Trio of Boys - Huntley, Hollis and Hendrix

I did it! I finally got some BEARS finished! That's what we're all here to see after all!

These three are made from our newest mohair stock. I really wanted to show off how perfect this tipped and distressed fur is for older style/antiqued bears.


This little guy is Hendrix. He's made in a mix of 'Porcelain Frost' and 'Emma's Grizzly. I hadn't intended to mix and match the colours at first, but as I was assembling the bears it just felt right. They really do look so gorgeous as a trio now too!



This is Hollis. He's made in a mix of 'Sahara Sunset' and 'Porcelain Frost'. I just love the contrast with the green/blue cotton collar too.



And Last but not least, we have Huntley. He is made from 'Emma's Grizzly' and 'Sahara Sunset'. I think he ended up with the most serious expression too. So cute!




All of these fabrics can be purchased in our etsy store, along with a variety of other colours in the same pile type as well - so you could do even more mixing and matching!

OOAK hand painted rainbow mohair for purchase

These are the resulting magical pieces of mohair I was making in the last post.



There are a very limited number available for sale in my esty store at present. And once sold, they're gone. These exact colour blends cannot be repeated. I will use the same colours again in time (I have 1kg of dye of each colour... lol), but the way the colours meld together is really a unique process.

The spots/swirls add an extra challenge for the bearmaker wanting to try something new. The fur might look like it has dots in full, but cut a bear out of that and you'll be surprised at where each of the patches of colour end up, and how incredible the effect is!

Hand-dyeing mohair again

I've had 17kg of dye sitting in my work room for the last month, just waiting for the right mood to strike me to get some mohair dyeing happening.

And today somehow became the right day! lol

It was a LONG process, as things like this often are. But oh my goodness me - what a lovely way to spend a day.



I ended up doing 13 fat 1/4m pieces, which will probably get cut into 26 x 1/8m pieces for resale (or can stay as 1/4m bits if desired). There is an assortment of rainbow stripes, sunset stripes, dots, swirls, arty abstract patterns and a few tipped/crush-dyed pieces. This was the table as I was doing my 'sunset' thing... I just love these colours together on a bear too.


As it was the first time I'd opened the new pots of dye, I wasn't 100% sure what to expect from the colours. Then purely by accident I made a kind of colour-chart on the paper towel where I was resting my mixing spoons! So this has been carefully labled and put aside so I'll have a quick reference next time the dyeing mood strikes me.




I always find it so fascinating to see how different the dye looks before it's mixed in with the water and fixatives too. I bet you wouldn't have guessed that the yellow/orange dye would make grassy green!? Me either! :P


And what do you get at the end of a long day of playing with dye, and not wearing gloves... 'Avatar' hands! lol

Orangutan Baby

This week I have been working on a custom Orangutan baby for a friend of mine who is having her baby shower next weekend. The nursery is monkey-themed, and she asked if I could make a 'signature' monkey, like the classic signature bear that people sign at special occasions. We ran with the idea and ended up deciding to do a mostly furry Orangutan baby, with a calico tummy insert that people can write on. It doesn't give a great deal of space, but means that bub will have a nice fluffy toy to play with when he/she is bigger.




This Orangutan baby wears his own animal-print nappy, is fully jointed, looks out through deluxe black safety eyes and is stuffed with eco fillings. He is one of a kind, and approx 28" tall (70cm)!





If you like the look of this funny big boy, then stay tuned for the next Teddy's Worldwide online bear show in July. It focuses mostly on creations other than teddy bears, and I intend to create some more Orangutan's, maybe a gorilla, probably some rabbits, and a lion, maybe a guinea pig or two... It should be so much fun to see what all the artists come up with!!!

Teaser!

In my last post, I finished with a scrappy picture of my work-in-progress lambswool bear... This was the next progress pic I took after about 3 hours of assembly. It was at this point that I really understood how long this big girl was going to take to finish! If I wanted a challenge, I'd found her!

A day or so later and I had her 90% done. (shes stuffed, but seams aren't closed yet here). I wanted to try and show just how big she is - so I posed her with an apple! And it was a big apple too! lol

She measures in at 24" standing, and 20" x 20" when sitting (she becomes as wide as she is tall!)




I wanted to make her eyes/face more expressive, so she has a cute little 'Marilyn Monroe' inspired beauty spot, and I sculpted her some polymer clay eyelids and eyelashes. It looks brilliant, but I do worry that it makes her a little too fragile now. I've coated the eyelashes to strengthen them, and the thickness of the fur around her face really acts as a protective buffer, but it would only take a curious child's fingers to snap one off! She will definitely need to be for adult collectors only!

I don't have a final picture of her - because we have something very special planned for her... think 'the biggest bear giveaway ever!' Stay tuned! ;)