Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Spectacular, welcome back 

Lovely little 8" fellow made from chocolate tipped vanilla helmbold mohair. He's one of those curious bears who is adorable in person but doesn't photograph nearly as well. Still- here he is!

My preview bear for the May eBearShow, he just missed out on third place by one vote (out of over 40 entrants). He's on his way to his new home in South Australia.

A lovely 12" girl, soon to be flying to the UK to meet her Mum.

Hunny is 8" and my latest bear. I adore her sweet blue eyes.

Hello everyone and I hope you are all winding down for the festive break! Time to give those hands and thumbs a rest.....who am I kidding there's no stopping us bear makers! 

Here's a little commissioned fellow made recently, he's as yet un-named but if you have any suggestions I will share them with his new family 

I got my start with 'The Complete Book of Teddy-Bear Making Techniques' by Alicia Merrett, it is a great book for beginners and I still refer to it all the time.

Another wonderful resource I use all the time is Jennifer Laing's 'Teddy Bear Art: How to Design & Make Great Teddy Bears'. Happy designing!

Here's a handful of bears from the Original Mon Bears collection released for the December eBearShow. It was a very successful show, with all 8 of my furries finding new homes (yay!) and lots of orders from people who missed out on their first choice of bear.

I'm going to be a very busy bear maker next year!

WizzFizz (7.5")

Lavender (7.5")

Jaffa (11")

Holly (Christmas Edition 2016: 9")

Edward (Christmas Edition 2016: 9")

What a wonderful first bear! So much character, and I'm so impressed you used white fur. I cannot for the life of me make a pure white bear, I'm terrified of adding colour and end up with a blank canvas so well done you!!!

When I started making bears they took me between 12-15 hours. They were pretty basic bears, and I cut a lot of corners without realising it. The more I read up on bear making and the more classes I attended, the more my techniques improved and I became very precise about the way my bears are made. Then I discovered needle felting, painting my own eyes, air brushing (now I'm working on pulled paws- who knows what's next!) so my bears take me ever longer and longer! I'm averaging 20-30 hours per bear these days.

I wish you well with your future bears! You're off to a great start 

Just a little woo hoo moment- Poppy took out 1st place in the show (popular vote)!!!!

Introducing Poppy, my preview bear for the eBearShow currently open for voting- show starts in 2 weeks where I'll have 7 more brand new teddies to reveal.

Lots of teddy bear artists from around the world are participating- pop on by and register if you'd like to stay up to date- you can vote on your three favourite stalls once you've registered too :)

http://www.ebearshow.com/

Poppy

Thanks Renee! I'm loving the little panda bear in your profile pic btw, you make such little cuties

I think his muzzle is absolute perfection!!! Just goes to show, sometimes we bear makers have a vision for the bear we want to make and can be hard on ourselves if it doesn't meet that. Doesn't mean the bear isn't cute as pie though at the end of the day! Hector is gorgeous- well done

Chester is a lovely big *for me* Original Mon Bear, standing at 11" tall (though he is a seated bear).

He was intended to be part of the upcoming December eBearShow, but silly me posted a sneak peek preview pic and he got snapped up!

I'm particularly proud of his beautiful eyes, as I hand painted them myself.

Hope you all like him

Tush tag

Thanks EJ! I'm working on a whole new batch for the upcoming eBearShow in December (http://www.ebearshow.com) hope to have between 5 and 8 brand new Original Mon Bears made available (lots of work for me!!!).

I've been sooooo busy working on my latest designs and setting up the Original Mon Bears facebook page, and www.originalmonbears.com that I clean forgot to show you all who has been brought to life at the bear station!

Introducing Nutmeg, Mulberry, Iris, Oreo and Hazel.

Iris, Oreo and Hazel are all miniature bears (5" thereabouts from toe to ears) and have been adopted.

Nutmeg and Mulberry are larger (7") and currently reside in my personal collection. They may be released for sale in the future- will see!

Cheers
Mon

Nutmeg

Mulberry

Iris

Oreo

Hazel

I've been very busy making bears of late and have another to introduce!  Meet Miles, a tweaked version of the pattern I created to make 'Fern'. He is 6.5' standing and 5' seated, 5 way cotter pin jointed and stuffed firmly with Dacron and polyfill- weighted with garnet.

Miles is part of my 'Forest Friends' series. In the series will be a choc/lavender bear, choc/gold bear, choc/fuschia bear,  choc/green bear and choc/aqua bear, all inspired by vivid colours in nature. They are all waiting to be brought to life on my bear table at the moment and will be available for adoption when my website (in the works) is launched later this year.

Thanks for your ongoing support bear friends!   

Miles

Fern & Miles

Thank you Kornelia 

TinkerBelle   is a custom order for a beautiful collector who adores Disney, the colour pink, sparkles, love hearts and bling. My brief was to make a little bear who showcased all the things her owner loves, happily the collector is thrilled with her so she's on her way to Canada!

TinkerBelle is 6.5' tall and 5' seated.  She is made from curly mohair and has the following detail:

- A silk head ribbon with a Swarovski crystal heart sewn in
- Pink shading around the eyes with a dusting of glitter
- Sparkly hot pink embroidered nose and mouth
- A handmade 'love' button on her right foot (varnished with sparkle polish)
- A 3 piece pale pink crystal detail on her tummy
- A big pink bow tied behind her head

It's such fun to get a creative custom request or I'd never have thought to make a bear like this of my own accord! I'm actually going to be sad to see her go, but happy to know she will be much loved.

Fern has been patiently waiting for me to hit pause on my cat commission and bring her to life.

She is a delicious chubby bear made from rich chocolate mohair with forest green accents and smokey topaz English glass eyes. Her fat little tummy is pleasantly weighted with garnet.  Fern stands at 14cm tall and measures 9cm when seated- she's a lot smaller in the fur than she looks in her photo!

Fern is not for sale- she just wanted to say Hi to every one 

Fern

Thank you Becky! Pleased to meet you too- your bears are gorgeous

I have joined the group you recommended (thanks!) and it looks like a great way to connect with other active artists. I really must get onto my own facebook page for my bears, I just never seem to have enough bears to showcase as I have only recently started making my own designs. All in good time- I'm setting myself a target of October as there will be a local bear show at that time, and I'd love to have a few fuzzies ready for showing!

xx Mon

well isn't he darling- what an amazing talent you have! 

Gah!!!! SOOOO CUTE!!!! 

Thanks for answering my SOS everyone!

Peter I think you're absolutely right. I do 'like' a lot of artists pages on Facebook however I find that's more of a fan/artist relationship and less of a collaborative platform- I will go in search of Facebook teddy bear artist groups (don't know why I didn't think of that before!!)- thanks for the tips 

Kornelia- I LOVE your bears!!!! What darlings! If I could reach through the screen and give them a cuddle I would. What marvellous feet you do! I'll be sure to keep you posted on the cat I'm working on too- I think you expressed interest in that on another of my posts.

Pink- your bears are divine too, so charming and you capture the old style look so well! A lot of old style bears look new/old if you know what I mean- but yours look so authentic, as if a perfectly preserved mint condition bear has been uncovered. Love them 

In my quest for fellow bear making aficionados, I found and attended a local bear making class run by a local bear making artist- Sharon Hale of Shaz Bears. It was a wonderful evening and I must say that her bears in person are thoroughly captivating- the photos I've found on the internet just don't do them justice. I'll keep attending as I learned some great tricks- and the ladies were all lovely!

I still think it'd be great if TT picked up a bit, I'll always be lurking nearby and happy to chat all things bears if anyone is so inclined   

I've been making bears for almost a year now and am definitely a 'lifer'. Sucked in, hook line and sinker- probably much to the delight of every bear making supplier in Australia!

But- I don't know ANYONE else who is remotely interested in bears or bear making and if it weren't for this site I'd probably go around the twist. In combing through the archives and checking out the various topics, I've noticed most of TT's activity seemed to happen between 2005 and 2011- not so much discussion these days?

I'm wondering who is actually still actively bear making and also sending out an SOS looking for any other fledgeling bear makers/artists who are similarly isolated in their passion for this fabulous creative pursuit- drop me a comment, PM me- let's connect! I'd love to know more about you and your bears.

Beary big hugs
Mon