Collaboration Bears - little ones!

My energy levels have been a little low lately. The kids have tag-teamed with horrendous sleeping for the last 6-7days, and my body is really struggling. (Meanwhile they always wake up looking fresh and chirpy!).

So I decided to tackle a few smaller bears to give myself a break. And whipped up these three Collaboration Bears.

This little guy is 'Pocketo', and he's the last one left available from the trio.

This is 'Ping Ping', and I had a lot of fun choosing her nose colouring and matching her accessories.

And this is 'Scraps'. Made in a really lovely stone-grey ratinee mohair with a darker tip. I have always loved these mohair piles, and this little guy is no exception. He too has been adopted though.

Collaboration Catch up

These are the 'forgotten bears'! lol

We've been working on a number of Collaboration Bears inbetween all of our other projects lately - But I completely forgot to show you guys! This little girl in blue is 'Lola'. And I think she's probably actually one of my all time favourites to come out of the Collaboration Collection so far!

She was just a classic mid-brown mohair bear... but when she was finished she actually looked naked to me. Some bears just need clothing. So I found some of this stunning blue satin and lace ruffle trim that I had in my stash, and started wrapping it around her waist to make a mini skirt. A quick little flick over the shoulders and back down to the curve of her back again (and a number of tiny stitches to hold it all in place) - and we had a very sweet, totally customised blue ruffle dress!

Lola is also (surprisingly for me) still available in our etsy store if you like her as much as I do! (no pressure though... I'm quite happy for her to stay! lol)

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This little sweetheart was finished around the same time as Lola. We called her Paige and she was cut from a very unsually coloured smokey/lilac/grey mohair on a tan backing.

We didn't do a lot with the accessories for this girl - just s simple butterfly pendant and a white leather flower collar (see close up below).

Paige is currently available in our etsy store as well.

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Then we had this little cutie in a bright colour-combo of yellow/pink tipped mohair with teal blue eyes! The photos actually don't do this bear justice. Don't you hate how sometimes, no matter what you do, you just can't capture a bear correctly. (Occasionally the reverse happens! lol - but not enough to even out the odds! :P)

We've called this one 'Quinn', and he too is available in our etsy store. 

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And then... we had 'Leo'. Petite little Leo.

I called him this because he simultaneously reminds me of a mouse and a lion. He's just so sweet. I have no idea what is going on with his design - he has an almost triangle shaped body and big over-sized ears, very long limbs and two different coloured mohairs mixed together - but he just somehow works.

Leo is also available in our esty store. 

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And last but not least - we have 'Bastijn'. He was made from a real fur of an unknown source. My guess was rabbit. But I could be wrong, I haven't had a great deal to do with real fur fabrics and bear making. This one was very VERY soft, dense and silky to the touch. And the darkest black. It really was lovely.

Because it was just pieces in the bag we were able to make some tweaks to the original design and add the lighter fur highlights so his little face would be a bit easier to see.

Bastijn has found his new home already.

LollyPop

 I didn't actually plan it that way - but the same afternoon as I completed the 'Candy Collection' bears, I also managed to get this sweet girly bear done. She's one of our collaboration bears - and had a little hand written note in her bag of bits with her name 'LollyPop'.

So in keeping with the sugary theme - we kept her name!

She didn't have any paw pads cut out for her, so we designed some that would fit and cut them from a very sweet pink print cotton fabric. There was just enough left to make her a hair-bow at the end as well.

We also gave her one of our 'Lolly Pop' charms - which was also in pink and matched beautifully. This sweet little bear is available in our etsy store currently.

Shadow, Bruno and the rainbow pieces...

This wide-eyed wonder is 'Shadow'. Made this week from a super luxurious piece of hand dyed midnight blue mohair I had left in my personal stash. Teamed with the silver and cobalt blue of his eyes and bow... he's just a blue beauty!

Shadow is currently available in our etsy store. He is made from our Kanoa pattern - so it long and lean, but has a decent amount of weight in that pudgy belly!

We also finished this big boofy-bear from the Collaboration Bear's box. He had a note in his bag saying his name was Bruno, so we kept it for him.

(Random cat pic - this is 'our' Bruno - our British Short Hair kitten. Had to throw a pic of him in too! lol)

Bruno the Bear is also currently available in our etsy store.

We've also been working on some custom rainbow-dyed bears this week as well. On the table above is actually the pieces for 4 new bears.

With colours like this, just pinning and sewing is a pleasure! A feast for the eyes!! More updates of these bright bears will come as I get them completed over the next week :)

Small Pink Bears

A little while ago (think years ago) I designed and crafted a 'pregnant bear with her un-born baby'. I called the set 'New Life'. It was a bit of an undertaking and not something I'll do again. BUT - I recently found the pattern I'd made for the baby bear tucked up inside of the mum's belly, and decided to just make a few sleepy little mini bears.

Avani and Avish were the resulting critters!

Avani (the little pink/purple bear made from our 'Lilac Dreams' mohair) has been adopted. But Avish (made from our 'Latte' mohair) is currently available.

We don't make bears under 6-8" very often - mostly because I find it to be quite a challenge! I really have to be very motivated to get busy with the fiddly little details of mini-bear-making. So, if you do like the look of Avish... it might be worth checking his listing out. Once he's gone he's gone!

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The rest of the bears we've been working on over the weekend were Collaboration Bears. I had pink thread still in my sewing machine from sewing up Avani - so rummaged through the collaboration bear-bits-box to find some pink critters that needed finishing. This meant I ended up working on the very sweet 'Alice Rabbit'...

... as well as 'Calanthe' in a really unusual 3-tone purple mohair... (who has been adopted)

... and last but not least, little 'Strawberry'. Made in a stunning wispy baby-pink mohair. I fell in love with this girl while I was finishing her off. So it wasn't a surprise that she found her new home quite quickly too.