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When Joan Fee's friend came to visit one weekend with his five-year-old daughter, Joan and the little girl played with paper dolls for hours. Joan noticed the clothes did not stay on the doll. She thought there had to be a better way! Joan's creative brain launched into high gear, and Dress Up Dolly was born. Dress Up Dolly is a shrink plastic doll and accessories. Pressure sensitive adhesive keeps Dolly's clothes in place. That was the beginning of a distinguished craft designing career. Since then, Joan has designed and produced many children's crafts. She has become an expert in fabric and paper handcrafts, and she is an accomplished artisan of fine stained glass designs. In quilting circles, Joan is widely known as a gifted quilter. She is JANGLE.com's editor of Home Decor and JANGLE Jr. (kids crafts). "I've always been a crafter, as long as I can remember," Joan explains from her home on the central coast of California. "I started making my own clothes as a child, and even pieced a quilt for my college dorm room bed." Joan grew up in the country, and found that crafting and sewing were ways to have fun way out in the middle of nowhere. "I've always enjoyed designing, making and sharing my crafts with friends and family," she says. Zimmer mit Fruhstuck KastrupJoan's crafting turned into a profession when she became restless with her work in the aerospace industry. She and her husband, Paul, had just moved to a home near Vandenberg Air Force Base, where Paul had been offered a position supporting the space shuttle. He's now a rocket scientist working on the commercial spaceport near their home. "I wasn't getting much of a chance to be creative in my job, so I started designing and creating items for our home," she explains. "Before I knew it, I was getting offers to buy, not only my crafts, but also my designs." cheap hotel in GdynaWhile working full time, Joan also attended school, and after five years received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management. "The skills I learned have helped tremendously in everyday business situations," she says. In the world of craft publishing, Joan has been the creative force behind many exciting projects. Her experience in publishing began when she wrote instructions for an eight-page black and white newsletter. Within five years, she became the publication's managing editor and turned it into a 72-page full-color monthly craft magazine with national distribution! Joan also has produced catalogs, books and the 128-page Magic of Christmas, a hardbound book created for Michael's, Inc. You might have seen Joan sharing her craft ideas on television, where she has appeared hundreds of times on craft television shows. She has a cabinet filled with more than 400 videotapes of segments she participated in. "People stop me in craft stores wherever I go and tell me how nice it is to meet me, as if I'm a big star," she says with a smile. "I assure them I really do love crafts as much as they do -- and I enjoy meeting them as much as they do me!" Joan's love of crafting shows throughout her home, where many handmade items adorn the walls and cabinets. There is a beautiful leaded glass panel in the bathroom that is etched with a monogrammed gothic "F", for example. "My husband and I made that panel when we lived in San Diego," explains Joan. As a Navy family in their early years together, Joan and Paul traveled to exciting destinations, ending up together in the Philippines. During their 20 years of marriage, they have traveled to Japan, England, Scotland and Wales. They currently are making plans for a trip to Australia. "There are interesting and beautiful crafts all over the world, and I look forward to seeing more when I travel with JANGLE," says Joan enthusiastically. "Too many crafts to see, not enough time!" |
