(Tatiana Mironenko - Crafttoys)

An Adorable Animal Kingdom

by Pam North

Her animals are assorted and adorable:  bears, hedgehogs, dogs, elephants, each with its own personality and charm. Their creator is Tatiana Mironenko.

Born in 1982 in Kyiv, Ukraine, the youngest child of a engineer father and an accountant mother, also from Ukraine, Tatiana also has an older brother. In 1999, she entered the Kyiv National Economic University, and upon graduation received a master's degree in finance. Since 2005, she has been working in the banking sector, and for more than 10 years she has been the head of a bank branch. She and her husband, Yuri, have two sons: Andrey, 19 years old, and Vadim, 13 years old. Two dogs, dwarf pinschers Bagheera and Oscar, round out their family.

As a young girl who spent her childhood in the company of her brother and cousins, she played with cars more often than with dolls, and up until five years ago she could neither sew nor knit. The only toys she couldn't refuse were teddy bears; they reminded her of the little fluffy homeless puppies that she took care of in the yard.

Tatiana’s main job is a very responsible and stressful position in a bank. One day she felt exhausted and so she took a long vacation, but it turned out after a couple of weeks, she absolutely did not know how to relax like most normal people, and she became bored and sad. She was entertaining herself with internet shopping and came across warm clothes for dogs. “I was very interested in beautiful and warm overalls for dogs, and I asked myself the question: ‘Is it really not possible for me to create such clothes for my pets myself? At that moment I didn’t have a sewing machine, so I bought yarn and knitting needles, turned on YouTube with knitting lessons, and started knitting overalls, then the second one, then it was routine and it became not interesting. My brain demanded something else. YouTube had more inspiration, however, and I came across a lesson on knitting toys. Then it was already difficult to stop me. For about a year I knitted toys from large to miniatures 5 cm in size. I came up with patterns and even attended several master classes. I immersed myself more and more in the world of teddy bears. I was inspired by the work of other masters, studied different techniques for creating teddy bears, and finally decided on my first bear. It was an ordinary classic bear of small size.”

At first, she was embarrassed to put up her bears for sale on the sites of collectible teddy bears. “I gave my creations to friends, but my husband finally convinced me that my work should be seen by those who can appreciate it. I am very grateful to him for supporting me from the very beginning. The first bear was bought from me a few hours after it was placed for sale. I was really happy when I realized that someone might like my work, and that someone needs what I do.”

She creates mostly appealing teddy bears and other animals, all collectible toys stuffed with sawdust. They are durable and hold their shape well. She also began to study a completely new direction in creativity for her, these are toys in the style of nature, which are as realistic and as mobile as possible.

Tatiana uses only high-quality professional materials, mostly from Germany, and also from Italy and England in the creation of her bears, and strives for quality. Her glass eyes also are ordered from Germany. “The most difficult thing when creating any toy, whether it is a bear or another animal, real or caricature, is to create a live look, character and mood. The most difficult thing in creating a toy is the design of the head. I can choose a place for the eyes and ears all evening, and after everything is installed, sew the ears back in another place a few more times. It is not possible to make two absolute copies even when using the same pattern. I love the whole process of creating a toy, from the pattern to the packaging of the bear to its being sent to the adoptive parent, but most of all I enjoy the positive feedback from collectors.”

She also really likes more realistic animals. “I am currently studying these techniques and in the future I want to create more toys that are truly in the style of nature. Such animals take a lot of time and are very expensive in terms of materials, but the result is worth it. I really want to make a monkey and a squirrel, very realistic, with bending fingers, but so far it's only in my dreams.”

She makes all her toys at home “In the brightest room near the window, I made myself a work area. My mini-workshop consists of a large table, a bedside table and several cabinets where I store all my materials and tools.”

Her bears on are offered on such internet sites as Bearpile and Tedsby, and she also shows all newborn babies on her social media pages: on Facebook you can find her under the name Tatiana Mironenko Crafttoys, and tm_crafttoys on Instagram.

Asked where she finds her inspiration, Tatiana responded, “I don't know. Every new image, look, character is in my head. The character of each bear often depends on my mood. Since the war started in my country, I have not created bears for several months, I have not even approached my mini-workshop and everything related to creativity. Later, I began to try to return to creativity. It even seems to me that all bears born during the war have a very serious and wary look, although I always try to make the facial expression very cute.”

As an artist creating for a collectors’ market, demand for her product is a viable concern.“It seems to me that every year there are fewer and fewer collectors of teddy bears. Today, young people are more interested in digital technologies and gadgets. I hope that no matter what, there always will be people who appreciate manual work, and understand that in every animal there is a piece of the artist's soul.”

Tatiana and her youngest son are in Romania now. “We left Ukraine, because after the last rocket attacks there were big problems with electricity, heating, water. And of course, it’s very scary to live when rockets fly overhead.” They are still coming to their senses in a new place. “I still don’t understand how we will live here in Romania. I can't work in my specialty here without knowing the language. While sewing new bears and learning the language. I really hope that the war will end soon and we can return home to Ukraine, where my beloved husband and eldest son are waiting for us. I'm not complaining about my life; I'm just trying to adapt to new realities. For the first months of the war, I could not believe it,  then I hoped that the war would end soon. Now I'm tired, I just want to live safely with my family, I want to give my son an education, I want to sew toys and enjoy it.”

Contact Information:
Name: Tatiana Mironenko.
Business name if any:  Crafttoys
Email: t_shayda@ukr.net
Website: https://crafttoys.tedsby.com/

Address: 04114, Dubrovitska str. 5 app.7, Kyiv, Ukraine 
Telephone: +380675364430
In the article itself, do not indicate the full address, write only: Kyiv, Ukraine
then I hated all Russians (although I myself was born in Ukraine, but I lived in Russia for 15 years and have relatives and friends there),