too much of a good thing

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Yes, Virginia - childhood traditions and hope for a New Year

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As we begin a spanking new year full of sparkly promise and possibility, thought I'd share some of the holiday fun that went down in my household this Christmas.  I always dreamed if I were ever lucky enough to have a daughter, she would have an annual holiday tea party to celebrate her, girlhood and the season, of course...and I decided the day after Thanksgiving that 2013 would be our inaugural year!  Even though I did wait until the last minute to order the invites and throw it together, it was more than great fun and we made some sweet memories! For decor, I gathered mismatched teacups and cake stands and all things vintage and pretty to build a magical tablescape complete with mini marshmallow "snow."  The theme was based on the circa 1897 story of eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon who wrote a letter to the editor of New York's Sun in an effort to determine if Santa Claus really existed.  Veteran newsman Francis Church quickly responded to her query with what has become the most reprinted editorial in newspaper history.  His bright words of wisdom and truth bring as much hope and glee to the world today as they must have to that discouraged little girl way back when. 
My girl Virginia gets extra excited at the thought of any kind of party or fanciness...especially if it involves dressing up and the fare includes, and is pretty much limited to, sugar + more sugar + simple processed carbohydrates.  The fabulous Newport Cookie Company in Newport, RI created unbelievable custom teacup and Santa cookies for me...the teacups actually had teabag strings and tags inserted into the icing...adorable!  And my kind friends at Table 301 rounded the menu out with peanut butter-honey finger sandwiches, cucumber dill tea sandwiches, fruit kabobs and fried mac-n-cheese bites (this is the south, y'all).
Virginia loved the idea of being "hostess" to her school and neighborhood friends (we've been talking about what being a hostess vs. a guest means...and how those roles are very different!). Let's say it's a work in progress...but she was delighted to greet her visitors at the door and welcome them into her home.  After some tea, hot cocoa and treats, our beautiful friend, Susan Edwards Willis not only captured some great photos throughout the day but took a break to read the Yes, Virginia book to us in her best New York accent.  My Virginia even blurted out from memory, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so!" 

We take pleasure in answering at once and thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of THE SUN:

Dear Editor: I am 8 years old.
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.
Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so."
Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?


                                        Virginia O'Hanlon
                                        115 West Ninety Fifth Street

Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

 

 ...And even I got teary-eyed when this fellow showed up...

I love this image with the nativity...that's my precious niece, Mayme who took a little while to warm up.
Whaaaaat?!  Believe it, babygirl!  He's as real as real can be! 
It WAS pretty wacky to have a celeb like him hanging out in my living room...but wonderful too!  And then it was time to say good-bye...until next year...
(His reindeer were around the corner...)
So, here's to believing... and a glowy, wonder-filled, tip-top 2014!  Cheers!

scheme in color

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We've certainly been scheming here in the studio! Color scheming, that is. We have received shipment after shipment of market goodies for the past two weeks. Not everything has arrived yet, but I couldn't resist sharing a few vignettes at this stage after Mayme whirled through and placed the new treasures with a wave of her wand...

 scheme in blue, {accented with some amazing faux banana leaves. trompe l'oeil in real time, friends!}

 

scheme in green, {with envy, if you must}

 

scheme in plum and aqua-ducks

 

scheme in rainbow, {see what I did there, LOVE...}

 

scheme in pink {sounds like a terrible girly murder mystery, doesn't it}
Please take a moment and drool over this gorgeous faux shagreen chest we picked up at Market. Faux because we love sea animals, and also because a real shagreen piece this size might cost as much as my house. 

 

See something you love?

Give us a call (864.467.1930) and stop by the showroom. Not in Greenville? Some of this may be coming to the online shop, but not all of it, so please, either call or email info@maymebakerstudio.com for specific inquiries.

We would love to hear from you, even if we don't have the joy of seeing your face.

"We Can Evolve"

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While sitting at my desk yesterday morning, I was struck by these simple words: "we can evolve." On the wall just beyond hang several prints of butterflies, optimally positioned as if to validate the mobile's bold statement. Like the butterfly, often the only way for us to truly keep living is to move on to something new, to expand, to reevaluate what is possible, to evolve.


We have several personal examples of our own evolution here at Mayme Baker Studio. Our biggest news is, of course, our new web shop, which enables you to browse from anywhere, any time! Another exciting development is the addition of two new employees. Debi Horton joined the team as Mayme's right hand lady... the organizational genius who makes sure all of the amazing ideas actually happen. The other is me, Tessa Pinner, content manager for the new web shop and the friendly voice you will see and hear in many email newsletters, facebook updates, and blog posts. I'm thrilled at the chance to start giving you some inside eye candy from the beauty and talent that is Mayme Baker Studio! I'll dish a more complete scoop on Debi and me later, but for now, here's a picture of us looking our darndest, just for you. 


Tessa, left; Debi, right


While evolution is necessary and often wonderful, it is not without its own challenges. There is something lovely about walking into a tangible space with delightful treasures, all presented beautifully and in context. All of your senses are engaged, and maybe you are happily surprised by that special something in that obscure shelf of the corner case. You didn't expect to walk out with it, but it just spoke to you. We know that while our online shop is superbly convenient and has a much larger selection than we can hold in our studio and booth, sometimes you crave that special tangible interaction. SO! This is my reminder to you that while our studio is not open continuously, we welcome your call and subsequent drop-in! Additionally, our booth space at Antiques on Augusta (6 South Lewis Plaza) is alive and well. I popped up there a few days ago to snap some photos of the prettiness. 


 

Hopefully these shots will tempt you to visit if you've never been or to revisit if you are a regular. We promise, we'll be placing new items there, too!



 

One of these fun trays displays inspiration from Audrey Hepburn on the topic of evolution: "Nothing is impossible. The word itself says 'I'm possible'!"




hot off the presses, baby

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Wow, y'all!
This summer has flown by! It is hard to believe that it is already the beginning of August.
So much has been happening since we moved into our new space... and we have been LOVING it!

We've been busy as bees unpacking boxes, tricking the shop out, having some fun projects to design, helping our beautiful customers, preparing for our official City ribbon cutting {and then celebrating it's success! ... more pics to come}, traveling to Atlanta market {where I'm pretty sure we ordered the whole market back here!}... and now getting ready for our GRAND OPENING party on September 1st and the launch of our online shop!

We have been so humbled and grateful for the success that our new location has brought us. We really do have a lot we want to share with you, {all so fun and exciting! } and so we will just have to get better at this whole blogging thing. {Scout's honor! ....Does it even matter that I wasn't a Girl Scout?!?}

In the meantime, we want to give a big thank you to the wonderful women over at the coolest e-zine around - House of Fifty - for featuring us on the cover and including us inside their second issue!
If you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out, my friend! I've been following some of the featured ladies' blogs for years... and it was an honor to have Mayme included amongst them.

Read it here and prepare to feast your eyes on delicious eye candy on every page!




{all images from House of Fifty's latest issue}

We sincerely want to thank everyone for the warm welcome to the Cleveland Street neighborhood and for hangin' in there with us during our transition.

We're excited to be here and can't wait to see what the future brings!