about us
Based in Fenton, MI, Jan Blough started her company, Silhouettes and More, in 2000 and has grown to selling her work in Canada, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom.
Before she started designing silhouettes and turning them into ornaments, Jan was a mechanical engineer with a master's degree from Michigan State University and did her thesis in biomedical engineering. Taking a hiatus from her career to be a stay-at-home mom, Jan started looking for ways to make some extra money around the holidays.
While fixing up their older home for a home tour, they came across a ledger inside a wall and decided to turn it into something to hang on the wall. Jan cut out the silhouette of what she imagined the original homeowner may have looked like, and used the old document as a background. Then she framed it and hung it on the wall.
When she got a lot of attention for the piece, Jan decided to turn her craft into a business. Soon her creative side took over as she combined her silhouettes with her knowledge of stained glass and love of old handwriting. She introduced her own unique beveled glass ornaments soon afterwards.
When she began mounting the hand-cut silhouettes on old, authentic, handwritten 18th and 19th century papers, each object told a story all of its own. These wonderful pieces are available as a framed artwork or smaller glass ornaments. The ornaments are enhanced with applied silver molding and black ribbon. Recently, Jan began creating her own line of stationary, writing pads, journals, posters and prints using found documents and papers.
Once her police officer husband Mark retired, he started helping Jan with the business. She and her husband have enjoyed local and national publicity and have successfully attracted the interest of many unique gift shops across the country and internationally. Together they spend many hours working at the business. Its is a labor of love.
Before she started designing silhouettes and turning them into ornaments, Jan was a mechanical engineer with a master's degree from Michigan State University and did her thesis in biomedical engineering. Taking a hiatus from her career to be a stay-at-home mom, Jan started looking for ways to make some extra money around the holidays.
While fixing up their older home for a home tour, they came across a ledger inside a wall and decided to turn it into something to hang on the wall. Jan cut out the silhouette of what she imagined the original homeowner may have looked like, and used the old document as a background. Then she framed it and hung it on the wall.
When she got a lot of attention for the piece, Jan decided to turn her craft into a business. Soon her creative side took over as she combined her silhouettes with her knowledge of stained glass and love of old handwriting. She introduced her own unique beveled glass ornaments soon afterwards.
When she began mounting the hand-cut silhouettes on old, authentic, handwritten 18th and 19th century papers, each object told a story all of its own. These wonderful pieces are available as a framed artwork or smaller glass ornaments. The ornaments are enhanced with applied silver molding and black ribbon. Recently, Jan began creating her own line of stationary, writing pads, journals, posters and prints using found documents and papers.
Once her police officer husband Mark retired, he started helping Jan with the business. She and her husband have enjoyed local and national publicity and have successfully attracted the interest of many unique gift shops across the country and internationally. Together they spend many hours working at the business. Its is a labor of love.