12 Legs Travel

Bisbee, Arizona is filled with artistic people. Painters. Metallurgists. Sculptors. Jewelry makers. And far-out folks whose work simply makes you scratch your head and ask, “What is it?” Then there there’s Mark Hundley, co-owner of the Teeny Tiny Toy Store on Main Street. Hundley designs and sews stuffed toys.

Hundley’s creations look like long-lost cousins of the monsters in “Where the Wild Things Are.” They’re called Stitches, and they seem bound by no rules: Some are sweet, some are sad; some look like aliens from another planet, some look like critters from your backyard. They are their own breed of quirky.

As of yesterday at 2:40 p.m., Hundley had created 4,623 unique dolls. He constructs these irresistibly squeezable creatures out of recycled vintage fabrics, stitching each one on an antique Singer sewing machine he received in trade for making a tomato costume for a friend. He finishes every doll by hand.

His work fits into the movement of hip-kid crafters and assemblage artists. He is prime material for the pages of Ready Made magazine, which celebrates the remaking and reshaping of found materials into art for a new generation. My generation, I guess.

Teeny Tiny Toy Store, which Hundley shares with fellow artist Hywel Logan, comes by its name honestly — it’s about the size of a walk-in-closet. Hundley and Logan use the space as both store and studio. The shop’s shelves are tidy, and Logan’s paintings hang wherever there’s a free spot on the walls. Hundley’s distinctive Stitches are perched at eye level next to brand-name toys — including an Alfred Hitchcock “The Birds” Barbie. The shop also sells action figures, wind-up robots and handmade President Obama dolls.

If, like me, you have an affinity (or weakness) for fun, artisan-crafted gifts, take a teeny tiny minute to check out the Teeny Tiny Toy Store, as well as Hundley’s etsy shop.

—Jill