I am not the only person who can make stuffed toys from children’s drawings.  There are other capable crafters out there.   Come out you guys: don’t be shy.  Come and join this site.  Let’s turn this into a real movement.

Kally and her giraffe

*****Update**** Interested softiemakers please contact me at info@childsown.com

Okay.   I am officially swamped.  Every time I turn on my computer, I get a hundred more e-mail enquiries.  Last night I answered some of the e-mails, but today, I got several hundred more.

My site has gone viral; people say that I’m on Pinterest; people are blogging about me. But  now I don’t know how long people will have to wait before I get to their order.  The 4-6 week turnaround time has just gone out the window.

So, here’s an idea.  Let’s keep Child’s Own Studio a secret for a while?   Don’t share this website with your friends, pin me on Pinterest, post about me on facebook or blog about me.   Yes, shhhhhhh….until I catch up.

If you sent me an e-mail or drawing ( I have seen so many sweet and funny ones ), please bear with me as I send out acknowledgements.  I don’t have the time to provide quotes right now, and I don’t know when I can.

Please check out the FAQ (above, on menu bar) for frequently asked questions and yes, I do ship around the world.

I am a bit overwhelmed, but I am also very appreciative of all the enthusiasm and lovely comments people have been leaving me.  Thank you soooo much!

Okay, back to my e-mails.

That’s how many I can manage to make without going bonkers.  Isn’t the point of being self-employed that I can call the shots and decide how much work I want to do?

So, why do I feel guilty?

Esme’s bunny has super duper sonic bionic ears…

“This is Sonny Li’l Bad Guy, Keadryn’s imaginary friend who goes on extreme adventures. One day he is in the Alps and one day he is in Africa. Currently he is in the middle east. He’s hard to keep track of. ”  (Jeff, Keadryn’s uncle)

Olivia’s dog with his rainbow stripes, great red tongue and sparkly wings is a most faithful companion.

Desiderata had started doodling a candle flame, but it gradually turned into a seahorse with pouty lips and long hair (that can get wild sometimes).    

Cade loves to draw fantastic, powerful creatures, like this dragon, named Cartonthorus.    

These are some of the projects I completed this month.  I still have a bunch (of patiently waiting customers) on my list of orders to complete, and a growing number of people patiently waiting for quotes.   Waiting.  Even the people talking on the radio sound a little impatient.

(Please be advised that if you are hoping that a softie be ready in time for a birthday, well, there’s nothing wrong with hoping…)

King Elf by Jacob, age 6

Welcome to the new website/blog!   Take a look around.  Not bad, WordPress.

It was time to consolidate Child’s Own Studio’s website and blog.  I also got rid of the FormMail order form (didn’t take PDFs and found lots of spam for me) and I have eliminated the gift certificate, because I really do need to see the drawing beforehand.

Everything else is pretty much the same: same e-mail address: info@childsown.com  (looks anonymous, but this is The One And Only e-mail account).

I’m also hoping that this blog format is better at communicating the fact that I am a one-person-working-in-the-spare-bedroom-artisan.  When I first started Child’s Own Studio, I took a business course, where I learned how using “we” communicates a professional business presence, but really there is no “we”.   Just me.

I still haven’t figured out how to hire someone to help me.   Every soft toy is a unique project – and if it doesn’t come out right- like today’s project- I do it over again.   Because I’m Mme Pickypants.

Recently, I tried to get my son (nine years old) to help me around the studio, but he didn’t like working for Mme Pickypants.

You might suggest that I (really) hire someone else to help me with the admin stuff, packaging and photography, so that I could just focus on the softie-making.   I’d tell you that I enjoy doing all the other stuff, if only because it provides me with a break from softie-making.   You might then say, well, you’re not running a business.  And I’d say, you’re right, this isn’t a business.  This is a craft.

Maybe if I offered more money to my son…

His Royal High Elf