Where to even start!!! My name is Julie Thomas and I am originally from Vermont. In 1988 I married my husband, Michael. We have had a great 30 years together with lots of adventure. We have two wonderful sons, Josh and Jeremy and are a retired military family. In 26 years of service we have moved 14 times. In 1998, while stationed at West Point I found the instructions for some Santas that were made of papier mache. A friend and I decided to give it a try and a crafter was born! I made hundreds of Santas and even sold some papier mache West Point cadets for a time. After I burned out on that I kept crafting and have done everything from wood burning, to candles, to cross stitch. In 2003 (from Ft. Stewart, Ga.) I opened my first website and sold primarily paintings and textiles. I continued that while we were stationed for three years at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. When we moved to upstate NY I decided to open a little shop area in the back of our stone home. It was great fun while it lasted but soon the Army beckoned and I ended up closing it due to an impending move. Well, surprise, they asked us to stay at Fort Drum, so I decided to focus all my energy back onto my website. Over time I would design a hooked rug pattern and send it to my mother in Florida and she would hook it, send it back and I would sell it. I should back up a bit. During our time at Fort Drum, in upstate NY my parents would join us for the summer. My Dad had fond memories of the Salmon River in Pulaski and was so excited to be back on the river again. So, in 2008, with a newly built "in-law" suite, my parents settled in. We had a wonderful summer all together, my Mom and I crafting, my Dad fishing and the whole family would gather for dinner at night. In August we were blindsided when my father died instantly of a heart attack. You quickly realize how unimportant small things are when you lose someone who means so much to you. My mother continued to stay with us but felt a need to return to Florida in the fall as her and my father had always done. It ripped my heart out to see her go back alone and in time Mom realized that although she hates the cold, she hated being alone more. We have always gotten along great and our love of crafting, antiquing, gardening, eating, well, just about everything brought us closer together. My husband and I convinced my mother to stay with us for good. Shortly after my Mother moved in with us my husband had two more year long deployments and we started teaching local ladies the art of rug hooking. Soon, before we knew it our pattern line and wool inventory was growing fast. Then the Army beckoned again. A move to Fort Leonardwood, Missouri was next. We tried to sell our 1831 Stone home to no avail so decided to rent it for two years and see where we would be at that point. Our move to Missouri was our first without our two sons and was torture on us. Enough so that my husband decided to retire after 26 years of serving his country. At that same time, only 1 year into Missouri, our renter decided to move, so as we say, the stars and moon all aligned. We decided to move back to our beloved Stone home. (I missed it dearly while we were away). During our time in Missouri my little business really started to take off. Our wool inventory grew more and so did the pattern line. Before we knew it Mom and I had created quite a following. So, with the move back to NY we decided to dive in and open a little shop in the back of the stone home. It was always my dream to have a little shop and my husband made my dream come true. So, with that here we are in Evans Mills, NY operating a fully stocked website and little shop. Both Mom and I remark every day how lucky we are to be doing what we love from home. We never take our good fortune for granted. We love every step of the process of color planning, designing and making the product. We truly appreciate each and every one of our customers and consider them all our friends.
Thank you for taking the time to get to know us and please don't hesitate to get in touch with us.