Join, or Die.

Hubby and I laughed while setting up our table at Mount Vernon… I told him it looked like “War and Peace.” Half of the pictures were peaceful… Lions & Lambs in peaceful kingdoms, Distelfinks standing on hearts that say “Peace,” and lots of gentle quotes and Bible verses. The other half was a stark contrast… a Patriot on horseback brandishing a sword, tea being tossed of a ship in the Boston Harbor, and Patrick Henry raising his clenched fist at tryanny. After a good chuckle at our attempts to make these themes fit on the same table, we decided Thistle Dew Mercantile is definitely well-rounded.

One of our newest silhouettes was inspired by the “war” side of our well-roundedness. Friday morning, as we were packing to leave, I had an idea. The kind that’s not always the best thing to have as you’re packing to leave, as ideas can often mean that we don’t leave quite on time. This idea was inspired by a political cartoon created by Ben Franklin and published in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754. Hubby was a good sport and gathered up framing supplies to take with us, as I worked feverishly on the pattern. I was just finishing cutting the first one as we went over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. It’s a little different from most of our cuttings, since it’s in pieces, instead of all one piece. I think that’s the point of the cartoon. I had to be really careful not to lose the snake pieces with the AC blowing in the van!

And it was the first thing to sell on Saturday morning.

A little rebellion now and then is a good thing.
~Thomas Jefferson~

A little something new!

Hello all! Hope your weekend is going well!

I’ve got a little something new getting ready to go on the website! And just in time for wedding season… a Wedding Silhouette package! the background is a print of a watercolor original. Anyway, for the country bride and groom…

We had a visitor in our yard the other morning… we threatened to sting this little guy with our BB gun, but Kate and I had, um, technical difficulties with said gun, and he just continued to wander around the yard, oblivious to any danger. We’re not usually opposed to wildlife, but you see we have chickens, and foxes and chickens do not mix well. This particular fox is still pretty young, and has no fear of people yet. Or any interest in chickens… he was more interested in a bug in the grass than the plump hens that were having a fit just 20 feet away!

And the mail yesterday brought a surprise… it’s official! We’re in!

Finally in frames…

Hello All!

You should see my artroom… and kitchen table… and any other flat surface downstairs. We’ve got frames in every possible state of “done-ness,” silhouettes from historic people to flutter-by’s, squares of candy colored papers, stacks of glass, sawdust that followed Chris in from the barn, and snips of paper that fell off Kim’s lap. Pretty much everywhere.

Creativity is not necessarily tidy.

However. In spite of the mess… or perhaps because of the mess?… things are being created and put into frames. Pretty things. It’s fun to take a couple of weeks away from our normal painted artwork to just work on silhouettes, and we’ve been able to get a good start on our Spring stock. Keep an eye on my Etsy shop, as we put things on there… and if you’re nearby, be sure to stop in the store to see what’s new!

 

A Creative Couple of Days…

Yesterday and today, I was able to spend some time sketching and creating a few new silhouette designs for Spring! I’ve had Success to the Farmer on the brain the past couple of months, and have also felt a pull to incorporate more color into the spring line (What me? Color? That’s a no brainer!). Yesterday, while playing with silhouettes and frames and some decorative papers, things just sort of “came together.” These guys are destined to be in black frames… which are still tacky with varnish on the art room table at present… but I just couldn’t wait to show you! And yes, black frames… black is “the new white” for spring this year. It makes sense in my mind, anyway, and looks sort of clean and sleek. The background papers will vary, but these are the very first editions, made from the only acceptable piece of paper in our collection. We headed off to the craft store yesterday afternoon to gather some more, and Chris was very helpful and patient about picking them out!

And a couple more…The underground worm was Kate’s idea! And Many Many Many thanks to Kate and Sara Jane for their enthusiastic offer to paint frame while movie watching! Sara, don’t you want to come watch movies again next week?! You’re welcome anytime!