New Plush Piggy

We had a wonderful new arrival of three healthy little guinea pig bubs on Sunday. Meet Mika, Molly and Mason. (I've got extra photos/videos of them on my guinea pig blog if you're interested).

They're arrival inspired me to whip up another plush piggy. This guy is made from a really unusual patchy choc/cream/black faux fur that has a real animal-ish look to it.




I decided to try and sculpt him a nose out of clay because I was never satisfied with how the noses turned out when embroidered. I think I like the clay nose better. It's not exactly like a real guinea pig, but probably as close as I'm able to get with my skill level. And once I figured out the shape I needed, the nose didn't take too long to make either. I had it shaped, cooked and attached in about 30mins. I love it when things just work out like that!

I've called this guy 'Reid', after the daddy piggy of the babies shown above. He's also a donation guinea pig, with $10 from his adoption fee being donated directly to The Cavy Cottage shelter. You can check out his etsy listing for more information.

Finishing a doggy

The pink puppy is finally finished. He was so much fun to make. I love trying new things, and there were a few new techniques on this big guy.




I decided to give him sculptured polymer clay puppy paw pads, to add a little realism to this pink dog with the blue nose! I think the effect worked really well, and will definitely use this again.





I called this guy 'Boof' and he has just been listed on bear pile if you are interested in him. You can see his vast multitude of photos below... I went a little crazy with the photography! But there are just so many different angles to appreciate him by.





(I especially love his little doggy tail! How sweet!!)

Eden and Quinn

These two little cuties have been made especially to feature in an upcoming edition of Australian Bear Creations magazine as a project you can make at home. They have been made with the same pattern (my experimental bear Rosa), with Quinn simply having a two tone effect. I love how the head pattern allows for the two tone look to be completely symmetrical - right down the front and the back!



I hand sculpted their little ball-noses as well. Eden has a lime green nose with a pink heart to match her cotton-print inner ears and paws, while Quinn has a black nose with a dusting of the gold powder I used on Zac and Zaide. The powder works beautifully with the clay I use (Ozzle - the Australian version of polymer clay), and maintained it's shine even after baking.



The challenge with these guys is getting the noses pulled in firmly enough that they don't move around. I don't know how many different threads I tried before I found one that didn't snap at the critical moment! In the end I just ended up using a good quality cotton, but threaded through the eye of the needle 5 times so that I had a 10-count strand. This proved to be strong enough for me to use all my strength on it. 10 strands was probably a bit of overkill, but I'd rather be sure then risk having a fragile nose.




So, because these two are going to be sent into the magazine to be photographed, they won't be available right away... I'll make sure to let you know when I get them back!

Toulouse

This is the finished bear from my last blog post - Toulouse.





All I ended up doing extra in terms of the face was a bit of scissor sculpting, a mouth and resetting the nose a bit tighter. As much as the non-central facing eyes annoy me, I have to admit I quite like the look they give her. She looks really 'alive'!



The extra bulk of this longer mohair meant the hat was a little harder to fit as well - but we got there in the end. Not bad for my second bear in the three weeks since Byron's arrival if I do say so myself. I haven't priced Toulouse as high as I would normally with the extra work that went into the eyes and nose due to the fact that the eyes are not perfect, so if you like the look of her (squint and all), pop over to bearpile to check out her full listing.

Work in progress

I think one of my favourite things to read/look at in other people's blogs is work in progress shots, or before and after images. Or even just process pictures that show how a bear comes together in that artist's style.

So with that in mind I thought I'd take the time to take a before-ish shot of my latest bear. Its not the clearest image, but does show the colouring of this awesome mohair nicely (hand dyed by Allison from e-teddies).

This bear has hand sculpted clay eyelids around handmade Russian coloured glass eyes and a hand sculpted nose. The nose I love. I think it looks really cute. The eyes I'm not so sold on. I have had nothing but trouble with those handmade eyes! :P I think I purchased about 50 pairs, and if I'm honest I have only been happy with maybe half a dozen bears I've used them on. For the most part the centres (being hand-set) just don't line up, meaning the bear will have one eye looking forward, but the other will be ever-so-slightly looking upwards, or sidewards or any other way besides frontwards! It's really frustrating, and I should really stop using them. But they are just such lovely colours that I can't help it. Every few months I seem to forgot the frustration and whip out another pair to use!

So I'm hoping my decision to use them on this green bear has been the right one. Only time will tell I suppose. I'll just have to wait and see how he/she looks when finished.

The first clay/fur bear

As promised - I found the photo of the first clay and fur bear I made. According to my notes I made him back in 2002 (I was 18), and he is a combination of paper clay, acrylic paint, varnish and faux fur.

I actually really like his face and colouring. Might use some of these aspects in the next lot of clay bears. Isn't it fun to travel back down memory-lane!

More clay bears, this time with a twist

I've had this idea floating around in my mind since we moved house. I had been sorting through some old photo albums of bears of mine from way way way back when i first started making them, and had found a photo of a super sweet clay and fur bear I made.

He was the only one like it that I ever did. He sold (I remember that), but I also remember that the lady informed me that his arm had come loose in transit. I was horrified! She was so good about it though, and just glued it back on. I had attached his arms and legs using the ball joint method, sewn into the body with a gathering stitch around the narrow part of the ball (similar to how plastic baby-dolls are assembled).


This time I was determined that no arms would be falling off, so I planned to string joint the limbs, button-style. This has worked really well, but I lost a bit of movement while gaining a secure attachment.


These are the finished bears. Percy and Waleran. I am really happy with them. I just wish Waleran's true emerald green colouring had shown correctly in my photos.

I'll have to try and fish out that photo of the original clay and fur bear I made...

More sculpted bears to fill the time...

Still waiting for my newest batch of bear joints to arrive - so I can finish my creepy grape Kool Aid dyed bear... So in the meantime I have been sculpting these little dudes. Still not sure what I'm going to do with them! :P

I tried to get a group shot of the three of them on the driveway/common area bit (cause I love the texture look of the surface), but a GIANT baby spotted us.

So after she tried to abduct some of my little bears (and promptly dropped them again!), I decided we needed to find a safer photography background.

So we took up camp in our neighbours front garden! Little bit cheeky - but they have the sweetest little flowers!

Tiny Weeny Panda Bear

I was playing around with my polymer clay yesterday afternoon as I needed to make some eyelids for the latest bear I'm working on (the Grape Kool Aid-dyed bear - She's got sparkly pink eyes (a little creepy), grape coloured eyelids and bald ears so far!).

Anyways, while I had the clay out, and Chelsea was sleeping, I thought I'd try making a little mini bear. This little guy was the result. Chels woke up about half way through the process of making it, and got VERY annoyed when I wouldn't let her hold him!

She got to give him a tiny mini cuddle when he was cooked, and all nice and hard!

Magic the 20" bear is on eBay for 99c

Magic is my lovely big boy with mushroom applique feet and my very first polymer clay nose... and he is now on ebay for a 7 day listing at 99c - no reserve. He WILL sell - even if it is for 99c!!!

So get in with some bids if you'd like to have a go at adopting him. I always find the 99c auctions so much fun, so i hope you guys do too.

Click HERE to see his ebay listing.

New Bear - Magic

Well, after about three days of sporadic bearmaking moments - the latest bear is done. And he is a massive monstrosity of 20"! But how amazing does he look! A little odd i will admit, with his pale, piercing, and unusually coloured eyes, big sculptured nose, rainbow mushroom paw appliqué and silver-speckled fur... but what a presence this big guy has!

His name is Magic (Mushrooms!) and fits perfectly!

Another day at Nonna's house

Chelsea and i had another day at Nonna's house today. Which was great in terms of bear making-ness, as i had a few pairs of sculpted eyelids, noses and claws that i needed to bake in an oven that wasn't broken!

The kids loved the clay and made some very cute little creatures (as you can see). There's a penguin, a parrot, a dancing lady, two fish - mum and baby) and and evil pig in a basket (made my Nonna herself!).

So stay tuned for some more special bears with sculptured eyes (and possibly clay noses too! That will be a first for me if i can get it to work/look right).

Wind Warrior Goddess

I recently purchased some polymer clay to use in making bear claws and eyelids. I was messing around with it this afternoon when i thought i might have a go at making a doll. The original idea was a simple companion doll for a future teddy... but this doll took on a life force of her own. Her name is 'Oya', which apparently means Wind Warrior Goddess in Africa. She is fully anatomically correct and detailed. Will get some more (tasteful) photos tomorrow in day light, but couldn't help myself in uploading at least a few tonight! Not sure if i should keep her, sell her as an individual item, or pair her with a similarly themed bear! So many choices!




















I've added some photos of Oya outside as well. She looked quite at home in the trees! Shows off her exaggerated proportions and her somewhat 'spaghetti arm' look :P