Born in 1883, Mitchell was the youngest sister of the widely successful Canadian postcard publisher W.G. MacFarlane. After moving to New York City in 1906 to study at the New York School of Art, Mitchell’s illustrations became some of the most popular and highly collected postcards MacFarlane’s company ever produced. She then went on to create countless works for children’s books and Scribner’s and McCall’s magazines as well as exhibiting at New York City’s Art Director’s Club, The Society of Illustrators and the National Academy of Design.