The Created in Birmingham shop opened on Thursday evening. I'd dropped my work off at around 11am that morning, greeted by the lovely Ian Ravenscroft, and saw the mammoth task that they had on their hands to get the shop ready for opening. However, they did it - through lots of hard work and people chipping in and helping out!

What struck me when I arrived is that it wasn't all about the usual suspects; curious shoppers ambled in to see what this was all about, too. And busy it was - with sales made on the first night.

Smile have curated part of the wall on the right hand side as you walk in, and I love it. It's typographical loveliness - bold and Brummie. I really liked Joe Rogers' little Colourbox postcard books which were tucked neatly in the prints/mags/books/CD stand and Pete Ashton's framed TTV photos were boldly beautiful. Actually, let's be sensible - there was a rather overwhelming amount of lovely stuff there.

My 'CC' piece was up on the wall. It was quite a surreal but warming moment to see her perched up there, peering out at the shoppers in one of Europe's busiest shopping centres. It reminded me that all the hard work is worth it. I felt excited, lucky and humbled all at the same time. I forgot to thank Chris Unitt for giving me the chance to be part of this, so I'm doing it now :)

From an idea to fruition. Doesn't take endless talk. It takes people. The Created in Birmingham Shop is the epitome of this. So, how was the first night for the people running the joint? I'll let them tell you....

Created in Birmingham shop opening night from Katchooo on Vimeo.