11. Elea Jourdan

I have always found Christmas to be a time of wonder. During the Christmas holiday of 1994, it was even more so. That’s when the true enchantment of the season first entered my life as I began the journey in my art.

I remember settling in to make my normal handcrafted Christmas gifts for friends and family. My desire was to capture a little holiday enchantment by making Santas as gifts. Finding a pattern for a primitive Santa made from a paint stick, I added a hood, a bag and put together my first prototype. He was cute, but definitely needed improvement!

The problem was that Santa only had two dots for eyes and a wool beard at the tip of a paint stick. Not my vision!

Inspiration struck! I saw new, flesh-toned clay being used by another Christmas artist for her Santa faces. That was it!

Serendipity led me to the nearest craft store, where I found one box of the new clay. What luck! I purchased the clay and hurried home to my workshop. Working through the night, I crafted my first sculpted Santa face. When I glued the face to the paint stick, Santa came alive! People saw my Old World Santas and within a week I had 150 orders! So began Creations by Elea.

More than two decades later, my labor of love for Christmas, and seeing the joy it brings to others, still rewards me. I have also added Norwegian-inspired Nisses to my line of traditional Scandinavian Santas and the new Norwegian- Decorah Vikings.

I’ve also branched out into making beautiful felted textiles into clothing, mittens and scarves, as well as hand-hammered aluminum jewelry.

I invite you to discover my unique items and the care I put into all my handcrafted creations. The spirit of Christmas and old-world artisanship lives year-round at Creations by Elea!