New Pattern Releases!

I am excited to announce the release of FOUR new patterns tonight! I'd like to thank you all so much for your patience. It it takes quite a lot of work to get the pattern masters together and my days have not slowed down one bit. The models for these are for sale on Simply Primitives.

Early Homestead Rabbit

Early Homestead Horses

Bickey Brown

Bibbity, Bobbity & Boo

You can order the patterns now. They will be back from the Print Shop on Friday morning and I will be sending them out in the order they came in. Patterns are 9.00 each. 1.00 shipping for the first pattern and .50 for every pattern after. For shipping outside of the US. please email me for details.

To Order Directly:

By PayPal:

Use thegoodewife.folkart@yahoo.com and put the names of the pattern(s) that you wish to order in the message area.

By Check or Money Order

Send payment with requested pattern(s) to: Stacey Mead, PO Box 165, Granville, NY 12832

Credit Card

Please call (518) 337-8055. After 7pm is best, if I am unavailable, please leave your name and number along with the best time to call.

These ARE the Goode Ole Days

I'm not sure who set the pace at "full steam ahead" but I am hopeful that my life navigator knows what he's doing. I can't remember the last time I was bored...I think it was back about 1985. Oh, I am thrilled to have so much work when the economy is still slow. I'm sincerely thankful that I can roll out of bed and into work each day. I love that my days are filled with everyone and everything. My girls are growing fast and I enjoy the gift of each one.

I have been working feverishly to finish orders and get them out. All last week, there was a train of boxes, tape and tissue paper to deliver wee folk and patterns. I have 2 more to do tomorrow and I'm fini..er...well, I thought I was. A few phone calls and a store order later send me off and ready to sew. Labors of love are not 9 to 5. Creativity creeps in when you are showering or even trying to sleep. There are odd shaped papers with notes and what looks like scribble in every room. There is no tidy notebook, no nicely sharpened pencil or neatly folded piles of fabric on a organized table. It isn't pretty at all, but it is my work.

I took a couple days off from my work this weekend for my other passion, one just as intensely full of love and joy. My life beyond the art. This Saturday, I had the pleasure of watching my oldest, Bailey transform into a Princess in front of my eyes. With Joe beside her, they rode to the Prom in a fire truck from the fire dept where she lives. Yes, this Mom did cry and wonder, just when did she grow up and become a lady??? As you can see, there wasn't time to keep wistfulness close as my ever loving Tim, "the biggest child" kept me smiling. Not to be outdone, is "Jess of the Sharp Wit". Don't let this serious picture of her fool you. There is a certain lad at school, that now sports a assignment book wrapped in pink duct tape with kittens and tiaras pictured all over it. Ahhh... well, I may not have an average or perhaps normal life. It's not perfect nor staged to look like June Cleaver lives here...it isn't clean and pretty....but it's happy and full of glee. I may work at what I love many long hours, but times such as these show me how truly rich my life is.

Another Side of Me

I'm fortunate that my parents always nurtured creativity in our house. I've sculpted since I was a young girl and for several years would earn my money at local craft shows as there weren't many teen jobs available here. It's always so special when someone shares that they still have one of my little critters from back then and the connection that they have with it. Before I found my groove in Folk Art, I discovered Paperclay. It was okay, but I never devoted the time to build a relationship with it.....not until last year when I decided to try a class using it. I enjoyed it...so much that I would steal time away, just to explore with it. Finally I decided it was time to put it out there and share with you. I can't tell you just how much I enjoyed working in clay again and adding it into my love of yesterday. Each piece showed it's own spirit every step of the way. It gave me times of uncertainty in my own ability, but I think that it is very much like riding a bike. I would now like to formally introduce you to three wonderful Ladyes.

• Grace is the sweetest little sparrow and so delicately painted. She is inspired by
• the olde sepia photographs.
• Faith is a Harvest Pumpkin Angel . Her arms and tendrils are made from rusty wire. The wire has the ability to speak so expressively and it is a favorite of mine.
• Finally, Fiona the frog... I was able to just let whimsy run wild and she makes me smile every time I walk by her.

All three have slips, bloomers and dangling feet above a wooden stand. They are all very much one of a kind pieces with simple details such as glass bead buttons and plenty of hand stitching or what I call, love stitching. I will certainly be making more friends this way, but I am not letting go of my other wee friends...just sharing a different side of me.

News Aound The Hen House

Like most of you, Spring brings much activity to our families, and often goes in several different directions at once. Our area and mountains have busted out in various shades of green and I am enjoying time outside, as long as the pollen count isn't too high. The bird song is beautiful in the mornings and coffee on the veranda with Tim a treat. My days end after midnight as there is so much to fit in. Some of my wee friends are stretching their wings and you will be surprised where you will see them, but be patient, that is for next year.

In all of this, we had quite a bump in our road these past few weeks. My daughter Bailey was taken quite ill and spent 2 weeks between her Doctor, the emergency room, tests and even a hospital stay. What was thought to be an her appendix, was then thought to be an ovarian cyst, and perhaps the gall bladder. The culprit, in the end, was her liver. It was a huge wake up call for us. You see, Bailey is one of so many of our children that is overweight in this country. She is my comfort food eater and even though she goes to a nutrition group every week, it is difficult for her to understand it all with her Autism Spectrum. Her body has said "enough" loud and clear. Fat is being stored in her liver, much like it would be on a alcoholic. Bailey learning how to become a vegetarian. She simply has no other choice. She is learning and embracing it...and realizing that Mom's smoothies had tofu snuck in ~ Netty's cereal is really "the bomb" and rutabaga fries are fun because they have a bit of sweetness to them. I however, realize that my favorite soy/chai drink may have to be hidden....

I am now trying to catch up on pattern orders, mailing wee folk to their new homes, a sea of samples along with my offerings for TDIPT, due tomorrow night. It is never boring around here, that's for sure. TDIPT will hold a surprise for many of you as I share my work in a different medium. It is one that I am quite familiar with. I have taken nearly a year to just explore a new form and see just where I wanted to go with it... it won't replace my love for my wee folk, but instead embrace another part of my heart. Til the morrow ~

Better Late Than Never

Meet Dame Dimbleby and her pet fly, Precious. She kept a smile on my face, the whole time I was bringing her to life. Being a caretaker for a parent does keep me more than busy lately. Some days it is difficult to find the extra time around care taking and 2 teenage daughters to work and create even just part time. I am ever aware though that when my care taking journey ends soon, that I will be unsure what to do when my lively days quiet down. There will be changes ahead for me, but in the meantime I will be taking care of my family first and creating during any stolen moment that I can.

Simply Primitives opened last night, but Mrs. Dimbleby was a wee bit finicky about which dress to wear. She finally decided, but it was too late for her to make her debut. She is joined by two other friends of the green; a Swamp Toad named Hadwig and a leaping Prince Charming, ready to plant a smooch on his Princess. Everyone will be up shortly on Simply Primitives along with the works of my less tardy friends. Please stop by and enjoy some smiles!