Notion Nanny was a collaborative touring project that originated in the United Kingdom in 2005 and was developed with London-based curatorial partnership B+B, Sarah Carrington and Sophie Hope. Once popular in Victorian England, "notion nannies" are dolls that depict the village character type of a peddler woman wearing a red cloak and holding a basket overflowing with miniature wares. Although little is known about these dolls, they may have commemorated the dying social custom of itinerant traders who traversed the countryside carrying household goods, sewing notions, and home remedies, as well as news and information. Their baskets contain a tiny world of 18th and early 19th century material culture, offering up abundant examples of bygone craft traditions. I like to think of the notion nanny as a custodian of ideas. For this project, I took on the role of an itinerant apprentice working with self-identified "traditional" makers, engaging them in a dialogue about the politics and the economies of the handmade, asking them, "What could be considered 'revolutionary' about your 'traditional' craft practice?" With a major grant from Arts Council England and additional funding from the Jerwood Charity, Notion Nanny evolved as a series of residencies, performative public programs, and a cumulative traveling exhibition that made stops in Cumbria, London, Shropshire, New England, the Bay Area, and New York. At each location, I worked with local crafts practitioners to produce objects for my own life-size Notion Nanny doll. Skills I learned include blacksmithing, basket weaving, lace making, linen weaving, wheat braiding, felt making, pottery, wood carving, millinery, horn carving, tin work, stained glass, letterpress printing, and many more. The Notion Nanny website includes a travel blog from 2005-2007 and includes more information on the project and the unique "guild" of participants that formed around it.