e-commerce? e-likely!

I am chipping away at gaining the technical wherewithall necessary to build a happening e-commerce site. In the meantime, the dozens and dozens of you clamouring for one-of-a-kind pieces from Sycamore Hollow will have to be satisfied with looking at pictures and e-mailing me with your order. Actually, this option isn't really possible because I don't have very many photos loaded onto the site. But all that is about to change. As of this week, I am currently taking photos and entering the upload netherworld. I really don't like this part of the business, but it seems that one can no longer fill a retail space with interesting things and expect people to rush in and fill their arms with purchases. They prefer to fill a shopping cart online. I am trying to catch up to the 21st century - I just bought an ipod nano - can't deal with the big version (1,000 songs? What person over 18 has the time to load this device with 1,000 songs? My apologies to you if you are just such a person). Anyway, the store is now filled with the crisp, bell-like sound of my baby ipod, instead of the crackle of that dinosaur, the CD player (may they fill landfills in peace). Well, enough about me; let's talk about the store. I've been covering scallop-edged boxes in the wonderful, amazing Japanese paper I carry. I get a glimpse of what it must be like to be happy each time I look at them. I also came into a pair of beautiful hand-cut glass vintage lamps this week - they, too, provide moments of joy. Until next week...

Crazy-time in Rockport

The 4th of July in Rockport is a lot of fun... If you're a six-year-old in search of free candy and not afraid to scrabble around in the street for it after a grown man parading by tosses it at your face. The rest of us have a pretty good time as well; the day holds sights not easily viewed in a small New England town the rest of the year. Lots of naked flesh on display, some to happy effect, some not. Last year I took a picture of a rain-soaked shirtless middle-aged man with the ensuing paunch strolling along the sidewalk barefoot and sporting a mounted deer's head with the antlers decorated for the occasion. This parade of strangeness is followed by Rockport's grand old tradition of setting afire a 20-foot-high gasoline-soaked tower of pallets. It is a sight to behold, and as other towns eliminate fireworks due to budget cuts, our bonfire rages on. Oh yeah - and I do open the shop's doors, just in case someone is dying for a vintage planter in the shape of lovebirds and can't wait another minute to buy it.

New View of an Old Map

A few years ago I acquired a great old French map of western Europe, with bright, saturated colors. I wanted to get it reproduced in a cost-effective way so that the whole world could enjoy this map. And if not the whole world, than at least the few souls who come into the store or shop online. Lo and behold, I finally have reproduced the map in all its glory, and it can now be yours as well as mine. The colors are still bright and beautiful and it is actually a little more wall-friendly, as I reproduced the map in a smaller size than the original, which demanded more wall space than most of us have.

You might want to consider making this map your own. You and your distinguished dinner guests or uninvited neighbors can examine it and reflect on all the places you've been or the places you might want to go...Or you can use it to cover up that giant hole you made in your drywall in your misguided attempt to hang a shelf with a hammer and a couple of 4-inch nails. It's up to you, really. Map measures 25" x 19"

It's Cookin' Here at the Hollow...

If you have to suffer anyway from the intense and unexpected June heat, Rockport is a great place to be. Walk to the beach, roast for a little bit, then de-roast inside a very pleasant air-conditioned Sycamore Hollow. Central air is a new experience for me, as for the last several years I have only had a window unit puttering along, and unless you were standing directly in front of it (and believe me, customers were waiting in line to do just that on hot summer days), it was pretty useless.

The latest and most delightful addition to the store - besides cool air - is our selection of screenprinted Japanese papers. Lover-ly. Most of the papers we carry are made in Japan in the traditional method, and a few are made in the U.S. using 100% recycled cotton paper. Great for gift-wrapping (if you're feeling extravagant), book-making, covering boxes, etc. etc. Go crazy with Japanese paper - this month's creative tip from Sycamore Hollow.

Summer is Here...

Memorial Day Weekend in Rockport means hordes of people flooding into town, looking for a vintage lamp or two to start their summer off right. No, the reality is that people will be looking for a hot dog or two. Or an ice cream cone or two. But just in case hot dogs & ice cream are not what you're in the market for, check out what is new in the store: pillows created by an artist in Kennebunk, Maine, with screenprinted images that appear abstract at first, until the viewer realizes that the image depicts a ship's rigging. Clever, beautiful, and handmade - it doesn't get any better than that!