Imaginative wooden toys designed and handcrafted with care by Armand Grandinetti, just north of Toronto. Here's his story:
"There is nothing more nostalgic of childhood and my Dad, then entering a wood shop with the aroma of pine and cedar shavings permeating the wood stove heated air. Many happy, cold rainy days were spent in some corner of the shop performing tasks of world shattering significa
nce, like sweeping the floor or straightening nails. I was raised in an environment where all toys were made of wood and by people who knew and loved you. In retrospect, I wish I had spend more time in my Dad's shop and perhaps today would be a better toymaker and even a better person. Becoming a woodworker was not my life's goal, but when I think of all the pleasure and satisfaction that woodworking has given me, I truly consider myself blessed. Not until I had my own children did I get an opportunity to apply my toy making skills in producing cradles, doll houses, Noah's Arks, barns and castles. Soon my notoriety spread to my children's school and I started to produce large quantities of wooden toys for their annual Christmas Fair. Retiring after 31 years in Education, my love of toy making became my full time love and hobby. I now spend countless hours in my workshop producing what I call 'heritage toys' - toys that will last a child's play life and last to be passed on to the next generation."
