814-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 23, 1988
Meet The Original Designer
Of The Popular Yard Sheep
BY LOU ANN GOOD
LITITZ Two years ago the
yard sheep craze began sweeping
the county. Today, almost every
body seems to have a pair of the
realistic sheep grazing on the lawn.
Who is the original designer of
this popular fad? None other than
local dairy farm wife Ella Faye
Stoner.
The plywood frame covered
with sheep fleece and stuffed with
quilt batting that make up these
durable lawn decorations did not
happen by chance. Ella Faye
recalls, “It was always my dream
to create something that would go
over big.”
One night just as she was drift
ing off to sleep, Ella Faye got the
idea for making yard sheep.
“When my brain starts churning,”
she said, “I can’t sleep.”
That night brought no sleep to
her. Early the next morning she
started experimenting with card
board. “My first sheep looked like
a pig,” she confided. “So I went out
to a nearby meadow and sketched a
sheep.” Her next sheep conformed
to the realistic measurements of
the four-legged animals.
On July 4, 1986, Ella Faye
placed her sheep in her yard. From
then on, it was pay dirt for Ella
Faye. To date, she has made over
1,000 of the critters. It’s a family
project that involves husband Ken
and sons, Ken Jr. 18; Darvin, 17;
Dean, 12; Wendell, 8; and Lynn 4.
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Faye, designed and made. Her creation started a fad and
now the popular sheep decorate thousands of lawns.
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The Stone? family gathers, mi
Darvin, Dean and Wendell.
One week, with all the family
pitching in they made a top quota
of 90 sheep.
Ken is supportive of his wife’s
endeavors, but Ella Faye con
fessed, “When I say to him, ‘Guess
what I thought of? His eyes get
that panicked look, because not all
of my ideas work.”
Since Ella Faye supplies numer
ous shops in Pennsylvania and
New Jersey with her handiworks,
it takes a lot of investment in craft
materials. For the sheep project’s
initial beginnings, she brought
100-yards of the fleece. Add that
cost to the plywood frames
required which her husband cuts
out, the quilt batting, and the spray
for making it water and dirt repel
lent and you’ll know the Stoner’s
were taking a risk.
For the Stoners, the risk turned
out to be quite rewarding. They
couldn’t make them fast enough
for the demand. Soon other craft
persons began copying the sheep.
Does Ella Faye regret that her
idea was mass-produced by others
and not copyrighted? “Well,” she
answered hesitately, “I guess
there’s room enough others. We
have more than enough orders to
keep us busy.” She paused, then
added. “Besides it was an answer
to my dream to create something
that would go over big.” Judging
from the sheep that dot the coun
tryside, her idea has definitely
been a smashing success.
oldest son
Where did Ella Faye get her
talent? She answers, “I’ve been
making stuff since I was five
years-old. I drove my mom crazy
because I always wanted to be
making something with my
hands.” At seven-years-old, Ella
Faye learned to embroider. “I
wanted it to do it all the time, but
my mother said, I should not
embroider on Sunday because it
should be a day of rest and not
work.” Ella Faye did not listen.
She spent Sunday afternoon work
ing on her project. When finished,
she tried to pick up the hoop and
was dismayed to see that she had
embroidered the entire project to
her skirt. She said, “That cured me.
To this day, I don’t work on
Sunday.”
She didn’t compromise even
when she had more than $3,000
worth of wooden embroidery
hoops to fill with her stenciled
“Welcome” design. Nor when she
quilted pillow tops or stenciled
wall hangings.”
Her original creations have been
sold not only throughout the east
ern states but in countries such as
India and Belize. She remarked,
“It’s exciting and encouraging to
see others appreciate my projects.”
Ella Faye said, “I always say,
the Lord has blessed me with this
talent for a reason. Our children
are in different private schools —
it’s a big expense. But this is one
way that enables us to afford it.”
With all her projects, docs Ella
Faye ever tire of it? “No, she says.
“Especially, quilling. My idea of
the ideal vacation is sitting under a
tree while quilling.”
She explained, “I feel a need to
do it. I’d rather do crafts than eat or
sleep.” She gets the most satisfac
tion out of designing something
rather than copying others. She
said, “I look at something and
think how I could change it to
make it me.”
She finds it easy to get up early
if she knows she can begin making
crafts. “I guess I’m like a child,”
she remarked, because I reward
myself by deciding that if I accom
plish a certain amount of house
work, than I can spend time doing
crafts.
Nothing seems to difficult for
her. Typically, she does not follow
directions or patterns, but figures
out how to do things by experi
menting. When first married, she
\ •
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Ken, Ella Faye, Lynn,
ye.
form that her husband Ken designed. “I couldn’t do every
thing I do if my husband wouldn’t help me,” she said.
taught herself to rcupholstcred fur
niture. “I just tore a piece apart and
noticed how it was put together.”
Soon she had a thriving reuphol
stery business, but lack of space
caused her to shift gears and con
centrate on other crafts. “I get a lot
of calls,” she said, “but I can’t do
everything.”
Wendell packs bows that his mother makes for selling
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A typical scene in the Stoner family Is Ella Faye stuffing
some of her yard sheep while Wendell helps. Ella Faye said,
“My crafts don’t interfere with family life. I think It helps
encourage communications because we often work
together on projects.”
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One thing she does do often is
donate her handiworks to non
profit organizations and fund rais
ers. Currently she is working on
several projects for a Boston and a
local fund raiser. “I like to help
others,” she said. “For me, it’s
easier to give than to receive.”
(Turn to Page B 15)
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