Halloween Collection 2013

Aww, look how sweet these 5 little cuties are. How are they Halloween bears...? 

THIS is how!!! These creepy little guys are the other-side of the bears in the first photo, made from our bizarre and unique 'Flop-About-Bear' design. We've used handmade Russian glass eyes and added droopy layers of sculpted polymer clay eye-lids to help with the effect. Given them 'rotting' embroidered noses, ultra suede fangs, balding patches and repair/stitch effects.

This little guy is 'Raven', made in our 'Forest Dweller' dark matted mohair.

This is 'Salem', made in our crimson/black tipped mohair 'Queen of Hearts'.

This is 'Hades', made in our 'Red Brick' matted mohair.

This is 'Fang', made in our 'Sahara' matted mohair.

And this 'Igor', made in our 'Dried Apricot' matted mohair.

Trio of Boys - Huntley, Hollis and Hendrix

I did it! I finally got some BEARS finished! That's what we're all here to see after all!

These three are made from our newest mohair stock. I really wanted to show off how perfect this tipped and distressed fur is for older style/antiqued bears.


This little guy is Hendrix. He's made in a mix of 'Porcelain Frost' and 'Emma's Grizzly. I hadn't intended to mix and match the colours at first, but as I was assembling the bears it just felt right. They really do look so gorgeous as a trio now too!



This is Hollis. He's made in a mix of 'Sahara Sunset' and 'Porcelain Frost'. I just love the contrast with the green/blue cotton collar too.



And Last but not least, we have Huntley. He is made from 'Emma's Grizzly' and 'Sahara Sunset'. I think he ended up with the most serious expression too. So cute!




All of these fabrics can be purchased in our etsy store, along with a variety of other colours in the same pile type as well - so you could do even more mixing and matching!

OOAK hand painted rainbow mohair for purchase

These are the resulting magical pieces of mohair I was making in the last post.



There are a very limited number available for sale in my esty store at present. And once sold, they're gone. These exact colour blends cannot be repeated. I will use the same colours again in time (I have 1kg of dye of each colour... lol), but the way the colours meld together is really a unique process.

The spots/swirls add an extra challenge for the bearmaker wanting to try something new. The fur might look like it has dots in full, but cut a bear out of that and you'll be surprised at where each of the patches of colour end up, and how incredible the effect is!

Hand-dyeing mohair again

I've had 17kg of dye sitting in my work room for the last month, just waiting for the right mood to strike me to get some mohair dyeing happening.

And today somehow became the right day! lol

It was a LONG process, as things like this often are. But oh my goodness me - what a lovely way to spend a day.



I ended up doing 13 fat 1/4m pieces, which will probably get cut into 26 x 1/8m pieces for resale (or can stay as 1/4m bits if desired). There is an assortment of rainbow stripes, sunset stripes, dots, swirls, arty abstract patterns and a few tipped/crush-dyed pieces. This was the table as I was doing my 'sunset' thing... I just love these colours together on a bear too.


As it was the first time I'd opened the new pots of dye, I wasn't 100% sure what to expect from the colours. Then purely by accident I made a kind of colour-chart on the paper towel where I was resting my mixing spoons! So this has been carefully labled and put aside so I'll have a quick reference next time the dyeing mood strikes me.




I always find it so fascinating to see how different the dye looks before it's mixed in with the water and fixatives too. I bet you wouldn't have guessed that the yellow/orange dye would make grassy green!? Me either! :P


And what do you get at the end of a long day of playing with dye, and not wearing gloves... 'Avatar' hands! lol

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!)

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.

Fruit Smoothie

My latest creation! Meet 'Fruit Smoothie', made from a gorgeous piece of mohair hand-dyed by Allison of e-Teddies. The colours on this little lady are so 'edible', which was the inspiration for her name.




I was finishing her up LATE last night (early this morning) and got a little clumsy with the shading. There was that awful moment when you think you've ruined the bear in one wrong movement of the paint brush... but I was determined that she was ok and wouldn't need a new head! The little face you see before you is the result of such determination. And I think she looks great (if I do say so myself!).


I tried all my different coloured painted eye against her fur, but the green looked the best. Which set the path for her very 'fruity' colour scheme of greens/yellows/golds. I am just loving this little girl, and feel like she's the perfect way to celebrate the end of our Aussie summer!

She's currently on bearpile and etsy if you want to check out more pics/read more details about her.

Rosebud - the pink mohair rabbit

(Chelsea and her Uncle Sam enjoying MORE food at my Dad's place Christmas afternoon).


How was your Christmas? Ours was CRAZY! Definitely fun, but I am glad it's only a once-a-year event!


In the midst of all the craziness, I managed to get the pink mohair version of my new bunny design completed. It was actually really lovely to sit down with it on Christmas Eve after the house was spotless, the food prepared for the next day and the presents placed under the tree... just listening to Christmas Carols on the TV and sewing away.

I then got another chance to finish her off on Boxing Day after lunch while all of the family sat in our lounge room in air-conditioned comfort half watching the cricket on TV, and half watching the kids exploring their new toys.





So here she is! I've called her Rosebud - for obvious reasons... (I do seem to have a LOT of pink bears in stock at the moment... maybe 2011 was the 'year of pink' for me!?).



I think the mohair works quite well. She doesn't have the same puffy/soft/fat look at the faux fur gave her, but I think it works to give her a more lean/muscular 'wild hare' look.



She can currently be found for adoption on bearpile.