End of Year SALE

I've just realised how long it has been since I've had any kind of sale/give-away... ages!!!

So, I've decided to celebrate the end of 2011 and welcome in the start of 2012 with a huge 35% off EVERYTHING in my etsy store. (Which includes all bears, bunnies, guinea pigs, patterns, tutorials, baby toys and sale items!).

All you need to do is use the coupon code 'HAPPYNEWYEAR' when you go through the esty checkout, and your discount will be applied. I'll run the sale until the 7th January, so you have a few days to decide if there's a bear you've had your eye on for a while, but couldn't justify buying! But just a little warning - most of the creations are one of a kind, and once they're gone, I cannot replicate them! Be quick if there is something/someone you really want!

And most importantly, have a wonderful new year!!!

Rosebud - the pink mohair rabbit

(Chelsea and her Uncle Sam enjoying MORE food at my Dad's place Christmas afternoon).


How was your Christmas? Ours was CRAZY! Definitely fun, but I am glad it's only a once-a-year event!


In the midst of all the craziness, I managed to get the pink mohair version of my new bunny design completed. It was actually really lovely to sit down with it on Christmas Eve after the house was spotless, the food prepared for the next day and the presents placed under the tree... just listening to Christmas Carols on the TV and sewing away.

I then got another chance to finish her off on Boxing Day after lunch while all of the family sat in our lounge room in air-conditioned comfort half watching the cricket on TV, and half watching the kids exploring their new toys.





So here she is! I've called her Rosebud - for obvious reasons... (I do seem to have a LOT of pink bears in stock at the moment... maybe 2011 was the 'year of pink' for me!?).



I think the mohair works quite well. She doesn't have the same puffy/soft/fat look at the faux fur gave her, but I think it works to give her a more lean/muscular 'wild hare' look.



She can currently be found for adoption on bearpile.

Melbourne

I was fully expecting to be uploading photos of the newest bunny pattern in mohair this time. But I got side tracked! I had just enough mohair left over for a little bear - and once I got started I couldn't stop.

Meet Melbourne:



I ended up decorating her with some over-the-top girly accessories, as it just seemed right. What's a pink teddy without a bit of lace, ribbon and feathers!


Melbourne is available for adoption. She can currently be found on bearpile.

Latest Design - realistic bunny shape

I was asked recently, to make a plush bunny rabbit that looks like the collector's own bunny. I set about examining the photos, researching rabbit shapes, the way they sit/stand, all the little lumps and bumps... and this is the pattern I came up with.

Every time I make a new non-bear pattern it takes a good 3-4 attempts to get it right (most recently in my quest to make a semi-realistic guinea pig!). So I wasn't expecting this to be any different.




I chose this gorgeous tonal faux fur to make the first prototype from. It most closely matched the real bunny's colouring and fur type. And faux fur can be a little more forgiving than mohair for some designs.




This was the bunny all laid out after sewing. Not looking quite right yet - but she has potential...




... and this is the finished product! I'm pretty bloody chuffed with her. Especially that gorgeous little face. I was able to incorporate some of the new techniques I'd developed in making the guinea pigs recently, and I think that helped achieve her pretty, shapely face.




Part of the collector's wishes was for her to be funky, wearing a little vest/jacket and with jewellery up one ear. A quick bit of research on vest patterns, and I had some basic shapes to work with. I tweaked them until I was happy my pattern would fit the bunny, then whipped her up a cute polka dot vest with satin skull-print lining. The faux fur trim was a last minute idea that I'm loving.


I can't wait to try this pattern in mohair now - I'm so curious to see if I'll get the same appeal, or if mohair will be the wrong texture... I've chosen a short, straight pink fur that is (not terribly realistic in colour, but) closest in appearance to the look of plush/bunny fur. So we'll see what happens next!

Two more collection bears

We had two more bear packages arrive for me this week! It's an early christmas around here. This little bundle of gorgeousness is 'Hetty' by Bry of Thingumy & Co.


And this is 'Stirling' by Pearls Bears. My photo really doesn't do the subtle highlights and shading any justice. He is a work of art.

Turi the Polar Bear

*** Turi has been adopted ***


This is my latest little bundle of cuteness - meet Turi the Polar Bear.


He's made from a texture white mohair/or alpaca/ or mix of both - not quite sure which! He's fully jointed and stuffed well with stainless steel shot and a touch of polyfill. This means he's quite heavy for his size, and it means he can stand on his own despite being so floppy. I love stainless steel in bears! A little goes a LONG way too!

Turi is currently available on bearpile and my own available page.




(And I just thought I'd include a quick photo of some custom rainbow guinea pigs I made last week. I've been tweaking my pattern again to make it work better for baby-proportions, and added some new features (polymer clay sculptured eyelids/noses) for extra character. I think they turned out pretty well!)

Georgina

This is my latest, not-so-little teddy bear. Meet Georgina. She's huge - standing in at 25". I had to double, and triple check because I didn't think she was going to be so long! I had designed her to fit the gorgeous size 1 baby dress she's wearing, but even at 25" tall, she a bit small for it...





... so the story goes that Miss Georgina found herself with an opportunity to try on her big sister's favourite dress. It was a little too big for her, but that didn't stop her accessorising with her mum's favourite string of pearls as well. At least she didn't get as far as the make-up box before she got caught! Just look at that sorry little face!




Georgina is currently available for adoption either via bearpile, or she can be found on my available page. I hope you've enjoyed visiting her. She has been really fun to create, and I think it shows in the finished bear when I've had a positive experience making them!

My Collection

After the arrival of little Cherrie in my last post, I got thinking about how I'd love to be able to take a peek at what other people have in their collections. Bear collectors are not a rare species, but it is rare to find someone with a collection of mostly mohair/handmade bears... and I think those are some of the most interesting collections!

So the next best thing I could do was to bring my collection to you! I figure if I'm curious about your collections, you might be curious about mine!?

I've now got a whole page dedicated to my little teddy family, and will post any new additions there as they arrive on my doorstep!

Mima's Bears

The first of the bears I purchased through the bear show on the weekend arrived, this morning - meet 'Cherrie' from Mima's Bears.

I just can't get over how gorgeous this little bundle of fur is! She is incredibly well made - and heavy for such a tiny little thing!

There are a few other bears available on the Mima's Bears website too... (that I only just found myself!).

And the show is over!

The bear show is over! I figured out how to check how many views my page had over the course of the weekend as well, and it was close to 4000! WOW! That blew me away.

All up 3 of my 8 bears found new homes, which was better than I had expected. Show's have a funny habit of being quite fickle - one time you might sell out, the next time you might sell nothing. So my three sales were incredible!

The remaining 5 bears are now available for adoption either through my 'Available' page, or through bearpile/etsy over the next few weeks.

Christmas Treasures Bear Show is NOW ON

The Christmas Treasures Bear Show is now on! I've had a good look at most of the bears (between dealing with grumpy children!), and there are some stunners! A few already adopted too, that I was a little disappointed to miss out on! If I'm allowed to have a favourite page, it would be Pearls Bears. Her little creations are so sweet, and so well priced. I think there's only a three left now too!

I can also finally show off all the bears I made exclusively for the show.

Here we have 'Trinket', 13" tall (ADOPTED):




This is 'Dickens', the biggest bear at 22" tall:




This is 'Joy', 16" tall:




This is 'Noel', 10" tall:




This is 'Jingle', 12" tall (ADOPTED):




And these are my 'under $75 bears', all 8" tall and made with floppy mohair bodies and a jointed head:

'Dasher' (ADOPTED):




'Blitzen':



and 'Cupid':



If you have a few moments to spare, the show really is worth a look. There are some incredibly talented people in this world of ours!

Christmas Treasures Bear Show - starts in less than 24hrs!

The Teddies Worldwide Christmas Treasure Online Bear Show PREVIEW is still currently on - and you can still vote for your favourite bear. Actually, you can vote for up to 8 bears from the one IP address - what a great way to spread the love! ;)

The FULL show starts tomorrow, 6am Brisbane time for those local to me. It will continue all weekend, so there's plenty of time to pop in and see what bears are still available. It is going to be a feast for the eyes! And I can't wait to be able to finally show you all the bears I've been secretly working on for months!

New Anime Bear: Lego

~ Lego is now adopted. Thank you for your interest in him ~


This little bundle of cuteness is 'Lego'. He's a sweet little 5" anime bear with a pair of my OOAK hand painted eyes. I just love little bears with big eyes, and couldn't wait to try out the painted ones on a tiny bear!


For some reason choosing his accessories proved the most difficult part of his completion. I tried on about a dozen different beads/pendants/bows etc until I settled on this big dyed-blue stone bead, and some swarovski crystals for a bit of sparkle.


Lego is available for adoption, and can be found on my available page.