Taking a Break

Thank you to all the collectors and bear artists who have encouraged and supported my over the past few years.  Some of you will know that I sustained a head injury about 13 months ago that left me with severe headaches.  I improved greatly through the autumn of last year, but unfortunately, they have returned.  Due to this, I will not be making bears for the foreseeable future.  I have recently finished a few bears, that I will offer for adoption, but I need to concentrate on getting better.

Bear hugs

Sue

Hugglets...not long now!

I am still finishing the teddies for Hugglets.  Since my head injury, I cannot managed sustained effort in the way I used to.  Therefore, I'm behind with photographing the bears!

I have a side profile photo of a large polar bear that will be coming with me and a photo of one of my little whimsical bears.

He's a biggie!  he is made from beautiful, white Schulte alpaca.  He has 6 joints including a double neck joint and a wire armature. He can stand on all fours.

I hand dyed the German mohair used to make Little Miss Sunshine.  She is wearing a broderie anglais onesie and can stand unaided.

Less than 2 Weeks Until Hugglets

OK.  It's less than 2 weeks until Hugglets, and I am busy creating new teddies for the big day.  Just a quick post to show you Bertie.  His design is a fusion of my realistic and whimsical teddies. He is made from beautiful chestnut Steiff Schulte alpaca and has cashmere, pulled toes.  I hope to post a few more teddies as previews before September 14th.  I am in the main hall - 34.  Please come and say hello!

Preparing for Hugglets 2

After being on holiday last week, it's back to my workroom.  I am presently working on my whimsical bears.  This year, many of them will be clothed.  I picked up some hanks of beautiful lace weight angora as well as a silk and mohair mix.  The angora takes hand dyes beautifully and is incredibly soft.  It knits up into beautiful cardigans and dungarees.

Pictured below are two new teddies that won't be making it to Hugglets as they have just been adopted by Kerryann.

I hope to post some images of teddies coming to Hugglets a week or two before the show.

Preparing for Hugglets

I'm finally back to making teddies.  It has been a long and difficult road, but the headaches are now fewer.  I am still finding it difficult to concentrate for prolonged periods, but now feel able to get back into my workroom.  I have spent my recovery time doing a little patchwork and quilting...not much at the sewing machine.  I've mostly been doing some hand sewing.

Having had a six month break, I now feel I am starting afresh with the bears and have a fairly clear idea about the type of bears I want to make and how I want to  make them.

It is always good to have a time frame to work to, so I will have to work hard to be ready for Hugglets on Sunday, September 14th.  I will be down in the main hall this time on Stand 34.

I will be posting photos nearer to September.  Here's a little teaser!

Recovery is Slower than I had Hoped

Unfortunately I've had to cancel my table at Hugglets on the 23rd Feb.  Recurrent headaches have seriously reduced my bearmaking activities.  I have been told recovery may take several months.  On the bright side, I hope I'll be recovered in time for the September show.

First Page Layouts

While I have been waiting for my clay head sculpts to dry, I have put together the first two pages of my Teddy Journal.  I wish I had thought of this before!  It allows me to make notes about each of the bears and it will be a reminder of the bears I have made. It also gives me an excuse to play with paper and glue!

Fun, fun, fun!

A Knock on the Head!

Unfortunately, I had an accident in the garden two weeks ago that left me with a head injury and concussion.  I am gradually improving, but have been told it may be several weeks before I get back to full health.  In the meantime, Mike suggested I try occupying myself with something crafty, but undemanding.  I have wanted to create an album or journal of my bearmaking for ages, but I never got around to it.

I picked up a sketchbook and have decorated the cover over the past few days.  I created some embellishments in polymer clay.  I used papers, lace, sequins, ribbon and buttons from my stash and used a Lucy Atwell stamp that I hand coloured and aged. All good fun!

Now I can start adding some photos of my creations!

Before I took the hit on my head, I had just finished little Minty.  He has been sitting patiently waiting to have his photo taken.

He is a happy little chap...about 9 inches tall...I think.  He stands nicely unaided.

His head and paws are hand sculpted and painted by myself.  He has glass eyes.

 

I have started sculpting again in the last couple of days, but I can't do much before my head starts to ache, so it is slow progress!

A Girly Bear

OK, so most of my bears are boy bears.  Time for a girly bear!  I have been enjoying myself playing around with paper clay, and thought it might be fun to make a closed eyes bear.  Camille is the result.  I often feel I have little control over how a bear turns out.  They seem to have a will of their own.  I thought it might be different, working in clay...but no, the bear decides its own look!

She has a blond mohair body, an armature and 4 nut and bolt joints.  Her head and paws have been hand sculpted by myself, gessoed, painted and sealed. Her outfit is made from silver panne velvet, ribbons, lace and an oystershell button.  She stands beautifully on her own and is one of a kind. She will be coming to Hugglets with me next month.

First Bear of 2014

Kristian is an 8 inch bear cub...my first of 2014.  His name means 'new beginning', so very apt for the start of the year.  I hand sculpted his head and paws using paper clay. They were then gessoed, painted and sealed.  He has glass eyes.  His body is made from a butterscotch coloured, short dense mohair.  He has a sachet od stainless steel balls in his tummy.  He cannot stand unaided.

Belated Happy New Year to all!

A Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I sculpted this seasonal fellow from paper clay.  Due to lack of snow, he is covered with glittery artificial snow.  Ho ho, ho!

Christmas is coming...

I'd like to thank the lovely collectors who adopted bears at the Christmas Treasures online show!  It is always lovely to know they have gone to loving homes.

I haven't posted in a while.  Unfortunately, my health has not been good this year and this has impacted on my bear making.  In fact, I have had to withdraw from the Great Brighton Teddy Bear Event this weekend.  Apologies to collectors who were hoping to see me there.

I have been finding it more and more difficult to work on large realistic bears, especially their armatures, and so in future I will only be creating smaller teddies without armatures.  It is difficult to explain the amount of strength needed to create large bears.  I do have three large, realistic bears  that I will offer for adoption over the next few months, but they are likely to be the last.  For the forseeable future, I will be developing my smaller whimsical designs.  This is a very difficult decision for me as I adore realistic style bears, but I need to put my health first.
I hope to launch my new Whimsical Teddies  designs at Hugglets in February.

Wishing everyone a lovely Christmas

Hugs

Sue

The Christmas Treasures Preview has Begun

Ooooh!  There are some lovely preview bears on show at:
www.teddiesworldwide.com

You can vote for your favourites until November 14th.

I've had great fun creating my preview bear!  I adore polar bears, and Christmas is a great excuse to make one...or more! 

The show is open from the 15-17th November.

Not Just Twiddling my Thumbs

I may not have been blogging much lately, but have been very busy Chez Teddybuys.  Here is my 'To Do' list:

1. I am busy creating bears for the Christmas Treasures online show in November.  I am not allowed to show any of my creations before the show opens...not even a peek!  
2. I am also starting to create for the Great Brighton Teddybear Event in December.  There is a sweet photo of Teddybuys Whisper  in the October\November edition of Teddybear Times.
3. I have a collector and a shop waiting for bears, so am fitting these in around everything else.
4.  I am beyond delighted at the prospect of becoming a grandmother for the first time next April!  Of course, that means making a cot quilt for the new arrival.  Progress can be followed on: http://www.mygreatquiltingexpedition.blogspot.co.uk/ 
5. I am also making mug rugs for the Quilting Bloggers Fall Inspired Swap.  I have a lovely swap partner, Zanna, who is South African but living in Bahrain.
6. Oh, and I started the Advanced Quilting course at Kathy's Patch last Thursday and need to finish my New York Beauty block.  I have made New York Beauty before, but this is a more complex block. 
7. I also have some polymer clay sculpts waiting for completion.

I'm not sure it was a good idea to make a 'To Do' list (now that I see how long it is)!

Thank You

Thank you to the lovely collectors who adopted my bears at Hugglets yesterday!  You make all the time and effort that goes into the bears worthwhile!
Hugs
Sue

Hugglets Preview

I'm nearly ready for Hugglets in London on Sunday.  I will be upstairs on table 129.  This time, I am taking my more realistic style teddies and smaller, whimsical bears.  I won't have many bears with me this time.  My wedding, poor health earlier in the year and commissions to complete have all reduced the number of bears I've had available for adoption. 

The Big Bears

The big bears are all made from either Schulte or Helmbold German alpaca.  They all have nut and bolt double-neck joints, and jointed legs.  They all have wire armatures in their arms and legs.  Their noses have been individually sculpted by myself using epoxy clay.  Mischief and Damson are designed to stand on all fours.

Mischief

Max

McTavish

Oscar

The Whimsies

I cannot resist making designing and making these smaller, mostly hand-dyed by myself, grungy old fashioned style bears.  

Daisy

Pixie Rose

Plum

 

Eliza

Forget-me-not

Another Finish for Hugglets

I have just finished this large, 22 inch polar teddy bear, ready to take to Hugglets two weeks tomorrow.  I am really pleased with this design...a fusion between teddy bear and realistic bear.  He is made with beautiful, soft Steiff Schulte white alpaca.  His paw pads are appliqued and trapunto stuffed.

I may now need to go back to smaller teds as working with heavy wire armatures and stuffing large bears is playing havoc with my tennis elbow, my wrists and hands!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Bear making is in full swing chez Teddybuys.  After the euphoria of finishing TWO bears for Hugglets last week, I've made some changes to my head design to create a new polar bear.  Actually, the head is as far as I've managed to get so far!  He is going to be another big one.  I can't resist polar bears.  They are one of the most difficult bears to 'give a personality' because of all the white fur...but I cannot resist trying.  This chap is being made using gorgeous, Steiff Schulte alpaca.

 

Whisper

Wow, two updates in two days!  No, I really cannot make bears that quickly!

Whisper has been sitting on my worktable waiting for a head!  She is a brown bear cub made from the same alpaca as Max.  She has been designed to stand on all fours.  She has a double neck joint and nut and bolt joints in all four legs.  Her limbs have a strong wire armature, allowing her to stand in a number of different poses.  Her nose has been sculpted by myself using epoxy clay.  I have tried to capture the appearance of a vulnerable, young cub.

She will be coming to Hugglets with me on the 8th September.  She has been adopted, so will not be coming to Hugglets.

Hugglets is less than a month away...

I have struggled to come down to earth after all the excitement in July.  A delivery of my favourite tipped Helmbold alpaca arrived while I was away. 

I have completed the largest bear I have made in years.  His name is Max and he is about 22 inches tall.

He has a sweet, gentle personality to go with his large size and can stand on his own if posed carefully.  Max will come with me to Hugglets if I can get him into my cases!

I have an all fours bear nearly finished and am busy dyeing mohair for my little, whimsical teddies.