A couple more Collaborations

This week we had a few appointments for the surrogate pregnancy, so I didn't think it would be wise to take on too big of a project. So instead I raided the Collaboration Bears Box for a few new bags of bits and whipped up these three cuties.

Here we have 'Aster' made in a really pretty rich gold mohair. We gave her a pair of these stunning coloured glass eyes (not painted by us - they were left over from an eye order from some years ago) that matched beautifully with the rosey nose thread I wanted to use.

She had the most delicious big feet too, so we decided to do some pulled toes to set them off. She is actually one of my favourite Collaboration creations so far - and is still available through our etsy store.

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Then I decided to see how this bear would look made up. The colour of her mohair is nearly impossible to describe. Not quite purple, not quite grey... Very unusual and pretty though. And paired so nicely with the big purple collar we gave her.

Lydia has black glass eyes, a black embroidered nose and we've shaded and embroidered some black claws on her hands and feet too. Just keeping the colour theme very simple for Lydia. She is available via our etsy store as well.

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This little guy had me curious before I even got him out of his bag! I didn't know what kind of fabric he'd been cut from - but through sewing some of it to complete his pieces realised that it was actually very soft. I think it's a patterned/textured faux suede meant for upholstery. It does give him quite a unique look...

Some of his bits had been stuffed, but we decided to discard the old stuffing (which was quite brittle and firm) and replace it with our eco stuffing (recycled PET polyfiber) which is a lot softer and allowed us to fill out his shape without placing too much strain on his seams/fabric.

We gave him black glass eyes and a little embroidered nose. He is currently available via our etsy store.

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Then, most recently is little 'Penny Pup' - who I literally JUST finished now! She is made from a buttery-cream coloured mohair (ratinee style). We've 6-way jointed her (head, arms, legs and tail) and shaded her with a couple of spots and patches. She looks like she might be poodle x to me, but I think everyone will see a different breed in her (so we're calling her a mix-breed pup! Sounds nicer then mongrel as my dad would call her!)

Penny Pup is also available for adoption via our etsy store.

The L-bears

At the same time as we drew up the Tissavel fur bunny from the last post - we also drew up 5 little 10" bears using our 'Osias' pattern. A good, simple classic teddy bear that works so beautifully in faux fur with the scissor sculptured cheeks. These were the 5 little faces after nearly a whole days work trimming cheeks, setting eyes and embroidering noses! 

My fingers are still recovering!

The next day we set about sewing on ears (I always leave this till right at the end as it's the bit I find hardest!), and attaching heads to bodies. The two bears above and below here are made entirely from the Tissavel, while the trio-shot far below shows the three we mixed up with some Kid Mohair as well.

Late that night I was up watching 'Game of Thrones' and closing seams! Slowly but surely we worked our way through the 25 seams!

The next morning it was time for accessories and 'day light' photos. We decided to name them all using the letter 'L' - so they ended up referred to as the 'L-bears' here!

The gorgeous little guy on the front left with the blue bow has already been adopted. And it looks like the lighter bear on the front right might have as well - but the centre three bears (Lance, Lexis and Lyall) are currently available via our etsy store.

 ADOPTED

 ADOPTED

These three bears have limited edition kits available - three kits per colouring. You get the Tissavel fur, the kid mohair, the glass eyes, the nose thread, the pendant, the paw pad and the pattern. (We can also add in the stuffing, bead weight and sewing thread if you really want it all inclusive!).

You can find the kits available in our etsy store too. **Please note that there is only ONE 'Lexis' kit available at the time of posting***

Jumbunna Bunny

Late last week I sat down with my box of Tissavel fur pieces and decided it was time to breathe some life into them. Mark and I cut out 6 critters - 1 large bunny and 5 smaller bears.

I got to work on the bunny yesterday. This was half way through the sewing process. Couldn't help myself but take a photo of those gorgeous ears!

These were mid-way process shots - the above shows the bunny's head mostly finished, but attached to an un-stuffed body. The photo below shows him finished and waiting for his proper photos this morning.

The bunny actually found a home before I even had a chance to list him in our store. His new mum has called him 'Jumbunna', which is Aboriginal for 'the storyteller'. I will actually feel a little sad to pack this beautiful bunny up. Nothing beats Tissavel fur for quality. And this critter is no exception!

A bear for a baby girl

I was contacted recently, and asked if I could make a little red bear for a baby girl who will be having her first birthday shortly. Her mum specifically requested NO PINK, and prefered the bear to have floppy limbs and safety eyes rather then joints and glass eyes as she wanted her little lady to be able to play with her special bear.

So I sat down and drew up a new design - a normal teddy head with the white face insert (so her eyes wouldn't get lost in all that red fur!), but designed the body to hold the arms and legs as inserts. Kind of like the gift bears you can by at florests/card stores. She ended up 13" tall, and is actually really lovely to hold. I've always had a soft spot for floppy bears and have noticed that my own kids tend to prefer the softer, floppier toys over the more firmly stuffed ones.

I wanted to get a photo of the teddy with a 'toddler' to show the size comparison (not that Chelsea is really a toddler any more at 4yrs old!)! I actually snuck into her room after she'd fallen asleep and tried to tuck the teddy in next to her for the photo - but the cheeky little Miss woke up! She was happy to have her photo taken though! lol

So this particular teddy has gone to her new home. But I had a lot of fun making her, so have done up a custom listing on etsy if anyone would like to order their own - in whatever colours they'd like.

The bit I think I like the best about this design is that the bear is completely washable too (which has been a very important aspect of my own kid's favourite toys!)

Halloween Collection 2013

Aww, look how sweet these 5 little cuties are. How are they Halloween bears...? 

THIS is how!!! These creepy little guys are the other-side of the bears in the first photo, made from our bizarre and unique 'Flop-About-Bear' design. We've used handmade Russian glass eyes and added droopy layers of sculpted polymer clay eye-lids to help with the effect. Given them 'rotting' embroidered noses, ultra suede fangs, balding patches and repair/stitch effects.

This little guy is 'Raven', made in our 'Forest Dweller' dark matted mohair.

This is 'Salem', made in our crimson/black tipped mohair 'Queen of Hearts'.

This is 'Hades', made in our 'Red Brick' matted mohair.

This is 'Fang', made in our 'Sahara' matted mohair.

And this 'Igor', made in our 'Dried Apricot' matted mohair.

Surrogate pregnancy update and new blog

I'm officially in the second trimester with the surrogate pregnancy now. Last week baby's parents flew down so they could attend the 13wk scan with me. We got some really lovely images of baby as he wriggled around.

I've decided to do a separate blog for the surrogacy journey - rather than bombarding you guys here. He's a lovely work-in-progress, that's for sure - but I'm sure my pregnancy experiences will be best kept in their own place :)