Creating things has been a part of my life since I was a young girl. The first thing I remember making was a stuffed brontosaurus with my Mom. We made him out of an old pair of argyle socks. Sure, his neck was a little too long, and he was lumpy from his pantyhose stuffing, but I loved him. I have explored many, many different craft mediums…I taught myself to sew in college, I did embroidery for a while, I made wire-wrapped jewelry, I make plush animals and dolls. Weaving is my newest craft-love. I am completely self-taught with all of my craft interests, and wood working is no different for me.

Not long after my son was born I began thinking about the kinds of things I wanted in his environment. I decided that I wanted him to have mostly natural toys. In the meantime, I had been trying to find something that my partner and I could make together. One day I told my him that we should make wooden toys. He thought I was a little crazy because neither of us had ever done any kind of woodworking. My enthusiasm must have been pretty convincing, because we went and bought a scroll saw, and jumped right in. For the first few years, my partner and I both made toys. I made all of the patterns, he would cut them out, we would both sand, and then I would do the wood burning and painting. A little over a year ago my partner decided to pursue other interests, so the full weight of the shop was on me. For a bit I was unsure of the fate of the shop, but I persevered and have found so much joy in my shop being a one-woman production.

I am endlessly inspired by the natural world. I have loved animals for as long as i can remember, so it only seemed natural that I would specialize in making animal figurines.My Dad is a mural artist, and through him I learned to pay attention to the tiniest details. I try to translate those tiny details into my toys. I could study animals’ features all day long. (Have you ever really noticed a black bear’s feet? Or the delicate space under a cat’s nose? They are amazing!!) I love that I can hold a piece of rough wood in my hands and transform it into a beautiful, smooth toy. There is a something magical about the simplicity of wooden toys and watching children play with them. Wooden toys have this warmth and connection to nature that you just can’t get from a piece of plastic. As I’m making my toys, I think about this connection and try to put love and positive vibrations into each of them. If just a little bit of this magic finds it’s way into my toys, then I’m an extremely happy girl.