A NOTE FROM THE ARTIST ABOUT MATERIALS AND TECHNIQUE: "We are a husband and wife team of Ukrainian wood workers. We start with blocks of linden wood carefully chosen by us to ensure that we use the highest quality wood. After the wood is chosen it undergoes a drying process that lasts anywhere from 6 months to 1.5 years depending on the size of the block. After the wood has been dried we begin to carefully hand carve the wood to get the proper shape of each of our products. After they are carved out to our liking we can then begin to paint the designs on each of the ours crafts with our natural hand made child safe paint."