The Cotton Brothers - Norman and Arthur

Here are the colour photos of my Cotton Brothers Norman (panda) and Arthur (grubby one).

These guys are made from some lovely thick 100% cotton hand towels (which is why they look like towelling!). I was walking through K-mart with the kids recently when I spotted some really lush towels. I immediately thought of bears, and decided to see how they'd turn out.


[Norman]


It wasn't the easiest fabric to work with, and if I do it again I'll definitely make a bear bigger than 9". But I love the texture the towelling gives the bears. It really adds that sweet, whimsical look. I'm particularly pleased with Norman. The pattern and colours really worked for him. Arthur started out with real potential - but alas I got a bit heavy handed with my dye, and kind of ruined him!

He's still a perfectly fine bear. Just a little grubby looking. And not even the good kind of grubby. Because of this I'm listing him straight up at a sale price. You can find Norman and Arthur in my bearpile store.


[Arthur]

Sneak Peek

This is a little sneak peek at one of my latest bears made from cotton. (something a little experimental).

I'll upload some much better, colour photos tomorrow when I have some sunlight to take them in!

Zac in his new home

Zac's new mum sent me some lovely photos of him in his new home today! He got to meet Whitney the cat, and another awesome bear from bearpile! I think he looks quite at home! ;)

Moira and Heston

Meet the ever-lovely 'Moira'... one of the two bears I somehow managed to finish last night! I've used a stunning pair of 'living glass' blue eyes on her, and they just sparkle! She's not on bearpile yet (Heston - see below) is having his turn first. But if you are interested in her just send me an email and I'll give you a run down on her details.





Heston... ah Heston. What a gorgeous shape - if I do say so myself...



This big boy is the final bear from the piece of Schultz wool fur that I attempted to dye, and ended up felting from this post. I had drawn out this pattern on the fur before I dyed it too - so it was a super lucky accident that the fur ended up being the perfect match for the style of bear.



This is the kind of bear that I like to collect. Gorgeous lines, slouchy posture...
I don't know what it is, but as cute as the fluffy bears are, nothing beats a nice shaped head! ;)

My latest custom

I was asked to do a very special custom bear last week using the brilliant hand-dyed fur I made these bears from... how amazing does the orange and yellow look! I wouldn't have thought to mix them as they are quite similar, nor add the bright orange nose - all requests - but I think that's what makes little 'Precious' so stunning!

She is adopted now, but I do have two new bears to be photographed tomorrow morning. So stay tuned! ;)

Bonnie Butterscotch

I've been a little quiet this week on my bear blog... because of this sweet little creature! Meet 'Bonnie Butterscotch' - our surprise baby guinea pig!

I only realised her mum was pregnant the previous monday. And she was born on Wednesday! So I've been busily taking photos and video's and just generally fussing over her in all of her curly-haired goodness!

Her mum, (the big fat brown guinea pig from this post) has only been with us for 5-6weeks, so had just been knocked up before she left her last owner. Because she was so big to begin with, and because there was just one baby, it took that long for me to realise! But little Bonnie is a very welcome addition to our piggy family!

I have more photos and links on my guinea pig blog if you're interested :)

Eden and Quinn

These two little cuties have been made especially to feature in an upcoming edition of Australian Bear Creations magazine as a project you can make at home. They have been made with the same pattern (my experimental bear Rosa), with Quinn simply having a two tone effect. I love how the head pattern allows for the two tone look to be completely symmetrical - right down the front and the back!



I hand sculpted their little ball-noses as well. Eden has a lime green nose with a pink heart to match her cotton-print inner ears and paws, while Quinn has a black nose with a dusting of the gold powder I used on Zac and Zaide. The powder works beautifully with the clay I use (Ozzle - the Australian version of polymer clay), and maintained it's shine even after baking.



The challenge with these guys is getting the noses pulled in firmly enough that they don't move around. I don't know how many different threads I tried before I found one that didn't snap at the critical moment! In the end I just ended up using a good quality cotton, but threaded through the eye of the needle 5 times so that I had a 10-count strand. This proved to be strong enough for me to use all my strength on it. 10 strands was probably a bit of overkill, but I'd rather be sure then risk having a fragile nose.




So, because these two are going to be sent into the magazine to be photographed, they won't be available right away... I'll make sure to let you know when I get them back!