(at the workbench)- friendly

we are slowly settling into a summer pace and i still can't belief my child will be entering high school at summer's end...while my daughter with all the changing interests that go along with moving towards becoming a grown person and a little by little, reluctantly giving up those very, dear parts of childhood.



it has been a while since i've worked on new designs for the littlest ones, but this past week i'm so happy to have worked on these friendly teething toys. please meet a bright-eyed kitty and and a some what bashful, blushing bear... (psst: the puppy is still waiting for the wood-burned details that will bring out is sweet little nose!)

hope you all have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

(at the work bench) - anna's very curious

well it shouldn't have come as a surprise ...

 that anna would take interest in a little fish,

 how could she know, it wasn't made for her ....

but for other curious little hands of baby, after all anna's pretty little paws can't shake a little rattle ...


while the little fish tell about the undersea adventures and other such fishy tales,  today I'll have a few new toys to finish for the little ones again ... though that's not likely to make our dear anna any less curious ....

(at the workbench) - love spoons and other conversations (wip)

there is a long history of spoons that tell a story ... some of those stories speak of true love and vows ....













and other stories that herald of a new life ...




here is my little beginning to that conversation ... of a story written with love in a little block of cherry wood...

at the workbench - At Baby's Farm

Baby finds his first toys ... his own little hands are great discoveries ... and just beyond those little hands, baby goes on to reach out to his world beyond ...


by taste and by touch ... baby learns .... grasping and holding, turning and even biting ... a baby's world is learned closeup.







... at the workbench this past week  ... I have been at work on a *Farm for the littlest people....

... little creatures for even littler hands  ... I love these simple wooden toys that grow with the youngest child ... little toys that gain in character as baby learns his first words

...a first pretend play set ...where a little wooden bunny teether learns to hop along a trail and a little wooden chick can build a nest and speak and snuggle with other farm yard friends.
Even the simplest toys are ever changing in a young one's world.

(at the workbench) - a fanciful flock

A new flock takes shape with the welcome return of wintering birds.

the golden goose story rattle, originally uploaded by prettydreamer.workshop.

As windows open to bring in spring air, the silent waving of a pines boughs at my window is replaced with the voice of a living woods. Above the spring peeper's persistent jingle, there is a growing jungle of sound.

Robins are warmed in the renewed sunshine as they search for dinner in the soft earth. Canada geese call to each other announcing "we're back". Crows and songbirds both add their voice as the world comes alive.


In the workshop a flock of fanciful birds takes shape.
Cutting, shaping and hollowing - look for birds with wooden feathers .

Musical wooden toys and rattles to sit in baby's lap.

Come visit the new flock - they'll be quite a few more wooden birds to watch for.