AN INDEPENDENT gift shop has said that it 'can't wait' to feature in a Christmas pop-up shop coming to Carlisle.

Happy Herdwick is a small gift shop located in Orchard Yard at Wetheral's Oak Tree Animal Charity. 

This year will see a first for the Happy Herdwick as it prepares to feature in the Something Different Makers Collective pop-up shop which will be in residency in the Lanes Shopping Centre in Carlisle, opposite Schuh, between Monday, October 23 and Saturday, November 4. 

The pop-up shop, which was last in residency at the Carlisle shopping centre in August, is usually comprised of a quartet of businesses which include Heather's Hands, Jo's Little People, Ramble & Rose, and Carl Fitton Artist.

However, their Christmas pop-up shop this year will also feature three debutants, including Wetheral's Happy Herdwick, who said on social media that they 'can't wait' to be involved when it mans the shop on October 24 and 27 and November 1 and 3.

Jo Moscrop, who owns Jo's Little People which regularly features at the Something Different Makers Collective, explained why the quartet had invited new craft businesses to take part in the Christmas pop-up.

She said: "We are all local handmade businesses.

"This time we invited 3 other local businesses who we know from attending makers' events. The Happy Herdwick, Roanstrees Rocks & All Things Nice by Ashley."

This latest pop-up also marks a year since the Something Different Makers Collective first took up residency in the shop at the Lanes Shopping Centre in October 2022. 

Rosie Galloway-Smith owns Ramble & Rose, and speaking ahead of the collective's first residency last year spoke about why the alliance between the craft businesses would be beneficial. 

She said: "We find that together we pull in a wider range of interested customers who often end up purchasing something they wouldn’t have considered before.