Paper Chain

15/05/2023

The fixtures & fittings are moved, the stock is moved, the cleaning is done and the keys were returned to the landlord yesterday. It’s been an extremely hard slog, much harder than I had anticipated actually and I couldn’t have achieved even a tenth of it without my two amigos, the other 66.667% of Team MacDonald — Mum & Matthew. They say you can’t choose your family (trust me, we’ve tried!) but thankfully I got very very lucky with these ones.

Paper Chain has been a wonderful chapter in our lives, but now the pen is resting & the ink is dried on this one. Once we’ve had a bit of time to ourselves, we’ll be turning the page to the next chapter which will be all about finding a life:work balance and creating the very best version of Pixie Dust that we can (which hopefully with only one shop & one set of bills to worry about will be much easier!)

If you haven’t already liked and/or followed us on social media, please do, it’s Pixie Dust Kirriemuir on Facebook and on Instagram. Eventually I will be taking down the social media sites for Paper Chain but they’re still live for now, mostly as a point of reference for balloon customers until I sort my 51617 photos out (and no, that isn’t an exaggeration!))

To everyone who supported me at Paper Chain, I’m still here! Just one door further up the wee Roods, where you’ll find all our cards, gift wrap & bags, stationery, balloons, partyware and printing services alongside everything else Pixie Dust has to offer — including oor smiley faces!

So, from Paper Chain and from 19 Roods, it’s not goodbye, but see you soon ❤️

04/04/2023

Current status: 🤯😖😫🫣🥱

There’s still a LOT to be done. We are working on getting things done as quickly as we can but I think I’ve only just realised I’m no longer 19 and/or capable of pulling all-nighters! We are also open at Pixie Dust so that limits what can get done during the day. Thankfully I’ve had my wee helper in today assisting me with heavy lifting and anything involving power tools I’m way too clumsy to tackle that by myself!) and we’re hoping to have made a big dent in things by the end of this week. In the meantime, services like printing & photocopying are not available until we get all of our equipment set up next door, also the cards are a bit chaotic, Easter cards are in situ already in Pixie Dust, others are kind of moonlighting in boxes until we can get stands moved. Thank you for your patience 💝

31/03/2023

Here it is, the final balloon display from Paper Chain. But, fear not, all of our balloon displays are still available to order from Pixie Dust - including our Easter designs.

Paper Chain is now officially closed, we’re still undertaking the mammoth task of moving all of our stock, fixtures etc into Pixie Dust so you’ll still see some activity here at 19 Roods but the shop won’t be open.

Thank you to everyone who has supported Paper Chain since 2020 and a very special thank you to our landlords for their support & kindness from day one, it really is appreciated 💝

30/03/2023

⚠️🏦⚠️🏦⚠️🏦⚠️🏦⚠️🏦⚠️🏦⚠️🏦⚠️🏦
Gentle reminder…I still have a couple of outstanding balances for balloons, printing etc. If these could be paid by Wednesday (5/4) that would be great, otherwise it’s crossing over into another tax year. Also the Paper Chain bank account will be being closed after this date so if payments aren’t made by then, you’ll need to contact me for updated banking details. Thank you.

29/03/2023

Our last weekend at Paper Chain was a busy one 😮‍💨 from Saturday 1st April, all of our balloonyness will be moving into Pixie Dust. Things will be a little topsy-turvy for a while but we’ll still be taking orders for all your balloon needs.

28/03/2023

An announcement…Paper Chain will be closing at the end of this week. This is something that has been planned for a wee while (to coincide with the end of the current tax year) & we had hoped to have announced the news much sooner but circumstances have unfortunately prevented that.

Having two sets of rents, utilities, insurances etc is just no longer financially viable with the costs of everything being so high. I am also becoming busier all the time with balloons & it’s sometimes bordering on impossible trying to juggle running the shop, serving customers etc whilst trying to also do balloons at the same time, meaning I’m often staying late or coming in early so that balloons are done out-with shop opening hours.

Paper Chain was opened during a very strange time in everyone’s lives; it’s actually over three years since I signed the lease for 19 Roods even though Covid (& other factors) delayed me opening until the August of 2020. Taking on the newspaper account allowed me to continue trading & working during subsequent lockdowns & I had every intention of carrying this on long-term but life has dictated otherwise (as life has a tendency to do!)

So what does this all mean?

😀 The good news is Pixie Dust will continue pretty much as normal, we are approaching our 6th birthday (and gearing up for BonFest 2023!) and have no intention of going anywhere! Elements of Paper Chain will be reabsorbed back into Pixie Dust & we may make some minor changes to our stock lines and layout to accommodate this.

😀 I will continue to do balloon displays - they stress me out more than I can verbalise sometimes but I absolutely love doing them & being part of all your milestones! (I might even have some other ideas up my sleeve if I get some time & some head space to action them!) I will contact all pre-booked orders over the next wee while just to update customers but basically, if you’ve already ordered, all that’s changed is where you’re collecting your balloons. The no-helium situation unfortunately remains the same but I will update as soon as I have any news on that front.

😀 We will eventually be closing the social media & email accounts associated with Paper Chain and exclusively using our Pixie Dust channels but these accounts will stay active & monitored for the time being.

This is a very big transition for all of us. A la Spice Girls, 2 will become 1, which is a lot of work which, coupled with prepping for BonFest, is no mean feat but we’ll get there! There may be some disruption whilst we work our wee socks off but we’ll try & keep it to a minimum. I am very thankful to have the support and assistance of my bloody awesome family, who continue to have my back throughout all my crazy ideas!

It will be a shame to say goodbye to Paper Chain and I thank every person who has supported us during almost 3yrs of trading but this is very much a positive move for us, for our customers and for what we have to offer Kirrie.

In business - as in life - we can do anything, but we can’t do everything.

27/03/2023

Closed today, apologies for any inconvenience.

25/03/2023

Maybe staying late after a busy Saturday of balloons wasn’t my best idea…but look what I’ve done! A couple of Easter samples 🥳 I’m not taking tons of orders for these as I already have a few non-Easter balloons booked in that weekend. I’m also not sure how stock levels will go either. I’ll add a comment under each photo with more information 🐣🥚🐰

To order or for more info, ping me over a wee message or pop into the shop. Oh, and check out social media later for what Pixie Dust Kirriemuir has for Easter 😉

23/03/2023

Migraine has struck 😖 I’ll be a little bit later in opening today, away to try & sleep it off 😣

21/03/2023

We no longer sell newspapers but you can still get your fix of local & national publications as a member of an Angus library.

I recently went along to Kirriemuir library & re-registered as my membership had lapsed due to how embarrassingly long it was since I’d used it!

Highly recommended and, like lots of other things, if we don’t use it, we’ll lose it 👍

Did you know you can access Pressreader newspapers online with your ANGUSalive library card?
Get unlimited access to thousands of daily newspapers from over 120 countries in more than 60 languages via the Libby App. Download the Libby App today and log in with your library card and PIN.
Not a member? It's easy to join at https://angus.spydus.co.uk

20/03/2023

Mothers Day was suuuuper busy…so much so that most of my orders went out without me sneaking a quick photo first 🫣 I did manage to grab pics of a couple tho.

I hope all mums, mummies, grannies, stepmums, foster mums, adoptive mums, like-a-mums, fur baby mums, work mums & anyone else who celebrated had a lovely day 💝

18/03/2023

Can anyone else look at pink & yellow without seeing Battenberg or am I just hungry? 🐷