Happy Easter, Happy Spring--Happy Everything!

The bears and I would like to wish everyone a blessed Easter!



This is Pip. (I was listening to the audio book of Great Expectations while working on him so I borrowed the name!)He has been commissioned by a collector in the UK. I'm currently waiting for her appoval of him so I can send him home.

These next two fellows are destined for the special event I will be attending at My Friends and Me in Leesburg, VA in June, and they are shop exclusives. I was so pleased with Pablo, the panda clown I made last month, that I wanted to try a few more with the same design, only different color combinations. They will have hats for the show.

This is Ruben.


And this is Raffi.


I will continue to post preview pictures of the bears for the event. Other artists who will be in attendance include Rosalie Frischman and Jean and Bill Ashburner. Visit www.myfriendsandme.com for more information.

Just Because...

...they are so cute!!!


They are staring down at me next to their empty food bowl at the bottom of the stairs wondering if it's time to eat yet!



I wish the camera flash didn't do that to their eyes. I have to have the flash on or Cinder looks like a cat shaped ink blot on the photo!

A Tiny Bit of Inspiration

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you may have noticed that I have started a collection of tiny ball jointed dolls or BJDs. (On the BJD forums, dolls 30cm or less are called "tiny" since BJDs come as large as 70cm.) I purchased my first in October of 2008, and last year added four more to my collection, including this adorable doll which my husband Sean bought me for Christmas.

(Natasha is playing Goldilicks with Slightly's bear and two bears I have made for a friend.)



These posable resin dolls are no ordinary collectible; they are yet another opportunity to exercise my creative muscle! They can be purchased undressed, unpainted, and bald for dressing, painting, and "wigging", like a blank canvas to create a little personality from my own imagination. These little cuties have inspired me in other ways, too.

First, they have inspired me to revisit the world of miniature bear making. In my early years of bear crafting, I wanted to try everything, so I made a handful of miniature bears. As my skills grew, so did my bears, and I find that I enjoy making large armfuls of bear the most. But my little dolls needed bears didn't they? So I got some upholstry velvet, and had another go.

Here is the result!




Chloe and her Teddy



Slightly and her Bear



To give an idea of the size of these little ones as compared to my typical work, here they are posed with my Paddington!



I have also been inspired to try my hand at sculpting my own tiny BJD! This is a big project, and I'll be working on it a little at a time, while I continue to make my bears, so expect periodic updates. Here is what I have so far.

A drawing to serve as a map for the proportion, a cute torso, and an alien head!



A cute baby face.(Where did it go? In my next pictures she looks so different!)


Here the head has been sculpted and hollowed out, and I've started to work on the legs. The legs and torso will be cut into pieces for the jointing, but I thought sculpting them as a whole would help me get the anatomy more accurate.




The final thing that these tiny dolls have inspired me to do will remain a secret for now. The scope of the project is greater than anything I have yet created, but if it comes together as well as I can see it in my mind, it will combine all of my creative passions!

Hello!!!!

I haven't posted in ages, but I've still been making Teddy Bears. I am slowly but surely getting caught up with my orders. Last year, there were always about ten. As soon as I finish a couple, I'd receive a few more orders. Due to challenges outside of my bear business, my work time was diminished greatly, and many collectors waited a long time for their bears. This made me sad, but my collectors have been wonderfully patient, and I am so thankful for this.

Currently, I am working on a pair of bears for a pair of sisters in the UK. One of the bears is finished. One sister collects Teddy Bears and has three of mine already. She has commisioned this special clown bear as a gift for her sister.

Here is Pablo. He is approximately 20" from his ears to his toes, and made of dense alpaca. He is based on a smaller bear I designed a little while ago whose pictures is in my blog header. I hope his new Mum will love him.



He has a little cone hat, and collar made of fabric, ribbon and decorative trim.



This is a nice shot, but what is that gray shadow in the background?



MISSY!!!!

Chloe's New Halloween Dress

I got a new outfit for my Ball Jointed Doll, Chloe. The outfit was made by Spampy Stuff. Chloe is a Custom House Ange Ai Gaby. Her wig is from Kemper and her face-up was done by me.

Bad News-Good News

I made a tough decision a couple of weeks ago. I was scheduled to do two shows this year: the Chicagoland Teddy Bear Show, and The Hunt Valley Maryland Handmade Treasures Teddy Bear Show, and I was really looking forward to both of them. I had taken some orders for delivery at the Hunt Valley Show, and was very much looking forward to being able to attend the Golden Teddy Awards Ceremony for the first time. At the Chicagoland Show, I was looking forward to teaching my first Teddy Bear workshop as well as the other fun events scheduled there. I was looking forward to them, but also feeling very stressed. Since my dad's surgery in July and the start of school I have had almost no bear making time. With all that my dad was going through (see post below), and with the orders I already have, there was just not going to be enough time to make enough bears for a table at one show, let alone two. I decided I must cancel my show tables. Shows are my favorite way to sell my bears because I truly love connecting with my collectors as well as other artists, and I will really miss everyone.

There is some good news too, though. First, this week, my dad finally seems to have turned a corner with his healing, and it is such a relief to all of my family. (Thanks for all the prayers and positive thoughts.) Second, those who have ordered bears will still get them in the next couple of weeks, but they will have to be shipped. Also, I will still be teaching the Trick or Treat Teddy workshop at the Chicagoland Show, I just won't have a sales table. (There are still two spaces left in this workshop. Follow the link to the right if you are interested in joining us!)



And the final bit of good news is that I have been able to finish five bears which have been waiting patiently for weeks in pieces for me to return to my studio!



(Click on any of the pictures to see them larger.)

First, come the twins. These are a pair of my Traveling Bears. Both are made for lovely patient collectors who ordered them a while back so they will be traveling home soon!



Next, is Bogart. He is a big hugger who measures 21 inches from his ears to his toes and sits about 15 inches high. He is made from curly mohair, and features my signature appliqued and trapunto sculpted paw pads and sweet open mouthed smile. He is available for $575. Please email me if you are interested. SOLD






Also available is is this sweet panda, Carmella. She measures 17” from her ears to her toes and sits about 11” high. The characteristic panda patches around her glass eyes are airbrushed for a sweet soulful look. Her irresistible, open-mouthed smile is created with careful scissor and needle sculpting, and hand-painted details. This little cutie has a roly poly chubby body made of two types of mohair. The white kid mohair is so soft and dense it is perfect for the scissor sculpting I have done on her snout. The tan mohair on her upper body arms and legs complements the white nicely. She is available for $515. Email me if you are interested. SOLD



Finally, we have Scruffy. Scruffy is a mischievous fellow who has been a challenge to his "mom" from the start! I had to stitch his nose twice and his ears four times. And he insists on waving his left paw in all the photos instead of curving it gently downward as my pattern dictates. Never have I had a bear so cantankerous! Even so, when I finally finished him, and added his checkered bow, his sweet smile melted my heart. Scruffy is made of dense kid mohair and he stands 17" tall, and sits at 12". Scruffy is available for $515 as well. If you are interested in adopting this naughty little fellow please email me. SOLD


Since my bear making time is limited, and I have orders to fill, these three will be the last bears available directly from me this year. (Teddies of Mt. Holly, and My Friends and Me may have some of my work available still.)

Thank you to all my collectors and artist friends for your support this year.

Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall

This week has been full of rain, in both a figurative and literal way. When my Dad had his cancer surgery (mentioned in the post below)on July 24, my family members and I all thought that getting the cancer out was the biggest of our worries. However, Dad's road to recovery has been long and hard and has included many complications from the harmless but irritating case of the hiccups which lasted four days after his surgery, to serious life threatening complications such as kidney failure, blood clots, bleeding, and aneurysms. The last two of these occurred at the beginning of this week. The stress of the worry, of seeing my dad's apartment looking like a crime scene, trips to the hospital, sitting in the surgical waiting rooms, as well as attending my husband's grandmother's funeral, and just trying to accomplish the tasks of regular life have left me feeling physically and emotionally drained.

It has also been raining--that wet sort of rain which comes from clouds--this week as well. Ironically, this rain has been healing. When I walked out of the school building where I teach on Thursday, I was much too tired to run to my car as I would on any other rainy day. I walked slowly. And when I felt the light rain on my head, I turned my face upward and stretched out my arms to offer more of my skin up to it's healing touch. I closed my eyes and breathed deeply the smell of the wet earth.

When I got to my car, a fond recollection came to my mind. It was a long forgotten memory about my grandpa. I was about five years old, and my brother and I were visiting my grandparents when they lived in Florida. Eddie, Grandpa and I were looking out the window as the rain filled up the street. We saw a jogger.
Grandpa grumbled(his speech always sounded like a grumble)"Joggin' in the rain, joggin' in the rain, see that crazy man, joggin' in the rain?" Eddie and I nodded. Then grandpa gave us a strange look. "Do you want to go joggin' in the rain?" he asked us. We said we did, and grandma dressed us in our bathing suits and sneakers and grandpa put a sleevess undershirt and a pair of shorts (I'm sure it was the only time I had ever seen him wear shorts!) and we went joggin' in the rain! I'm sure I had not thought of that since the day it happened 35 years ago, but the memory was healing too since mostly I remember my father's father as mean and angry.

I went to the hospital again to see my dad that evening, and when I returned home it was still raining, so I asked my husband to join me for a walk in the rain. He was surprised, but said afterward that it was quite pleasant.

Then Friday night, although I have felt exhausted all week, I was having trouble sleeping. It was still raining and I convinced my husband that we should spread sleeping bags out on the floor of our screen porch and "camp out" there for the night. The rhythm of the rain on the roof, the patter of it on the tree leaves and the smell of it in the air was like calming music, and medicine for my soul. And, while a few hours later we opted for our soft bed in leu of the porch's concrete floor, I was relaxed enough to sleep restfully until morning after that.

Rain can mean storms, floods and disasters, but it is also healing, renewing, cleansing, life-giving--thank God for the rain.