Happy New Year!!!! And My 20th Anniversary Bear Drawing

Even though every year seems to fly by faster than the previous one, it never ceases to amaze me! It really feels like only yesterday I was writing this blog post full of plans and anticipation for 2013! Re-reading the post just moments before the calendar page will be turned to 2014, is a gentle reminder to me that time waits for no one. Oh, who am I kidding--there's nothing gentle about it! The plans that did not yet come to fruition are hitting me like a ton of bricks! I want to yell, "Hey, wait 2013! I wasn't finished with you yet!"

In spite of that I plan to finish the year on a positive note. After all, I did accomplish some of my goals and it really has been a good year. I did create bears and animals for five shows. I even finished a doll, which has been on my list of goals for several years now, and I was very pleased with her!  A total of 43 bears, (and kitties and a doll) were created by me in my studio this year and they all found homes!

Also, the year started with three of my pieces being awarded TOBY Industry's Choice Awards, and these two fellows were awarded Best of Show by the show visitors.

And, while I didn't do the drawing for my special 20th anniversary give away in March, I have been collecting the names of all of those who have adopted bears this year in this jar There are 43 entries which I have double checked in my record book.

I have a special anniversary bear near completion- he will be ready by Saturday, and my husband drew the lucky winner tonight! Congratulations to Doug Bost! And thank you so very much to all of my collectors! I could not enjoy this wonderful business without you all!

Sorry about the sideways video...I should know my camera doesn't automatically rotate videos like it does photos, but I think you can see it anyway!

Hunt Valley Teddy Bear Show

November has been a very busy month with two holiday bear shows one weekend after another. I had hoped to do a preview of my show pieces before the shows but the day before we left for Hunt Valley Maryland, our computer crashed fatally! We had already purchased a new one and were going to transfer data when we had the time, but it had to wait until we got back.

So, instead of a preview I have for you a review! First up, Hunt Valley Christmas Holiday Teddy Bear Show and Sale which took place on November 10. It was a great show and after having missed it last year I was glad to be back. It went very quickly and I really enjoyed seeing artist and collector friends again. I took 9 bears with me and they all found their new homes. I will post a photo of my table once I figure out how! (I'm still learning the new computer!) Here are individual photos of the bears:

First up are Haiyan and Little Song. I named my big panda Haiyan after a collector of my work, because I thought it was a beautiful name. I was a bit alarmed to find out that it was also the name of the deadly typhoon in the news the day of the show. I wanted to keep the name though, and was rewarded by meeting, at the show another Haiyan who was pleased to meet a sweet panda who shared her name, rather than a devastating storm! ( I took her picture but it's still on the camera too!) Haiyan and Little Song were adopted first thing and I am happy to say they went home together!

Haiyan 

Little Song

Next up are three classic fellows! I really enjoy making traditional Teddy Bears. Their faces just speak to me! These are Simon, Silas and Samuel.

Simon , Silas, and Samuel

I also made three bears using lovely dense Tissavel synthetics. These are luxury fabrics- as soft as they look. The scissor sculpting on their faces takes quite a long time but they are worth it!

Meet Frasier, Nigel, and Linus.

Frasier

Nigel

Linus

And finally a sweet faced mohair fellow wearing a cozy wool scarf named Luke! 

Luke

And that's all for now. In the interest of keeping my blog post from growing too long and in getting me down to my studio to work on bears, I'll close now and review the online show tomorrow!

Panda-monium and November Show Previews

What is black and white and spread all over my studio? Pandas! I have been wanted to do some more black and white pandas for a long time (in fact one of these fellows has been in progress since July).  I had three different lengths of the dense alpaca fur, I made three pandas in different sizes for my upcoming shows.
Let me introduce them to you. First up is Peppermint Pandy. This festive fellow is my preview piece for the Holiday Treats online show November 15-17, 2013 at www.teddiesworldwide.com . The preview has started so please visit the site to see many other lovely holiday themed bears and vote for your favorites. Then be sure to return in two weeks to attend the show. Each artist is allowed to preview only one bear, so Peppermint Pandy is the only bear for the online show I can share with you now.

Peppermint Pandy

The next two pandas are as of yet un-named. They will both be going with me to the Holiday Treasures Teddy Bear Show  hosted by Teddy Bears on Vacation and Collins Gifts to be held Sunday November 10, 2013 from 10am-3:30pm in Hunt Valley, MD.

Large panda- approximately 18"

Wee panda- 9"

"It's friendlier with two"~ Winnie the Pooh

I didn't intend to make them a pair, but don't they look sweet together?

I have quite a few more bears, but I won't be sharing the rest until I have decided which bears I am taking to which show, since I cannot preview any of the online show bears. It won't be long though, so watch this space!

Happy Halloween!

This post is a day late I suppose, but my brother and his wife will be hosting their Halloween party tomorrow and I wanted to share the costume accessories I embellished. A hand-me-down witch hat and a pair of  emerald green bridal party shoes from the thrift store will make the perfect complement for my black dress-especially now that I have given them a make over! I had so much fun with these.

And here is a Halloween bear I created from one of my "classic bear" patterns! His name is Boo. I had just as much fun decorating his hat as I did my own!

Asleep in my studio?

I don't think I have ever neglected my blog this long. Sorry, Friends! It has been so long since I have posted anything here that you might think I have been asleep in my studio, but I have not! (The kitties do occasionally though.) I have just been very, very busy. After the July online show, I did manage to get a few of my orders finished, but there are still more to go. I took an online class for school, and school started for both my sons and myself (I teach art at an elementary school) and that takes a large chunk of my time. I have been working, though. Recently, I have been busy creating for two shows coming up fast.  Previews coming soon!

Polars, Pandas and Plans.

I tried very hard to get both my panda and polar bear finished and listed in time, but life has a way of foiling my plans! Nothing is wrong, so no worries, but I have been so busy with my family's needs that bear making time was much more scarce than I thought it would be. I was only able to get the little polar bear finished (she is on the available page now) and while I will be listing the panda soon, I am not going to give a time for his listing at this time because falling short of these commitments I make is as frustrating to me as it is to you my dear collectors! I will give a "heads up" to all of my mailing list before the panda is listed though!
Thank you so much for your patience and I hope you'll enjoy meeting Nova. See the "Available" page for more photos!

News

I mentioned in my last post that I had two more bears in progress which didn't get finished in time for picnic. I had planned to list them on my website July 6th, but I need to delay that for one week for a couple of reasons. The first and most obvious is that they won't be finished! I have taken a sort of impromptu vacation this week enjoying some family time over the holiday week. Also, our computer has died and while I can check email and post a text only blog from my Kindle, it isn't much good for editing photos, or taking them for that matter.

I also wanted to let my collectors know that I now have 25 names in my jar for the 20th anniversary drawing for a one of a kind bear which I will be doing at Christmastime!  For each bear or animal adopted this year,  January 1,2013 to December 1, 2013, I will put the collector's name in the jar.