I am a creative writer who is the child of a kindergarten teacher. Perhaps this is why I immediately fell in love with eeBoo, which creates toys, games, notebooks, arts supplies, and other gifts for children and full-grown people who other people sometimes mistake for children. eeBoo’s products are all original and use artwork commissioned from children’s book illustrators. As a writer/artist, I loved the company’s focus on arts and crafts, including storytelling and writing. Late last week, I  wrote a post about some of my favorite eeBoo products.

Many of eeBoo products have earned the Oppenheim Best Toy Awards, which, if you spend any time in children/game sections of stores you will probably recognize:

Envy led me to Mia Galison, the president and creative director of eeBoo, whose headquarters are located in a turn of the century ballroom in New York City (what?!?!!). I hid my jealousy and asked her some questions about her magical job.

1. A lot of your products, including a fairy tale board game and many whimsical notebooks, encourage people to share their own stories. In a few sentences, describe your life as an enchanted tale — stick to the main plot points, but feel free to add dragons, witches, and fairy god mothers here and there.

I was the old woman who lived in a shoe. I had three children in less than two years and my husband was a self employed artist. I was a tortoise moving slowly, but I kept saying to myself “I think I can, I think I can.” There were no fairy godmothers to help or dragons to threaten, just a lot of smart, kind and helpful friends, family and associates that made the hard work mostly a pleasure. After what seemed like an endless journey, eeBoo became a goose that laid golden eggs.

2. Please describe the design process at eeBoo.

Most often I have an idea while walking to work or sorting through junk at a flea market –or cooking, or staring into space.

Most often I have an idea while walking to work or sorting through junk at a flea market –or cooking, or staring into space. I flip it around in my head–what the colors wills be, the package, the artist I’ll get to make the illustrations, that sort of thing. Then I ask [my husband] Sax about it. We walk back and forth from work every day so we have a block of time both in the morning and afternoon to discuss things. Sometimes he has good ideas and sometimes he makes me mad because he doesn’t see what I see, but even if we disagree it helps me firm up my vision of the project. I have ideas all the time. When I feel particularly buzzed about one I get started right away by calling an illustrator and sending him or her a sketch- and I get the art started. When it is a new format I get letters out to manufacturers so I can see prototypes and get prices. Often I make my own prototype in the office. Once I get some art in-house, I start to work with one of the three designers that work at eeBoo. Sometimes that means seeing a box cover design or making patterns. Sometimes it means experimenting with something completely new, like folded paper hats. I stick all my current ideas that I’m really considering on a big bulletin board. We are always working on new projects and new formats, and whatever I think I can get to market during a given season, I make..and keep the rest for the next season.

3. My mom is a kindergarten teacher. She is also the mother of a 26-year-old writer (me). Name one eeBoo product that would equally fit the bill for both parties.

We make very nice quality pastels that everyone would probably like.

4. Is your studio as amazing as it looks in the pictures? If it is more amazing, then what wonders does it contain that I can’t see in the pictures?

Our studio is in fact as amazing as it looks photos. It was built as a ballroom at the turn of the century and has 18 foot ceiling 60 running feet of skylights, mosaic floor made of yellow marble pieces, 10 foot windows and a large staircase down to what used to be the kitchen where my husband Saxton Freymann has his photograph and painting studio. What you don’t see in the photos is how many wonderful things are being made there. We are always experimenting with papers and fabrics and new materials. eeBoo also has ten lovely employees that would never allow anyone to take their pictures.

5. What are you visually inspired by?

I can be inspired by many things. Among many other things, I like Japanese illustrators from the 1930′s and 40′s, Chinese deco rugs from the 1920’2, the color pink, Belgian encaustic tiles, brand new Shanghai style, silhouettes, American quilts and naive embroidery, Hmong fabric from Chiang Mai. Unique objects that look as thought they were made for children by their mother or father with love. Embroidered blankets, crocheted hats, handmade wooden toys and stuffed animals. I could go on and on.

6. EeBoo makes lots of games for children (some of which have won awards). This makes me wonder what non-EeBoo games you play. Let’s say you’re inviting a bunch of your adult friends over for game night. Which five games do you have on the middle of your table when they arrive? (Bonus question: What snacks are next to the games?)
We are not a big game playing family but we have played a lot of Bananagrams and Masterpiece, a long extinct board game from the 1970′s based on a fine art auction–it’s goofy and easy and my kids have learned a little art history from playing it. We mostly have time to play games together when we are up in our house in Delaware County NY–there we eat S’mores with dark chocolate off of dirt flavored sticks.

7. What is your best-selling product? What product are you most proud of?
I Never Forget A Face was one of our early products and I’m very proud of it. It’s a Matching Game that includes 24 pairs of faces of children from all over the world including a girl from Afghanistan and a boy from Iraq. We included these nationalities because we made this game at the beginning of the wars and we wanted to remind as many people as possible that there were children in those countries. We get letters from children and parents all the time telling us how much they love and appreciate seeing the different faces, and about how their children make up stories about which of the children are friends.

8. One of your new products is pipe cleaner craft kits for children, animal lovers, & crafty adults. Each of the 18 different designs are creatively named for the color family of pipe cleaners they contain, and each packet can be used to create a specific animal. If these animals could come to life, and you consider their relative pipe-cleaner size, which two animals would be have the most interesting (friendly) wrestling match? Who would win?

I prefer not to think about these fuzzy little animal fighting. The Yellow Bird is a wonderful shape and the Mushrooms are wonderful.

9. Finally… what are you currently obsessed with?
Current obsessions–gnarly mushrooms from farmers markets, pom poms, fancy knee socks, Georgian miniatures, hand spun and dyed wool, and making hats.

Next week, we’ll be posting an interview with the president & creative director of the toy company eeBoo. While you’re waiting, check out some of my favorite eeBoo stuffs.

1. Composition Books, $10 Jeeze, how cute are these?
2. Good Habits Job Chart, $17 I have purchased a lot of chore charts in my day. Usually in January. (Not kidding.) Praise still gets my teeth brushed. Even self-praise. And I haven’t made my bed in a week.
3. Fairytale Spinner Game, $17 Yesss, games that tell stories! Maybe this is mostly for kids but I like it anyway.
4. Nemo & Princess in Balloon Sketchbook (+ Colored Pencil Set), $18 Much better than that yellow one with the wooden drawing doll torso.
5. “This Land is Your Land” US Wall Map, $20 For recording locational information. With stickers.
6. Sweet Stationary, $10 20 sheets of paper, 16 envelopes, & 2 sheets of stickers. I don’t know if I could really own this because even mere pictures of candy make me tear my house apart in search of sugar.
7. BONUS ITEM: Nature & Observation Notebook, $12 Envelopes and pockets for specimen collecting & more!

I’ll be first to admit it: I have hardly helped the economy for months. The items on this page, while under the category of “What I Bought” are mostly things I did not actually buy — belated xmas presents, free books, and the like. I am as frugal as they come (though recently, you’ll be happy to hear, I’ve made long strides in becoming less of a tightwad).  Still, I am excited about all of my recent acquisitions:

1. Mickey & Minnie Sweater, H&M. This is one thing I DID buy. I have been stalking it in H&M’s ever since the beginning of the season when it was priced at an unaffordable $40. But recently, all the knits went down to FIVE DOLLARS, so I had to snatch this up.
2. Doodle Heart Glass, Urban Outfitters. HOW CUTE. I had no glassware until two weeks ago (but an inordinate amount of thrift-store tea cups.)
3. Piccadilly Notebook, Borders. These are now about $4 at Borders and Buy 2 Get 1 Free. Since I am reading the dictionary right now, I thought it would be cool to take all my notes in some nice notebooks, but Moleskins were just too expensive! If you don’t think Picadilly has anything on Moleskin, just ask The Pen Addict.
4. The Synonym Finder, Amazon.com. This guy was super-cheap in the used section (like <$6 with shipping!). Apparently, it’s the best “thesaurus” because it’s set up like a dictionary (so you don’t have to go on hunts for words) and it lists not just straight synonyms, but related words so you can find not just “another word” but “the” word you want.
5. Cute Notebook, Urban Outfitters. That’s how I imagine I look on the subway, even though I don’t have black hair or high boots. And the notebook is college-ruled — the only rule I can handle.
6. The Heart of Darkness & The Secret Sharer, A Box. Two people have mentioned Conrad to me very recently, and I’ve been thinking of taking him out of the library (and maybe even on a date, har har), but — luck to me! — I found a free copy in a giveaway box! I’m excited because the cover is vintage-cool. (I read both stories in high school, but my mind was dull back then.)

The fonts used in this post are 3Dumb and 2Dumb, availible free at DaFont.com.

HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY STICKERS & DONUTS!

Not only is it the first day of national poetry month, but it’s OUR BIRTHDAY. STICKERS AND DONUTS IS ONE YEAR OLD TODAY. We have posted 387 posts.

To celebrate, I wish someone would give me a donut. I would even buy myself a donut, if I could find one. In lieu of a donut, here are some other blog-helpful items that I would accept as first birthday gifts:

• A magnetic board to organize my inspirations. This would be an addition to my two over-stuffed bulletin boards. (Fred Flare, mini-magnetic strips, $10)
• Actual business cards! (MOO.com, mini-cards, $20)
• A computer screen that I could actually see! (Apple, 24″ Flat Pannel Cinema Display, a mere $900 for your trouble)
• A little notebook specifically made to store my various user names and passwords, from technorati to feedburner to stumbleupon to twitter to, erm, wordpress. (seejanework.com, password.log notebook, $4)
• A mousepad that is also a notepad for recording favorite web-sites! (KnockKnock.com, Surf Notations Paper Mousepad, $11)
• A chair that doesn’t make my behind sore = more posts. (Ikea, MARKUS Swivel Chair, $200)
• And finally, a doodly freestylin’ planner so I could schedule my posts and plan the weeks ahead! (Little Otsu, MINI Vol 3 Weekly Planner, $12)

Thank you everyone for reading!

xo, Maria & Co.

When you are unemployed, or just trying to go green, it’s important to remember to the second of the 3 R’s: Reuse. In order to use up some scraps I had lying around my “studio,” I decided to make them into a sketchbook and thought I’d share with everyone how I did it.

Materials:

1. Scissors or X-acto Knife/Ruler
2. 10-12 sheets of Letter-sized paper (I used paper from my recycling bin that had only been printed on one side.)
3. Scraps of chip board or matboard
4. Old file-folders or card stock
5. Spray-mount or rubber cement
6. Old wrapping paper or wallpaper, etc for the cover

Step 1: Fold Your Paper
If using paper with printing/writing on one side like I did, fold it in half like a hamburger so that the clean side is to the outside. Stack all of your sheets together with the folded edges to the same side.

Step 2: Cut Your Covers
I used old matboard that I had lying around, but you could also use something flimsier. (If you go thicker, it will be too hard to bind…) Since my inside pages were 5.5 x 8.5″, I cut my covers to be 5.75 x 8.75″ to give 1/8″ border on the top/bottom edges when bound.

Step 3: Cover Your Cover
Laying your front cover down on your decorative paper (I used left-over Adhesive Wrapping Paper I had lying around from a press kit I developed for Hallmark), trace the cover of your book and leave about 1/4″ to wrap around the edges. Cut it out. Then, with your heavy cover centered on your decorative paper, cut a triangle off at each corner like so:

Spray adhesive to one side of your heavy cover and to the reverse side of your decorative paper. Center the two adhesive sides together and wrap the decorative paper’s edges around the cover as such:

Step 4: Cut Out and Adhere the Endpaper
Use your back cover to trace out an endpaper on the old file folder.

Spray with spray adhesive and mount on inside of front cover. This should ensure your decorative paper doesn’t come unattached.

Step 5: Bind Your Notebook/Sketchbook
Stack your book pieces together in this order: back cover, folded paper, front cover. The open ends of the folded paper should all line up on the edge that is spiral bound. Either take to Kinko’s or bind by hand: I prefer a wire coil as such:

Step 5: Use Your Book
Not sure what to do with it? Might I suggest referring to UE Project 1 and 3 (Make a Portrait of a Portrait and Make a Portrait of Your Bookshelf) for starting points?

1. I enjoy aquatic critters (Jellyfish are so exceptionally tight! Green Fluorescent Protein? – Score), and I believe that Steve Zissou would probably support this planner. MEGA BONUS: It comes with giant squid stickers AND matching buttons, Aquatic Adventure Weekly Planner from Bang Bang You’re Thread, $15

2. Fact: I harbor a wee fantasy to be Harriet the Spy. Necessary clarification: the cool girl on the book cover- red sweatshirt and radamataz sneakers. Definitely NOT movie-Harriet. (Michelle Trachtenberg always ruins TV shows. Dawn? Georgina? HARRUMPH!) These notebooks are perfect for sleuthing and your learning adventures! Plus, the inside cover features a special spot for you to record “pertinent coordinates.” Teehee. Measures 3.5″x5.5″, Field Notes Memo Books, $9.95 (on sale $7.46 until Aug 30)

3. “Hello. My name is Owlet and I am scared shitless of this pogo-stick.” Measures 5.75″x8.25″, Owl Pogo Journal from Patina, $8.95

4. Ahh!!@#!!! Absolutely dreamy! Illustrated by Lart Cognac Berliner, this planner features one long landscape that extends throughout the planner! Measures 7″x5″, Come Along Weekly Planner from Little Otsu, $16

5. This notebook is extra dainty and pretty (so much so that I’d be scared to write in it). Measures 4.5″x6.25″, Letterpressed Petite Journals from Figments, $16

6. I like how this notebook features a guy that is surrounded by manly things (FOREST! JEEP! MOTORCYCLE!)…but he struggles with tying his shoe. Womp womp. Measures 6″x4″, Old School Stationers Notebook from Figments, $20.95

7. Did you know that if you don’t put out your campfire, the forest mafia (on roller skates) will murder you? It’s true. Extra note!: Check out that deer. He is most definitely wearing ipod headphones. IMAGE THAT WOULD NOT OF EXISTED 10 YEARS AGO: iPoded deer. Measures 4″x6″, The Forest Roller Gang Notebook from Poketo!, $7

8. A sumptuous notebook for those who like to cut bitches. Measures 8.5″x10″, Tooks of Antiquity Journal from Poketo!, $50

9. This adorable planner is filled with lots of unconventional pages that are designed to inspire creativity and (neatly) carry your great ideas. And can’t you just imagine yourself saying, “Hold on a second. I need to get out my paper hand so I can write down your number…” Measures 5″x7″, The Non-Planner Datebook from Little Otsu, $16

This third installment of the (super) school supplies series features stellar notebooks and planners (that perfectly complement your jealous-inducing pencil case and pens). I had a (vintage) 1990s PDA (I actually still have it), and I could never get used to using it. Too fancy for me. I like having the option of drawing little doodles around my assignments, and being able to savagely cross off completed assignments.

To see other school supplies posts, click here and scroll!