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! ;)

New Mohair Colours!

['Sahara Sunset']



['Porcelain Frost']



We collected our new shipment of mohair on the weekend - a whole rainbow of teddy colours! I spent ages trying to capture the colours correctly (seriously a lot trickier than you'd imagine!), and thinking up exotic names for all the colours!


['Through the Clouds']


['Antique Gold']



['Blonde Bear']



So now you can find funky furs by the name of 'Sahara Sunset', 'Summer Kiss', 'Porcelain Frost', 'Blonde Bear', Barley Straw and 'Through the Clouds' etc in my esty store!





I even have a customised 'Emma's Bears' colour too! I asked if it could be made, they did a sample dye test piece, LOVED IT, and decided they will add it to their colour range as well! So here it is: 'Emma's Grizzly', a stunning rich chestnut/forest brown with a very deep blue tip. A little twist on the standard brown/black tip classic grizzly fur colour-way. (A small amount is currently available in my esty store).

[Emma's Grizzly]






And to top off all of the excitement of the fur arrival, I managed to FINALLY get the second long-pile lambswool bear sewn and turned out. This is a process that would normally take me one day time kids nap for a regular bear (note: all lengths of time are currently measured in 'nap times' for me!), but this one has been weeks in the making! I actually felt like I was doing a workout while trying to sew and turn him out! Hopefully we'll have some finished lambswool bear photos in the not too distant future for you all.



(and yes, that's a 12" ruler next to him... he's going to be BIG!)

Nessa

A few years ago I had the brilliant idea to make a bear from an Australian lambskin. The bear was deliciously soft, but I had so much trouble making the bear that I vowed never to do it again...



That was until this week, when I went back to the lambskin store and purchased not just one, but TWO huge lambskins with CRAZY thick, long pile fleece.

This not-so-little lady you see before you is the first of two bears to be made from those skins.

Her name is 'Nessa', which means 'lamb'. Perfect!



Yes my fingers are sore, but she was so worth it! You can check her out on bearpile and etsy.