About Ollie's Corner Store and Ollie's Easels
Ollie’s Corner Store is named for my maternal grandmother Ollie (short for Olive). Like most women born after the Civil War, she could sew, knit, crochet, and tat lace. She passed on those skills to my mother, who in turn passed some (I can’t tat lace!) of them on to me. I still have crochet pot holders, lace table scarves and quilts made by my grandmother and my mother. So, when I think of my grandmother Ollie, I think “vintage” with all of its nostalgia, faded blooms and handmade elegance. I love "old stuff!" With my intermediate knowledge of Photoshop and some passing acquaintance with design, I began creating vintage digital collages even before the Shabby Chic craze or Etsy came on the scene. But I didn’t have an outlet for my creations. Occasionally I would print out a greeting card for a friend or trade a few ATCs on the internet. One day I found an old typewriter easel at an antique store that someone had painted and put their initials on. The idea of taking old metal easels and putting images on them looked like fun. It came to me that I could print off some of my vintage collages and glue them on an easel…just to make the easel a little more attractive than the office gray that most were painted. From there, after a lot of experimenting with the right paper, realizing that glue and paper are really more like oil and water and spending lots of money, I figured out the right mix of paper, adhesive and easel. But finding old typewriter easels at a reasonable price was impossible, so I had a local metal shop fabricate easels that were heavier and sturdier. I have always placed great value in handmade v. mass produced items. Unlike those who just want a bargain regardless of who made the item or how, I truly love the idea that someone—not a machine-- crafted an item. I’m willing to pay extra because I see value in the crafting process, in the uniqueness of the item and in the care taken for detail. I made some easels for friends, all of whom seemed to appreciate the designs as well as their usefulness. My sister—my main advocate and salesperson—bought a dozen or so for herself and friends. She kept telling me, “They are so beautiful and so handy to have around the house, you need to start selling them.” I took her advice. The metal easels are manufactured locally at a metal fabricator shop and the paper is purchased from a company in the Dallas area. All of the designs are of my own creation, and I do all of the printing and “making” of the finished easels and magnets. I am always looking for better processes and materials. I think my grandmother would have liked to have had an Ollie’s Easel near her sewing machine or in the kitchen. |