Karen Woodward, 55, from Harwich, runs With Love From The Little Witch, a handmade gifts and craft store in Clacton Road.
“It’s nice here,” she said.
“It just needs to be busier. There are some things going on in the village with the restricted parking which haven’t helped us, but we have got some regular customers and everyone seems really positive about the stuff that we do.
“But unfortunately, it’s just not busy enough at the moment. Hopefully with holidaymakers coming in over the summer, things will get better.”
The shop sells a variety of handmade items, including wax melts, bath bombs, printed cards, and personalised gifts such as cushions, T-shirts, tote bags and children’s clothing.
Karen said: “All of our items are handmade – my daughter makes all the wax melts and stuff.
“We do bespoke cards with photographs on for birthdays and anniversaries. I just did a card with someone’s dog on it, which was adorable.”
They have recently added wedding invitations and “forget-me-not” seed packets for funerals to their bespoke offerings.
The shop also stocks exclusive, hand-drawn, limited-edition artwork from independent artists.
Karen moved from London to Harwich 18 months ago after giving up work in the security and medical fields due to health reasons.
Opening the shop gave her and her daughter a creative outlet rooted in family tradition.
The name of the shop – With Love From The Little Witch – is a nod to both Karen’s clairvoyant background and her granddaughter.
“I have always been called a witch,” she said.
“When my granddaughter was six months old, my daughter dressed her up as a little witch for Halloween. I loved that photo so much, I call her my little witch since then.”
Karen added: “We enjoy what we do. It’s so nice when you do something nice and it makes someone happy.
“So, hopefully we’ll get there and have a lot more customers soon.”
