| Let me
introduce myself- my name is Leah Smith, 48 yr old mom and owner of The Country
Cupboard. The Country Cupboard is a one woman business that started up shortly after
my mother's passing about 13 years ago. Prior to that, I was working as
a draftsperson for an engineering company. I had lost not only my mother and
best friend, but also my babysitter....and since my salary did not afford me to put my
kids in daycare at the time, I did what I had to do and made the decision to become a stay
at home mom. This twist of fate brought about a return to my creative hobbies that I
enjoyed as a kid- sketching, painting and sewing. I found that I longed to get back
to this creative world after years of "technical" drafting, which to be honest,
I found at times to be tedious. I had long given up my original dream of becoming an
architect...but thanks to serendipitous circumstance now I consider myself in many ways an
"architect" of fabric and textile design. Many things may inspire me to create- often times
an idea or thought will seem to come out of nowhere. My husband often jokes that I
must dream about my designs. Visualization is really the first step towards
creating. I enjoy watching the wildlife in my backyard, gardening, listening to some
good music, and reading a good book. I have a small library now of folk art books
that I draw lots of inspiration from.
My latest passion is rug hooking- and
like many rug hookers I find that you can never have enough wool! Rug hooking is a
native folk art form that dates back to the 1800's, originating in the New England and
Canadian maritime provinces. These thrify colonial women used up whatever was
available to make beautiful rugs to cover their bare hardwood floors. Today it
has evolved into much more of an art form. I like to think of hooked rugs as fabric
mosaics.
I hope you enjoy my designs. I
take great pride in my work, and if you are purchasing one of my patterns you'll find my
that my instructions are written clearly and completely to give you great results with
your own finished product. I encourage you all to be creative along with me- so go
ahead, find your "inner artist", and experience the joy of making something by
hand!
If you are interested in my work, please
feel free to visit my website at: http://cweb.snip.net/CountryCupboard
Thanks for visiting!
T his
This is my "simply
sweet" snowman, featured on the cover of
Create and Decorate
magazine, Feb. of 2005. |
I am
currently working on an updated email list. If you would like to be added to my
list, and receive notifications of new pattern designs or finished products, please email me with the word "subscribe" in
your email header. Your email address will not be shared with any third
parties. Thank you!
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