My name is Crispina ffrench and back in 1987 I started making stuffed animals called Ragamuffins out of thrift store sweaters. It was one of my three jobs as a full-time student at Mass Art in Boston.

Two years after graduation, I employed 40 women in very rural post-agricultural Dutchess County NY. Our crew was composed of a couple of super crafty and organized college-educated smarty-pants manager gals a few years older than me, and a posse of talented crafty-pants homeslices who had been deemed ‘unemployable’ and were relying on assistance to eek out very meager livings with their kids.

We kicked ass!

18 months in, we were selling wares to over 300 retailers around the world.

Used-clothing was diverted from the landfill and we were recycling despair into confidence.

Magical.

My life has been a wonderful creative adventure with glorious highs and heartbreak. An autobiographical timeline is in the works where you can learn my story.

Today my focus is on the family business founded by my parents in 1970. My sister Sofia and I run The Dolphin Studio. Our blog is where you will find my current posts and if you like zines (tiny books folded from a single sheet of paper), you might like to collect mine. Click the button at the top of the page for an email with the latest in my series.

Be kind, creative and vocal, you have impact.