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.

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!).

My early birthday present

My birthday is (exactly) a month from today. I asked my hubby for shelving for my incredibly disorganised sewing room (aka 'The Emma's Bears Studio'). This is what he built for me! (Thank You IKEA!)

The bears are very roughly positioned at present. I just wanted to get a feel for how much I could spread them out. And we still don't know where to move the big picture stuck behind the shelf at the moment... but it does give you an idea of all the awesome space I have now!


Here is my Reborn monkey 'Ruby' from Judy's Reborn Nursery. She gets a section all to herself!


These are 4 of my bigger collector bears, a Kaygee brown and cream panda bear, a big old-style bear, a gorgeous traditional bear by Jennifer Laing from 1994, and a little Lexie Hamilton brown bear in front.



My two 'Bears of Bath' mini's.



My two rainbow LJ bear and bunny.



My vast collection of bear by Pat Morris!




And lastly, here's a shadowy photo of two of my prized pieces, a Bean Bruins Bunny and a tiny crochet bear.

What a strange little Panda!

Check out this little guy! I found him on etsy last week in this stunning store by Verity of The Square Pumpkin (some of you might recognise her work? This is the Verity from 'merbears', the talented maker of bear-mermaids from a few years ago). He's made from recycled shopping bags. How ingenious! I just LOVE his shape. And he's unlike anything else in my collection. Verity has a few more baggy bears in her store if you hurry on over ;)

My Silly Bear

Look who arrived for me today! Her name is Lucy Jane, and she is a fantastic bear by 'The Silly Bear'.



The quality of this little lady is fantastic! I have to admit that bear collecting is addictive... and not 'helped' by getting another bear! Every time a new bear arrives for my collection it just re-kindles the love of this works of art, and makes me want to find the next 'special one'! Ah dear... at least I can make a few of my own in the meantime to help buffer the cost of such an addiction...

...and at least it's a nice addiction, not detrimental to my health, not detrimental to my family(Maybe slightly detrimental to the space in my house though!)

Oh, and here is a sneak peek at my lastest project. This MASSIVE piece of gorgeous animal print faux fur has been sitting in my craft room, begging to be chopped up for months now. So chop it up I did! This will be 3 gorgeous big curvy bears like Jaguar, and one fatty-fat bear like Ikey (but with a bit more hair!).

Another addition to my collection!

Two new bear parcels in one week! I am spoilt!

Yesterday morning a little box from Barney Bears arrived on our doorstep. Chelsea was very keen to help me open it after the last parcel that had arrived!



We pulled the string, and popped the lid, and out came the tiniest, cutest, heaviest little bundle of beary-goodness you could ever imagine!



Chelsea didn't want to give him up, so he got a few cuddles for a while till the novelty of his arrival wore off.



Then I was able to claim him back and get a really good shot of him. Look at his little face. Some times I wonder if I'm more of a bear maker... or bear collector!

Two new additions!

I received a neat little package this morning containing two gorgeous mini bears from the talented Carol of Bears of Bath. If you haven't seen her bears I thoroughly recommend checking them out. They are so sweet, beautifully made and so incredibly under priced!

These two are Honey (gold one) and Alice (pink one custom made for me!). Chelsea LOVED them as soon as I got them out of the box. They even have the same hair style as her!






Thanks so much Carol!!

Bear buying binge

Every now and then, maybe once or twice a year, I get an overwhelming urge to buy a new bear for my collection. Today it hit me hard!

And I now have four new bears on their way... woops!

I blame etsy, and the ridiculously good deals to be found there. My first little guy was from LisaBears, and even with postage to Australia he didn't break the bank. He's simple, clean and has a really innocent little face.



The next store I stumbled across was SweetCandyDreams. She hadn't had any sales yet, and I couldn't understand why. This little guy is a stunner!!!


The last store I visited was Pud Bears and Friends, complete with sock monkeys, artist bears and critters. I got two little additions to my bear family from here - Butters and Jacob.

Bessie (and the never ending rain!)

In my internet wanderings last week I came across a sweet little lady bear called Bessie, and just had to have her! She arrived today bringing with her the most amazing aroma! I am guessing this has to do with whatever it was she was dyed with - My husband thinks its cinnamon, but I can't decide what I think it is! It reminds me of those gorgeous handmade baked goods stalls at early morning markets, or the quintessential 'grandmother's house' of your earliest memories...



Bessie is made by Di Paulovich of Woollybuttbears, a fellow Australian bear artist. If you like little Bessie as much as I do, she has another little guy - Robin Love - in the same style available at present as well.

Bessie was such a nice surprise to wake to this morning, on yet another soggy, rainy day here in Brisbane. We're all incredibly sick of the rain that seems to have been here forever (well, at least the better part of the last 3 months anyway!), and I'm sure many of you will have heard of the devastating floods in the northern part of our state. There are many people here who would like to see some sun I think!




(Even Oliver seems a bit depressed by the weather! There's nothing else for him to do but sleep all day, only venturing out into the rain and soggy backyard when he needs to go to the toilet!)

Ohhh! Look what just arrived!

How gorgeous is this little lady! Her name is Angora, and she is made by Beans Bruins. I had been eyeing off these amazing bears and bunnies for a little while now, and was just lucky enough to get in first for this little lady! Just have to find somewhere for her to sit now...

spending spree

I've been on a bit of a spending spree buying bears for my collection lately. I couldn't resist this little fatty though - and at such reasonable prices, why not!?

This is Minty, completely hand stitched by Pat Morris of Bears by Pat Morris. Hasn't he got the sweetest, squishiest little face!

Minty is extremely well made and his fur is just divine. The exact kind of fur I love in the bears I buy for myself, but hesitate to buy to make bears from due to the cost! Or - when i do splash out and buy some, it sits at the bottom of my fur stash unused because I can't bring myself to cut it! :P

But anyway, the point of this was mostly to encourage you to check out Pat's Bears. She has some incredible sales on at the moment too, with a section of bears half price (which, when they were already well priced is pretty damn good!).

A most generous package

A week or so ago I purchased the sweetest little elephant from JRB creations. Mimi arrived this morning. Along with a massive assortment of other goodies!

Chelsea 'had' to inspect Mimi. She was actually really gentle with her which was a surprise.

Then I gave her the twin care bears Jeannette had included especially for her. She has just started a really cute trick in the last few weeks of actually cuddling her toys/baby dolls. So the bears got tucked under her chin and patted on the back. I'm still trying to work out where she picked this up from...




AND, I also found some adorable baby boy clothes for Number 2. (as the poor little thing seems to be getting called! - Mark and I really need to hurry up and name him, or at least give him a more suitable nickname!). These are so perfect, the right size, the right season! And for boys clothes, they are actually really cute! (which can be hard to find sometimes!). The little overalls are exactly like a pair I was deciding to buy yesterday. In the end I left them in the shop cause they were too expensive. So thank you so so much Jeannette!


Mimi is now sitting in pride of place on my bear display, with a little crocheted friend I bought from the USA a few years ago. They look so sweet together!

A new bear for my collection

I jumped on bearpile this morning and was feeling like a little splurge, when I spotted this super cute bunny by LJ Bears...




Her name is Becky, and she's a little sweetheart in kid mohair. I don't often buy bears for my collection. Maybe 2-3 times a year, so this little lady is a bit special!

My collection

I received my copy of the latest Australian Bear Creations magazine today, and in it they have asked for photos of people's bear collections. So I thought what a good opportunity to actually take some photos of my collection in its entirety!







These are most of my bears. I have others scattered about.

Chelsea and Paradise Bear

Should explain that the image below is of my gorgeous little lady Chelsea Claire (7 months old) and the latest edition to my own bear collection - a bear called
Paradise all the way from the UK. Chelsea was doing a little but of quality checking on arrival!

Basically an expert now!

Ok, so that last photo was very BIG! Maybe we'll scale down the size a little from now on. I think i'm getting the hang of this though. (and i hear all my millions of readers say 'for gods sake woman, get on with it!') - so i will.

Just want to try adding one more photo and see what happens when i play around with the layout. Bear with me!