Since then, Leanne has expanded the Little Tickles + co range into tables, bookcases, and smaller home decor items which she sells through her Etsy page and at craft fairs around Cumbria. In the run up to Christmas, her Christmas tree and house ornaments were selling like hot cakes!  The Scandinavian influence is clear in the style of Little Tickles + co’s products, as well as the current trend for emphasising the natural quality of wood by for example, leaving the bark on wooden shelves, an effect called ‘live or waney edge’.

Gail was also able to contribute to one of the core principles of Leanne’s business, sustainability, ensuring that the products of Little Tickles + co are made in an environmentally responsible way. Leanne’s sustainability strategy involves using recycled materials, either picked up locally or sourced from the Rebuild Site in Carlisle, to make her products.

Another of Leanne’s aims with Little Tickles + co is to engage children in woodwork by doing workshops in schools. A recent workshop involved making wooden Christmas tree ornaments out of pallets.

Leanne admits than her business has “grown quite quickly without realising it.” And that, due to the amount of satisfaction she gets from managing Little Tickles + co, “it doesn’t really feel like work.” Looking to the future, Leanne plans, “to continue to be better. To hone my skills, to keep putting myself out there and I'll see where it takes me.”