Kirkcaldy High Street: New craft and personalised gift shop opens

The Crafty Shack, owned by Diane Pearson and Michael Fern, opened this week in the west end, next to the Penny Farthing pub.

It sells a wide range of personalised gifts for special occasions and, so far, has had a lot of positive feedback from locals.

Diane and Michael, who have been best friends for four years, explained how the idea for the new shop came about.

Diane, 34, said: “Throughout lockdown we threw ideas around about different ways to keep ourselves entertained.

"When lockdown started to ease, we had a weekly games night with our other best friend Kat Charalambous, every Wednesday.

"Kat had previously done crafting which we were very fascinated with, and a few weeks later we found ourselves purchasing machines and material to do it ourselves!

"We had many great games nights which turned into crafting and it just began to grow.

”We always loved personalised gifts and what better way to get a gift than to do it yourself!

“The three of us decided to begin a business from home - suddenly it grew quicker than we imagined!

"However, Kat found she had more responsibility at her full time job so it made sense for her to take a step back, but Michael and I always had a vision of expanding and becoming shop owners in the future.”

Michael, 26, who has been working as a full-time network marketer, said the bond he and Diane had grew during lockdown as they kept in touch online and as they had worked together through online businesses, they knew they would make a good team.

He said their aim is to sell any product which can be personalised: “Every day we’re sending each other ideas of new products we want to work on.

“A few to name are cups, tumblers, wedding boxes, hen parties, stag do’s, clothing, acrylic signs and our special ‘Loved ones brought together’ frames which is numerous old pictures being edited together and having a painted effect which has been a massive hit for us.”

The business partners decided to move into premises in Kirkcaldy High Street as Diane is originally from the town and already has a tanning and beauty salon, The Glow, on Overton Road.

She said: “Kirkcaldy was really an ideal location for both of us. The start of the High Street seems to be thriving at the moment with more and more small businesses opening and stable businesses already in place - we landed on our feet with the location.”

Michael, who is originally from Dunfermline and now lives in Kirkcaldy, said they have had a lot of support and are excited about what the future holds for the business: “Our social media has hit an all time high, we have had numerous conversations with passers by in the street asking what’s going on. We’ve even had a few orders while talking to people about what we can do!

“It’s taken a lot to get everything looking great in time but we’re super excited to be opening and offering something Kirkcaldy High Street doesn’t offer yet!”

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