Hometown profile:Spending time with The Lazy Doodle

CORTLAND -- Although Mandy Mauger works as a health professional, she still makes time during her off hours to design the home decor and specialty items that make up The Lazy Doodle's products.

"I missed being creative and was ready for a change after my busy, sports-playing son graduated high school," Mauger said. "I guess I am motivated by life. Life is crazy and busy. I am very busy naturally, but this almost helps me to focus. Motivation probably comes from needing to be busy at all times."

Mauger developed her inventive potential during a vocational graphic design program at Sandwich High School in Sandwich, Illinois, along with four years of fine arts at Kent State University. After high school, she became a hair stylist then returned to college and now is working as a certified occupational therapy assistant.

"Both careers require a lot of creativity. I am known to have my patients work on fine motor skills, standing balance and strength while creating artwork or tie-dying T-shirts," Mauger said.

Being a family project, The Lazy Doodle includes contributions from her husband, Jeff, son, Gavin, and nieces, Norah and Mia.

With a background in landscaping and design, Jeff takes Mandy's ideas and, using wood, medium-density fiberboard and acrylic paint, makes them into saleable items.

"My husband does as much as I do with this. He just isn't into computer stuff or social media. Gavin helps with marketing and is working on a website. Norah does some finishing work and Mia helps with packaging and marketing such as drawing names for our contests and showcasing products," Mauger said. "Jeff built a room and did the complete setup of the laser installation -- not an easy task. It included insulating because it needs the temperature regulated and also vented properly."

"I refer to my family (staff) as Doodles when we are working," she said, laughing. "But seriously, I want the kids to learn they can create beautiful things even when life gets busy."

Besides items at a vendor space at The Market Place at Creekside Gardens in Warren such as Valentine's Day-themed sweatshirts and plaques, Mauger also collaborates with customers to make specialized one-of-a-kind goods. Doodle signs, dog signs and clothing will be added later this year.

"We love to create keepsake memorial items such as graduating senior sports gifts, memorial gifts and ornaments when people or pets pass, and offer our chenille patch sweatshirts to local schools for their fundraising," she said. "The memorial ornaments are so important because they are a gift from the heart and generally unique. Even something so small can mean so much with personalization. We have a lot of requests, especially for the dog ornaments."

This is the Maugers' second attempt at monetizing their creativity.

"We had a glitter and bling T-shirt business approximately 10 years ago, but life got too busy to keep up with it. I was always interested in die-cut machines for crafting and T-shirt making. I always liked to paint wood signs and could never achieve the clean look that I wanted. Then, I saw the laser engraving and cutting machine and knew that would give us the results we needed to make quality items. Jeff and I are both picky in our work. We would never sell or offer to sell an item that we wouldn't buy or display," Mauger said.

As for the name, Mauger attributes it to the family's oldest of three doodles. "Booker is our first bernedoodle who we are obsessed with, and he is lazy. We then have Lacey, a bernedoodle who is a bit crazy, and the latest addition is a rescued mini goldendoodle named Sydney. Her personality is all puppy right now.

"We wanted to keep the name kind of catchy and not tied to any one product. We have found that it is a huge talking point when we go to shows and meet people that we do business with."

As the family business slowly grows, Mauger remains most interested in how they affect others.

"The Lazy Doodle is something that we enjoy. We love to see our products come together into quality, giftable pieces. I am a giver by nature and if we can create something meaningful for people to give to others, either during a celebration or a time of sorrow, we are honored to be included in that."

To suggest a Saturday profile, contact Metro Editor Marly Reichert at mreichert@tribtoday.com or Features Editor Ashley Fox at afox@tribtoday.com.