Follow your dream S … Yes, plural!! And keep dreaming – cause you never know when we may need another or a new one! It also helps if we develop a habit of thinking “What if?”

That’s how the furniture business came about. When  moving to the mountains, we put in a wood stove. With that came chopping wood. “Nice grain on that wood.” I thought.

 

 

Then I saw someone selling half  logs with legs – turning them into benchs. Hmmmm! Soon, I was trying the same thing.

I bought a book on green wood rustic furniture making by Daniel Mack.

 

Asking a local gallery owner for a critique – he obliged. Then, came the invite to put my work in their gallery. WOW!! He must have seen something ’cause I hadn’t been dong it for long. The furniture is still there. Casual Lane Rustics was born and my second love, photography, came in handy – I could take the pictures.

Some of it even got into a magazine. Someone from the Carolina Homes Magazine happened in Twigs & Leaves Gallery in Waynesville, NC and asked if they could get a photo.

This was a far cry from what started, but letting my imagination go wild…

 

Turned out this was a nice compliment to my photography. I began calling myself a designer – self  learned of course, with the help of others.

Then 2008 happened… the hot market slowed and I wondered, “What next?”

I had fooled around with making candles when living in Florida and I’m not sure when the idea came but I took my idea into the gallery owner to get thoughts on it. The owner liked them and we went into production…

Mountain Troll Candles – at $18-38 price point they have become a hit and now retail in a number of galleries throughout NC and TN.

We used an Anton Sven troll purchased 43 years ago as our mascot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last year, Mountain Troll Candles were featured in Southern Living Magazine.

 

 

 

 

And, after five years and nearly 2,000 candles purchased around the country, new gallery outlets and franchises are being considered…

“What next?”