Country Gingham Designs is the studio home to watercolor artist Margery Mars of North Monmouth.  She has lived in Maine for twenty-five years but still holds dear to heart her former home in the quaintly quiet and charming town of Yarmouth Port on Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  Margery is a retired early childhood and elementary educator.  She began dabbling in watercolors a few years ago and uncovered an innate talent for this medium as well as for calligraphy and design.

Country Gingham Designs was created in 2000 and began with floral watercolor note cards, edged in country gingham colors, unique in their presentation - in her signature kraft paper tote bags.  The line has been expanded to include calligraphy and watercolor note cards as well as matted and framed reproductions of all Margery's designs.

Country Gingham Designs continues the "Maine Made" tradition for quality and solid craftsmanship and has earned the right to be called "America's Best".  It has been featured in Country Business magazine and Margery's work on several occasions has been displayed in the kiosk in the Maine State Office Building.  In 2002 Margery was selected as one of six artisans in Maine to have her work on display in the Maine Arts Commission exhibit, Matter of Perception, sponsored by Very Special Arts of Maine, an arts-based program for people with disabilities.  Margery has also exhibited at the Norway (ME) Sidewalk Art Festival, the Maine Wild Blueberry Festival in Union (ME), and the juried New England Products Trade Show in Portland (ME).  Since 2003, Margery has designed the menus for First Lady Karen Baldacci's teas which benefit the Blaine House and Gardens.

Country Gingham Designs proudly supports companies using recycled materials and assisting those with developmental disabilities as a way of enriching the community and for caring for the environment we all share.

A portion of each sale is donated to vestibular research with the hope that a cause and cure can be found for Meniere’s Disease, a project very dear to her own ears!

Margery is featured on several web sites including: www.mainemade.com, www.mainearts.com, and www.giftshopsofmaine.com. Her own web site – www.countryginghamdesigns.com - is updated periodically so bookmark this site as a favorite and come back and visit often!

In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, Margery admonishes others "to never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is the handwriting of God".