AMANDA hails from Greensboro, North Carolina. After years of working as an undercover spy for an organization which shall remain confidential, Amanda was forced to leave her profession under something similar to the witness protection program due to an unspecified incident linking the government to cover-ups of alien activity on Earth. Amanda now lives in Asheville, NC with her two cats (who may really be undercover life forms from another planet). In her free time, Amanda enjoys reading, bookbinding, making jewelry and watching good movies.
One questions remains: Is Amanda even her real name?
DAVIDSR. SALES REPRESENTATIVE David was born in Fayetteville, NC on Sept. 12, 1984 and has since spent most of his life in Indiana and Wisconsin (GO PACK!), returning to the great state of North Carolina in September of 2007, and beginning his passionate relationship with AFG in November of that year.
IN HIS OWN WORDS: I have UNDYING AMOUNTS OF PASSION for Survivor (the greatest show ever (although Lost and Dexter tie for a close 2nd)), as well as Harry Potter... and yes, I fully embrace my inner dork ... muggle, WHAT?!!!
My tastes in music are very eclectic and includes anything from Britney Spears (yeah, I know exactly what you're thinking) and Justin Timberlake, to the Chili Peppers and Queens of the Stone Age, to the Beatles, Damen Rice, and Elliot Smith to Jay-Z and Ludacris.
I have been a housekeeper, a dietary aide, a barista/smoothie maker, a sales rep, a promotions intern at a rock radio station, and a bartender...just to name a few!
I have a bizarre allergy to nickel, a favorite Nascar driver, two tattoos, two middle names, and three piercings. I'm a writer by nature, who loves Long Island Iced Teas, Miller Light, Pisgah seasonal beers, and Patron Silver.
OH! Culver's rocks. Don't know? Look it up! Also, the Platypus is a wickedly awesome animal, recognize. Peace, DvG
KANDICE STONE also known as Malleohheh (may-lee-oh-hey) recently moved to Asheville with her handsome husband Ricky and beautiful daughter Nevaeh (nev-ee-ah).
She has lived all over the country, traveled to most states and lived on the road for a while. She spent a great time sleeping on the cliffs of San Francisco, traveled to the glaciers of Alaska, lived in the woods at a Rainbow Gathering in Modoc CA, froze in Minnasota, roasted in TX, and finally settled in the best area: Asheville NC! She enjoys cross stitch, music, movies, books, hiking, camping, myspace, photoshop, photography, looking pretty, red hair, hot chicks, girly stuff, tinkerbell, roses, gardening, free stuff, randomness, intellectualism, sarcasam, musicals, magic, Lost, working hard, strong women, inspiring people, crystal hunting, tie dye, hippie clothes, talking to my fav. people for hours, making people laugh, dancing, cooking awesome food, making jewelry, sexy shoes, working out, new pack of kools, eye makeup, cherries, coffee (dark with extra sugar and extra cream) avacadoes, passion, being right, knowing my job well, writing, blogging, selling smoking accessories, scrapbooking only with scrapbooking materials you dont buy at a store, trivia games, hanging out with Ricky and Nevaeh, collecting rocks (and has some from every place she's been) puzzle games, talking on the phone, antiqueing, flea marketing, cats, horescopes, and making art of all mediums.
She has great friends and family, and is very comfortable being open about anything. She is very unorganized and too opinionated. Somewhat obnoxious in nature she is used to questioning stares to abnormal behavior and comments she quite often makes.
Keeping up with herself is her greatest challenge. That and finding her purse. Add spelling to the list of challenges too.
CHRISTAGabriel Garcia Marquez once said: "...human beings are not born once and for all on the day their mothers give birth to them, but life obliges them over and over again to give birth to themselves" -...
Due to the crazy winding course that my life has followed, I have given birth to myself over and over again. I am a student, a mother, a sister, a friend, a healer, a music maker, a teacher, an artist, a bringer of creativity, a communicator, a speaker, a listener,a green thumbed goddess... ...I plan to go to many places and worship/ love the sacredness of all things I find...I am interested in people and how they live, how they view the world, their myths and religions and ways of being....I feel that life is so short and I want to soak up as much as I can while I'm here, learn as much, feel as much, be as much as I can. And so far I have been doing a fairly good job at that.
I have traveled a lot, though not as extensively as I hope to – one day-- when I finally grow up. In between all my travels, I have gotten a college degree, been to school for massage therapy, worked in a chiropractor’s office and a bunch of restaurants, taught middle school reading (toughest job I ever had), cleaned peoples’ houses, worked in landscaping, and been kept busy raising my kid.
After years of trying to extricate myself from the food service industry, I finally managed to escape. I then found myself at All Fun Gifts, a lovely place which smells not of beer and stale wings, but of Nag Champa and happiness.
JACQUI is originally from New York, but has lived in the Carolinas for over 20 years now. While vacationing in Asheville in 2004, she and her husband decided spontaneously to quit their jobs and move from the SC coast to the NC mountains. They absolutely love it here, and Asheville has definitely become their home!! (For those of you who've never been here, Asheville's got a feel all it's own.) Away from work, you'll catch her camping with her family and friends at music festivals, sipping a cocktail on her back deck, or playing cards in her garage (AKA 'the adult lounge').
Things you wouldn't necessarily know about Jacqui:
She is a mother of two awesomely incredibly children (and nope, not biased. LOL!)
She goes camping at least 3 times a year.
She hates beer. (Captain Morgan anyone?)
She plays a mean game of Ping Pong, and often plays with a paddle in each hand.
She has a degree in Theatre.
Her favorite color is tie-dye. Isn't everyone's?
She thinks LOST is the best show on TV, and spends waaay too much time over-analyzing it.
She plays Spades at least twice a week.
She's never learned how to drive a stick shift.
She loves football, and throws like a BOY ;-)
ERICA
Erica DeCirce is a free spirit who found her way to Asheville in the year 2000 after spending her childhood as a traveling military brat. Though she still enjoys traveling, she has found a place to put down roots and lives in wacky west Asheville with her two sons and musician husband. Erica enjoys traveling with the hubby's band on the weekends, reading, hiking, camping, organic gardening, cooking, attachment parenting, festivals, ghost hunting, lucid dreaming, and being among fellow free spirited, free thinking bohemian types. Erica's outlook on life is upbeat and positive, finding the fun in any situation.
Likes: Warm weather, green tea, road trips, the color purple, and the good ol' Grateful Dead. Dislikes: Bad drivers, coconuts, root beer and bees.
JULIA
Julia grew up in the piedmont of North Carolina but calls the mountains her home. Someday she hopes to move to the mountains of Ecuador. She has a passion for music in any form and takes every chance she can to get to festivals and shows. Percussion is her area of choice but she’s also working on being a badass harmonica player. She is a renowned flip cup player but also calms it down for cranium regularly. She also enjoys sewing, nature, poi, traveling, laughter, home brewing, poetry and sushi.
ROSSLYN (aka “Roz”) and her husband Rickie moved to Asheville in August of 2007 to escape the storm ravaged city of New Orleans. Although New Orleans will always hold a special place in her heart, Asheville has become her home of choice…not only because it is above sea level, but because it’s a beautiful place to live and the people here are so friendly and open-minded. It’s definitely a place where you can be yourself and not be judged for it.
Rosslyn enjoys spending time with her husband, stepson and the many friends she has met here in Asheville. Although she misses her family in Louisiana, she makes it a point to call them often and tries her best not to run her phone bill up.
Favorite bands of all time are Tool, Pink Floyd and Janis Joplin. Favorite TV Shows include The X-Files, Bones, Fringe, Lost, Farscape and Star Trek. Favorite movies of all time are Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas and Forrest Gump.
Roz =)
WEBSITERaised in Ohio, Dena is a huge fan of county fairs and the annual demo derby. After spending 22 years in the midwest she put her degree to use in Xiamen, China as a package designer. After a year, deciding working in the candy factory wasn't for her, she left to teach english and travel. Despite her love for chopsticks and Mandarin she eventually returned to the states in search of a mountain town to call her own.
She is a huge fan of hand crafts, NPR, cycling, and passive aggressive comments on the tennis court.When she's not maintaining the website she enjoys walking around west asheville, thrift store shopping, and adventurous cooking.
GRAPHIC DESIGNYou can take the boy outta London, but not London outta the boy. Born in a rubber dub dub living large on a roman charge, always outfitted in lionel blares - an old skool dubber ... moved to Norman Bates when he was 21, found a beautiful septic tank and the rest you'd av to learn over a pint in the rubber dub dub ... Easy.
THE SHIPHEADSHailing from all corners of the United States of America Tim, Wes, Noel, Conner, Erik, Trey, Mike, Chris, Steve, Noah, Matt, Win, & Lukeliterally live to serve you, the ALL FUN GIFTS customer, to the best of their ability. Sharing the common experience of having been callously discarded into dumpsters shortly after being birthed by their prom-bound teen mothers, THE SHIPHEADS were saved from certain death by the mysterious DOCTOR X.
To this day no one knows who DOCTOR X is, where he came from or why he made a point of travelling the Earth rescuing prom night dumpster babies from a horrible fate. But what is known is that he cared for these young lads in the best way he knew how; grooming them from a young age in the ancient art of piq paq ship. Why he chose to keep them in seclusion, locked away in his basement, or what he hoped to achieve will probably never be known, for just as the boys were entering young adulthood DOCTOR X was lost in a horrible boating accident gathering the boys' daily meal of chum.
Weeks passed and the boys wasted away in their basement prison, subsisting solely on spider crickets and the tiny amount of water that leaked from the home's antiquated plumbing. Sensing something was wrong they used the skills taught to them, stacking boxes to form a makeshift set of stairs that enabled them to escape through a tiny window and taste freedom for the first time.
But the life lessons of DOCTOR X were few, leaving the boys to eke out a meager living displaying the art of piq paq ship on street corners across the U.S. And so many years passed as our tragic troupe traversed across the country before ultimately arriving in Asheville, North Carolina.
It was in this haven for street performers that THE SHIPHEADS gained the notice of enterprising enterpreneur Jayson Magura. Seeing what such skilled practioners of piq paq ship could do for his business he wasted no time offering them employment at his fledgling company: ALL FUN GIFTS. Stunned at being offered such an opportunity the boys gladly accepted, plying their trade the very next day.
Under the loving tutelage of Mr. Magura THE SHIPHEADS gradually put years of hardship behind them, learning at long last the joys of steady employment, camaraderie, the satisfaction of a hard day's work and even the loving touch of the softer sex. In return, our strapping young men give nothing short of one hundred and ten percent to make sure that the expectations of you, our customers, are not only met, but exceeded.
Due to the crazy winding course that my life has followed, I have given birth to myself over and over again. I am a student, a mother, a sister, a friend, a healer, a music maker, a teacher, an artist, a bringer of creativity, a communicator, a speaker, a listener,a green thumbed goddess... ...I plan to go to many places and worship/ love the sacredness of all things I find...I am interested in people and how they live, how they view the world, their myths and religions and ways of being....I feel that life is so short and I want to soak up as much as I can while I'm here, learn as much, feel as much, be as much as I can. And so far I have been doing a fairly good job at that. 
Erica DeCirce is a free spirit who found her way to Asheville in the year 2000 after spending her childhood as a traveling military brat. Though she still enjoys traveling, she has found a place to put down roots and lives in wacky west Asheville with her two sons and musician husband. Erica enjoys traveling with the hubby's band on the weekends, reading, hiking, camping, organic gardening, cooking, attachment parenting, festivals, ghost hunting, lucid dreaming, and being among fellow free spirited, free thinking bohemian types. Erica's outlook on life is upbeat and positive, finding the fun in any situation.
Julia grew up in the piedmont of North Carolina but calls the mountains her home. Someday she hopes to move to the mountains of Ecuador. She has a passion for music in any form and takes every chance she can to get to festivals and shows. Percussion is her area of choice but she’s also working on being a badass harmonica player. She is a renowned flip cup player but also calms it down for cranium regularly. She also enjoys sewing, nature, poi, traveling, laughter, home brewing, poetry and sushi.
