Feb
03
2012

posted by

Julie Gambino

6 Weeks of Wonder

B. is all in the family and we take any opportunity to share and make merry with kids. And to dress up our logo.

My little sister, Miss Kristine, celebrated Groundhog Day with her students yesterday—and B. was invited to the party. A box full of crayons and seventeen B. stencils got the students in her 2nd grade class skipping down B.eauty-color Avenue to dress up Punxsutawney Phil and his shadow. How wonderfully unique all of our B. stencils became : )

This year Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow, which means we should expect six more weeks of winter. Maybe it’s time to cross our fingers for a little snow this year, and prepare six weeks of winter activities? Here are a few to get you started: Watch your children bundle dive outside and make snow angels. Go out and make one with them—and don’t forget to get it on camera! Have an acorn hunt. Make maple syrup popsicles. Decorate a snowman/snowgal with Pop-Arty! beads.

Embrace it now because Spring is just around the corner and any white, sparkling snow we get will melt just like ice-cream does on a hot summer’s day.

—Julie

Jan
19
2012

posted by

Gisela Voss

B. there—with bells on!

We have a summer home near Nantasket Beach's historic Paragon Park Carousel and have 19 years of photos of our kids growing up riding around and around and up and down on those 1928 horses. They represent so much that is good to me…old-fashioned family fun, happy music, laughter, childhood.

We infused all that goodness into the design of Carousel Bells. The pitch perfect scale sounds lovely and crisp (perfect to sing along with to Twinkle Twinkle or O Sole Mio). The rainbow prism of B. colors swirling in motion is mesmerizing. Hold the wand on the bells as they spin and be transported to a day when you were 8 and ran a stick along a fence.

Then read our tips for musical fun.

Together, with B.ells on, we can keep the magic of childhood alive.

—Gisela

PS
Carousel bells will be available in two sizes. Right now for spring (can we say spring yet?) 6" diameter Piccolo hand-held size and sometime in the future you'll see a 9" Colossale tabletop version like the one we are composing with in the video above.

Nov
02
2011

posted by

Gisela Voss

Safety first. Always. Because we are parents too. Looong before we’re toymakers.

An update on Toulouse-LapTrec. We alerted you about a safety concern with our Toulouse-LapTrec sketcher on May 1, 2011. With care and worry—and heartfelt appreciation—for the trust you place in us every day.

Our new 2011 production sketchers are ready for your little artists now with stronger pen tips (the source of the original concern)—fully approved by the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission). For all the ones manufactured prior to 2011, an official recall is now in effect.

Note: any chocolate brown or tomato red Toulouse-LapTrecs dated after 2011 are new production, and therefore A-OK and B.-OK. And all olive green ones are brand new and not of concern.

You’ve been so patient with us. We’re truly sorry government approvals, testing and re-testing take so long. Safety can’t be rushed.

If you’re already in our queue to get a replacement, you don’t need to contact us again. We’ve got you (promise!) and have already started mailing out the Toulouse-LapTrecs to your homes. Otherwise, please call our customer service number 866-665-5524 (toll free, of course) or email us at care@justb-byou.com, and we will ensure you get a replacement Toulouse-LapTrec in 2-3 weeks.

To help us help you more quickly, please include:

The H# and date etched into the upper right hand corner of the backside of your sketcher
Your name and complete street mailing address
Your phone number (just for UPS; we promise. No crank calls!)

Thank you for your patience with us. Thank you for your support and unwavering loyalty even through this safety alert. Thank you for putting our toys into the hands of the most precious little people in your lives. It’s an honor we don’t take lightly

Gisela Voss, Chief Toymaker B. Joe Battat, CEO Battat Incorporated

Oct
26
2011

posted by

Gisela Voss

Shake it up, Crazy. Twist and howl.

Gotta be a little bit crazy to create toys. Howling at the moon helps.

My daughter caught me with her iPhone one of the many, many late nights I was on conference call with our awesome sound studio describing to Jeff Hook, our über-talented recording artist, the spirit I wanted to create for our Woofer hound dog guitar. He got it juuuust right!

Ready to rock, arriving in stores right now. Join me for a midnight jam session?
Who says toys are just for kids?

-Gisela

Oct
14
2011

posted by

Gisela Voss

Sometimes toy making is a treat. Other times tricky.

Where does the year go? Halloween is in two weeks!?!

I'll have a vampire, Cinderella, and a teen too cool for costumes. How about you?

Eyelights, our brand-new feline fun flashlights will light up the night as our kids trick or treat. And while they were a treat to design, it got pretty tricky, too. We tried a lot of things to get power-crank light working.

First we wanted the tail to be a twirling crank. That failed miserably (you can see a video below). After countless attempts and playtests with kids, we decided the hand-crank mechanism would feel most natural to children as a simple rolling function.

Can't you just see these eyes lighting the way door to door?

We wish you a happy, B.OO filled Halloween!

-Gisela