Marshmallow (and Chelsea!)

This is my latest creation - 'Marshmallow'. Quite appropriately named by Mark! [Please Note: Marshmallow is now SOLD]

He is made from one of the last pieces of this stunning choc-tipped faux fur that I had left. I do have some of this same fur in a pink tip, and a violet tip in my etsy store though, if you're looking for something similar.




Marshmallow has a needle sculptured face... which I did whilst chatting away to my mum last week during one of her visits. I even surprised myself at how it turned out... especially considering I was talking and cutting at the same time. Maybe I really can multi-task!?

When I was getting his photo's, Miss Chelsea (now 2 1/2yrs old!) decided she wanted to pose with him. Once upon a time she made the big bears look big... now they look quite petite sitting next to her!



Marshmallow looks out through a pair of my hand painted eyes too. I just loved the depth of colour against the lighter fur. I have just recently added a new batch of 20+ pairs with some new colours (ice blue, purples, silvers, black etc) in my esty store as well. These are more of the bigger size (10-14mm), so have some very nice definition and detail.

I've been busy

I've been busy working away behind the scenes here, and have three new bears and 26 pairs of hand painted eyes to show for myself this week.






The eyes were yesterday's project. I was looking for something to do that got me out of the craft room (which means the kids are out of the craft room too... each time we go in there means just a little more mess, and a lot more destruction!). So I decided to paint eyes on the kitchen counter while the kids played in the lounge/outside.

It sort of worked. Chelsea decided she needed each of her fingers and toes painted a different colour, and Byron spent most of the time trying to reach/steal the eyes from the table top when I wasn't looking! But despite that, I managed to get all 26 pairs done before lunch (and 20 very colorful 2-yr old nails!).

It's a process of painting a colour, scratching back the detail, painting another colour, scratching more detail (trying not to ruin the first layer) and so on. Each of my eyes have about 3-5 layers. Depends on how quickly I was happy with the effect.




I've decided to offer some of these eyes for sale as well, as I really believe that the eyes can make or break your bear/creation - and would love for others to play with colour too! You can find what's left of the 26 pairs on etsy (a few have already been snapped up).





And showing off an earlier pair of my hand painted eyes is the very bright 'Illeana'. She's made from a piece of the hand dyed/tipped mohair that Allison from eTeddies was selling a year or so ago. I haven't got much of it left now, but thought it would look perfect for this girl.





Illeana is currently available on bearpile and/or etsy.










This little bundle of sweetness is the second bunny in my newest bunny design - this time in a short faux fur for extra softness. I stuffed this girl with a mix of corn fibre (used in the head - packs in beautifully!) and the recycled PET stuffing for her belly/feet (it's a lot softer, and you don't need much at all to get a nice feel). Her name is Valentine (yep, she was born on valentine's day!) and she too is available on etsy and bearpile.









And this little lady is a 7" purple bear I've had cut out for a while. I didn't realise quite how long her nose was going to be. I think it might have been a new design I was experimenting with, then forgot to finish! It kind of gives her a bit of an elfin/faery look. I've caller her 'Lora' and she too is on etsy.

Sneak Peek - pink bear's feet

I thought I'd take some progress photos as I painted my pink bear's paw pads. At this stage I've free-hand painted the first paw, and now I'm attempting to get the mirror-image on the other paw. I'm 100% sure there would be easier ways of doing this (ie. templates), but I'm a bit impatient for such planning!



Two paws fully painted in light lavender.



A bit of mid-tone lavender is added for some (really) subtle shading. (so subtle you can't even tell in this photo!).



Then I mix in a bit of violet to get a darker lavender. I'm trying to match the two purples in the teddy's head bow which can just be seen in the first photo.




Using the handle of the paintbrush I decided to do some spots in a tonal pattern to match the spots on the ribbon.




The finished feet. Still wet here, but not too bad considering I was entertaining a two year old at the same time :P

Ana - 'Elephant' Bear

This is my very last bear in the stunning faux fur I've been using over the last few weeks.



I held back on finishing her, as I was waiting to see how the new painted glass eyes would turn out. I hoped they'd stand out nicely against the multi-tonal fur, and I think they have.



I just love the colour and shimmer on Ana's eyes. I think I could just sit there and paint glass eyes all day. It is so much fun, and such a surprise to see each layer come through and add to the depth and realism of the eye.



'Ana' means elephant in Indian according to a baby-name website I found last night. I thought this worked really beautifully for her, especially after one of the accessories I chose for her was this tiny silver and crystal elephant charm.

(Also, as I mentioned on bearpile, she's just about as fat as an elephant as well, so the name works in multiple ways!)

Painting Eyes

I stumbled across this video on YouTube last week and decided to give eye-painting a go. I purchased two dozen pairs of clear glass eyes, then went down to the shops to search for nail polish in various shades of blue, green, gold and chocolate (interesting colours to source!).



The eyes arrived this morning, so I decided to have a practice run with three of the larger pairs. This is the result I got. I am pretty pleased.




I've gotten a little better as the day has worn on, and some of the pair's I've just finished now are awesome. But you'll have to wait to see them on the finished bears ;)

I really recommend giving eye painting a go if you're like me and have never tried it. It's really quite straight forward, and the results speak for themselves.