BUBBLING WITH CREATIVITY CONSTRUCTION WORKER TURNS TOY INTO FAMILY SECURITY.

Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer

VAN NUYS - Soon, Andy Gutierrez hopes to put away the hammer he's built his life with and get back to playing with toys.

The budding entrepreneur spent 20 years putting his muscles to work, doing tile work and interiors across the city. Though the toil paid off, allowing him to provide a comfortable home and way of life for his wife and son, he longed for security. Using inspiration from the homemade toys of his childhood, he may have found it in the Bubble Mill.

Over the past three years, he's labored on the toy, learning every aspect of the business. Squeezing in time between construction contracts, the Van Nuys native designed, patented, arranged manufacturing, assembled, packaged and arranged distribution for the automated bubble blower. Without the benefit of formal business training and with the Los Angeles Public Library as his main instructor, Gutierrez managed to bring a viable product to market where many an MBA holder has failed.

``Six months ago, I was talking to my importer and he mentioned it would take a year to set up my infrastructure,'' Gutierrez recalled. ``I didn't even know what the word infrastructure meant, but I'm a pretty quick study.''

Though he maintains an amiable, down-to-earth demeanor, the inventor boasts financial savvy that most trained professionals only hope for. He learned it slowly, on his own, picking up every detail through long hours in the library and through home study.

``I had more time than money,'' he said. ``In between jobs, I'd use the time to do research rather than paying someone else to do it.''

Gutierrez conceived of the Bubble Mill three years ago after seeing a homemade contraption amaze crowds at Venice Beach. Intrigued, and looking for a way to augment his construction income, he began constructing prototypes in his garage. From the crude, wood-base stand with bubble wands jury-rigged onto an electric motor and a bread pan to hold the solution, he worked his way up to the slick, professional-looking product he sells today. For inspiration, he relied on the work he'd fooled around with as a child.

``We didn't have much money growing up,'' he said. ``My parents never bought us toys, so I had to build my own. I was always kind of a scavenger.''

Armed with a design, he sought out legal protection. To obtain his patent on the simply constructed device, he spent seven straight days in the Central Library, scouring law books and taking copious notes. With it in hand, he set off on an odyssey to Mexico, shopping around for the cheapest manufacturer to mold its plastic turbine wheel. Once he had them produced at reasonable cost, he then studied up on import law at the Center for International Trade Development in Torrance.

Once the products were finally ready for market, Gutierrez decided to dramatically expand his staff - to three. Edgar Estrada came aboard as Web designer; Jose Corral joined as staff accountant. According to Corral, Gutierrez's lack of experience or training wasn't a detractor at all.

``I know better than that,'' said Corral, a Winnetka resident. ``A lot of times, ideas come from unlikely sources. He's a smart guy, maybe not from books, but he's very creative. I admire him for it. It's pretty gutsy to lay it on the line like that. He just went for it, so when I saw that commitment, that influenced my decision.''

Incorporated under the name Ambiant, the tiny firm began selling the toy for $42.95 from its Web site, www.bubblemill.com. Orders have slowly progressed to the point where Gutierrez assembles several cases of nine each week for shipping. Steven Kanor, chief executive officer of Toys for Special Children, a New York-based firm that specializes in modifying products for disabled kids, said the toy has caught on with his target market.

``We tried it at a local hospital and the kids love it,'' Kanor said. ``They're very impressive. It's hard to make a bubble blower - you'd think it's trivial, but we tried it and it's quite difficult. I think they'll be pretty successful.''

Gutierrez keeps his fingers crossed for Kanor's prediction to come true. In two years, he'll have made back his investment. By then, he plans on slowly building Ambiant into a national player, with a full range of bubble blowers for all occasions. And with that, he'll finally have the stability that being a handyman never offered.

``With construction, if I fall off a roof, I leave my family nothing,'' he said. ``With Ambiant, they'll have some security.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) In front of his Van Nuys home, Andres Gutierrez shows off the bubble machine he invented, markets and distributes.

(2 -- color) Andres Gutierrez's Bubble Mill.

Phil McCarten/Staff Photographer