Kids, parents and teachers stocked on their favorite Creative Hands® arts and crafts Saturday, Nov. 19, 2011. The community event was held at our Fibre-Craft Materials Corp.® headquarters, 6400 W. Howard St., Niles, IL 60714.

When you come to one of our warehouse sales, you pay $5 cash for a bag and then stuff it with as many craft materials and kits as you can. There is a maximum of 4 bags at a time. (You are able to come back into the warehouse after putting the bags in your car.)

Check us out our Creative Hands® fan page for more photos and updates on our next warehouse sale.

Halloween got off to a spooky start at the Fibre-Craft® headquarters, with most of the employees dressed to thrill. During a lunch party, employees voted on the best decorated pumpkin as well as the best costumes.

For more photos, visit our Creative Hands fan page on Facebook.

For years Creative Hands® by Fibre-Craft Materials Corp.® has served as a sponsor for the Teacher of the Year Awards, which are given out during Kids in Need Foundation’s 2011 Education Celebration Gala. This year’s benefit took place Sept. 21 in Minneapolis, Minn. The 2011 recipients are Justin Dible of London Middle School in London, Ohio, and Andrea Nobil of Broward Estates Elementary School in Fort Lauderhill, Fla. Congratulating the winners from Fibre-Craft® are (back row, from left) Marketing VP Donna Lichtenstein; John Abens, president and owner; and Sales VP Corey Funkey. Last year, Kids In Need helped distribute $44.9 million worth of school supplies to students in need.

For more pics, visit our Creative Hands fan page.

Congratulations to this year’s winners:

Ascension of Our Lord School LaPlace, LA

Bethesda Elementary School Bethesda, MD

Kanelands John Shields Elementary Sugar Grove, IL

Because we at Creative Hands® appreciate how integral creativity and personal expression are to children’s education, we are proud to sponsor this event. We believe that with a little imagination, there’s no limit to what kids can do!

Like our Creative Hands® fan page on Facebook for monthly giveaways, E-Z project ideas, fun pics and more!

Kids, parents and teachers stocked up on their favorite Creative Hands® arts and crafts Saturday, Aug. 13, 2011. The community event was held at our Fibre-Craft Materials Corp.® headquarters, 6400 W. Howard St., Niles, IL 60714.

When you come to one of our warehouse sales, you pay $5 cash for a bag and then stuff it with as many craft materials and kits as you can. There is a maximum of 4 bags at a time. (You are able to come back into the warehouse after putting the bags in your car.)

Check us out our Creative Hands® fan page for more photos and updates on our next warehouse sale.

It was a beautiful day for a Summer Fun Luncheon and Art Project! On Wednesday, Aug. 10, we gathered in the Fibre-Craft® warehouse by the open dock doors for freshly grilled hamburgers and hotdogs. We spent the last half of the event decorating one canvas per table. For the mixed media project, we used a variety of materials: paint, sequins, poms, fuzzy stix, foam sheets, etc. Employees at each table wore same-colored bandanas to demonstrate team unity, and some even incorporated them into the art project. Every canvas will be hung somewhere in our Niles, Ill., headquarters!

For more photos, visit our Creative Hands® fan page on Facebook.

Kids, parents and teachers can stock up on their favorite Creative Hands® arts and crafts. From 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 13, 1011, we’ll hold our back-to-school warehouse sale at our Fibre-Craft Materials Corp.® headquarters, 6400 W. Howard St., Niles, IL 60714.

Pay $5 for a bag—and then stuff it with as many craft materials and kits as you can! There is a maximum of 5 bags at a time. (You can come back in after you put the bags in your car.) This event is cash only.

Don’t miss the AWESOME bargains. Make sure you mark your calendar!

Clothing boutiques. Home décor shops. Stationery stores. Natalie Rozansky knows exactly where to go when she needs inspiration on the job.

And, as innovation designer at Fibre-Craft Materials Corp.®, she is always inspired. Once she’s done her research, she designs and develops new product lines for Fibre-Craft® based on what will be cool and trendy. In the retail world, you work a year in advance.

“The most rewarding thing is seeing your creation on the shelf and people wearing your product in real life. Even to this day girls are still carrying around the designs I did 10 years ago,” Natalie says, referring to her former job making handbags for the tween market.

Since joining Fibre-Craft® in 2006—originally as a project design supervisor—Natalie has worked on designing and developing arts and crafts for kids mostly under the Creative Hands® brand. What she finds particular useful in her career is her educational background. In 2001, she graduated with an illustration degree and a marketing minor from Northern Illinois University. “I was the only art major in the marketing program,” she says. “Best decision ever.”

When she first graduated from college, her first job was at a creative firm doing branding and graphic design. “I felt like a robot,” Natalie recalls. “An opportunity came to work for a handbag company, and I LOVED the idea of creating something that’s tangible and 3-D.”

Natalie loves having creative freedom. As a style guide for an upcoming program, she may create a collage of different colors, patterns, textures and shapes. Once she comes up with an actual design, she figures out product dimensions, what colors and materials it comes in, and how much it will cost to manufacture.

Natalie’s self-expression extends beyond the workplace. In addition to drawing and painting, she also designs wedding invitations, including her own!

“I don’t do it just because I’m getting married! I started 12 years ago when my friend asked me to design her wedding invitations,” she says. “I enjoy the work because a wedding is such a happy occasion. It feels good to help take stress off of a couple about to get married.”

In her free time, she cooks, gardens and works out at the gym. She also loves music and concerts. She’s been to Lollapalooza and Pitchfork in Chicago almost every year, and she enjoys finding new bands and supporting local ones.

The Buffalo Grove, Ill., native lives in the city of Chicago with her fiancé, Dan, a physics teacher at Evanston Township High School. The two will be married this fall.

Geri Panol’s kindergarten class from Ronald E. McNair Academic Center in Chicago spent the morning with us at our Fibre-Craft Materials Corp.® headquarters, making fun projects using our Creative Hands® arts and crafts materials.

For more photos, visit our Creative Hands fan page on Facebook.

Kristine Kiesel’s second-grade class spent the morning with us at our Fibre-Craft Materials Corp.® headquarters, making fun projects using our Creative Hands® arts and crafts materials.

For more photos, visit our Creative Hands fan page on Facebook.