Bears in their new homes

I was sent this beautiful picture of Booth and Toulouse in their new home. Don't they look cozy together!

If you have any photos of my bears in their new homes I'd love to share them too!

Pax

The experimental bear from the post below is finished, and really hasn't turned out too badly. I've called him Pax.






I think I will try this eye technique again as I really do like the neatness of the effect. However, I don't think I actually needed the glue as much as I thought I did when I wrote up my process in the last posting. I had used PVA glue, thinking it would hold the folded eyelids to the plastic eye - but once it dried the glue just flaked away and the eyelids were free floating! Almost disastrous, if the eye didn't fit into the 'socket' so well. It just wouldn't come loose! So, with a bit of needle sculpting and securing with thread instead of glue, I am now happy that the eyes are firm in their positions and not going anywhere. I suppose the benefits of having used the glue in the first place though, was that it will act as a fray-stop for the raw edges within the head, further increasing the sturdiness of this placement.

My next challenge is to find a way to use this technique on a more traditional bear head. Pax is cute, in his own way, but is a little too much like an alien-bear hybrid to continue this pattern without further adjustments! (so if you like him, and want a very special, experimental, definite one of a kind bear - Pax is your man!)

trying something new

After having such a blast making those strange little bears from the post below this one, I decided to try an idea that has been rattling around in my head for a while. I like the strange bears from the bear army, but they just felt a little 'raw' to me, some more than others. But, being experimental, I think that's to be expected. And it does add to the charm/strangeness!

The idea I've been wanting to try is something I saw on a blog many months ago. It was a stunning cotton rabbit with incredibly expressive large eyes that seemed to be coming seamlessly out of the face - like they grew there! I couldn't see any eyelid stitching or anything. The eyes were set into the head and appeared to be popping out from under the fabric, yet sitting on top of the fabric at the same time. (very hard to describe, and even harder to figure out how to achieve!). So, after nutting over the dilemma of how the artist was able to do this, I think I might have worked out a method that works for me.

I've enlarged my 'Byron's Bear' pattern slightly, and cut two pieces of fabric for the front part of the flat face, one in mohair, one in a plain non-stretch fabric. I sewed these together around the edges. I marked where I wanted the eyes to sit, then cut a slit in the mohair only. I folded back the mohair to give a slight opening, made a tiny hole in the backing fabric, inserted the safety eye into the backing fabric and slipped it slightly under the piece of mohair I had folded back. This gives the appearance of eyelids without having to sew them on separately.



I ended up using a bit of glue to hold the folded over section in place, but the backing safety clasp seems to have done the rest (I really hate using glue on bears, but I think for this technique it is unavoidable). This is what the eyes look like. A little 'angry' I will admit, but I think that is all about the slant of the eye lids. If I try this again I'll make the cut angling diagonally downwards to give a softer look. I'm not real sure what's going to happen when I sew the back of the head on, and I'm not real sure how I could transfer this technique to 'normal' bear heads without the eyes facing sideways - but only further experimentation will tell! :P

The 'Bear Army' (my first attempt at making NINE bears at once!)

Here are my nine little creations - all very unique! It is amazing to think that it's possible to get such variety from one pattern, just by using different fur, different ear placement, different fur direction, different eye colour and size, different eye placement, different nose/mouth embroidery, and different shading. I must say, even though it seemed like I was never going to get these guys done, I had a lot of fun making them all at once. That's seriously something I've never done before (the most I've ever done was a limited edition of three, but I got bored with making the same bear three times, so never did it again).

All the bears have been placed on etsy at $79 each. I have no idea how they are going to be received as they are a little strange, but all I can suggest is that if you have a favourite, get in quick as these guys are one of a kind!



'Romy' - the smallest of the group.



'Tula' - the sweetest of the gang.



'Spook'- the scruffiest fur!



'Woogie'- the biggest eyes (and that's saying something!)



'Venus' - the most vibrant fur.



'Poe' - the good-looker of the bunch.


'Kojo' - the most fun!



'Cruiz' - the most sensible bear.



and 'Delia' - the lovely lady bear.

They're FINISHED!!!

It was a mission and a half - but I did it! The nine bears are finished - all sewn up, shaded and accessorised. It's getting a bit late here now, so I'll get individual photos of them tomorrow, and hopefully get them all up on etsy over the course of the day.

Here's a sneak peek ;)

Kids update

I got to spend a bit more time on my nine little bears last night. They're looking really good, and are almost finished. I'm hoping to get some time to put the finishing touches on them over the weekend. If so, that will mean that I managed to make nine bears in two weeks. Pretty cool if I can pull it off!

But, seeing as the bears are still a few days away, I thought I'd do an update on the kids again.



Byron is now 6 weeks old, and has just starting smiling really frequently! Its the most gorgeous thing - he puts his whole mouth into it! His night sleeping was getting really good there for a few days with only two feeds overnight. But last night we went back to four, and now I am exhausted!





Chelsea is almost 20months old. (Which somehow seems so much older than 19months to me!). She's still a bit naughty with Byron. I got this awesome picture of her giving Byron a cuddle last week, only to have her bite him on the head shortly after it was taken! For the most part she takes out her frustrations on the dog, but he doesn't seem to mind. I think if anything, having Byron come along has helped her relationship with Oliver. She spends a lot more time actually playing with him, and can hold her own when he gets a bit puppy-excited with her!





And lastly, we got couple of new additions to the household (because we didn't have enough already :P) - guinea pigs! This sweet little bundle of fluff is baby Alice. We got her to keep our old old guinea pig company after her sister and cage-mate of 4 years died last week.



A friend of ours was looking after the guinea pigs for us after we had cats attack them at our last house, but they've had to move up north to help out with the building repairs after cyclone Yasi hit the day after Byron was born. So we took the guinea pig back again.

I've had guinea pigs as pets since I was a little girl. And my mum had guinea pigs all through her childhood as well. So I'm quite happy to have them back again. The trick now is keeping them safe from a very, VERY interested Oliver!

'Bear Army' Heads

The heads are almost done! I had them all lined up in front of my computer, but ended up putting them down as it got a bit full on with 9 sets of weird and wonderful eyes staring back at me!

Only a tiny bit of sewing left, then it's on to the assembly!