Kingsley, one hell of a custom bear!

I purchased this incredible piece of super long pile mohair from Seraphim Bears a few months ago. I just couldn't resist the rich colour and 3" pile! I've been holding onto it since then, undecided as to what we should make with it. 

Then we got a custom bear request... and all the pieces fell into place. I knew exactly how I wanted this special bear to look, and made up in this mohair I could see that he was going to be awesome.

Mark was away this weekend, so it was just me and the kids (and my mum for the day on Saturday - helping to keep me sane!). So the process of crafting this big bear and getting him to completion was a long and slow one. I updated the progress with quick phone pics on my facebook page along the way. This was his head after the first day. 

Then we got the face finished and head attached to the body. 

A friend of mine came around for a girly night in on the Friday night, so we ate Tim Tams and strawberries and hot chocolate and I finished stuffing his body. 

Then, another 24hrs later I finished his final details -seams were closed, toes and fingers were pulled and all the shading was done. It was getting quite late by this stage so the photo is a little dark, but I was so happy with him!

Then it was time for his final photo shoot. The sun was playing peek-a-boo behind the clouds so we didn't get a consistent amount of light for his photos (which is why he looks like he's a different shade of gold in each image!), but at least you can see his detailing better. 

The extreme length of his mohair lent itself to many different possible hair styles too... I had a bit of fun giving him different personalities... 

He was named 'Kingsley' by his new mum, and is heading off to his new home in the UK today. I can't wait for him to arrive and be lifted out of his box.

This is one special big boy!