Well, it's officially autumn and here, in my little corner of Canada, the leaves are turning from summer green to gorgeous shades of yellow, brown and orange. I don't think there can be a more beautiful color combination than that! The morning air is crisp, the days are shorter and fun family holidays are just around the corner. For me, it's been a busy September! Along with creating bears and dealing with life, in general, I was honoured to restore a teddy bear for a sweet little boy! "Bear" was in pretty rough shape when he arrived with his friend "New Bear" who is what "Old Bear" used to look like! "New Bear" proved to be a great source of support to his friend! Poor "Old Bear" had been loved so much that he had lost pretty much all of his "coat", his ears and most importantly his "dignity"! Naked bears do not make happy bears! So, I repaired what I could, made him some brand new ears and I did some necessary "fur" transplants to ensure that he would be able to be around to enjoy a lifelong loving relationship with his boy Dawson!
What fun we had! Good luck to you "Old Bear!
Today, I am drawing a lucky name from a basket of enteries for my free Facebook Fan Page Giveaway! The winner will receive one of my handmade vintage style teddy bears, a vintage preschool book and a "reproduction" of a beautiful vintage photograph of a young German boy and his best friends!
It's been so much fun meeting new followers! I love doing giveaways! It's always a blast to let someone know that they've won something...it not only brightens their day but it brightens mine as well! Once the name is drawn and announced on my Facebook Page, I will head over here to post again for all to see! And thanks to all who entered! This past month was a productive month for me in the way of teddy bears! Between the "end of the season" yard work and my family, I managed to somehow churn out several new bears! Here are just a few of them!
With Halloween sneeking up on me, I created two teddies to help celebrate the season! "Li'l Punkin'" is made using my own antique style pattern which I reduced. I hand dyed the sparse mohair a cheery bright orange using none other than
orange Koolaid! He is approximately 8 1/2 inches and fully cotterpin jointed! He's got teensy tiny black glass bead eyes and beige felt paws. He's stuffed with a healthy mixture of polyfill, vintage excelsior and upholstery stuffing. For more photos and information, please check out his listing in my
Etsy Shop!
NOTE: Seems "Li'l Punkin's" photo ha been deleted...for now, you can see him on my sidebar to the right! Sorry about that!
"Bitsy and Boo" were fun to create! I knew that once little "Boo" was done, he definately needed a little friend so "Bitsy" was created to fill that void! Little "Boo was made from the same orange mohair as "Li'l Punkin'" and black rayon plush. He's completely jointed and stuffed firmly with a healthy mixture of vintage excelsior and upholstery stuffing! Little Boo is wearing a ruffled collar made from orange and black vintage seam binding ribbon and has two charming antique boot buttons on his chest. Wee "Bitsy" spider is made from black FIMO clay, wire and plastic eyes! She's as adorable as can be and not so frightening as you will see! She is removeable from Boo's head! She is approximately 3 1/2 inches from toe to toe to toe to toe to toe to toe to toe to toe!
For more information on "Bitsy and Boo" check out their
Etsy Listing!
"Fern" and "Evie" were absolutetly delightful to work on! Evie was made from a recycled plush coat in a shade of blushing pink! She's since found her forever home and Fern will be joining her shortly as the same collector fell in love with her as well!
"Kokanee" is one of my latest teddies! He's going to be listed in my
Etsy shop shortly but I thought I'd share him here before I do that! He's already made his debut on Facebook! He's a larger bear made from gorgeous creamy yellow plush. He's fully jointed and stuffed with polyfill and glass sand for a beautiful weighty feel!
And finally, "Maynard"...Oh Maynard! Maynard made his debut on my
Facebook Fan Page to rave reviews and within three days, sold to a beautiful collector in Russia!
He'll be on his way shortly...I wish him well! Maynard is my newest design. He was made using two gorgeous rich shades of gold and brown vintage velvet, his limbs are string jointed and he's firmly stuffed with vintage excelsior and uphosltery stuffing! He's going to see his new home in Russia through two different antique boot buttons!
At this very moment, here are approximately 6 bears waiting for me on my work table! More similar to little Maynard and some new bears which should be ready for the holidays! I'm also going to take part in another Christmas swap with four of the dearest ladies you can ever hope to meet in a lifetime! I'll be sure to share the results of that exchange right here closer to the holidays! Stay tuned and have a great Autumn everyone! Hugs, Michelle