2011 TeddyBuys Calendar

Personally, I never seem to have a calendar to hand when I need one, so I have created a 2011 Teddybuys calendar that you are welcome to download.  You will need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.  Just click on the Image below, then save and print!

Below are a few bears looking for new homes for Christmas.  They are very well behaved and cuddly, with excellent pedigrees, as they have been made with the highest quality materials and much love.  Please contact me sue@teddybuys.co.uk if you would like further information or to see more photos or to go on my mailing list.

Tinker - a standing clown bear

This is a brand new design for me.  He is 17 inches tall (without his hat) and is made from beautiful Schulte mohair.  He has six joints, including a double-neck joint.  He is stuffed and weighted with polyfill and plastic beads.  His ruffle is made from satin and his hat is made from wool felt.  The pompom on his hat is made from banana silk.  Now adopted.

Goldie - standing clown bear

Goldie  is 17 inches tall without his hat and made from beautiful ivory and golden Schulte mohair.  He stands well on his own and has a very sweet expression.  His ruffle is made from satin and his hat is made from wool felt.  The pompom on his hat is made from banana silk. Now adopted
Filbert - realistic style teddy

Filbert is a lovely, soft, cuddly fellow made from German tipped alpaca.  He has six joints, including a double-neck joint and hand-moulded epoxy clay nose and claws.  His paw mads are made from black leather.  He was featured in Teddy Bear Times recently.  He is a wonderful one-of-a-kind bear.  Now adopted.

Not Long Now!

This is Tinker, one of my clown bears for the Holiday Show that starts this Saturday.  He is designed to stand unaided and is made from lovely soft, curly Schulte mohair in mocha and ivory.  He is hoping to find a loving home.  The other bears will need to wait  in the wings until then!

Holiday Show Preparations

My bears for the online holiday show on November 21st and 22nd are complete.  I am not allowed to show pictures of them before the show starts, but here is a little sneak peek.  The bears are a new departure for me and I am really pleased with how they have turned out and hope you will like them too.  Can anyone guess the theme?

Hugs

Sue

Keeping the Faith

I have recently been working with a beautiful, curly Schulte.  It has been a real challenge for me to turn all those lovely curls into a recognisable teddy bear face.   This is probably due to having working with straight alpaca for quite a while which is a breeze to scissor sculpt.  The mohair does not have an obvious direction to the pile.  It goes everyway possible!

I have really had to take a deep breath before cutting into this curly mohair.  Too much brushing and it loses its lustre.  Too little cutting and the face has no definition.  I think that if I had tried using this mohair a year ago, the head would probably have ended up in a box of failures. 

However, by wetting the muzzle fur and using a hairdrier I have managed to straighten the fur enough to scissor sculpt the muzzle, at the same time avoiding brushing the rest of the fur that I want to remain curly.   He just needs a body now!

Reflections

It's funny how something can set off thoughts and memories of loved ones.  A couple of days ago, I was looking for a watch I had mislaid and came across a small jewellery box containing my granfather's 'pips'.  For those of you not from a military background, pips are insignia that are worn on lapels and shoulders.  (He was, during WW2, a Major in the Indian Army who served in Manchuria and was twice mentioned in despatches). My beloved grandfather was Reginald Charles Quentin Von Donop Hardinge, otherwise known as Rex.  He was a wonderful person...very, very witty and a wonderful teller of stories.  Although reasonably tall, he was always very slender and it always amazed me that he ever survived his childhood in India.  He was born in Poonah.  His father, Colonel Henry Hardinge, spent much of his working life posted in India. Rex was also the author of a large number of books, some of the best known were Sexton Blake detective stories. He was a great walker and enjoyed smoking a pipe. Although he was wonderful company, he needed peace and quiet for his writing and spent much of his writing time living on Dartmoor in Devon with his cocker spaniel dogs Jasper and Sandy.  I absolutely worshipped him and still miss him.  He passed away in 1990 at 89 years of age in Dawlish, Devon.  I have always felt that he is my Guardian Angel.

My Stash and Deadlines

One of the greatest pleasures of teddy making, is to have an idea for a design and then to look through my stash of mohair to see if I have any fur that will suit my idea.  I have spent quite a long time working nearly exclusively with alpaca, but recently have wanted to create bears from two different coloured mohairs.

So today I have dragged out my stash and played around with different combinations of colours...such fun!  I have found combinations for three new bears. 

I am busy bear making for the online Holiday Bear Show on November 20th and 21st and for the British Bear Fair in Brighton on December 12th, so am unlikely to have any available for adoption before then.

Linda Benson Course

On the 18th and 19th September I attended a two day bearmaking course, taught by the wonderful Linda Benson and hosted by Bill and Jean Ashburner of BearBits fame.

The two days were full on and packed with plenty of techniques and tips that were new to me and should help me to improve and extend the way I work.  Jean and Bill were very hospitable hosts and great fun.  They provided delicious lunches and kept us plied with refreshments.

I have always adored Linda's work, so the opportunity to spend two days learning from her was an opportunity not to be missed!

I still haven't quite finished my bear as I have some bearmaking commitments and deadlines to meet...so my little bear will have to sit and wait for time to finish.

It was really lovely to spend the weekend with others that share the same bearmaking passion!

Hugs

Sue