In The Limelight this week is Amber Dusick, who is truly a woman of many hats.  Amber, widely known as Woodmouse, for her popular wooden toys and figures.  What most people do not know is that she is also the creative genuis behind two more of the hottest sites on the web; Make Baby Stuff and Do-It-Yourself Weddings.

We interviewed Amber and here’s what she had to say:

Q:  Tell us a little bit about yourself and your designs.

A:  I make toys and figures that are cut from sustainably harvested wood. In addition to the toy making, I’m also the creator of the two sites you mentioned above, so I’m busy crafting something or other pretty much 100% of the time. I even dream about making stuff, so I work while I sleep! Most importantly though, I’m a craft at home mama to my two year old son.

Q: How did you come up with the idea for your products?

A:  I started woodworking about 15 years ago and then dropped it completely for the next 14 years. My designs in other creative mediums over the years completely influenced the toys that I make now. When my son was born I started making toys in wood but wanted to make them look like the watercolor paintings that I had been making for his nursery which were simple, childlike drawings with a dark details in ink and then washes of color over the black ink outlines.

I didn’t want to use black ink on my toys so I came up with idea of woodburning the details and then using natural watercolor paints as washes of color just my painting style.

The designs themselves are pretty much my childhood drawings translated into 3D form. I get a lot of inspiration from vintage children’s books (which I collect) as well.

Q:  What makes them different from others?

A:  The main thing that made my designs unique used to be that they were woodburnt with washes of color and this was a very distinct “woodmouse style” for a while. Like any good design idea though, it catches on!

I use sustainably harvested wood, which is more expensive to source and harder to find. All my packaging materials are recycled when possible and I create my own beeswax polish made with beeswax from a local beekeeper. The non-toxic waterbased and watercolor paints I use are made in the USA, in fact virtually everything that goes into my toys are USA sourced and I make this a priority.