long after my husband and I move on from our current location.

It has been an incredible journey and we are grateful to everyone who has supported us. The Rose Collection will close at the end of February. Please support us once more by coming into the shop at The Coffee Garden one last time to see our beautiful stock which will be on sale until the month-end.

The Rose Collection will be closed for two weeks (Monday 01 Feb - Sunday 14 February) for a much-needed break. Our beautiful items will still be on sale at The Coffee Garden, and our current orders will be completed and delivered, but there will be no one "at the office" during this time and I will not be checking our FB page or responding to WhatsApp/Calls. Thank you for your understanding :-)

Joining our range of ridiculously cute knitted toys, this little blue elephant which was handmade by Tsutsai here on the farm... from a picture! $9

Our new baby range has hit our shelves at The Coffee Garden! Inspired by A. A. Milne and a love for all things beautiful :-) Baby clothing sizes 0 - 3 months, 3 - 6 months, and 6 - 12 months.

I'm very excited to share the beginnings of our gorgeous new baby range - a natural baby rattle. In the next few weeks we'll be adding beautiful baby clothes, nursery decor, linen and baby toys! Watch this space...

A fresh take on our top-selling chalkboards - now available in a beautiful grey. Priced from $3 - $6.

Beautiful herb boxes - lined with mesh to allow easy watering - available now at The Coffee Garden. We've added these nifty chalkboard banners on the back so you can write your care instructions for your herbs or the herb names :-)

We made these gorgeous fishing rod holders for such a lovely client for Christmas. The first one ($75) holds rods and tackle boxes and the second ($60) is just for rods.

The Rose Collection's cover photo

Wishing all our customers a blessed Christmas and a wonderful 2016. If you're wondering what to do with the children and visiting family this week, why not get a cup of coffee at The Coffee Garden? They're open Monday - Friday :-)

The Coffee Garden is OPEN! Do come in this week for some delicious food served in a gorgeous garden setting with a lovely playground for the little ones to spend some of their energy.

8 Coltman Road
In the grounds of the Christian Counseling Centre
8:30 - 16:30
Closed Sundays and Public Holidays

Gorgeous T-Shirts for Gogo $6

Still looking for something for Mom? We have these stunning T-Shirts in stock :-) I really love the one about naps...that's my kinda party! #sleepdeprivedmom

Boy's T-Shirts for only $6 - such a lovely practical gift :-) Hand-printed here on the farm by the very talented Tapulu who makes his own stencils.

Can you believe that this time next week it'll be Christmas Eve!? If you're still hunting for last minute Christmas gifts there are some lovely bright Step 'n Catches ($5), several herb owls ($8 - $10) and two sweet little Christmas mice ($9) at The Coffee Garden gift shop.
AND I'll be delivering 5 easels (not set aside for orders *excitement*) and a few of our beautiful wooden train sets ($15) this week... So do pop in if you're in a last minute rush!

Just a friendly reminder that The Rose Collection will be closing this Saturday, 19 December, until Monday 4 January for a well-deserved break and to work on some community projects here on the farm (very excited to share these with you in the new year) :-)

All orders will be delivered by Saturday to The Coffee Garden which will be open almost every day in December (except public holidays). We're stocking our shelves with lovely gifts before we head off on holiday so pop in for last minute Christmas present shopping!

Our last morning of Craft Club for these holidays, and although we're all exhausted, I'm sad the week is over! It's been such fun.
In celebration of a happy week, The Coffee Garden will be providing free ice cream cones during storytime (around 11am) so do come and join us around 11am for The Little Engine that Could :-)

A T-shirt, hand-printed by your little one - what could be a lovelier gift!? :-) Josh had so much fun making this shirt for his Dad. T-Shirt printing: $6 including T-Shirt or bring your own Shirt/top and print it for only $3. We have a fantastic selection of stencils for Dads, Moms, Grandpas and Grannies :-)

Only two more days of craft club to go!

This is the first time we've ever run a craft club - and we're having SO MUCH FUN :-) But also figuring things out as we go along. So for tomorrow, we'll be working on these timeframes:

10 - 12 Craft
11 Storytime (The tale of Peter Rabbit) and play dough

Hope to see you there!

More fun at Craft Club yesterday! Such a busy few hours with the Coffee Garden abuzz with children playing and making beautiful gifts for Christmas. Thank you to everyone who supported The Rose Collection!

CHANGE IN CRAFT CLUB TIMES
Kindly note craft club will be held from 10 - 12 daily, with craft from 10 - 12 followed by storytime and playdough :-) Do come and join us!

Craft club today! We'll be doing lots of fun woodwork/painting crafts and reading The Little Engine that Could - what a great story :-)
Each day we'll be introducing new crafts, so watch this space. Screen printing T-Shirts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday!

What a happy first day of Christmas Craft Club :-) We're really looking forward to tomorrow!

Bring your little ones along to The Coffee Garden between 9 and 12 this week to make some beautiful gifts including shaped blackboards, wooden gift boxes and bookends; and, from Tuesday, T-shirt screen printing! They'll be able to construct, paint and decorate to their heart's content. Enjoy a delicious cappuccino in the garden while your children help you tick gifts off your Christmas list. And there's even a free story time and themed play dough table from 10:00 - 10:30.

Looking for good homes: this little Christmas mouse ($9) and her friend, Ted ($12).

Some more gorgeous Christmas gift ideas from The Rose Collection all from $10 - $15! They'll be in the Coffee Garden gift shop on Friday or place an order with me 0771 289 278 to avoid disappointment!

Feeling very excited about our Christmas Craft Club which will start next week at the Coffee Garden and run every morning from 9am until midday 7 - 12 December! A brilliant way to keep the children entertained this holiday AND knock off a few Christmas gifts from the shopping list. With craft packs from $5 - $15, your littles can make their own blackboards, wine gift boxes, herb boxes, screenprint T-Shirts and so much more. Our kind and friendly artisans will be there with me to help them make something they (and you!) are proud of.

Tomorrow is the Cottage Baby Fair! The Rose Collection won't have a stall there, but the shop will be open so do pop in while you're there to have a look at our things, including some beautiful Christmas decorations (almost time to put up those trees!) :-)

Happy news: you can order any of our products for delivery throughout Zimbabwe with The E Fete even if you don't live in Zimbabwe! How convenient is that for sending Christmas presents home if you're abroad!? Please contact Tammy on [email protected] to place your order before 12 December (so we can get it done before we close on 19 December).

Some days, coordinating the Rose Collection is a little overwhelming and I wonder what on earth I'm doing. And then there are days like today, where it all feels worth it and I wouldn't give up this community business for the world.

I'd like to introduce you to our newest artisan: Brian. Brian has just completed his schooling in Harare where he attended a special needs school. He is completely deaf and has returned to be with his family here on the farm. He is also a carpenter and much to my delight also enjoys making jewelry. This morning we wrote notes to each other on paper. There was much nodding and smiling and thumbs up too. And then Brian wrote: I'm very happy to be here.

We are too, Brian. Welcome to the team.

This gorgeous little push wagon is on it's way to England for one very loved little granddaughter! The handle will fold down to fit in granny's case and can be tightened into position on delivery. Such a lovely, unique gift for family overseas who can buy everything except, it seems, these sorts of handmade, wooden toys we remember from childhood.

Back to the Coffee Garden this morning with more new products and quite a few orders. Please think of the Coffee Garden as our "show room". We are a small business and unable to carry large amounts of stock. While everything there is for sale, we work mostly to order. If there are items that you would like, especially seen here on Facebook, but are out of stock at The Coffee Garden, please place an order with me (Debbie 0771 289 278). Our turn around time is quite quick and the item(s) will be set aside for you at The Coffee Garden to collect to avoid disappointment. Thank you to everyone for your support!

Some gorgeous new products just arrived at The Coffee Garden - this adorable handmade teddy bear ($12) and mouse ($9) and this herb box, made by the ever creative Richard ($10) which fits neatly on the window sill (and has drainage built in). Perfect Christmas gifts. There is only one of each in the shop, so be quick or place an order!