Paper Doll Memories from PJ's Paper Doll Factory...

I love to do word studies and the word that caught my attention this time was "factory". According to the Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary that sits on my desk, a factory is "An establishment for the manufacture or assembly of goods." Manufacture signifies "to produce (poetry, art, etc.) mechanically." Literally, [manus hand + factura a making].

For the past three years, my mother and I have been doing just that..."hand-making" our paper dolls from scratch. From the drawing board to the website, we have filed away many happy memories while creating our paper dolls.

One of those memories is the look on my mother's face when she saw her art on the screen of my laptop computer for the very first time. With a sparkle in her eye, she sat back down on the other side of the table, to discuss what clothes and "art sparks" were needed to complete our very first paper doll book!

Another memory plays out every time we work on a new paper doll. It is of my 70 year old mom enjoying her paper dolls. She has a pair of tension relieving scissors from "Fiskars" that takes the tediousness out of cutting. As she cuts, we will discuss current events or our next product idea. We have clocked thousands of hours, spanning the age old "communication gap". Published in "PJ's Paper Doll Newsletter ~ February 2006" issue.