Hello!
Our names are Sylvie and Ben and we live on ‘The Holm Oak’ with our dog, Badger.
Since August 2019, we have been fitting out and living on our narrowboat which we purchased as an empty shell. We spent the year beforehand planning our layout, sourcing reclaim materials and completing woodwork projects, including creating our stained glass tree window which was inspired by our love for nature.
We have been roving traders since the beginning of 2021 and have been travelling around the UK selling our ethically sourced and hand-crafted products from our narrowboat. Check out our events page to see where you can find us in person!
Scroll down to find out more about us.
Sylvie
Since 2017, I have worked hard to turn my love of crafting into a small business, which is based around my love for Indian textiles and repurposed fabrics. I created my business with the ethos to be sustainable. I therefore only use recycled or natural materials in my work. I hand-source my fabrics from a charity and Indian Tailors off-cuts to reduce the amount of fabric ending up in landfill.
Ben
I grew up in Sawley, not far from Trent Lock, and used to spend a lot of time at Sawley weir, I think this is where my love for canals, rivers and boats stemmed from. Since leaving college, I have worked in all sorts of joinery based jobs, my first being in kitchen manufacturing/fitting, and as a machinist in a upholstery frame makers.
Over the years, alongside working in big joinery workshops, I have been teaching myself hand joinery and building my own workshop for my own more creative projects. I enjoy working with scrap and reclaimed materials using every little bit to make something new. This is the reason I was so excited about building a boat; I had free rein to make whatever I wanted however I wanted to build it.