So Happens It's Thursday

So happens it's Thursday....That's Gar's answer to T.G.I.F. Get it? S.H.I.T.? I kind of like it. Though I'm not feeling particularly smarmy today, I just thought I'd throw it out there since it was 'day appropriate'.

I've been fiddling around with headers for Mercantile Muse. And as you can see, I've gone with a simple white background as well. I think it shows everything off in a crisper,cleaner way. I really like the way it makes photos pop. Siss, boom, bang! (sorry, getting a little geared up for the 4th and the big losbta bake!)



Can you say lobster? But here are two experts on lobster bakes- G man and Cap'
(as in Captain', aka Ralph, who I've been best pals with since
1st Grade and is a Fisherman and Captain...hence the nickname).
  OK, I'll stop for now.  Back to the subject at hand........the blog header.


I designed the first header for our blog last night, and it looked really nice. I liked all of the components including some of our very own stone wall and roses, and a picture of a ship's masthead that I took in NYC's South Street Seaport.  In the end, it just wasn't working for me.  It seemed to be just a little too much- too much for this particular blog anyway.



See what I mean?

Then I designed one that incorporated a piece of one of my printable wall art designs, Three Feathers. Except, I only used one of the feathers (see bottom of this post for picture). This one I like a lot for it's simple, clean look.



Straight and to the point. Opposite of the first......not busy at all.

Then I woke to a new day and new eyes and thought, with all those neutrals a pop of bright yellow might be kind of nice- sans quill/feather. I edited the picture of our 'Pot of Gold' coreopsis in photoshop and included that in the design for the splash of color. After looking at it though, I kind of missed the feather because it represents the writing/talking/blog lovin' rants I'll be throwing out there on Mercantile Muse, as well representing my designs in our etsy shop.



Pow. Pop of happy yellow. Not to quill?

 Being the fickle gal I am and since I wasn't sure about the quill being missing, I worked it back into the design. First I faded the flower behind it a little bit more so they weren't competing so much. Somehow I still can't decide.



Or to quill? That is the question.

 Liking this one. Although, I think I'll have to walk away, and come back and look at with fresh eyes before I make a final decision. Then again, does the decision really have to be final? It's a work in progress, just like me.

Any thoughts, feel free to share them.  And as promised.........Three Feathers, available on etsy at Bates Mercantile Co.


Glory be, the sun is shining again and there is a lovely breeze. It's a great laundry day, as far as laundry goes. Perfect for line drying. I'm sounding more and more like my mother (not that that is a bad thing).

And since it's Mercantile Muse's first week anniversary, I'm adding to my good things list. Just because. Feel free to add your own good things.

Good Things

That lucan is sleeping soundly on the futon,

instead of running across the street and getting into a

tussle with a very nice Dobie Girl getting a walk on a

leash, the way he did last night. Bad dog.

Sleeping soundly is much better.

lovely breezes

blog followers and online friends- givin' ya'll a wahooli!

a screen tent/house

(someday a house/room, for now a screen tent.

the mosquitoes were vicious last night)

visitors to look forward to

checking things off of lists

work on my desk

SKYPE

(I know it was on the list last week, but last night we got to skype with our friend's

mom who we haven't seen in.....oh....say about 24 years! LOVE skype.)

Have a good one. Or as Walter Brennan says in Rio Bravo- have 'a goodn'.

A whole new world

Welcome to Mercantile Muse, the blogging extension of Bates Mercantile Co.  I am very happy to finally be blogging, as it's been a long time coming.  I'm obviously new at this, so I hope you'll give me some lee-way.  I hope to share inspiration with you and a little bit of daily life at the 'Mercantile'. It's certain that I will touch upon many subjects including, but not limited to: interior design, graphic design, gardening, writing, pr, food, art, advertising/marketing, and the good life in general.

First off, a little bit of background. I've had my own business, Speakeasy, for 17 years. I work with my clients to grow their business through a combination of public relations, marketing and advertising. Any given day can find me writing a press release, designing a logo or ad, planning an advertising or marketing campaign, among many other things. As a one girl show, I wear many hats.

That said, I was hankering to be able to do more 'creating' for the sake of 'creating'. So I, along with my other half, began Bates Mercantile Co. We launched our etsy shop in December 2010 and have really been enjoying meeting other etsy shop owners, as well as people from all over the world who have like our stuff enough to buy it (yay!). 

Here's the the two of us - otherwise known as Pam and Gar:

Here we are in Cashel, Ireland on our way to visit friends in Blarney. 
We travel to Ireland as often as we can, since that's where Garrett
is from (he's a Dubliner) and most of his family is, and
also where my best friend has lived for 17 years.

At Bates Mercantile Co. you will find original printable wall art and stationery, and must-have-vintage items.  I do the 'creating of the printables' and Garrett helps with researching our vintage items and acts as Chief Sounding Board & Cheerleader.

We've learned a lot over the last few years as we doubled the size of our little cottage with an addition we built ourselves with a LOT of help from family and friends.  We're getting there but still have final touches to tackle.

Our new bedroom still makes me happy everyday, especially in consideration of the fact that for 12 years I had to turn sideways to move around the bed and couldn't open my dresser drawers all the way.

Al (our brother in law) and Gar putting up sheetrock in the
 new master bedroom. I hate the entire sheetrock
 process and I don't mind saying so. What a mess.



But I do love my bedroom, so I guess all the sheetrock dust
 and hard work was worth it. And in case you're wondering, I was a full fledged crew member-
from tarring the foundation, insulating and yes, even mudding and sanding sheetrock. 



We're still decorating, and what that means is there is a lot of editing going on. We had a LOT of stuff. Keeping what we love and losing the rest.  I love browsing magazines and the internet for design inspiration, but honestly, I find it just about anywhere!

Good things in no particular order: 

friends and family
our hound dog Lucan

creating

inspiring and eclectic interior design

food prepared with love

all kinds of music

laughing

margaritas

dancing

nature

Dublin

sunsets

a cold beer and steamers

singing

M*A*S*H

entertaining and parties to remember

NYC (where we met)

reading
Skype

old movies

South Street Seaport on a beautiful day

dreaming of our second visit to Rome/Italy (once was not enough)

living on the New Hampshire seacoast

I reserve the right to add to this list whenever I want.

So, I hope you'll come along for the ride and many thanks for stopping by.

BEFORE YOU LEAVE..........the first 25 followers of Mercantile Muse will be entered into a drawing for one of our printable wall art designs (your choice)....so follow, won't you?