Fowlkner

I just made "Fowlkner" for a friend who just finished remodeling the house next door for a writer's retreat. He is made from Belgian plush and has needlefelted features.

Good Golly Miss Molly

This is my first golly (a friend of the teddy bear). I bought the dress at the Austin Teddy Bear Show last year.

A New Opportunity

During my move from New Mexico to Georgia I had a lot of things on my mind. So while my website was working I gave no thought to it expiring or changing my account information. Having said that, I am now without a site.

I'd been thinking of changing it for a long time and this has provided me with the opportunity. This will probably take a while so I'll keep my updates on my blog.

A Horse of Another Color

I have a commission to do a horse. At first it was supposed to be pink because the young lady it was being given to is young. Last night it was decided that it would be a blonde color. Not that I wouldn't have done a pink horse, I think one closer to a real horse would be better. I didn't want my creation to look like "My Little Pony".

The pattern is all designed now and I'll probably get started on it this afternoon. It's not due until Christmas so I do have time.

Long Time

I haven't posted in so long I've been thinking of dropping this blog. But when I think of giving up making bears my heart gets very sad.

Here is my newest bear made out of imported Belgian plush. The white stuff is made out of mohair. His name is Grrrover.

Inspired!

I just got back from the Austin show. I came back inspired with ideas for new critters. Not sure what they will be. I have a girl golly in mind (I bought a dress for her which should give me the nudge to get her done); plus I got a bunch of synthetics. Although I may just keep those out to stroke since they're so soft.

Today, however, I'm going to relax after my plane trip. As Ms. O'Hara says, "tomorrow is another day".

Texas

The retreat is over and I had a great time. I thought the class went well. I might have concentrated less on the bear I was needlefelting and looked to see how everyone else was doing but it was a learning experience so I'll know the next time.

The rest of the weekend was jam packed with lots of seminars. We made collars and hats; trapunto feet; and learned how to paint on leaves so that we could decorate our bears. I didn't participate in making shoes but I watched.

It was great to get together with my bear pals and spend time talking bears and other stuff.

Now it's on to all the projects I was inspired to do while I was there. The bear I needlefelted looked more like a lion. Could it have been the fact that I've been thinking about making one so that's what it turned out to be? I'm thinking that I'll re-do the head and make him more bearlike rather than make him into a lion.

In the spirit of the retreat I decided to do the Austin show (third time) this year and the Atlanta show (first time) so I'd better get some bears ready.

Getting Ready

The pattern is drafted; the material is ordered; and the prototype is well on it's way. I keep thinking that the end of March is a LONG way off but you know what they say, "time flies, no matter what you're doing".

My class description is also written and hopefully today it will be a little sunny out so I can take a picture of a bear with a needlefelted muzzle and send it off to Luann.

I've been in the bear spirit lately. I'm back to dyeing mohair and cutting out patterns (besides the one I'm doing for the class). I really have to be creative because my stash of mohair is so low my pawsibilities could be a little limited. However, some really interesting things could come out of it.

Things To Come

Another bear is close to completion--not the accenting or the final tweaking which should be done in the next couple of days.

I've decided that this will be my pattern for the class I'm teaching at the retreat that is being held in Fredricksburg, Texas, the last weekend in March. I think it will be just the right size--about 10-12 inches. There will be one miniature artist coming and I hope it's not too big for her.

This is my first attempt at teaching more than one person at a time so I'm glad it will be with friends.

Back To Bears

The bears have taken a big back seat to my life as evidenced by my lack of posting. I officially can't complain about people who don't update their blogs--I'm guilty!

But now, I'm happy to say, I'm back to creating again. I'll figure out my new camera and soon I'll have a few bears to post.

I'm looking forward to the bear retreat in Fredricksburg, Texas the end of March. I'm going to be teaching a class on needlefelting muzzles. I haven't decided how yet. It might take too long to do a whole muzzle and I have to decide if I just give the students just heads to work on what body will they put it on? Doing a class on just accenting eyes would be a five minute class.

I hope that after doing the class in Texas I'll have the confidence to teach a regular bear class here in Athens. It would be nice to get a bear community started here.