Written By: Phaedra, an Element Designer
As you may have heard, we’re moving! Element Design Co is thrilled to be heading back to Easton, PA, and we have been busily preparing our new space on Northampton Street to welcome our preservationists, designers, quality professionals, and everyone else into their new workspace. Part of our preparations have included one incredibly fun project– making hearts! As part of the Love, Easton Project, started by Mercantile Home, every team member from Element created a few (or more) hearts to hang in the windows of our new space, and our hearts reached a total of just over 400!
What are these hearts for, and why did we hand make so many? Well, Mercantile Home, a community centered local small business began the initiative to create 28,127 hearts to be displayed in the windows of residences and businesses all throughout the main corridors of Easton. The number of total hearts is meant to represent each resident of the city. Mercantile Home is a business dedicated to its community, selling the work of local artists and hosting workshops and classes to spread the joy of creativity. When they thought up the idea to create a city-wide installation, they reached out to dozens of other businesses in Easton, creating a network of folks excited to share the love for this city. “We’re turning the city into a gigantic art piece!” they say on the website for Love, Easton, and it’s true! Walking around the town, you can see most windows filled with lovingly handmade hearts, and we have loved to see them pop us as we have worked hard to create ours.
Not only are the handmade hearts a beautiful way to acknowledge the locals who make Easton the vibrant, growing, and beautiful city it is, they have also been a delightful way for the team to spend some time having fun together and being creative in a different way than they usually are. Creative Manager, Jenni, set up our team with papers in shades of red, pink, and purple, and of course some pressed blooms, and everyone set to work in mid January. By Groundhog’s Day, we had just under 400. Knowing we just had one day to get the hearts done, the team took time during their breaks and before they left for the day to create just a few more hearts. Our team was able to exceed that original goal, ending at 442.
We are proud to be operating out of a beautiful space in a city that has been so good to us! Easton is a vibrant town, full of locals willing to get creative and have fun. Element is thrilled to be a part of such a fantastic community! Participating in a city-wide initiative has been a great way to reintroduce ourselves to the area, and we are so grateful to the team at Mercantile Home for initiating this and inviting us to join them in their mission to get to that 28,127 hearts! Our team had so much fun bonding over the creation of their hearts, and we can’t wait to see the city filled with love in the coming weeks.
