A message from the founder of JHR Loveables!

Hello, I am the founder and creator of the JHR Loveables company. My name is Josephine Helen Nittolo. About some 30 odd years ago I was making stuffed toys and dolls for the children I baby-sat for. At the time, my maiden name was Romanowski; so, I always signed all my work with my initials, "JHR". As I got older, married, started to paint and began to sell my artwork, I kept the artist signature of "JHR". My mother always thought my work cute and "lovable" so I decided to add "Loveables" to the initials and hence the name of the company. I am now known particularly for my "Blessing Angels". These have been around for over 20 years. Each of the dolls and angels known as "JHR Loveables Kids and Babies" is still lovingly crafted by hand right here in my studio.

Today, JHR Loveables also includes other lines reflective of my heritage. My most recent addition would be my paintings and sketches. Most of what I do is reminiscent of the way things were done between the years 1400 and 1800. For example, I have gone back to the Old World crafts of spinning, weaving, crocheting, and knitting. I learned the spinning and weaving from my grand mother and later other friends and family members. I leaned how to crochet and knit as well as embroider and sew form my mother who was a wonderful seamstress and needle worker. I dye many of my own wools and fibers by hand which gives them a more authentic feel.

Then few years ago, soaps and lotions caught my interest. My family and friends taught me about soap making and other toiletries and I became reasonably good at it and decided to share these things with others. I have refined some wonderful toiletries, which are now available for order.

I have always wanted a company that held the name "JHR Loveables" and stood for quality and good craftsmanship in the oldest and truest sense of the word. We support artists who work in the traditional Old World arts but often find it hard to find the market for their work. The SCA is a renaissance group that is dedicated to education and enjoyment of Old World arts and the history of our ancestors who lived between 1100 and 1650 AD. The members of the SCA also visit children in our public schools and are available to other organizations to teach about daily life during that time period. As active member in the SCA, I am in a perfect position to help merchant artists market their works to a group who know and understand the history is behind their work.

In helping to promote other artists, JHR Loveables has now expanded beyond my own artistic endeavors. My husband, Mark, crafts wine racks and makes beautiful wood chests and boxes with handmade latches and leather hinges. Some of his wood crafted items have my original carvings and or paintings on them. Rosemary Hull is another artist who is part of the JHR Loveables family. She is the owner of Calico Arts. She makes many of the same types of textiles that I do in the Old World way but she also creates beautiful flower arrangements and music boxes.

These are just some of the arts and crafts you will find at JHR Loveables. Remember, each item is made by hand by artisans working with original raw materials, so, although we do make similar items, no two are exactly the same, each is it's own work of art with it's own identity and signed by the artist.

Together we are building JHR Loveables into a company that will be a show place for Old World arts and crafts. I hope you will stop back often to see what is new here at JHR Loveables. Now come and browse through our pages!