What is in progress?

We're having a lot of fun over here in Washington! The weather is finally starting to cool down and we've had a couple really neat thunderstorms. With that comes muddy dogs and stir crazy children. I haven't had as much time to work as I would like, but I get a little bit done here and there.
I notice a lot of artists talk about their studio-a dedicated place for their work. While I prefer to work in quiet there are times when inspiration strikes and I have to start a piece RIGHT NOW. Sometimes when life is chaotic, your studio is wherever you land.
Last night mine was the washer. Here are this week's works in progress:

 A snowmen/snowchild winter decoration. I'm breaking my own rule here (no Holiday talk before my birthday). Don't tell the kids!

Waiting on a soldier mom+3 kids. 

 In honor of Fall Equinox we have some Fall Sprites.

Shifting into Fall: Family fun and milestones!

School started this week for my (I can hardly believe its real) 2nd grader. Boy was she excited to get a jump start on the year. Yes this is the outfit she wore to school. My kid is full of creativity, flair, and a lot of "I don't care (what others think because I feel fabulous)". I love that about her.

 My youngest has sensory processing issues, and changes in schedule are really hard for her. She thrives on predictability. We decided walking sister to school might help her transition. We threw on her (weighted) monkey backpack for good measure.

My heart melts

I have to say I am extremely pleased with her classroom placement this year. I feel like we continue to win the teacher lottery. The combination of her health issues (for which she has a 504), and that crazy absorbent brain (that maxed out on reading tests available to her school the first quarter of last year) can definitely be intimidating, but her teacher seems to take everything joyfully in stride. She has great communication to boot! At any rate, the atmosphere was so friendly that the littlest one decided she should also go to school.

Move over sister!

It was so hard to tear them away from each other, and the littlest fussed and called for her all day.

While balancing the crazy that comes with September, I did manage to be productive. A few Halloween items came to life. I'm especially fond of the Zombies!

Kindred's first custom order was also completed and shipped this week, and a custom slot was officially listed on Etsy.
Finally, my Zibbet shop (which is still under construction) was featured in another handmade blog! Head on over to http://handmadefuzzy.wordpress.com/ to get the down-low on some other awesome artists and their work.

Featured Family: Numia

Speaking of people who inspire me as an artist....

It's time for Kindred Toys' first Featured Family post! The following is an interview I did of a dear friend of mine who was one of the first people to test my products. I'm hoping to develop a series of family-related interviews from old, new, and future customers to feature on my blog. If you're interested in participating don't be afraid to get in touch!

Tell us about your family:

My family is made up of my brothers, my sister, my sisters dad, my two roommates, my son, and my best friends Nancy, Paulie, Michael, Chalu and Nikki and Jamal and Shaquetta.

What makes your family unique?

No one in my family is blood related as a whole. My younger brother and I are half siblings, my two older brothers are blood related, my sister and her dad are obviously blood related, but that's it. We are all completely different. We choose to be the family we are based on what mymom gave us and taught us about love and family.

What do you love most about your family?

We are close. We laugh constantly. We love one another to the fullest. We are connected and bonded by more than blood.

In what ways do you feel your family has struggled in today's world and why? 

My family has always been a hard pill to swallow for a lot of people. My family's want to be close and stay together has often been shunned by western culture. because my family is made up of so many individuals, we have not all always been accepted.

When you look at pop culture, the media, etc do you see your family dynamic represented? Why or why not?

No. Because no one has concept of our family dynamic. That people could come together and create their own family and be more bonded and connected without blood relations being a part of it is confusing and misunderstood a lot of the time.

How has that affected you, your loved ones, and/or your children?

I believe when you have a foundation like the one my mom created for our family, the only way you can be affected is by having it bring you even closer and create an even stronger bond. No one needs to understand my family to be able to clearly see the love, trust, respect and acceptance that exists between all of us.

How do you define family? What makes a family functional?

Love.

As an action word.

Every day my family and I work at being loving one another. There is constant effort, caring, consideration, trust, respect... and when none of that seems to be working we make one another laugh, especially when times are the hardest. Family is not who is blood related to you that you have no choice but to accept and care about, my family is strictly made up of kids and people my mom took in and taught how to love, we CHOOSE to be a family, every day, through struggles and hurts and hardships, we still choose to be a family. We were taught that it is up to us to show love every day in how we treat one another, listen to one another, care for one another, accept one another, respect one another, look out for one another.

Sharing some finished works

It has been a busy summer in our house. There have been a lot of wonderful memories made, and a lot of hard experiences as well. Luckily my preference under stress is to turn to my "work". It is my zen moment, and I look forward to it every day. Here are some finished pieces that I am enjoying.

Grandparent/older parent family

Blended/mixed family

Autism awareness family

Family of 3. The daughter feels like an introvert to me

Peg puppy. This one was done just for fun while experimenting with new materials. I hope to have Peg Pets up in the shop at some point.

Birth Mother peg. She is one of my favorites

What is this blog about, anyway?

Welcome to the official blog of Kindred Toys! 

 The heart and soul of Kindred Toys was born at my kitchen table as I was painting a special set for a family member who was adopting two boys from Ghana. I had searched high and low for something that represented their family, and while customs were available in other shops there was nothing in stock anywhere that looked like their family.

I realized that they weren't the only ones. 

When you think of the average American family, what image do you have in your head? Do you see a young suburban couple (most likely Caucasian) with 2-2.5 kids, and maybe a dog? Or do you see something else? Maybe a blended family, with children from previous relationships. Maybe your family includes adopted children, or you're raising your family as a single parent. 

If your family doesn't fit into society's traditional ideals there is a good chance that you will run into some criticism. Just look at the uproar caused by the recent Cheerios commercial. We may think we've come a long way as a society, but it is still an upward battle. One that won't likely be resolved in my lifetime. Not my own lifetime, but maybe one after me.

Which brings me to how this all got started.

As I was crafting this set of peg people for my family members sons I thought of my own adopted sister and her struggles growing up. I thought of the boy in high school who had two moms, and the girl in my daughter's class who lived with her grandma and it hit me. We learn through play. It is how we develop essential skills, work through difficult emotions, and make sense of the world around us.

Every family should have access to a toy that looks like them. One that validates them and fosters a sense of belonging in the world around them. I personally can't imagine how it would feel, as someone subject to today's challenges, to look through my belongings and see not a single item that represented my family.

And so Kindred Toys became a reality, specializing in representing unique family dynamics through in-stock items, as well as the occasional custom family. It is likely that the shop will carry other items in the future, but diversity will forever be the heart of my business.

This blog will document not only my journey as the shop owner, but those of featured families whose lives have been touched, or who have inspired me in some way as an artist.