Bonjour from France!

Cathy & her boys

Yesterday morning I received a great e-mail, after 13 years I tried to contact my French pen pal, (see July 2nd post) I sent a letter 2 months ago. I was doubtful it would find her, to my surprise I heard from her again. She has two beautiful boys. my mother found her letters in the attic, I thought they had been thrown away.
People are priceless! I'm so glad we can stay in touch via e-mail!

Best,
Kara

Inspiration

{cute, cute begging for us to take it home to McMaster & Storm}

Darcy & I are off this weekend to pick up a vintage-y china cabinet. I spotted this awhile back took a photo and it's still at the shop. Good for us, as we have ideas for it. We are not painting it nor changing the knobs, but we're going to show you what we do with it when "our inspiration" finished. Check back often!

A customer asked Darcy yesterday, "where do you get your inspiration for the store?" Well, it's everywhere, in nature, fabrics, textures, colors, flea marketing & in our creative fabrications. (sometimes even in the wee hours of the morning) Our homes also play a role; testing ideas and just rearranging furniture in our homes gets us going! We are blessed to have the gifts that God has given us, and need to use them to glorify him. Sometimes we forget how awesome our Creator is.

Fall is coming out in the store, Darcy finished details on our wheat sheaves and our new deeper hued rugs are in as well. We should see delivery trucks a lot this next week or so. Also, sending out greetings to our "retailer friends" may you have a wonderful fall season at your shops, we are so blessed to know everyone of you!

Warm Regards,
Kara & Darcy

Spinning!

"our little man spinning"

Lately it's been a whirlwind, editing orders, adding this & that and yes, canceling those that don't fit into our "look". We're orchestrating many orders to present our identity: McMaster & Storm. I would rather the goods "poof" & they're at our back door ready for Darcy & I to prepare them for auditions before we put the goods "on stage"! Don't worry though this will be our 3rd season here and it'll be the best "evah"!

So if your spinning don't worry you'll eventually stop! Enjoy the rest of summer, the days are getting slightly shorter and the locusts sound different----

Coming soon details on the Country Living Fair!!!!!

summer fun at Greenville park

Dog Days of Summer

summer 2007

I'm so glad it's not snowing, BUT the humidity was out of control today. I made the heat bearable by eating lots of ice cream. Can you believe the recommended serving is 1/2 cup! I think a whole bowl full is the right amount!

Need to post pictures of Annie Oakley days before it's old news. I've been out of blog mode as lighting struck our transformer and caused a short in our wiring, so it's been touch & go with the internet lately until we rewire.

"little sure shot"
she stands quietly overlooking our downtown

Our Annie Oakley t-shirts call us if you want to purchase $23 for womens & $20 for girls pre-washed & bella brand made in the USA

Sara & McKell thanks for all your help
love you both!

Annie Oakley Days

We just got back from Atlanta (we've somewhat recovered, hey it's a lot of work)
Yes! Our little brains have been churning away as we have new ideas ahead!

Next week July 26th thru the 28th is our 3rd Annual Vintage & Sale event. Our card we mailed out exclaims, A REAL SALE! We'll be getting ready to enjoy the end of summer with Annie Oakley days, Annie hails from the Darke County area! We love her! In honor of her we'll be offering pink & brown t- shirts that are fresh with a vintage twist. They'll be available for women & little girls. Come celebrate our sharpshooter.

Swans a Swimming

Matt & I took a break 2 weekends ago, & one of our friends is begging to get this photo up. When I called Darcy and told her I had spotted the perfect bench and explained further that the bench was held up by concrete or cast iron swans, we both burst into uncontrollable laughter. Darc thought I had lost my mind which does happen on occasion! This "swan bench" would be a perfect addition to our store, but alas it wasn't for sale. Although I'm hoping the owner will sell it to me. I took a picture to show Darcy to prove that it's really a darling bench. She now agrees, end of story!

Young Girl Statue
She seems to be content doing her daily chores
(seen on our trip)

Letters from France

My mother (Kara's) cleaned out her attic and promptly hauled boxes up to our house. "They're yours" she exclaimed. I was not thrilled to go through boxes and decide what to keep or throw out.
I was enjoying my evening of mowing, a mindless chore but somewhat enjoyable to me. My 19 mo. old loved being up in the truck helping us sort out childhood toys, & other school days ephemera.
I opened one of the apple boxes a medley of scrapbooks and other memento's from H.S. graduation were piled in them. A stack of letters grabbed my attention and the red & blue borders stood out, "Par Avion" stamped on the fronts. They were addressed to my maiden name. The letters were from 1992 and some in 1993. I corresponded to two pen pals in France as I was intrigued by this country since the 7th grade. I didn't write to them for very long, but nonetheless was excited to find the letters as I thought they were thrown out after I moved to California in the fall of 1994. I now have a keen interest in seeing if I can get in touch with Cathy & Nathalie. This was before the days of e-mail so I hope their families are still there. I know Cathy's village had a pop. of 600, surely I will get a response. I will keep everyone posted to see if I can reconnect with them. I hope so!

*Added note*

Can you help me out?
It's time to paint the trim on our 1840's home. We have a brick house so we need just shutters and fascia painted. I want a European look but formal, the brick is more orange-ish so can't use taupe. (I'm not a taupe person anyway) Our gutters are an antique white.
Thanks!
Kara