Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

  Ha never say 'does my bum look big?'' again!!!

  what is it about bears that they have SO much expression. It is a good job that they are wild animals or we would all have one of these living in the house - the food bill would be enormous!

Doing a dark nose on a white background shows off the fantastic ability you have to produce such perfection. It is always a pleasure to see quality of this super high standard in beautiful fabrics. Paul looks as soft as fresh snow - really lovelyl!

Love everything about this raccoon  from his scruffy tail to his adorable little face 

Oh how wonderful Joanne I too would love to see your presentation. Would there be any way someone could video it so we may all have an opportunity to see it?  What I love about your work the most is the way you manage to create the 'magic' of a teddy bear. Your bears are wonderfully anatomically realistic but what makes them truely realistic is the way they have personality and character in conjunction with your technical skill. I would be interested to know about this and what keeps you motivated in what you do and how you think about bringing your bears to life. Also the time scales involved in each process might be informative too. 45 mins will fly by with so much to cover!  I'm sure whatever you come up with will be fabulous and a roaring success 

Is it actually possible to have too many cute pics of anything???  It is a lot of fun and you lot often make me chuckle with your witty comments and wise cracks I might not add anything to every pic but I sure enjoy having a look. Keep up the silliness every one  xxx

Well I still look like the above and its Monday tea time now   

Two absolutely adorable bears! I do like a cute little tail on a bear too 

Oh Karen this is heartbreaking all that work!  I recently spent half a day hand sewing a tiny dress in some vintage silk that was looking wonderful until my bears arm ripped the seem when putting it on. The fabric was just too delicate (which was exactly why I liked it in the first place) so I feel your pain. I could have started again and lined the fabric to give it strength but then it would loose the softness I wanted. So I know it is a total pain but I am with Becky you will have to unstuff and redo. If you try to repair it will only end up making more of a mess. A house needs good foundations. I just hope unpicking doesn't make the fabric too weak to sew again. If that happens your only option is to make a separate muzzle in a contrasting fabric. Good luck

I have tried moulding a nose directly on with milliput but it ended up a bit messy. I preped the area first with super glue allowed soak in and dry and it certainly stuck good and fast. But the mistake I made was not thinking enough about the muzzle shape and still couldn't achieve the seamless look on the top/bridge I was after thinking I could use the milliput to smooth in to the fabric. When it is too thinly spread it just cracked as the muzzle still had some give (even though very firmly stuffed) You also have to sand away your finger prints once it is dry and it didn't like the acrylic paint much either I think an oil would have been more successful. I decided that I would have to make a firm base /some kind of nose skull to go inside the end of the muzzle for the rock hard base need to mould the nose how I wanted it but then worried about the weight throwing the balance of the bear outer kilter and so I haven't tried it again but I would be interested to know how you get along. My realistic bear is still on the shelf after I pulled it off (with the end off the muzzle - yes very well stuck on!)  and then started to needlefelt before I went off on some other idea.
Good luck 

Oh Jen what a joy these babies are! I came across these yesterday on FB  and they made me smile really cute

Another fab creation Christina you certainly like to try out new challenges it is always a pleasure to see what you have come up with 

Frollo looks just like a cat that lives near me do you know my neighbour Franny ??  Totally LOVE Frollo     

Wow thast one terrific spider great markings - I bet he loved it!

    I missed you guys fun!

Ha I love a fat bear! (plus it is always good to have some one around who looks like he ate more pies than you and blame for the chocolates getting eaten in one go  )
michelle

I'm loving all your Christmas bears Sue  Every one is just so darn cute     

Lovely!

Two wonderful white bears but Snow melted my heart with his kind sweet little face 

A slight departure from your regular style Thelma but just as wonderful  Beautifully worked as ever and stuffed full to bursting with character like Pink said great pics and terrific story     

Crazy but cute! 

Thank you Pink, Conni, Thelma, Renee, Peter, Sue, Kornelia, EJ, and Jenbee for your kind an thoughtful comments! I was a little sad to see Edward fledge the nest but happy that he will be some ones special gift. No matter how many bears I make I still get attached to them all   

beautiful!