We’re fortunate to have the work of ceramic artist Giana Eden gracing our virtual shelves and delighted by the children’s products she’s developed with us in mind. From her studio space in Jessup, Georgia, Giana creates our much loved Toadstool Tea Sets and Elephant Teapots. Our warm thanks to Giana for lending her talents to Mahar Drygoods and for taking a few moments to share a little of her life and work.

1. Were you interested in arts and crafts as a kid?  What’s the first thing you remember creating?

I was always happiest when making things. I remember a set of little paintings I did as a little girl that were all the members of the circus. From the clown to the ring master. I’ve always wondered where they ended up. But soon after that, at age 6 or so, I realized I could make things and sell them to my neighbors. The first thing i made where tissue flowers - tissue boxes came in assorted color tissues in one box ( my favorite). So, I could make a bouquet of multi-colored  flowers, spray them with perfume…and off I went. I progressed to decorated sweetheart soap duos, to match any bathroom decor. ( I took special orders). These were truly spectacular works of crafting art for a ten year old.  As I look back I imagine my patient neighbors thinking, here she comes again, I wonder what she’s selling now!

2. Tell us about your home life.

I live in an old 120+ year old house in a small southern town in south east Georgia. I am still selling things to my neighbors, but they usually come to my house to buy pottery. I have made my front room into a showroom of finished wares.

My two kids are grown, but i have great neighborhood kids who come by to visit and love helping dig out the clay buckets and get dirty. My two dogs and three cats are often with me in the studio.

3. When and where do you craft/create/design?  Do you have any other jobs in addition to your small business, and if so, what?

I have a large studio out in the back of my house. We have a bamboo grove surrounding the studio, so there is bamboo out of every window. Most of the year it is warm enough to keep the screened glazing studio open, but in the winter it is wrapped up and heated by a wood stove or the three kilns. My studio is always full of works in progress, and is my favorite place to be. I usually listen to music or audio books while I work.

I also teach senior aerobics classes three times a week down the street from my home. I have a great group of women who are happy to dance, march and shake it up a bit with me to music as varied as old rock and roll to Broadway. I also teach a yoga class to keep my body limber and able to climb in and out of my Japanese style wheel areas.

4. Did you collect anything as a kid?  Do you collect anything now as an adult?

I collected small wooden animals and figurines. I made an animated movie in art school as a freshman using my whole collection…but I started giving them away one by one in my twenties. Now i have a collection of penguins…and i still make penguins all the time!

5. What were your favorite toy and your favorite book when you were a kid?

My favorite toy was my Vacuform. I use the vacuform technique in a way to make my Elephant teapots! My favorite book was the Secret Garden. I believed that book to be a real part of my dreams, a place I could go to. I am also a big Winnie the Pooh fan - especially Piglet.

6. Who encourages you in your artistic pursuits?  Who or what inspires you to continue creating?

My Mom and Dad always encouraged me and my four sisters to be creative. We were like the real Little Women. We all were individuals and different, but we were inspired to be the best we could be at our chosen artistic endeavors. My son Luke and my daughter Liana are my biggest fans. They are very interested in what i am making and try to find new markets for my wares. My husband John is my biggest inspiration because he supports my choices to work in the studio and sell my wares. He is always by my side when I need him.

I love to go out to work and am always thrilled when a new idea comes. I am most of the times met with ooos and aahhs and love bringing my new work out to the festivals that we go to. I have loyal customers who collect my pottery, so i love to have new items to show them.

We’re so pleased to add the work of artist and illustrator Sarah Jane of Sarah Jane Studio to the shop! There have been numerous customer requests for personalized family tree and Sarah’s take on the classic genealogical chart is absolutely charming.

If you’re considering the purchase of a Personalized Family Tree, scroll down through this blog post for some helpful hints in correctly filling the required family names.

Below is an example of a completed family tree shown in the ‘Winter’ color palette.

Our Personalized Family Trees by Sarah Jane Studio document three generations: a child’s parents, grandparents and great grandparents. At the base of the tree you can opt to include a family surname (Example: The Wright Family) or a child’s/children’s name (Example: Bethany Lynn Wright).

In placing an order for a Personalized Family Tree, you will be asked to enter the names of the following fourteen family members. First and last names of family members are typically included, althought you’re welcome to fill-in-the-blanks as you wish.

Provided above and below are images with corresponding numbers to illustrate where each individual’s name will appear on the family tree.
1. Father
2. Mother
3. Maternal Grandfather
4. Maternal Grandmother
5. Paternal Grandfather
6. Paternal Grandmother
7. Maternal Grandmother’s Father
8. Maternal Grandmother’s Mother
9. Paternal Grandmother’s Father
10. Paternal Grandmother’s Mother
11. Maternal Grandfather’s Father
12. Maternal Grandfather’s Mother
13. Paternal Grandfather’s Father
14. Paternal Grandfather’s Mother
15. Family name or child’s name

The Personalized Family Tree image measures 10″ x 13″ and the paper measures 11″ x 17″ leaving a perfect margin for framing. Each is printed on gorgeous Hahnemuhle Museum Etching Paper: 350 gsm, Natural White, 100% rag, acid free, no brighteners and printed with archival pigment inks. They are sold unframed, packaged in a cellophane sleeve and shipped in a stiff protective mailer.

Below is an example of a family tree in the ‘Spring’ color palette, shown framed.

We’re excited to welcome the tulle-twirling skills of designer and tutu tailor Amy Hero Jones to the shop. Her spin on this classic costume avoids the pitfall of being too precious, but with a range that will please the preschool punk princess while still thrilling the traditional prima ballerina. From her home base in Minneapolis, Minnesota, we appreciate Amy taking time out of her busy schedule to share a little of her life and loves.

1. Were you interested in arts and crafts as a kid?  What’s the first thing you remember creating?

Absolutely! I grew up in a family of artists (my mother is a tapestry weaver, my sister is a poet, my uncle and aunt are potters, my grandfather was a jewelry maker…), so arts and crafts were something I always did as a child. I clearly remember my mother teaching me to sew dollhouse accessories and clothing when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I also remember having a small version of my mother’s loom that I would weave potholders on as a child.

2. Tell us about your home life.

I live in Minneapolis in a bungalow-style house near the chain of lakes. It is a great area with lots of parks, little restaurants and coffee shops. I live with my husband and two children, Aidan, my 4 year old son, and Finley, my 2 year old daughter (and tutu model!). We have a fun, crazy life here!

My husband and I have always loved the outdoors, and we are really trying to make sure our kids get to experience all kinds of adventures, from hiking and snowshoeing to canoeing and camping in the Boundary Waters. My parents live in northern Minnesota on the shore of Lake Superior, so we spend a lot of time up there exploring and learning about nature.

3. When and where do you craft/create/design?  Do you have any other jobs in addition to your small business, and if so, what?

Two years ago, we remodeled our house to add a master suite on the top floor. I was blessed to be able to design a small space in that area for my crafts. It is filled with natural light and has plenty of space to store all my supplies. I try to work on my crafts when my children are either asleep or gone, which can be a bit tricky! If they are home and want to work on craft projects, I pull their craft table up next to mine and we work together–I love doing that!

In addition to Hero Jones Designs, I am the Executive Director of a small theater in Minneapolis. Running a theater can be a real challenge, especially when funding is tight, as we are a non-profit organization. But I deeply believe in the mission and know we are making a difference in our community, which makes it a wonderfully rewarding job. Another plus, of course, is that I work three days a week and make my own schedule, something that is invaluable when you have small children!

4. Did you collect anything as a kid?  Do you collect anything now as an adult?

I was a child of the eighties, so I had a fabulous sticker collection when I was a kid. I remember sitting around with my friends going through our albums and trading stickers. It was great.

As for now, I really don’t collect much. The one thing I really love is depression era glass, particularly orange pieces. I only have 4 pieces, but they are beautiful! The first piece I got was my great-grandmother’s orange bowl. It is this amazing, low, flat bowl in a deep reddish-orange. It is one of my favorite things.

5. What were your favorite toy and your favorite book when you were a kid?

My favorite toy as a child, hands down, was a doll my mother made me that looked just like me. She embroidered her face and hand tied yarn for hair. I played with her pretty much all of my childhood. I just went and pulled her out of a box to show my kids–Finley won’t let go of her now!

I think my favorite series of books when I was a child were the frog and toad books. Frog and Toad were such good friends and had all kinds of adventures. When I read them to my kids now, I remember the stories so clearly. It is fun to hear them laugh at the same things I thought were funny when I was their age.

6. Who encourages you in your artistic pursuits?  Who or what inspires you to continue creating?

I am blessed to have an amazing family, both mine and my husband’s, that support me completely. They are my cheerleaders, my marketing team, and my biggest supporters. My husband helps with shows, my parents and my in-laws spread the word about what I am doing, my sister cheers my on, my kids help me come up with new ideas…really, I would be lost without them all!

My kids are the biggest inspirations to help me continue creating. I love making things for them, which propels what I am doing at Hero Jones Designs. But also, on a personal level, the fact that my mom was always working on art projects with me and my sister stuck with me. I want that for my kids, so I try to come up with new and fun projects to do with them. I want art to be integrated into their lives so that as they grow up, they can appreciate art and what it takes to create it.

Groundhog Day is this coming Tuesday (February 2nd) and you’re invited you join us over at Mahar Drygoods’ sister site Junior Society to celebrate the day! Robert has put together a little food craft tutorial for Punxsutawney Phil Pudding Pops and it couldn’t be easier. A handful of ingredients are assembled quick enough for even the shortest attention span and what you end up with is a reasonable (and edible) likeness of Punxsutawney Phil poking his head up out of his hole.

We’re excited to share that one of our amazing artists, Kiersten Hatchcock of Mom Mom Furniture, is raffling off a specially designed Keepsake Storage Box to benefit the Red Cross and their Haiti relief efforts. To learn more and to purchase a ticket for only $10., please visit the Mod Mom Furniture Blog!

UPDATE!
Thanks for everyone that participated in the raffle which raised more than $900.!
See who won!

[Note: This is a repost of a blog entry Robert wrote back in January of 2007. We've been having torrential downpours and flooding here in the LA this week  - so much so, that we expect to see a boat parade float by at any moment!  That being said, stay dry friends!]

One of the few manifestations of winter in Southern California is rain - torrential downpours, flooded intersections and mudslides. Occasionally, it reaches Biblical proportions and you begin to wonder if you shouldn’t get to work on your own ark - although more often than not it dissipates in a few days, like most inclement weather around here. But even when the sky is cloudless and the streets are dry, an ark of one’s own remains appealing.

There was a church in the neighborhood where I grew up that we always referred to as the ‘Noah’s Ark Church’ because of its curved boat-like roof-line. And then I read recently about another church in Frostburg, MD whose pastor had a vision in which God instructed him to build a new church as a literal recreation of Noah’s big boat. The idea of an ark has inspired many things including countless animal shelters, horrendous made for TV movies and America’s largest water park in the Wisconsin Dells.

Constructing the ark, illustration from the Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493

Personally, I’m a fan of the much more modest scale toy arks and model sets. Early toy arks were often referred to as ‘Sunday toys’ - as strict Victorian households forbade playing with toys on the Sabbath, but because of the ark’s religious connection it became an exception. Extremely popular in the 19th Century, many toy arks found their way into American and European homes as result of an ark making tradition rooted in the mountainous southeastern region of Germany. Early German sets that still exist now have a collectible market and can fetch crazy amounts of money.

Knowing my affinity for handmade toys, my mother-in-law recently gave me a ‘happy everything’ present, a contemporary ark set beautifully crafted by German American artist and woodworker Gunther Keil (Thanks Barbsky!). How amazing is this!…

Gunther includes a list with his arks that specify the various woods he uses to craft each animal. There are sycamore giraffes, black walnut buffalo, mahogany kangaroos and zebrawood zebras (of course). The ark itself has a removable roof and sports three divided rooms and an attic.

Noah’s Ark by American folk artist and Quaker, Edward Hicks (1780 - 1849)

While we’ve turned the calendar page to a new year, we want to take a moment thank the editors at Boho Magazine for including our Little Hero Capes among the Green Gifts for Kids section of their Winter 2009 issue! Allison Faunce’s brilliant dress up capes made Boho’s list due in part to the fact that they’re handmade in the USA and 10% of each cape sale is donated to the Discovery Arts program which brings fine arts to children with life threatening illnesses while they are in the hospital. Fine our entire selection of Little Hero Capes in the Clothing & Costumes Department!

We’re only a few weeks away from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver - and while we’re not all athletic types, watching the skiing and skating, bobsledding and luging can be allot of fun. However, we are definitely crafty types here at Mahar Drygoods and would feel right at home trying out for the 2010 Handmade Olympics which as it happens is also hosted by the lovely Canadians - specifically our pal Kristal of RikRak Studio. She’s pulled together more than $2,000. in prizes to be awarded to winners in the following eight events:

Event 1:
Favourite handmade goodie with an innovative design
Event 2:
Favourite handmade goodie for kids
Event 3:
Favourite handmade eco friendly goodie
Event 4:
Favourite handmade item that inspires lovelieness + wellness (in our homes, for ourselves, etc.)
Event 5:
Favourite handmade personality/group forwarding kindness through handmaking
Event 6:
Favourite thrifty-forward, sustainable-minded blog, shop or site
Event 7:
Favourite FUN-FILLED handmade OR vintage goodie
Event 8:
Favourite handmaking-focus blog

Like we said, this is our kind of competition, but unfortunately we don’t qualify for any of these events. Why, you ask? Because, Kristal was kind enough to ask our Robert Mahar to judge event number 2 - Favourite handmade goodie for kids! How fun!

Learn how to nominate your own work and/or the work of someone else for consideration by reading the rules. Nominations are accepted through January 31st, after which the judges in each event narrow the selection down to ten entries - and then the voting begins! Now, let the games begin!