Thank YOU!!!

Thank you to all the collectors who visited my show page at TeddiesWorldwide yesterday and a special thank you to those who have chosen to adopt my bears! They all found homes very quickly.

The show is still in full swing with many other beautiful bears still available, so if you haven't had a chance to visit yet, be sure to check it out.



I wanted to post a few more photos of the bears I created for this show. They are so fun to pose. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do.

First up are the Circus Babies. Circus Babies are 9" cubs made from dense alpaca. Each has a needle and scissor-sculpted face, premium glass eyes, and a multi-layered stitched pearl cotton nose. The five-way jointed cubs have curved arms and legs and paw which are needle-sculpted and shaded to create a similar look to my applique trapunto technique for larger bears, but is better suited to this smaller scale. They are stuffed with polyfil and glass pellets. The little clown collars are removable. These were so fun to make--I plan to have a few made for my next show in Philadelphia too. You met Pinky in my last post, so here are  Nico and Beppo!

Nico!

Nico

Nico

Nico

Beppo

Beppo

Beppo

I also created two classic styled fellows for this show using a chubby-bellied design I call "Cubcake"

They are nine inches tall and made from mohair. I love to see how much a different style of fabric can change the look of a design! Introducing Waldon and Wheatly. Thank you for looking!

Waldon

Waldon

Waldon

Wheatly

Wheatly

Wheatly

Sweet Little Feet!

One of the details people notice first about my bears (apart from their faces) are the detailed paw pads. From my earliest bears to the ones I create today I have always wanted decorate the paws of my bears and have tried different things along the way. I have embellished paw pads with acrylic paint, air brushing, embroidery, needle-felting, needle-sculpting, trapunto, and various combinations of these. In 2003, I created a look which combines two quilting techniques, applique and trapunto with air-brush shading, and was quite pleased with it. Collectors seem to like it too, and so it has become one of the most recognizable features in my work.

Before the paw pieces are sewn onto the legs or arms, Ultrasuede pads are appliqued onto the fur- sewing around each toe and pad. After the pads are sewn to the legs and arms, but before the limbs are turned right side out, a tiny slit is cut in the back of each toe, and they are stuffed one by one. The slits are then stitched closed with sturdy thread. This time consuming technique involves a few more  steps, but the effect is well worth the extra time, and suits my larger bears beautifully.

I do not use this technique for all of my bears, because sometimes I enjoy creating  classically styled Teddy Bears and I think their paws look best with just a bit of air brush shading. Also, the process does not translate well to small bears.

When I designed a small bear pattern which had the look of the bigger bears--with the chubby body and curved arms and legs, I really wanted to give the paws detail to resemble their bigger brothers and sisters, and now I have come up with something I am happy with! I hope you like it too!

Pinky

Pinky

This little alpaca clown is nine inches tall and her name is Pinky. Her  tiny paws--both hands and feet--are needle sculpted and then shaded with fine art pens. Pinky and two more Circus Babies like her, one black bear, and one tan bear, will be available this weekend at the Teddies Worldwide online show. Visit www.teddiesworldwide.com to see preview photos from all of the participating artists and to vote for your favorites! Then be sure to log in at 4:00 on Friday when the show starts.

Silly Bears

I have been so busy with my teaching job and my bears that I have neglected this blog. I have some good news to share, but I will share it next week, because I am excited to introduce my first bears, (and Kitty) for 2015! These friends are on their way to Silly Bears of Scotland and then to Hugglets. They are part of The Velvet Collection! I hope you will stop to see them there!

Pedrolino and His Puppet. I adore making these bear and puppet sets and this one just may be my favorite. I have changed the design to be more panda-like and the black and white are so striking.

Pedrolino and His Puppet

Piper the Jester

Puss in Boots

Wentworth

Roland 

Wee Hatta

Wee Hatta

I'm just mad about this little bear I have just finished! He's called "Wee Hatta" because he is a 9 inch version of a 23 inch bear I made in 2012. Here is his big brother:

Hatta

As you can see, I have used scraps of the same fabrics the big guy wears. It was a fun challenge to recreate the look of his clothing and accessories in the smaller scale. The scale of the prints and textures are different but I think they work. I also wanted to do some detailing on the paws to match the bigger bear. Wee Hatta is the second bear I have done with needle-sculpted paws in this style. The technique is completely different from the applique trapunto I do on my larger bears, but it lends itself much better to his little feet and paws! Both bears' paws feature shading which helps with the family resemblance.

It was easy enough to find tiny wooden spools at the craft store, and while it was time consuming, I enjoyed wrapping each tiny spool with thread from my own cache. Good thing I did since I had to do it twice! The first spool chain looked a bit too bulky, so I got some smaller spools.

Chain of spools--take two!

Wee Hatta already has a home and is winging his way there right now, hoping to arrive as a Christmas surprise!

Here are a few more photos.

Technical Difficulties!

So after my camera battery died earlier, then the Paypal bottons didn't work for anyone! I am so sorry.  I sold each bear to the first person who inquired via emal about them.  It was the fairest way I could think of. This is the first time I have tried to do a timed update. I wanted to try it that way so everyone on my mailing list could have a chance of seeing them. Apparently, this idea needs some work. I will do my best to serve you all better next time.

Thank you so much to all who adopted bears from this little update and to those who adopted bears from the recent show.

Best Laid Plans?

I am very sorry to say I must delay the posting of my bears for a few hours! This is the first time I have planned an update for a specific time and I discovered as I set up my tripod that my camera battery has lost it's charge and now I must charge it!  "The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray."  It happens to me often enough, which makes me wonder if they really were the best laid plans.

I am sorry for any inconvience this has caused. The new posting time will be 7:00 pm Eastern Standard Time, this evening December 5.

Click on the Available link above at that time to  see the bears.

Late to the Party!

I have been working like crazy trying to have as many lovely Christmas bears for the online show as I could, but sadly, there are three which I did not finish. I plan to list them on my website sometime within the next week. If you are on my mailing list, you will receive a notice as to exactly when it will be, as soon as I know myself!

Messy worktable, busy hands!