Both because of my job and because of the jobs of many friends and family members, I keep hearing about small business. Suzanne’s birthstone jewelry business is one successful example, and you can read more about its history on the Luna & Stella site. Suzanne’s brother is an entrepreneur, too, in the optics field. And where I work, a number of my colleagues collect data on small businesses and work to improve conditions for them.
At lunch, I heard about an English woman who used to work on GIS mapping for environmental groups in Rhode Island, where I am staying this weekend. Today the woman lives with her husband and children in northern England, where she is into a whole new field (one that benefits the environment, but differently from GIS mapping) — she weaves local wool into scarves, blankets, cushions, and throws.
From a UK site called Keep Trade Local, I learn, “Green business ideas that might benefit the Yorkshire Dales National Park are being offered a cash grant to get started. The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s Sustainable Development Fund (SDF) – now in its seventh year of operation – aims to support new business ideas, community schemes and environmental projects that demonstrate ways of living and working in the Dales and that benefit the National Park and its communities.”
The site notes that support was ”given to local businesses producing locally-sourced produce, such as the Sedbergh-based Laura’s Looms. With two grants from SDF, Laura has been able to develop and expand her business creating high quality woven ‘Howgill Throws’ using Bluefaced Leicester sheep fleece obtained from farms in [nearby] Garsdale and Dentdale. She is now selling them both locally and on her website at www.laurasloom.co.uk.”
Laura writes, “I create exquisite handwoven silk and wool scarves and I design and produce The Howgill Range, an exclusive collection of luxurious wool throws and scarves woven from organically processed pure British wool. Beautiful woollen baby blankets and covetable wool cushions can also be found in my online shop, along with the occasional appearance of my one-off, highly textured handwoven throws. I love to weave!”
An aside: Laura’s husband teaches in the international business school where Suzanne met Erik. 
Comments should be sent to suzannesmom@lunaandstella.com. And I wouldn’t mind having a photo of bluefaced sheep I could post. It sounds like something out of a fairytale.
Asakiyume answers the call with a photo she found at theshadowsheep.
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