a little faith, stitched in paint

Warm, whimsical art woven with Scripture.

For nearly forty years Ellen Stouffer has painted the sampler-style scenes behind the Sampler Calendar, Noah's Ark, and a house full of cards and coverlets. All of it comes from a studio and gardens outside Wabash, Indiana.

See the collection Meet Ellen
Sampler painting by Ellen Stouffer
from the Sampler Calendar
Ellen Stouffer's Bless This House note cards in their box
The artist

A messenger with a paintbrush.

Ellen's paintings are a potpourri of images that are warm, whimsical, sensitive and spiritual. Her style sets Bible verses among stories of faith, love, and God's interest in the everyday: a farmhouse, a quilt on the line, children at a gate, flowers from the garden.

She earned a B.A. and an M.S. in fine arts and taught art for twenty-seven years. She married Bill Stouffer while still in college, joining a Quaker family of farmers, clockmakers and artists.

"Every day seems better, filled with more hope, more joy, and a deeper appreciation for family, friends, calendars, and the miraculous gifts from God."Ellen Stouffer
1986First Sampler Calendar
27 yrsTeaching art in Indiana schools
2018"Crossroads of America" presented to the Governor
From the studio

Three ways to bring it home.

The calendar, the note cards, the coverlet. Scroll on and each one comes to the top of the pile, or jump straight to one.

The Sampler Calendar 01 / 03

Twelve months.
Twelve small sermons.

Painted and published by Ellen Stouffer Studio every year since 1986. A verse for every month, painted so it reads across the kitchen, with the checkerboard border on every page.

12½ × 15 inches closed. Opens to a full 30 inches on the wall.

$22.00plus $6.50 shipping and handling
Order the calendar
Signed by Ellen, to you by name.Every studio calendar. She signs on Fridays; it ships the week after.

Also in the series: Time for School and Beacon of Hope.

Sampler 2027 wall calendar
Sampler Wall Calendarsince 1986
Note Cards 02 / 03

A little faith
in the mailbox.

Boxed note cards from Ellen Stouffer Studio: Noah's Ark two by two, hearts and homes, birds on a branch. Blank inside, so the words are yours.

Ten cards with ten envelopes. 6½ × 5¼ inches.

$20.00box of ten, with envelopes
Order note cards
Ellen signs the box lid to you by name.Same promise as the calendar.

Cards by Ellen Stouffer Studio.

A box of Ellen Stouffer note cards, Bless This House on top
Boxed Note Cardsblank inside
The Coverlet 03 / 03

A sampler
you can wrap up in.

One of Ellen's samplers woven into a cotton coverlet, checkerboard border and all. For the back of the sofa, the foot of the bed, or the porch on an October evening.

Woven cotton throw. (Size and pattern to confirm.)

$55.00woven coverlet
Order the coverlet

Ships folded from the studio in Wabash.

Woven coverlet of an Ellen Stouffer sampler
Woven Coverletcheckerboard and all

Every calendar from the studio is signed by Ellen, to you by name.

Order from the studio
Wabash, Indiana

Dear friends,

Forty years ago I painted the first Sampler Calendar at a kitchen table here in Wabash. Some of you have hung every one since. Some of you found the checkerboard borders just this year. Either way, you're why I still walk out to Bill's gardens every morning with a brush in my hand.

I'm still here, and I'm still painting. If this art still means something to you, I would love to sign your calendar with your name on it, the way I'd sign one for a neighbor.

Thank you for all the kitchens.

With love, Ellen

Ellen signs every studio order herself, to you by name. She signs 350 calendars a season, on Fridays.

Order from the studio

Signed to you, by name.

Tell us what you'd like and who it's for. Ellen writes the name inside the cover in her own hand, and it ships from Wabash the week after she signs.

A first name, two names, or a family: “the Millers.” Ellen writes it exactly as typed.
$22.00plus $6.50 shipping and handling. Ellen replies with payment details.
  • SignedEllen signs orders on Fridays. Yours ships the week after.
  • 350 a seasonThat's how many she signs each year. When they're gone, the waitlist hears first about the next batch.
  • Pre-ordersNext year's calendar can be reserved any time. Nothing is charged until Ellen writes to you.
For Margaret,
with love, Ellen
Sampler Wall Calendarsigned for you

this is how it will read, in her hand, on the cover

Original paintings

One painting. One of one. Yours.

Commission Ellen to paint an original for you. It begins with a conversation: you bring the idea, the house, the verse, the people. She brings forty years of samplers. Together you decide what the painting is. Then she paints it, by hand, once.

  1. 01

    Write to Ellen

    Tell her what you have in mind, in a few lines. A home. A family. A verse that carried you through something.

  2. 02

    Decide it together

    She writes back and you talk it through: the scene, the words, the size. The painting takes shape between the two of you before a brush is wet.

  3. 03

    She paints it

    An original watercolor, signed and dated, shipped insured from Wabash. No prints. No second copy. One of one.

  • A few a yearEllen takes on only a handful of commissions each year, so each one gets the time it deserves. (Mockup: number to confirm with Ellen.)
  • By conversationPricing is part of the conversation. It depends on the size and the story.
  • Yours aloneThe original comes to you, signed and dated, with a note from the studio.
Ellen writes back herself. No obligation until you both say yes.
The gardens

The fields became garden rooms.

Bill Stouffer, also an artist, turned the farmland around their home into lush gardens and planted hundreds of trees behind them. The birds that rest there, the flowers that come up each spring, the lace on the table: this is where the paintings begin.

"gossamer wings"

Ask about studio visits

Say hello

Write to the studio.

Commissions, licensing, wholesale for shops, or just a note about a calendar that hung in your grandmother's kitchen. Ellen reads them all.

  • StudioWabash, Indiana
  • Emailellenstouffer@yahoo.com
  • FacebookEllen Stouffer Studio
  • CalendarsEllen Stouffer Studio, licensed to Legacy Publishing Group