handmade toys - part two - aka big plans or The Polka Dot Club

and I continue...
I mentioned in my last post I'd been wanting to begin the transition towards making toys for children.  So, over the last few years I've been quietly working on this side project - the POLKA DOT CLUB. I've alluded to it more than once, as it's been moving along in fits and starts but it's been a very challenging road. The biggest snafu came when toy legislation changed in 2007 making it nearly impossible as an artist to make toys and abide by the laws put in place and overseen by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.  Nearly all my work was put on hold waiting to see if Washington was going to see the error of their ways- it could have been a very long wait. Lucky for me, I was introduced to Dan Marshall, the local shop owner of Peapods who became an activist. Dan, started the Handmade Toy Alliance-  an alliance of toy stores, toy makers and children's product manufacturers from across the country who want to preserve unique handmade and small batch toys, clothes, and all manner of children's goods in the USA. We've met and talked a few times and he gave me insight into the laws, the hopeful changes, and ways to keep working. Over the course of about 5 years Dan, working with others, successfully lobbied congress to make allowances for small businesses making goods for children. I own a debt to him, for his help on both big and small matters but most of all for giving me hope that what I've always wanted to do wouldn't be "illegal" for long...

So here I am now, two children and six years later, ready to begin this new endeavor out in the open. Here's the lowdown- handmade teddy bears, made with all the materials and time honored techniques I've honed over the last 25 + years as a second generation teddy bear maker. These are bears that pay homage to the past but are wholly modern playthings for today. Heirlooms for-now and for-ever. I like that. I believe in that. So I'm starting out with 5 different bears, all a little different, all special in their own right. Everything is made right here in Minneapolis and will continue to be. I'm still sewing, I'm still adding all the one of a kind touches that make each piece special. For one, beautiful neck ties, each unique, from fabric my sister Kindra designed just for the PDC. And ahhhh, the design. My sister is a genius and I owe her so much. She's been working day and night to help me get everything ready, I can't wait to show off all the playful, sophisticated, and all out fun stuff she's created. There is so much in the works and I don't have much online just yet... but more is coming. For now, I have a minimal website- www.POLKADOTCLUB.com and I'm on pinterest and instagram ).

This weekend I head to New York for a trunk show with Misha and Puffand MANIMAL to meet with stores and finally bring this long hidden project out into the open... hello POLKA DOT CLUB.

If you have a store where handmade mohair teddy bears would be a good fit, or know someone who does, please email me- jen(at)polkadotclub.com. I'll be in New York for 3 days meeting with stores and then back home to work on the website and the webshop which will open soon- hopefully within the next month. Phew. That's a lot to tackle in a short time.

 ***All the photos are by Modern Kids Co. and are beyond my expectations.Thanks Sarah! ***

handmade toys - part one - aka big plans or The Polka Dot Club

I'm sure I've mentioned before my love of children's toys and I suppose that's pretty obvious. After all, I do make teddy bears. Vintage stuff animals and illustrations have always been the inspiration for my work, but after I had Claude (and honestly for a few years before) I'd been growing more and more interested in transitioning my focus from vintage inspired- mohair collectible pieces (is there a better way to describe what I've been doing for the last 15+ years? I never know exactly what to call it.) to making toys for children- to be played with. Play! I think about how the toys of my youth inspired my creativity, those without batteries or directed play ignited my imagination and kept me company. Each was an old friend to cuddle and care for.

I've made a number of stuffed friends for Claude. They weren't all interesting to him until recently... but lately the pretend play has really been amping up. Pete (the doll), Snake (the 6 feet long knit wonder), a few odd sock monkeys, and of course a handful of mohair bears and one large "Studio Cat" (named after the location he was swiped from) have been tossed, nursed, fed, tucked in bed, and cared for in umpteen ways. I took these photos this morning. It's evidence of the scatter shot toy explosion that begins each morning and is dismantled each night when the house is reset. But it's also evidence of their prominence in his life. In all the years of making stuffed things, nothing has made be happier than seeing this odd group of handmade friends move around our home.

I've watched Claude, his cousin Hazel, now Vita and so many of the kids in my life play with these and other toys- all the while making mental notes. I've been dreaming up what kind of toys I loved and what seems to spark imaginative play in the children around me now. I suppose I've been working towards this all my life. I learned to make teddy bears while still a child myself at my mothers knee and now with my own children I'm returning my focus back to play and  to the origin of teddy bears...

Which brings me to the Polka Dot Club... my new undertaking and my big plan for 2013. So big, I don't dare fit it all in this one post. So this is the cliff hanger I suppose. More tomorrow!

spring is on it's way... I'm pretty sure anyway.

Though you wouldn't know it by looking out my studio window, more snow, Easter is right around the corner. My guess is there are more than a few in search of the perfect bunny for the season. While I wish I could tell you I've got a studio overflowing with bunnies for the shop all ready to ship out and nestle into each wanting basket, that's not the case. I'd like one in every color myself... (photoshop makes that so easy!), instead I have a sweet pattern with easy instructions. Hello Ernest, you're just in time....

check back tomorrow to find out what I have been working on... a post is forthcoming.

This weekend...

Knitting once again in my short moments of downtime. Right now I'm finishing Claude's tomten jacket made with all bits of yarn I had on hand. I'm a bit obsessed with E. Zimmermann right now... and I suppose I could be for the rest of my life. She wrote enough about knitting to keep me busy for three lifetimes.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

two ... tomorrow

( with slouchy knee socks )

+++++++++++++++++

over the weekend --- snowy valentines projects

A winter storm rolled in over the weekend, and although we weren't snowed-in, we acted like it. We bundled up in layers and layers to go out, we shoveled, made snowballs (which doesn't happen all that often since it's usually too cold for packing snow) and played a little in the winter-wonder-land. But, for the most part we just stayed in- cozy and warm. Claude and I spent one evening working on valentines together. I cut, he drew, and together we prepared for spreading the love this Thursday.

hello from the studio... finally.

it's been weeks since I've been in the studio. Vita's been sick, we were traveling a bit, and Jay has been so busy I've been home with the kiddos more often than usual. I have to admit there have been a whole lot of needs around here lately, and mine have fallen to the bottom the list. Such is life. Happily I've stolen away for a few hours to tend to many over due items on the studio to do list and have a little time to myself. Last week I ordered some more fabric and supplies that had run low in the shop- and it's now up and available so... check out the NEW COLORS NOW IN THE SHOP. if you'd been wanting to get to that Pink Elephant... now you're in luck!

As for new handmade items... I'm hoping I may get to making a few things before Valentine's Day, but time is flying by. I'm hoping for a few... hope with me. Perhaps our collective wishing will make it come true.  <<<>>>

and a little work too...

In the midst of watching these two children grown and learn and wake up way to early and cry and make me laugh and and and, I've been doing a bit of work here and there too. I had a request from a friend to make a smaller version of the red bear I made at Christmas- and with just enough of the hand dyed fabric to spare I made this bear: palm sized, droopy, but not quite as glum. He seems just right to me.

2013

it's a new year... again.

This past year flew by with milestones and babies and Life happening each and every day. I'm not sure how it is that in my thirties things have simultaneously begun moving incredibly quickly, while s l o w i n g   w a y   d o w n. What's the saying about the days move slow but the years fly by? Our hands have never been so full. Two children now, both with such different needs and two artists still trying to make a life and a living. I find myself in the studio less and less, but my plans aren't any less grandiose. I've been slowing plugging away at a new venture which I hope will someday (sooner rather than later?) be ready to unveil, while still trying to make a few handmade bears and animals for this shop. My hands are still always moving and making, but sadly, my mind isn't often here- and this blog gets neglected. So many places for my attention to go and something has to slip I suppose. I hope this year I can post, albeit occasionally, but with an honesty and visual pleasure that makes this place worthy of your repeated (sometime fruitless) check-ins. Let's see, what else do I hope for and dream of for 2013?
(a long pause.)

As I write this I can here the foot falls of my son playing upstairs. My baby girl is talking in her wonderful infant mix of shouts and birdlike coos. Even when working my children are here. Our house is full and chaotic and moving both so fast and so slow... frankly, I wouldn't have it any other way. I suppose, for 2013,  I hope to keep the brightness I feel in my life, lit. Whatever that takes - each - day. I wish that for myself, and for all of you. To 2013- May it be a bright and beautiful year for us all.