Jan's StoryIn about 1987, I met an artist from Cedar Rapids, Iowa named Sharon Burns-Knutson. She would drawn on plates and sell them in a gallery. We became friends and she made me a plate with an image of the two of us talking on the phone. Sharon was the person who told me about Nasco and the plate picture kits. That summer, we vacationed in northern Michigan and on the trip we were reading Bill Bryson’s latest book "The Lost Continent." In the book, he describes a diner in Traverse City, Michigan that sounded too good to pass up. We found the diner and I discovered that all of the plates being used in the restaurant were plates that had been made by his children. I was so taken with the idea that when we got home I put my three year old and one year old twin boys to work, and they have been making me plates ever since. After I had about three dozen plates, I sold all of my everyday dishes in a garage sale and now this is what we use everyday. About a year ago, I discovered bowls so now they have made about two dozen bowls and probably 200 plates. They continue to make them for special occasions such as my birthday, even though they are all in college. We have given away several in the past, to all kinds of teachers and friends. But why do I need so many? Because soon they’ll have their own apartments, houses, and families, and I have dishes for all of them; special dishes.
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