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

Orangutan Baby

This week I have been working on a custom Orangutan baby for a friend of mine who is having her baby shower next weekend. The nursery is monkey-themed, and she asked if I could make a 'signature' monkey, like the classic signature bear that people sign at special occasions. We ran with the idea and ended up deciding to do a mostly furry Orangutan baby, with a calico tummy insert that people can write on. It doesn't give a great deal of space, but means that bub will have a nice fluffy toy to play with when he/she is bigger.




This Orangutan baby wears his own animal-print nappy, is fully jointed, looks out through deluxe black safety eyes and is stuffed with eco fillings. He is one of a kind, and approx 28" tall (70cm)!





If you like the look of this funny big boy, then stay tuned for the next Teddy's Worldwide online bear show in July. It focuses mostly on creations other than teddy bears, and I intend to create some more Orangutan's, maybe a gorilla, probably some rabbits, and a lion, maybe a guinea pig or two... It should be so much fun to see what all the artists come up with!!!

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!)

Maia, my first Tissavel fur bear

It took a little while to get this big fluff-ball done as the kids have been a little more demanding lately. Nothing I can really put my finger on, but the days have been long, and the crying has been synchronized!



But here she is in all of her Tissavel fur gorgeousness. I am seriously in love with this fur. It honestly is the softest faux fur I've ever worked with - and the backing was incredible. No stretch or fraying, and very strong.

I've called her Maia, and she's currently available on bearpile and etsy.




This is what her fur looked like pre-bear. A stunning zebra pattern. I wasn't sure what this would look like made-up, but it really has come out beautifully. I've got my last piece of this all ready to go for a slightly smaller bear like Maia, but I do have some of this exact same fur in the 'snowleopard' spotted effect for sale in my etsy store...





This is what the snow leopard fur looks like, exact same pile, colouring - just a different print. I can't wait to use this one too. The spots will probably look even better than the stripes.



This fur can be purchased here, starting from cut pieces at 1/8m, going up to full 1m lengths. I hate paying postage when I order items online, so I've capped all postage in my esty store at a maximum of $10. This means you could purchase my ENTIRE STORE full of bear supply items for no more than $10 postage - any where in the world!