COME ON IN! Welcome to my Cottage Studio nestled on a wooded hill overlooking Bellamy Creek here in Michigan. I am your hostess and curator, Novajean and am very excited to share with you my line of merchandise. You will notice my interests and hobbies fall over into my artwork and crafts. I have an insatiable love for history, gardening, nature and the heritage crafts our homesteading women did as a necessity. Some are what we may call primitive but reflect a desire to add the beauty of a Boston parlor to a cabin in the woods. Other items will fit the more refined cottage style of today. You will find an eclectic array of items from jewelry made from the ivories of an antique piano to a computer/media center made from the piano itself.

The gardens here cover two acres and are strictly plants which were native to this area prior to the mid 1900’s or are heirloom plants/seeds that the homesteader would have brought to use. These plants are what I use for many of my crafts from dried floral arrangements using the Victorian language of flowers to my soaps whose recipes have been passed from several generations using all natural ingredients. One interesting recipe I found in the ruins of a logging camp cabin on the shores of Lake Superior I only make once a year but it sells out as soon as it is released. My paintings reflect the natural sights, architecture and tools of our homesteaders both at work and play keeping a nostalgic memory alive on canvas or in my card line. Many items are one of a kind

Besides my merchandise in The Shoppe, you will be able to sign up for my newsletter which will tell of upcoming new merchandise, coupons, happenings and tid-bits. Or subscribe to my online mini magazine The Cottage Times, a recreation of a newspaper written from the shared correspondence between a family spread all over the States during the early 1800’s. Each issue will pertain to a specific herb or flower with historical recipes, tell about the person the recipe came from, a craft how-to, gardening tips and decorating with it and much more.

I also hire out to do reenactment speaking and classes.

Be sure and sign the guest book and most importantly enjoy your visit. If you have any questions or want to make a special order, feel free to contact me.