Mountains and Bridges

It's a family thing... heights.  So why we Sisters thought meeting in the middle of Mountainous Pennsylvania was a good idea, I'll never know!  You may have seen us going 40 miles an hour on the highway, or with a magazine held to the side of our face so we couldn't see the edge of the drop on the roadside.  Ha!  Scary as it was... we managed to have a great weekend!  We laughed, we cried, we hugged... ah sisterly love... nothing like it on the planet!  Saturday found us at the Central Pennsylvania Art Festival - what an amazing event!  We shopped and we crafted!  Sunday - hang on to your hats... we did a 5K!  We wore t-shirts emblazoned with one of Dad's WWII jacket art paintings (courtesy of our wonderbar nephew, JD).  A sight to behold we were... 90 degrees out... I'll leave it to your imagination.  Topping off the weekend was a visit with the Rutkowskis, our oldest neighbors from back in the day when we really were wee ones, living in Willoughby Hills, Ohio.  Great friends, great times.  Back to reality now.... we continue slaving at The Shop Sisters.... now affectionately referred to as SisterCo!

Birthday Adventure Eve

Well, here it is, Adventure Eve, wee young sister and I are meeting in the middle of the state to participate in a 5k race and to tweak our tweaks for the new Shopsister store. Our parents would be so proud of our new shop, even though it is online. We have so much planned for our 3 day get-a-way, but knowing us, we may just sit around and do nothing but play with our shop! We are also celerating our birthdays together, wee young one is the 27th and mine is the 28th...different years, of course. We are bringing our creations to the table, pooling our ideas and hope we can prepare a date for our grand opening. We will be wearing our shirts shown in the picture, the picture on the front is a copy of a painting our father painted on one of the World War II planes Dad maintained during the war. Some of our cutting tools we bring to the table were our mother's. They are our support system for now, although it is just in spirit. Well, of course, our husbands support us too, but they just look at the creative mess we make and shake their heads...I don't think they quite get what it is to be a creative freaking weird starving artist.   (well..forget the starving part, no problem there..but that is another story.)

So, we are off to the races!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"The Wind in The Willows"

"Do you believe in spooks... I do , I do..." Last Friday, I, the younger half of this sister team, could not sleep!  I got up at 3:30 - poured a cup of coffee, and made a list.  Couple hours later, and another cupful, I found myself outside wandering around the neighborhood yards looking at what had grown overnight.  One neighbor had put some items on the tree lawn for reuse or to pitch.  Being the good antique dealer's daughter that I am... yes, I heard the call from Mom and Dad up above... I went to pick that pile clean.  But all I took was the first thing that caught my eye.  An old copy of "The Wind in the Willows."  Now, do you believe in signs....? Because I certainly do!  I have been wanting to read this book... never did as a child.  But oddly, I collect frogs and toads... and those that know the book... it's chock full of them!  Add to it that this particular copy was printed in the year of my birth.  Add to it that the illustrations are by Arthur Rackham... my all time favorite book illustrator. Add to it that he's quite famous for his silhouettes... and hey... it's all about the cutting with us these days... more to come later on that.  AND the handwritten inscription to the owner: "I expect you have been here before - but I think it is the only world to live in.  Bless you for your help."  -- Applies to we sisters in a freaky kind of way! So yes, Mom and Dad, we hear you... "You're out of the woods, You're out of the dark, You're out of the night...Step into the sun, Step into the light..."