Bramblewood Bears

Custom Long Hair Black Bear Finished

2010-08-30T13:04:00.001-07:00

Custom Long Hair Black Bear Completed!

Poor bear, without a body! And no make-up at all!

Quite better. A bear, a body and full make-up!

As requested from my darling collector, this bear has chubby cheeks a
a very large grin that graces his face.

He also has very bright blue eyes and felt eyelids so soften his deep expression.

He has a needle felted muzzle and paw pads that have been highly shaded
for a nice dimensional look.

Thank you for checking in on this boy's progress. I am so excited for his collector to see his final pictures and thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for you wonderful comments and support.

2010-08-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

Work in Progress
Custom Long Hair Black Bear

Now for work to begin on the eyes and muzzle.

I am setting the eyes and making sure they are evenly spaced and centered correctly.

Yup, looks good!

Wouldn't you know it....just when I need my awl...it is missing...I guess a pair of sharp scissors
will have to work for now!

Now that the eyes are set to my liking, I am on to needle sculpting the muzzle, which is only soft felted at this point.

Just a bit more and I have it about where I like it.

Now I can see a bear beginning to peer out at me. His big blue eyes are lined and eyelids applied. Nose shaped, glued and dried.

Next, onto embroidering the nose and mouth and sewing on his ears!

I think he will be quite a handom bear.

Thank you for stopping by to visit this bear's progress! I truly blesses my heart.

Custom Long Hair Black Bear

2010-08-05T12:31:00.000-07:00

Custom Long Hair Black Bear
Work in Progress

I am so excited about this current bear I am (very slowly) working on for one of the most wonderful bear collectors I have ever met. I am so honored to be creating another bear for this sweet lady ;)

This bear must be quite a special creation, because without fail, every time I have sat down to begin work on this bear, a big interruption has tore me away from him and his progress. It certainly doesn't help that summer has (finally) seemed to arrived!

So far, I have managed to get him re-sized, cut, sewn and now am beginning to stuff (which has only taken a measly 3 weeks!). Things are now starting to settle down a bit and I am anxious to really get into his character aspects.

This long hair black bear is going to be a very large bear. He will be the largest I have ever created with tan brown needle felted details.

A rainbow of pins holding together one very large bear arm!

Oh, how I love my sewing machine! It is two years old and I have never had a single problem with this wondrous box! Thank you honey!!

This dark bear will be contrasted with very light blue eyes. To lighten then even more, I hand painted them to lift the lighter tones and enhance the depth of colors.

Today I will be working on his head and muzzle. I always look forward to this part of creation. It always seems that each bear evokes their very own bearsonality. My job is to bring it out. I could never envision fully the face and force it's appearance, rather each bear emerges it's own subtleties that catch my eye and bring forth inspiration and character that is completely individual.
So, I am very excited to meet this next bear and who he may be!

TBAAF Award Entries

2010-07-05T11:18:00.000-07:00

Hello to all! I hope your July 4th was full of celebration and fun!

I just recently entered some of my bears in the TBAAF Summer awards. It is always a bit nerve wracking to submit your work for scrutiny and voting...but also very exciting. Here are the entries I have put up for voting.

In the 'Teddy Bear' Category

Honey

Olivia

Grizwalda

In the 'Fantasy Bear' category:
Elf Bear Fyodor,
although, they misspelled his name and call him
Fuodor.

In the 'Creative Doll' category:

Adalaide

In order to vote, if you do not yet have an account, you will need to create a free account, it only takes a moment. Then you can click on the TBAAF Awards banner and it will take you to the voting category page. You are allowed to vote for one entry per category.

There are so many gorgeous and character filled entries! I and all the entrants would be so grateful for you votes! Enjoy all the amazing creations and I thank you in advance for your support of my bears!

Bear Hugs and Blessings,

"Lucy" A Work in Progress Completed!

2010-06-23T14:06:00.000-07:00

Lucy
A Custom Work in Progress
Completed!

After much work and anticipation, Lucy, (the beautiful name chosen by her collector) is finally completed!

Lucy began her journey with a 'boy' in mind, but began to evoke a girlie personality. Her big sparkly green eyes seemed to flutter with feminine bearishness. As work continued, here and there she began to resemble a girl.

I played around with her costuming trying on both boy and girl outfits, and she looked wonderful in both, but decidedly melted my heart in this dress that fit her just perfectly.

Her collector agreed whole-heartedly that she was just perfect as a girl bear and was so delighted with her final outcome. I also adorned her in pink and violet flowers also adding some hints of rich green leaves to accentuate her eyes.

Lucy and I thank you for peeking in on her final pictures. It truly means so much to me to hear the wonderful feedback and meet all the amazingly lovely and talented artists that take the time to comment on my posts ....... thank you!

If you are interested in your own custom Bramblewood Bear, please email me at
delaneyduo@hotmail.com
and you could watch your very own bear come to life right before your eyes!

Bear Hugs and Blessings,

2010-06-12T20:33:00.000-07:00

Work in Progress
Custom Bear

Work is continuing on this sweet bear that has captured my heart completely. I simply can not wait to paint this smiling face! It always makes me laugh to see my bears with all the pins around their eyelids while waiting for the glue to dry....quite a fashion statement wouldn't you say?

Eyelids are dry, pins removed, ears sewn.....

This bear's green eyes are so stunningly bright!

I am really enjoying his/her profile. I have not decided weather I am done working on the muzzle yet. Hmmmm.
I still have a bit on nose work to do, and then this face is ready for painting!

Work still to be done; needle felting inside of ears, painting details, paws, stuffing, weighting and jointing....accessories....whew! Getting closer!

Thank you for stopping by the Bramblewood to watch this unique bear's journey into the world.

If you are interested in your own custom Bramblewood Bear, please email me at
delaneyduo@hotmail.com
and you could watch your very own bear come to life!

Bear Hugs and Blessings,

2010-06-10T15:49:00.000-07:00

Custom Bear
Work in Progress

As you can see, this cute bear is coming right along. I am really enjoying his colors and curly fur and how the needle felted wool compliments his fur color so nicely, not to mention his bright green eyes.

I still have a lot of muzzle sculpting to do both with needle felting and needle and thread. This is where I begin to emerge his bearsonality and charm.
I will be working first on his nose and mouth placement and then once they are in place and satisfactory, I will move on to the shaping techniques.

I am excited to see what kind of character this bear decides to evoke. Keep checking in to see his sly grin and smiling eyes emerge over the next few days!

If you are interested in your very own custom Bramblewood Bear, please email me at
delaneyduo@hotmail.com
and you could watch your very own bear come to life!

Thank you so much for stopping by to visit me and my newest bear here at the Bramblewood!
Bear Hugs and Blessings,

Work in Progress Green eyed Bear

2010-06-05T21:34:00.001-07:00

Work in Progress
Custom Green Eyed Bear

I am beginning work on new custom bear for a very lovely collector.
She originally wanted a Karl bear, who traditionally comes in an almost black fur, but as I was ruffling through my fabrics, I came upon this most wonderful fur! I sent her pictures and we both agreed to use this fur for her Karl Bear.

What I adore about this fur is it's shiny curly and dense feel. The color is very difficult to capture on camera. It is a mixture of golden olive brown tones that almost change with the sunlight.

On day 1 I lay out the fabric, grab my trusty shears and black sharpie and set to work tracing my pattern design onto the backing.

This is one of the most time consuming steps, being very sure to cut only the backing and not the fur!

Oh how I love my sewing machine. I have touted my thrill of having a wonderful Viking machine before that my darling hubby got me for Christmas. Now I can sew to my heart's content without a single worry. This is only after 3 years on a Brother that made me constantly pull my hair out and stomp in frustration. Did I mention that I LOVE my Viking???

Work is fully underway....each piece has been sewn and now begins the stuffing and needle felting. Stay tuned for progress updates in the next couple of days!

If you are interested in your own Bramblewood Bear, please email me at
delaneyduo@hotmail.com
and you could watch your own bear being created right before your eyes!

Thank you for stopping by the Bramblewood.

An award to Inspire from the Inspired

2010-06-05T13:03:00.000-07:00

An Award to Inspire
from the Inspired

I have been so graciously gifted with a beautiful blog award called
"Inspirational Artist Award"
from a very talented and wonderful bear artist you probably all know and love,
Joanne, of Desert Mountain Bears.
She has so blessed and encouraged me with this award, her kindness, openness and support of other artists. Her attitude and grace in teaching and speaking to others is something that blesses me and many others as we come together as an artist community.
Thank you Joanne for thinking of me for this award. It truly means so much to me that you would find inspiration from me!

Here are the five inspirational bloggers I would like to award as to where I get some of my inspiration from, or who have had a part in forming and inspiring me in my work and artistry. Not all of them are bear makers, but they have shaped my view and love for art that have become a part of my artistic heart.

1. b.b.flockling I would like to award my mom first, as she has been the most important and strong artistic influence in my life. I grew up watching her many artistic endeavors and was truly amazed at her wide range of abilities. Over those years, she taught me some of those aspects that now help me to evoke the character in my bears today. Thank you mom for your legacy! She now sculpts and paints amazingly life-like babies, fairies, animals and folk-lore that look so real they could almost talk. Please take a moment to visit her corner of the world and meet her darling creations.

2. Patricia Cabrera, at Woolytales has always been a truly personal and artistic inspiration to me since the first day I met her. She has 7 sweet children (just like me ;) and they adore old fashioned times past. Each of them have vast interests and talents in many different artistic areas such as music, sculpting , carving, spinning wool, needle felting, painting, miniatures, marionettes and more! If you have not met this family yet, make of cup of tea and settle in for quite and adventure. Also take a peek at their Magical Marionette Theater creations!

3. Rima Dartmoor, of the United Kingdom from The Hermitage has been such an inspiration to me. If it was not for my discovery of her blog, I would not have my own! I had been playing around with the idea of starting a blog, but struggling with the 'time' it takes to invest into the posts and comments. After finding Rima's most beautiful site (which I read for two days straight through all her adventures), I was totally inspired to do my own. Rima is an exceptional artist, painter and poet. What I really enjoy about Rima is that her home ( I think until recently) consists of a handmade gypsy wagon! The inside houses a stove, sink, bed and is just brimming with artistic activity. She almost reminds me of a beautiful snail, with her home upon her back, she disappears inside for solitude and safely and emerges with her soul shining on paper and paint. I so enjoy following her nomadic wanderings and thoughts and admiring her unusual art. She usually paints her wondrous oddities on wood backgrounds and sells them along the road or in small villages for living money. Please take some time to enjoy a bit of her travels!

4. Sharie, of Sreetzbears. I have never spoken with Sharie, but I just adore her creations. I especially love the kitties she creates. Each of her bears and creatures are so lovely and unique. I have really never seen such unique style with their very large bodies, small limbs and big eyes. I hope you can pop in and visit her blog and say hi ;)

5. Joanne, of Dessert Mountain Bears is a huge inspiration to me. Now, I know she has already received this award, but she is truly an inspiration to me. Her work is so detailed and she is so open to share her brilliant techniques readily and is so quick to offer kind and encouraging words so other artists. I think our community is so blessed by her genuine involvement!

There are so many artist that inspire and encourage me that I could type all day long! Everywhere I look, I see adorable and lovely creations that inspire!

Also, stay tuned for two more work in progress bears. I will be posting pictures very soon of my next green eyed bear in the very beginning of progress!

Bear Hugs and Blessings!

Artemas a Custom Bear Completed!

2010-05-26T15:48:00.000-07:00

Work in Progress
Custom Bear Completed
Artemas!

After many weeks of hard fluffy work, this custom long
hair bear is completed!

This bear has been graced with a most beautiful name Artemas, given to him from his new mommy, my new dear friend Lori.

Artemas means "peace and safety", a very strong name for quite
a personality packed bear.

Artemas is a large bear about 20" tall and made of very long faux furs imported from Israel.

I designed a nice bear collar for him with small shiny bells.

Over the course of the communication between myself and Lori, we have built quite a special friendship.

I am so honored to have a bramblewood bear to be a part of her wonderful
collection. Thank you Lori!

Artemas has needle felted and painted details to accentuate his colors and personality.

He has a very large shy grin and puffy cheeks.

Atemas says good-bye to our home and is off on his adventure to his new home!

Thank you Lori, and to all those who have followed his progress. Stay tuned for another custom bear work in progress being started in the next week.

If you are interested in your very own custom Bramblewood bear please email me at
delaneyduo@hotmail.com
and you could watch your bear come to life right before your very eyes.

Snails and Bears - A work in progress

2010-05-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

Custom Long Hair Bear
Work in Progress
and a quick visit from a
snail!

My most favorite part of bear making is when I reach the point of painting and character shading my bears.

Out come my trusty paints and well worn brushes, some of which I have cut and shaped the bristles for optimum use and application.

These are my favorite colors and what I use on the majority of bears. Occassionally if it suits a particular bear I will apply jet black or mix some colors to coordinate with an outfit.

BEFORE

AFTER

Paw pads coming together. The arm pads still need to be painted and the foot pads need full felting to match the arms...that is my slated work for today!

I love the profile with these 'cheeky' bears. You can get a great feel for the large grin that curls around his muzzle.

Starting to come together. The colors of this bear are so rich and warm.

One personality packed bear!

In the middle of my picture taking session, in walks my husband with an enormous snail! Now, we live in the Rainforest of the Pacific Northwest and we cross paths with snails on an almost daily occurrence. This snail was very unique from most others.
He was so expressive (for a snail). When one of the children would talk, he would move his head toward them and stretch out his antennas like he was listening of smelling them. He was not afraid and didn't sneak back in fear into his shell. It was like he was stopping in for a quick visit and hello. He almost seemed to be a very happy snail, I could almost spy a shy smile on his little face!

We enjoyed visiting with him for a short while in the house while admiring his snailsonality and beautiful coloring and then decided to return him to his natural habitat. Out he went to our old elm tree with the kids close behind to say 'good day Mr. Snail'.

We hope to visit with you again!

Thank you my dear friends for following this work in progress.
If you are interested in a custom Bramblewood Bear, please email me at
delaneyduo@hotmail.com
and you could watch your very own bear being created right before your eyes!

Custom Long Hair Bear Work in Progress

2010-05-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

Work in Progress
Custom Long Hair Bear
Days 4-7

This bear is just beginning to take shape. I am molding his cheeks muzzle and chin.

This step always leaves the bears looking 'toothless' and old hahaha.

Alright, now we have some progress. The muzzle has taken it's shape and just needs the needle sculpting to pull it into the shape I have envisioned for the unique personality this bear evokes to me.

The fun part of this bear's fur it that it is so style-able and fun to play with.

I really like the color of this nose with this fur, I will work on shaping the nose down just a bit.

This sweet bear has a phenomenal profile with cute puffy cheeks to add to his big grin.
I will be working on the ears, final face and muzzle detailing in the next couple of days, then it is on to stuffing, paws and jointing!

Thanks for peeking in on my newest bear's creation! If you are interested in your own Bramblewood Bear, contact me at
delaneyduo@hotmail.com
and you could watch you very own bear's progress to creation!

Custom Work in Progress and a bit of berry jelly!

2010-05-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Custom Long Hair Bear
Work in Progress
and a bit of
Elderberry Jelly!

My daughter couldn't possibly be any happier than when she is helping me in the kitchen to create something scrumptious!
This weekend, while waiting for a supply of wool felt to finish a darling bear, I took a break from bear making to replenish our supply of home cooked Elderberry Jelly. From our stash of frozen fresh picked berries from last summer, we plucked a few bags from the freezer and made up some yummy, sticky jelly!

My daughter's job was to strain all the big chewy seeds from these fat berries once they were cooked down to a juice. Boy, did she take this job seriously!

Almost ready to add the sugar!

I just love the rich purple color of this fragrant jelly! It is so sweet and so sticky...the kids can hardly wait for the jars to cool and seal before popping one open to make a big peanut butter and jelly sandwich!

Aww, yes. On Monday morning my waiting pays off and the most beautiful golden sand wood felt arrives in the mail. The beauty of this wool never fails to amaze me.

This wool is imported from Great Britain and is actually used for spinners to make yarn. I love it because it is so super soft and I can order it in bulk instead of by the ounce.

Now that our morning schooling is done, it is time to get to felting on this next bear. Pictures soon to follow!

Custom Long Hair Bear Work in Progress

2010-05-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

Work in Progress
Custom Long Hair Bear
Days 1-3

I have been comissioned to create a very long haired bear for a wonderfully sweet collector who I have grown to cherish. She fell in love with some fur that I used in creating the elf bear and asked for me to create for her a bear using this fur.
The fur is so long and whispy and you can't imagine how soft it feels in your hands. It is imported form Israel and was worth the wait!

Sewing has begun. You can see all the beautiful long fur. I am actually using two different kinds of very long fur for this bear. Both compliment each other nicely.

You can see it takes quite a bit of tucking to get all that fine fur out of the path of those seams!

The last couple of days I have been working on the needle felting for the muzzle. I will post some pictures of this bear's progress in the next couple of days! Stay tuned!

If you are interested in your very own custom Bramblewood Bear, please email me at
delaneyduo@hotmail.com
and you could watch your very own bear in creation!

Thank you for stopping by!

Custom Karl Bear Finished!

2010-04-26T16:50:00.001-07:00

Custom Karl Bear
Work in Progress
Finished

Now, I would like to present to you this wonderful cub bruin designed from Bramblewood Bears
Karl pattern for a most wonderfully delightful bear collector.

She requested this little boy be 'bear naked' so for him I created a yummy chocolaty gold ruffle neck collar to compliment his dark rich fur.

Carl Bear was originally created and named after my grandfather whom I loved dearly while he was still with us....Carl was designed and made to honor his life and love for his family.

This Karl bear has needle felted details using imported golden wool top and painted details for depth and personality.

His muzzle and face are extensively needle sculpted to develop a sweet expression.

I am so thankful for you following Karl Bear on his journey to completion. Thank you also to my newfound friend Lori who has been excitedly watching her bears creation! I truly thank you for your support and encouragement Lori!

If you are interested in your own custom Bramblwood Bear and would like to watch your bear being made, please email me at
delaneyduo@hotmail.com.

Custom Karl Bear Work in Progress continued

2010-04-23T16:21:00.001-07:00

Custom Karl Bear

Work in Progress
Day 6

Karl is certainly coming along now and is almost fully complete!

I will be working on his jointing tomorrow along with his bear collar ruffle which I am very excited to create for him.

I especially love this bear's profile, which I spent hours defining and needle sculpting.

Hi large eyes give him a bit of a little cub feel.

Thank you for checking in with Karl bear's progress. The next you see of him, he will be a complete bear!

If you are interested in your very own custom Bramblewood Bear, just contact me at
delaneyduo@hotmail.com
and you could watch your own bear's work in progress!

Custom Karl Bear Work in Progress

2010-04-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

Work in Progress

Custom Karl Bear
Day 4

I was finally able to sit down for a bit and work on my bear this evening and got a few things accomplished at least :)

I worked mostly on his needle felted eye surrounds and embroidery for his nose and mouth.
I also spent a great deal of time further sculpting his muzzle and chin.
I still need to firm up his muzzle as it still has a bit of softness to the felting here and there and tonight I will be working on his ears. Most nights after our kids have had their bedtime stories and singing time and are cuddled happily into their beds, my husband and I settle down to a couple of episodes or Star Trek....yes, you heard me right...Star Trek! We are die hard fans :) I usually use this time as the majority of my bear making.....my poor unfortunate husband usually has to share our alone time with me AND my bears :) Thankfully, he doesn't mind too much!

Karl is well on his way to completion. Once his ears and painting are complete I will be getting his body together for sewing and assembly.

Than you so very much for following Karl Bear's journey to completion. If you are interested in your own custom bear, please contact me at
delaneyduo@hotmail.com
Blessings!

Custom Karl Bear Work in Progress

2010-04-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

Custom Karl Bear
Work in Progress
Days 1-3

Our family spent a beautiful day at the lake after church enjoying the warm rays of the sun and wonderful companionship.
After days of rain and gloomy weather and being stuck in the house, it was a nice change. Although, being stuck in the house isn't ALL bad, I was able to get some much needed work done on a custom bear slated for completion by the end of next week.

This is the coat, my daughter is so elegantly modeling, that I am using for this bear. It is a very thick and luxurious pile in deep chocolate brown. Karl is being created for the sweetest bear collector who is very excited to watch his progress and completion!
Thank you Lori!

I began by cutting his pattern and sewing his head and neck. He will be a center seam gusset bear with needle felted detailing.

Poor ol' bruin looks more like a pin cushion than a lovable hug able teddy at this point. Here I am allowing the glue for the nose template I created as well as the leather eyelids to dry overnight.

He looks a bit better now, but still needs LOTS of work to show his true character. You can just barely sense his bearsonality beginning to peek through all this fabric and felting.

Tomorrow I will be working on his ears and nose. The next you see him, he will be a completely different bear!

Thank you for checking in to watch Karl's progress. If you are interested in your own Bramblewood Bear, send me an email at
delaneyduo@hotmail.com
and you could watch your own custom bear being made!

Custom Elf Bear reveal and finish photos!

2010-04-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

Finished Custom Elf Bear
from
Bramblewood Bears

Inspiration Photo

I tried to achieve a very similar twirly multi-colored frolic of sweeping hair
of the elf pictured.

This elf bear has many similarities to the photo as well as maintaining some bear features.

When thinking of ways to accessorize this creature, it struck me to use some of my collected Steampunk treasures to dress up his vest.

His vest and sandals boast various gears, watch hands and filigree charms that I created to accentuate his colors and style.

Of course this Elf bear is in his true element in the out-doors, so it was only fitting to get his pictures next to one of the old-growth trees on our property.

I also gave him a belly button and tiny toes peeking from under his sandals, just like the original Elf.

And if you look closely, you can spy a tiny earring in one of his elf ears.

Suddenly while taking pictures, the wind decided to storm on our parade. It was whipping in all directions and even making the trees whistle as I snapped away.

I thought these windy pictures really showed the flowing effect of his fur and evoked his true wild character.

I hope I was able to capture the essence of the elf inspiration photo and transfer the attitude and feel of the original into this Bramblewood Bears Elf creation.

And now this charming boy is off to his new home and a new mom! Here is to his many adventures in the future, and thank you especially to the wonderful collector who commissioned me with this inspirational project! I truly enjoyed this challenge and stretch of imagination!!

I am so glad to have shared him with you. Stay tuned for more Bramblewood Custom Bears to come in the next few weeks.

If you are interested in your own Custom Bramblewood Bear and would like to watch your own bear as a work in progress, please don't hesitate to contact me.
delaneyduo@hotmail.com

Thank you to all those who have followed this work in progress Elf Bear! Your encouragement truly means the world to me.

Work in Progress Custom Karl Bear day 1

2010-04-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

Custom Karl Bear

Work in Progress
Day 1

Here is a picture of my darling daughter posing with one of my bears and wearing a very long vintage fur coat slated for another Bramblewood Bear!

I have been commissioned to create a custom bear similar to my Karl Bear pattern for such a sweet and lovely bear collector. I am so excited to be working with her for a couple of bears she has in mind.

The first will be a classic bear made in a very deep chocolate brown (almost black) color of fur. I will be using a radiant Vintage fur coat to create this Karl bear. These pictures were taken in full sunlight with no light diffusion showing the fur's very reflective quality. This is fur actually has a more chocolaty look to it in person.

This beautiful fur is so soft and plush! I love running my fingers through it as I cut out the bear pattern.

I will be using a contrasting fawn imported wool top for the needle felted details on this bear. This Karl bear will have no accessories....just a bare bear in all his fine glory!

Karl's bear parts waiting to be sewn together....stay tuned for Karl's adventure to creation. Karl is slated for creation once my current Elf bear is completed.

If you are interested in your own custom Bramblewood Bear, please contact me and you could watch your very own work in progress bear on my blog!

Custom Elf Bear Days 5 & 6

2010-04-06T14:42:00.001-07:00

Work in Progress
Custom Elf Bear
Days 5 & 6

This is the little creature I am basing my creation from.
Days 5 & 6 were spent designing and creating his elf ears which have felting and painting to accentuate depth. These ears certainly give this bear a strong elf flavor! I set them low on his head giving him a ton of personality (bearsonality, elfinality, belfinality LOL).

As you can see, this elf has the cutest little toes sticking out from the top of some elf leave sandals. I felt this bear would not truly be complete with out his own set of sandals. Although his are not made from leaves, they are created from a soft plush Mohair upholstery fabric. For the sole, I turned the fabric wrong side out. It has a wonderful rubbery feel to the bottom mimicking the real feel of a shoe sole.

His bear toes peek out from the bottom of the elven sandals.

The Sandals were hand sewn and I still have a lot of finishing to complete on them to really make them stand out.

My plans for them are still under wraps, but a small hint of things to come are twisted rope and filigree charms!

Thank you for checking in on the progress of my newest custom bear. If you are interested in a custom bear made to your specifications, please contact me and you could watch your very own "Work In Progress" bear!

work in progress custom elf bear day 4

2010-03-31T16:29:00.000-07:00

Work in Progress
Custom
Elf Bear
Day 4

This is the picture I am basing this bear from that was sent to me by a most wonderful bear collector. Her wish was that I create a bear in the essence of this darling creature....this is the journey of my Bramblewood Elf Bear.

I was able to finish the character painting on this big guy today as well as scale his nose down to a much preferable size. I also altered his eyelids and pronounced his grin to accentuate the aspects of the look in the picture.

I still have a lot of styling to do on his frolic- y hair, but I will wait to do that very last after he is all put together.

I am really excited about his profile. You can really see his cheeks from this angle.

I still need to sew and attach his ears. I am not sure exactly how I will occomplishe this. I may use the long fur, but my concern is that it will just blend in to much, the ears will dissapear or look too bulky. I may scissor sculpt them or possibly use a completely different contrasting fur....I would ultimately like them to look fur-less like his face...so it will be interesting to see what I come up with on that!

This elf bear is like nothing I have ever created and I am enjoying the challenge entirely! I am so thankful and excited to have been blessed with this project!

Stay tuned for more progress photos on the way!

2010-03-30T16:41:00.000-07:00

Work in progress
custom
Elf Bear
day 2

sewing has begun on this very long fur fabric and this unique bear is beginning to take shape.

Anytime I am sewing you can always find one or more of the kids nearby. They are always so interested in what I am doing and what this new bear will look like. I am sure each of them will have their own art medium as they grow older.

Work in Progress
custom
Elf Bear
day 3

This is the picture I am basing this bear from. This bear will have some typical Bramblewood Bear qualities, but will be much different as I interpret this elf into the likeness of a bear and bruin qualities. I am trying to capture the essence of the character and facial features that give this elf his personality such as his large cheeks and wide curved smile, v line forehead, big round bare belly and of course his long wispy hair.

I spent the night and early morning hours enjoying working on the face of this elf bear. I gave special attention to the face shape, cheeks and forehead to mimic the look of the Elf, yet retain the muzzle and feel of a bear as much as possible. One thing I love about the camera, is that it never lies! His nose to me is a bit too large and takes his other character qualities away from what the original elf looks like, sort of getting in the way of the other great qualities he has. His nose will be shaped down to about half its current size. The elf in the picture has such a tiny nose, and this nose, I'm afraid must undergo a big reduction!

Of course this bear has not yet been painted, shaded and still has some needle sculpting to be done to his face. As you can see, he resembles the picture and I am quite pleased with his long fur that I will later be able to comb and style in the shape of the elf picture. Here he sits next to his big belly, his head not yet attached :)

I have been spending the day working on his shading and character painting as well as adding his ears and reducing his nose. I look forward to sharing more of his progress with you tomorrow.

Work in Progress Custom Bear

2010-03-27T15:59:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to be working on a couple of custom bears for some collectors.

This bear will be posted as a work in progress so you can share in his creation process.
I am thrilled to be making this bear for such a sweet woman who had an inspiration photo for me and the challenge will be so engading. My creative juices are sure flowing to bring this 'elf' to life in a bear. This is the photo she shared with me to re-create as a bear elf.

I just love this little fellow. This bear will be a large 20" bear. I searched high and low for just the right kind of fur to emulate the hair on this elf. The last week I awaited anxiously the arrival of this fur to my home. Finally, I found the perfect match and today it arrived from Israel! I also ordered some other very long fur from the same seller and looking at them both in person, I have an inspiration to mix them with this bear to set apart the 'hair' on the head as unique to the rest of the fur.

If you look closely, you can see the two different furs. The one on the left is a multicolored super long pile fur in mauve, cream and very light rich pink colors. The one on the right is a very long pile fur as well in honey cream tan. Both are very wavy and compliment each other beautifully.

This stunning muli-colored fur is so deep and rich and I plan to style it close to the elf's long hair atop his head. You can get the idea of how long this fur is!

This will be the fur I use for part of the head and body. I just love the matted silky long flowing look this fur has to it. I can't wait to see it take shape in a bear!

The image I have in my mind for this bear is a big bear belly which will be needle felted with a belly button of course, with (too small) vest and shorts. I also have it in my head to do some very muted adorning of the clothing in steam punk accessories. I have been wanting to do a steam punk bear for quite a while now, and this bear won't be that, but thought he would look great with a bit of that incorporated into his vest and shorts. And of course this elf bear will have a huge cheeky grin.

Stay tuned for updates of this bear's creation! And thank you to this wonderful collector for honoring me with this project! May this elf bear be everything you envisioned!

Jasper Bear

2010-03-26T17:44:00.000-07:00

Next to come from the Bramblewood
Boy Bear
Jasper

Jasper was created from a beautiful semi-sparse oatmeal Mohair.

He has needle a needle felted muzzle and paw pads in a deep rich
imported wool top.

Jasper wears sweet spring overalls with crocheted trim to welcome in
the spring season.

Jasper has a big bear grin and such deep personality.

His outfit boasts pastel spring colors that compliment his lighter muted
tan Mohair.

I love this spring pastel contrast. The vibrant against the dull. The delicately colorful against
the brawny browns.

Jasper Bear has so much bearsonality and hours were spent on his detailing and
character.

If you would like to take a peek at Jasper's auction on Ebay, just click this link below.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160417705194&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Stay tuned for a couple of custom bears I will be making in the next couple of weeks. Both these unique bears will be chronicled here as 'works in progress'! I look forward to sharing their journey to creation with all of you!

Sweetness of Honey

2010-03-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

Next to come from the
Bramblewood

Honey Bear

As sweet as a drip of honey!

She is a large bear measuring 20"tall.

When I was thinking of what to name this bear, it seemed fitting to grace
her with something that alluded to her long fur, since it is such a hallmark of her
character. And what is more alluring to bears than honey?

Honey has needle felted details in caramel and oatmeal gray imported wool and hours were put into her character shading.

One of my all time favorite colors in the world is honeycomb. The warmth and richness it exudes is so cozy and warm, while also evoking a golden brilliance.

This is my first bear I have ever attempted claws to accompany the paw pads. Wow, not an easy task, but I am pleased with the end result.

Honey wears a sweet white old fashioned little girl button-up dress with a small opening in the back for her wagging tail to wag through!

It still amazed me the work that goes into a bear like Honey. I have 7 small children that bless my home, 2 of which are full time home schooled and 3 that are part time (pre-school) schooled and all the things that come with running a happy functional home (cooking, cleaning - usually:) singing, reading, and playing together) that my poor neglected bear time is left stranded in a world of back burners and lost time!

Thankfully, I have a wonderful husband who supports my artistry and gives me time to myself now and again to get work done! Although they are few and far between, they are being created amongst a house of happy little munchkins who kiss each bear and truly love to watch their progression from fabric to finished creation. They are always delighted in the process and miss each one when they are packed up and shipped away.

I think in some way, each of my bears resembles one of my children. They are my true delights in this world on temperary loan to me from heaven. I am so blessed with each of the children that have become a part of our lives and the bears that visit my crafting hands for such a short time.
It is to my life like the sweetness of honey.

Honey Bear will be available for adoption on Ebay until March 18th, 2010

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160413358107&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

2010-02-11T22:59:00.000-08:00

I am so thrilled to share with you my newest design from
Bramblewood Bears!

She has been 3 months in the making and her final look is exactly what I had in my mind.

She had a lot of work and reworking of her pattern and sculpting, until she finally evoked the combination of Wild Bear and Antique Bruin.

She of course has her most special bisque dolly just like most other
Bramblewood Bears

This little girl bear has a wild side to her like any bear from the forest, but she also loves her feminine side. She wears a darling pale pink and cream sheer tattered hand-sewn antique dress.

She is also a very playful little cub.

Her glass bright blue eyes are hand painted and lined with dark eyelids and character shading to deepen and enhance her bearsonality.

I am hoping to have my website up and running in the next week or so and will feature Grizwalda on my new site as a grand opening.

Grizwalda is currently available on Ebay until
February 18th, 2010

Click on this link to view Grizwalda's auction on Ebay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160403734804&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Sweet Souls Giveaway - happy 2010

2010-01-09T19:41:00.000-08:00

Mouse Tales is giving away a Sweet Souls Bear! Please visit her exquisite site for the most precious bears and stories. Happy 2010!!

Happy New Year and 7 things!

2010-01-06T13:04:00.000-08:00

Hello again to all my wonderful artisan friends! I hope all your Christmas' were splendid and joyous. Let me begin by saying HAPPY NEW YEAR, and please forgive me for neglecting my blog so. The kids and I spend all of November and December hand crafting over 50 gifts for family and friends, which in turn left no extra time for my bears or blog. I thoroughly enjoyed crafting with my little ones who made two sided sewn teddy bears with scrap fabric and painted delightful faces on each of them to give to other children in the family. The teddies were far from perfect, but the joy that came from the other children when they received the little bears was truly a blessing to my little sewers. We really wanted to turn the corner from purchasing all of our gifts to trying to hand make them instead. It seems it really puts the focus of Christmas more on creating and giving rather than receiving and spending. My children learned to find delight in planing, making, wrapping, creating, gifting and being thankful for what we have and this Christmas was especially sweet. My hope is to continue our tradition of hand crafted gifts like in the olden' days where every gift was treasured and appreciated fully.

And now onto my 7 things....

I have been awarded four blog awards and I am very remorseful for taking so long to respond. I wanted to put a lot of thought and time into answering, so waiting until the holidays had passed was the best way to attend to my awards rightly :)

My first two awards come from my wonderfully talented and inspired artist Rose of b.b.flockling, Christel Hutson of 'A Far Place OOAK Dolls' who is a new artist in the sculpture category and wildly talented and also Penny of Angelsdoor who paints and draws the most beautiful angels you could lay your eyes upon. Thank you mom, Christel and Penny for honoring me with a blog award!

7 Things You May Not Know About Me:

1. I suppose that one of the struggles that defines my life is my ability to NOT get pregnant :) My husband and I spent the first 6 years of our marriage praying, trying, paying lots of money to doctors, injecting shots, taking pills, weekly tests and monitoring, to finally come to the realization that pregnancy was not much of an option for us. As you can imagine, those 6 years were a roller coaster of hurt and emotion I wouldn't wish on anyone. We wanted a family more than almost anything and decided to turn to adoption. We tried foster care and were thrilled to have two newborn twins come to live with us. Nine months later, they were reunited with their birth mother, which just about destroyed me. Thankfully we had by only a miracle of God, an opportunity to adopt a newborn baby girl from the island of Yap in the South Pacific only two month after the twins left. I was able to be present when my sweet little girl was born into the world.
I was the first to hold and feed her. She was (and still is) the most beautiful and precious thing I have ever seen! Amazingly, by the grace of God, after returning home, I became pregnant three months after my daughter was born. 9 months later we welcomed my son into the world!
Over the years, God has been so good to us and added 2 more precious boys to our family and we are praying a third little 2 year old boy will become a part of our fold by February! My husband and I will be celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary this month. It is so strange to look back 6 years into the past at our hopelessness at ever having a family. We are now an ever-growing brood of 7 members and everyday I relish the blessings God has brought my way!

2. This quaint household lives upon a dainty little farm snuggled deeply inside a pristine valley. Our home was built over 100 years ago by my pioneer ancestors and was remodeled before we purchased it. One day we would like to restore some of the charm the original house that still whispers and reflects across its now modern walls.

Our farm is graced with 8 hens, 1 rooster, 5 turkeys, 6 cows, 18 rabbits, 3 dogs, 8 puppies and 1 cat!

We are hoping to add some sheep to our fold in the fall this year and are working on a front pasture for them to live in with a little loafing shed. We try to be as self supporting as possible like growing our own food and herbs. One of my deepest desires regarding our farm would to become un-reliant on electricity and totally free of the grid. To have our own solar and wind power set up would allow some electricity for the major jobs like laundry and dishes. We have an old restored wood cook stove that would be my dream to use fully. As of now, it only graces our kitchen. Perhaps one day in the future, it will be a fully functioning and used wood cook stove resembling its glory days!
3. The fact that we live on this beautiful farm reflects something in my personality that may seem to be a character flaw, but to me it is rather gratifying. I am something of a hermit! Being raised on a farm as a young girl and experiencing the loveliness that comes with fresh air and being surrounded by animals, and then getting married and moving to the city, I longed to return to the country life.
After saving and flipping a couple of houses, we were finally able to find the perfect farm far from any town to make our own. Little did we know at the time, this sweet farm was settled by my ancestors years ago. Now happily home on the farm and surrounded by my brood of children and animals, I have NO desires to leave, even if that simply entails a grocery run! We do venture into the nearest town about 25 miles away on some Sunday's to attend church or to meet with my mom or sister for a quick brunch, but I am fully fulfilled staying home and shopping online where the ordered items magically appear on my front doorstep! It is like the best of both worlds....being home and shopping without even getting out of my nightclothes!

4. If you have not guessed already, I am quite fond of anything old-fashioned that has to do with the charm of yester-year....specifically anything before the 1940's. I adore music from the great depression era including Bing Crosby, Dick Haymes, Betty Hutton, Danny Kaye, Andrew Sisters, Fred Astair, Doris Day and Greta Keller among others! It is such joyous music of a simpler time and fills our house with joyousness.
My love for the olden does not stop with music, but continues on with furniture, clothing, decor and movies.
I often dream of living in the pioneer days. I grew up watching "Little House on the Prairie" with Laura Engels and all her adventures. Now as a mother I reminisce of Caroline baking home-made bread in her wood cook stove that Charles bought for her one fine Christmas, the meager family built homestead lighted by the golden glow of kerosene lamps, and my favorite, the long pioneer dresses complete with bonnet and lace-up boots.

I love every aspect of the old life including the covered wagons and old hand pump water wells.
Of course I know I am fooling myself. I have been modernly spoiled with computers, mechanical wash machines for clothes and dishes, electricity at the touch of a finger and motorized horse carriages, but I can dream and set up here on the farm something reminiscent of those glory days stored away in my imagination.

5. The most important aspect that defines my life apart from my devotion to God, are my children. Each of them are nearing school age. Before they were even born, my husband and I decided our children would most defiantly be home schooled. Now that my oldest is 5 and all my boys are now 4 (my youngest is 2), it is time to build the school house. Back to my love for everything old, we are fashioning a one room school house on the top floor of our garage in full recognition of the19th century one room school houses! I am so excited for this venture. It really should not take us too much time or even cost us a pretty penny. It will be quite simple and use materials we mostly already have on hand. The rest are items we have gathered over the last few years from auctions and garage sales. At a sale from the library in a city near our home, we acquired a very old and very amazing hard wood library book case! How we will manage to move its enormousness to the top level defeats my mind, but we will prevail and it will be a centerpiece of our school. One item we will be looking for is an iron pot belly stove for a heat source. No one room school house would be complete with out one! Of course our old desks and slate board will add that old charm I am looking to reproduce for our 5 children.
This picture is just the space we have to work with and I will surely update pictures as we near the end of our project!

6. Through all of these years and all of the amazing blessings God has given us, I still have retained the desire to get pregnant. I have a syndrome called Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) that makes it not impossible, but very very difficult for pregnancy to occur because your body only cycles a few times every year and ovulation is practically non existent. My daughter has been asking for a sister (now that she has 4 brothers :). My husband and I just underwent a failed, very expensive and heartbreaking Invitro fertilization cycle (IVF). I began to seek out my own understanding of what PCOS was and what I could do about outside the world of fertility doctors. What I discovered was short of a miracle. Through my research, I found that natural remedies using herbs, vitamins, minerals and organic eating could all but cure my condition!
It would take prayer, willpower and commitment, but I found a naturalist in Australia who I could confer with online who would guide me on this journey to natural medicine and healing. Eating organically (especially dairy and meats) would account for keeping my system from being bombarded with extra estrogen mimicking chemicals and the custom herbs and vitamins would encourage my system to begin to work on it's own they way it was designed to do. I also have to stay away from gluten which has been no small feat since I LOVE to make home made breads and bake cookies and cakes. But I have found alternatives that the kids love and keep my system continuing to heal and function on its own.
Eating naturally and healthy has really turned into a wonderful lifestyle for our family. I lost about 15 pounds from simply eating well, and my husband lowered his hereditary cholesterol by 65 % (which the doctors said would be impossible). It is amazing what plants can do for our health! The good news is, my body is cycling every month now after only starting this regiment about 6 months ago and I hope to have great news to announce in the coming year of a pregnancy ;)

7. As some of you may know and some may not, I am the daughter of the very talented sculpture artist Rose of b.b.flockling.
She is very well known in her genre of sculpture art of fairies, babies, elves, snowmen and folklore. My mom has always been such a talented artists, not only with the medium of clay, but also with drawing, painting, crafting, sewing and even furniture refinishing.

Any artistic flare I may have comes from my mom's love for art and abilities that my sister and I grew up watching her achieve. My mom was always working with her hands. When I was very young, she loved to draw portraits in black and whites or elaborate pictures of fairy tale characters in water colors or colored pencils.

I remember her beautiful paintings, some she even portrayed on furniture and how could I forget the Harley Davidson Motorcycle (and a baby grand piano) she hand painted to look like solid marble! Mom's talent even landed her as an illustrator of a book cover for a local book written about our area and loggers. I continue to see this book all around in my goings and even spotted it on Ebay a few weeks ago!

She even collaborated with a group of other artist on a beautiful life size mural for the side of a mortuary that is still there today. Although my mom could have used her immense talent in her artwork to probably make a lot of money and travel the world, she chose to stay home with her children and find a art that facilitated a meager income to support her love for family and home.
I am so grateful to her for staying true to what really matters in this life and can only hope to follow in her footsteps. We get many laughs together over our 'artistic-ness' and the scatterbrained and silliness it brings to our lives....but I know that neither of us would have it any other way!

Now on to nominating 7 other artists. I am in-love with so many artists, that this will be heart wrenchingly difficult for me. If you have already won this award, please forgive me or let me know and I will nominate someone else :) I can't wait to hear from each of you!

My nominations are......

1. Bewildered Bears by Australian Artist Merilyn
Merilyn's bears are the most whimsical, colorful, rosy cheeked and freckled bears I have seen! Really delightfully cheerful creations to warm your heart.
http://bearwilderedbears.blogspot.com/

2. Dances With Teddy Bears by Laura Dodd
Laura is almost my neighbor who lives only about 2 hours from me. Such a sweet and loving woman. Her bears evoke her tenderness and passion. Each of her creations are a pure pleasure of fluffy cuteness!
http://danceswithteddybears.blogspot.com/

3. Desertmountainbears, Creations from the Desert (Arizona) by Joanne Livingston
As I am sure all of us already know, Joanne makes some really amazing bears with perfect little claws and all! Her mixed media approach of sewn and needle felted bears is a art close to my heart.
http://desertmountainbear.blogspot.com/

4. Gotta Share This bears by Vivianne Galli
I just adore Vivianne's magical pointy muzzled bears that evoke such a antique/primitive allure. Truly wonderful creations!
http://vivianne-galli.blogspot.com/

5. Julie Baily Primitives
I am just in love with her primitive cloth dolls that reminisce of the colonial and pioneer days, something right up my alley! One day I must own a collection of her creations.
http://juliebaileyprimitives.blogspot.com/

6. Irina Lee Bears
Truly inspirational bears in an old world charm and capture my heart each time I encounter a new one! I am also so enamored with her vintage blog....such beauty and imagination.
http://liralee.blogspot.com/

7. Old Soul Bears by Karen
Karen's bears are a delight to the eyes with their very antique look. Each has a very 'old soul' sparkling from behind their glass eyes just as her name states! She also restores bears, lace and textiles to their old glory days.
http://oldsoulbears.blogspot.com/

1. Thank the person who gave this to you.
2. Copy the logo and place it in your blog.
3. Link the person who nominated you.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that no one would really know.
5. Nominate 7 Bloggers
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know you nominated them.

2009-11-20T20:38:00.000-08:00

Next to come from Bramblewood Studio

Molly Bear
created in the antique nostalgia of yester-year.

Molly is a bear that brings back a time that is lost to most of us.
A time gone by that is mostly forgotten.
A time of innocence and simplicity.
A time where delights were found in the smallest of trinkets and books were read by
by the flicker of candle light.

I enjoy creating my bears with a sense of olden days, but Molly was especially a bear birthed of dusty memories from
years past. Her stitching and distressed fur are the telling of a tale. A long story left by a bear who has survived the passing
of many years and portrays the sparkle of wisdom that comes only from those bears who have been loved deeply and forgotten by
their aging humans and then destined to be lost or rediscovered by yet another young child.

I had difficulty finding old attic pictures to correlate the scene in my imagination when I dream of the kind of forgone attic a musty ole' bear lay hidden away awaiting discovery. The best I could do was this rather dirty and empty attic. Comparatively, my mind dances with images of sheet draped antique furniture stacked against the walls reflecting through an elaborate full length pedestal mirror sitting regally atop a splintery wooden floor that moans and creaks with each careful step. Every inch piled with old papers, decorated boxes and smelly moth eaten nightgowns hanging against the slightest bit of sunlight filtering through the small dusty window that barely manages to light the old forgotten room.
Yet, somewhere buried amongst the old dilapidated inhabitance of this musty den, lay hidden a treasure of pure delight. If only the small carved wooden and leather box that lay just out of view and wedged slightly behind the dust ladened bookshelf could speak with some sort of magical spell. It would most certainly cry out to the first curious child that happened near the old library shelf looking to find the perfect hiding place from the hide and seeker. Lo, the silent box lay in timeworn stillness hoping soon enough the ordinary container with extraordinary contents will be discovered, until then she lingers and.....Molly bear waits for her next keeper.

Molly is one of those bears who has been loved by many children over the years, each treasuring her as the pride of their
childhood companions, and each was careful to pass her to another when the time came.

Molly deeply loved each of her children more than anything and cherished their friendship and still holds
them dear to her soul. In her old wise heart, she has learned to look for the adventure. No longer does she look back
and think of where she has been and who she misses. A new day brings new journeys for little bears. Onward she travels
on her newest journey with a tale to tell.

One very treasured item Molly has kept with her throughout all her adventures and the passing of time
is her most special antique dolly.

Molly is a medium bear of 12" tall.

As with all Bramblewood Bears, Molly has double stitched seams for strength so she will last for years to come, making
her of true heirloom quality.

Molly will be available for adoption on Ebay until November 26th.
Please click the link below to visit her auction and listen to her music:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160379823831&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Thank you so much for spending some time with Molly and reading her story.
I am so honored to have such a wonderful array of artist and collectors to share my bears along side. Than you so much for your encouragement and friendships!

Black and White Othella

2009-11-09T22:25:00.001-08:00

Next to come from Bramblewood Studio

Little Black and White Girl Bear
"Othella"

Othella is a large 15" bear made from a very long and soft black and white faux fur made to resemble wolf's fur. I added depth to her in black and gray tones to accentuate her bearsonality. Othella's muzzle, ears and paws were needle felted using imported white wool top of the very finest quality.

As an artist I often find myself enjoying highly contrasting yet complimentary colors. Othella is a good example of this love. Although she is actually lacking color, her 'opposites' give her an interesting and unique quality. It is amazing how such simple and....ummm, let's just say it, boring colors such as white and black, on their own are ordinary yet together they bring such beauty.

It makes me think a bit about our culture. How on our own we are limited, ordinary. But together united as one, we could be so much more.....so beautiful.

Even the absence of brilliant colors of a butterfly transformed in black and white remain stunning. It seems the intricacies of movement, swirls, lines and circles seem to be pronounced in the shadows.

So it is with Othella.
Her deliberate absence of color seems to accentuate her eyes and paw pads. I love how striking her paws seem and the intensity of her eyes that seem to peer straight into yours.

This little girl always has a sly curvy smile to give her intensity of fur a softness of spirit. I also added the very slightest of color to her beautiful silk creamy white flowers in the palest of green fuzzy leaves.

“None but ourselves can free our minds.
~Bob Marley

Othella will be available on Ebay until November 16th.
Click this link if you would like to visit her auction and listen to her music!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=
160376962714&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

"Love comes to those who still hope even though they've been disappointed, to those who still believe even though they've been betrayed, to those who still love even thought they've been hurt before."

"To love is to risk not being loved in return. To hope is to risk pain. To try is to risk failure, but risk must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing."

Rose Bear...a dedication....

2009-10-15T20:53:00.000-07:00

Next to arrive from Bramblewood Studios

Little Girl "Rose" Bear

Rose Bear is lovingly dedicated to my wonderful Mother 'Rose' who has been an inpiration to me and many other hearts in this world. She truly lives up to her beautiful name~

I remember my mother's prayers and they have always followed me. They have clung to me all my life. ~Abraham Lincoln

Rose bear was created from a classic 'Teddy Bear Brown' faux fur. Her charming dress set the stage for her simple accessories of roses and ribbons. The rose red and moss green diamond checkered pattern on her handmade dress captured my imagination and thus the roses were born into her little bear attire.

I loved the brilliant contrast of her toasty brown fur against the deep, rich rose red of her flowers similar to the color combinations in this forest photo. I adore and employ often colors and textures that deeply contradict each other yet have a flirty compliment to one another.

Rose's little girly dress even has a little peek-a-boo hole in the very back so she can easily poke her tiny bear tail through and wag to her delight!

Rose Bear is a medium size of 12" tall and such a huggable and lovable little girl.

I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine - she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights. ~Adabella Radici

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts. ~Washington Irving

Thank you mom for all that you do, who you are, and who you have helped me to become!

~You can view Rose bear on Ebay until October 22, 2009 by clicking on the link below

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160370192125&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Angora Angel Bear

2009-10-02T23:27:00.000-07:00

Next from Bramblewood Studio

A pure white Angora Angel Bear
known as
'Purity'

Purity was created from the softest fur on earth, pure white Angora wool!

Purity did not begin as an angel bear. When her finished self lay completed in my hands, she seemed to want something more. I thought of different fun accessories, but nothing quite fit her elegance and regality (another of my made-up words, I may soon post Tomi's Dictionary and Thesaurus so you can actually make sense of my thoughts :)), until I found an old pair of dilapidated angel wings stored forgotten under heaps of craft and art goodies.

"The purity of a person's heart can be quickly measured by how they regard animals"

"The real ornament of woman is her character, her purity."
~Mohandas Ghandi

Now, Purity Bear needed wings of utmost distinction. Upon the top of her long white feathers I coupled angora fur making them billowy soft and adding an effect of the wings 'grown' from her bear body and look to be an actual appendage.

It is sometimes thought that animals are angels in disguise.

They love unconditionally without regard to nobility or appearance.

No one has known a more loyal companion.

They live their lives happily in service to their masters.

Simple acts of affection bring sheer delights of wagging tails.
~yours truly

I made for Purity a pink and white tutu and halo both accentuated with bright pink velvet flowers and ribbons.

All God's angels come to us disguised. ~James Russell Lowell

We enjoyed your visit throughly and hope your time was filled with glee. Purity is available on Ebay until October 9th, 2009. Click the link below to take a peek at her auction and listen to her beautiful music.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160366852974&ssPageName=
STRK:MESELX:IT

O welcome, pure-eyed Faith, white-handed Hope,
Thou hovering angel, girt with golden wings!
~John Milton, Comus

Boy Bear Kegan: Work in Progress Final

2009-09-19T22:31:00.001-07:00

I am pleased to share with you my finished custom made bear named
Kegan.

Kegan is a little gentleman bear created from a vintage dark cocoa brown (almost black) fur coat. He has detailing in sand silk merino imported wool for his muzzle, ears and paw pads.

Kegan's overcoat and beret hat were designed and hand sewn by me especially for him. The brass colored buttons on his hat and coat were salvaged from the fur coat from which he was made!

I love the colors of his coat and hat boating of tans, reds, greens, and blues.

His collar, sleeve cuffs and beret band are all created with moss green corduroy fabric. He is such a handsome bear in his best boy clothes!

Kegan Bear has character shading in woodland tones to bring out his bearsonality. He has leather eyelids and large eyes of Black German glass.

Kegan even has a small steel shot pillow in his belly to give him a nice weighted huggy feel in your arms.

He has a black embroidered nose that has been sealed and painted for a nice typical 'wet-cold' look. His mouth curves ever so slightly into a handsome sly smile.

Kegan has the cutest little boy bear tail. You can almost see it wag in delight!As with all Bramblewood Bears, Kegan has double stiched seams ensuring durability making him a true Heirloom Bear.
*note, Bramblewood Bears are not inteded for child play. They are specifically designed with the bear collector in mind.*

Kegan Bear was fashioned from the imaginations of
Bear Artist
Tomi Delaney
from design to finish making him a truly One of a Kind Creation.

Kegan and I thank you kindly for stopping by for his pictures and following his journey into this world. He looks forward to his trip to France to be with his new owner!

If you are interested in a custom bear, please contact me for details and you could watch your bear in the making.

Boy Bear: A work in progress continuted....

2009-09-15T19:49:00.000-07:00

A day of silk wool and bear paws

My little boy bear found his paws today. For me, this is one of the most time consuming parts of the entire process of bear making. Each pad must be symmetrical as all the others to match and blend seamlessly. As an artist I feel this is my weakest area that I desire to improve upon the most.

I did not set up my normal picture area and lighting for accurate photos for these progress pictures, to the actual colors will vary and change in the different postings depending on daylight, time of day and location. I always take auction pictures in the same place and ONLY beteween 11:00 am - 1:00 pm. If I can't get my pictures taken in this time slot, I will have to wait until the next day. I have learned the hard way that the sun reflects differently off my bears at varying times of the day!

10 little bear toesies!

Here are his smaller, more dainty paw pads for his arms.

I will shade and tone his pads to tie in with the shading on his face which pulls the finished bear together nicely.

Tonight and tomorrow will be his jointing, shading, brushing and finishing details.
The next time you see this little boy, he will have a name and be a real little bear all put together and ready for the world and his trip to France!
I am attempting to sew an overcoat and hat for him per request of his collector. I am not a talented seamstress, although I am looking forward to designing a piece of clothing for him. If it turns out I will post his outfit in the next couple of days.

Thank you for stopping by and peeking at this little custom boy bear's progress. If you are interested in a custom bear, please don't hesitate to contact me for more details and you could watch your bear in the making!

Boy Bear: Work in progress continued...

2009-09-15T00:11:00.000-07:00

Work continued today on my little custom made boy bear and I am very pleased with the amount of time I was able to spend on him despite my 5 small munchkins running around the house!

The kids ate breakfast and played happily outside in the warm morning sun while I cleaned up after breakfast and tidied the kitchen while admiring the 125lbs of fresh sweet peaches I canned yesterday. A grand total of about 96 quarts of peaches for our cellar to enjoy this winter.

Once enough house cleaning was accomplished to make me feel that some bear making indulgence was in order, I fed the kidoes some lunch and scurried them off for their naps. Nap-time is my quiet time of the day and the few moments I am able to commit to my bear making.

Out came my felting needles and paints. Stiff bristled paint brushes, wax and silk wool. Embroidery needles and threads as I settled down with a nice hot vanilla steamer and let my imaginations begin.

I began work on the foundation of his big boy bear eyes and blending his needle felting and adding the eyelids and wool accents.

It is amazing how much time and effort is put into preparing his muzzle for the application of his nose and mouth. Shaping and sculpting prior to sewing his sniffer, set the base for developing the expression of his bearsonality.

This little boy's nose really needed to be a statement of character. It is well know that most boy bears are very proud of their large adequate honey sniffing snouts!

Once his sneezer is embroidered to my satisfaction, next to emerge is his mouth curled into a shy smile. This is the step I get the most excited about as I create because his bersonality begins to show itself.
Yes, he will be a fine bear.

Once his face is completed and assembled, I gather my brushes and toners and set to work on shading and character development. A blending of woodland colors accentuate and add depth transforming a cute bear into a handsome bear.

I never give my bears a name until they are completed in full. I try to fit their names to the personality that emerges as I create. This little boy is still waiting for his name that will be gifted to him on his birthday!

Next to come: body and limb work, needle felting paw pads.

Thank you for peeking in on my work in progress custom bear. If you are interested in a custom bear please contact me for details and you could watch your bear in the making!

Boy Bear: A Work in Progress

2009-09-13T22:37:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to share with you my first work in progress.
I am creating a custom bear for a wonderfully delightful woman from France. This little boy bear with a European flare, will be made from a vintage dark cocoa (almost black) fur coat. The pattern I am using is for a 15" bear from my 'Wild Bruin' collection along with Sand Merino
Silk wool for the needle felting.

I knew what color, density and length of fur I wanted to use, and found exactly what I was looking for in this beautiful old coat. When the package arrived at my home, I could hardly wait to feel the coat under my hands and dream of what would be!

One of my favorite things about this luxiourous coat is the large brass buttons that sparkle against the thick dark fur. I may try to incorporate one of them into the finished clothing for this little gentleman bear if all works according to plan :)

I also especially love the sanguine red lining of this coat and it also may find it's way into the finished bear.

After cutting away the vibrant silk lining and tracing and cutting my pattern, I now have all my bear pieces ready to begin assembling, pinning and sewing....now this little boy will begin to take shape....
(oh how I wish my antique Franklin treadle sewing machine was not just a lovely piece of eye candy and actually worked. Perhaps one day I will have it repaired for use!)

This is my bear sewing beauty. I have a long history of fighting with and complaining about my sewing machines. Constantly adjusting tension, rethreading, murmuring annoyance under my breath at the whirring gears that seem intent on making my sewing a compete disaster, yet I would manage to pull my project together with frustration lingering and hours wasted just to vow to never sew again.

It was to my great surprise and delight that my amazing husband bought me a brand new lovely Viking Sewing machine for Christmas. It is a dream to sew with and I can create all day long with out one single problem! Bring on the bears!!

The only place where housework comes before needlework is in the dictionary.
~Mary Kurtz

I keep my end tables full of needlework and quilting so I don't have to dust them.

~Author Unknown

After sewing, needle felting and needle sculpting, little bear's head is in it's basic form. I still have hours of finishing work to be done specifically on his face and expression, but his personality is beginning to form.

Tomorrow I will be sharing progress work on his eyes and finishing the needle felting on his muzzle and perhaps he will have his ears! This little guy is a bit closer to his birthday.

Keep an eye out for this little boy bears progress pictures. If you are interested in a custom bear, please don't hesitate to contact me for more information and you could watch your bear in the making!

Lady Lorraine

2009-09-10T15:19:00.000-07:00

Next to arrive from

Bramblewood
Studio

Lady Lorraine Bear

Lady Lorraine is a sister bear to "Bonnie". I had such wonderful remarks about Bonnie and numerous request for a second bear that looked similar to her. I also enjoyed very much creating the Victorian hat for Elsie, that I wanted to make for Lady Lorraine a Mini Top Hat, those of which I am deeply in love.

These mini's are very popular right now with a myriad of different kinds of styles and shapes. They are a very whimsical marriage style between The Mad Hatter look and an elegant gothic Victorian flare. I am so enthralled with them, that I will most definitely be creating more for my bears to model.

Many of these lovely hats feature the classic 30's and 40's mesh poka-dot veiling that flirtingly shaded one's eyes from full view, which I gloriously intend to create for a Bramblewood Bear in the very near future. You will have to 'bear' with me as I tend to make up my own worlds like 'flirtingly' :)

Lady Lorraine's hat was created from black felt and over-laid with embossed papers in varying patterns and colors evoking pink, silver, blue and cream swirls and flowers. Black velvet is a must in my mind for anything Victorian, so I used some of this soft jet black ribbon to accentuate. Along with a black and white bow-tie in the front and a large over-sized bow of black ribbon with a silver jeweled charm to the back.

A hat is a flag, a shield, a bit of armor, and the badge of femininity. A hat is the difference between wearing clothes and wearing a costume; it's the difference between being dressed and being dressed up; it's the difference between looking adequate and looking your best. A hat is to be stylish in, to glow under, to flirt beneath, to make all others seem jealous over, and to make all men feel masculine about. A piece of magic is a hat.
~Martha Sliter

I often wish I had the boldness and self indulgence to wear a voluptuous and overdone hat in public. It seems in the modern day that we have somehow lost our elegance.....our desire to be feminine and the fact that it should be celebrated. Not with skimpy miniskirts and see through clothing, but rather with the flowing of long hair perhaps twisted in a do with sparkly pins all layered under a small yet glorious hat. Not to stop there, oh no! A hat would be seriously out of place without an equally stately dress to accompany it. Where have we lost this quintessential part of our womanhood? It seems the 60's freed us from this 'trap' of what it was to be a woman....but now in our current day with all the striving to be the bread winners and equals, we have misplaced something classy and grand. My hope is that sometime very soon, we will rediscover what it is to be woman.
Feminine. Classy. Elegant. Graceful. Strong.

A naked Adam may have fallen upon an equally naked Eve without the need of props. But in this day of curiously unerotic sexual explicitness and demystifying psychological close-ups, we are in desperate need of the feminine wiles that once characterized style icons like Marlene Dietrich, Babe Paley, and Jackie O.

We just know inside that we're queens. And these are the crowns we wear.
~Felecia McMillan

Lady Lorraine was created using ultra soft golden antique Mohair and accentuated with imported Merino wool silk. Her eyes are black German glass and she has very detailed character shading and painting along with scissor and needle sculpting on her face and body to create her unique bearsonanity.

She is a medium size of12" tall standing. She also wears a regal black velvet neck band with a very elegant gem.

A hat is a shameless flatterer, calling attention to an escaping curl, a tawny braid, a sprinkling of freckles over a pert nose, directing the eye to what is most unique about a face. Its curves emphasize a shining pair of eyes, a lofty forehead; its deep brim accentuates the pale tint of a cheek, creates an aura of prettiness, suggests a mystery that awakens curiosity in the onlooker ~Jeanine Larmoth

Lady Lorraine is still a perfectly sophisticated gal with out the adorning of her top hat. Her eyes sparkle and glimer and upon her muzzle, the faintest smile curves.

It is difficult to take the full spectrum of her hat in from the front alone. The back cascades with classic black Victorian splendor.

Lady Lorraine would not be fully complete without her antique bisque dolly. I created a truly miniature top hat for her little companion.

You cannot hide in a hat; you will be noticed, especially by men. To men, you become a lady when you don a hat--one who they rush to open doors for. To women, you become an inspiration, reminding them that they have a closet full of hats they have not had the courage to wear.

Thank you so much for dropping in for a visit and engaging my wonderment of fine hats and feminine things, oh yes, and of course to spy a peek at Lady Lorraine too! I truly appreciate each of you who follows my blog and leaves such wonderful comments. You truly bless me!

Lady Lorraine will be available on Ebay until September 16th, 2009.
Here is her link:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160361570936&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

Elise Bear

2009-08-25T23:48:00.001-07:00

Elise is the the newest bear from Bramblewood Studios.

Elise is a little girl bear created in a wild antique style and is reminiscent of
the age of European royalty.

A time when glorious and lavish hats were worn by
elegant women and were more of an accessory than a
necessity of convenience.

A time of romance and majesty.

A time that still clings to the edge of our hearts and whisper in our dreams once more.

If I only had my own way in this world, I would by some miracle bring back the romance of these lovely European jeweled hats brimmed with feathers and lace of all sorts along with the stunning ruffled and layered dress that accompanied them. Somewhere deep inside each of us, lies in wait our own Queen of old in all her wondrous glory.

I wanted to make a simple yet elegant hat for Elise Bear. I have noticed that what is called 'mini hats' in a Victorian style are really very popular right now. I have come across these flat petite hats now and again, and can not remember the name given to them. So, I will call this hat a
"Victorian Mini Flat"
"A truly elegant taste is generally accompanied with excellency of heart".

~Henry Fielding

Elise was created from soft sandy semi sparse Mohair. Her muzzle and paw pads were needle felted using imported Merino Silk wool and painted in creamy brown tones for depth and bearsonality.

"It is beauty that captures your attention; personality which captures your heart."

These so called 'mini' hats serve no helpful purpose at all like shielding your eyes from the sun or keeping your quaffs dry from falling rain....their only divine and most wonderfully perfect job, is to look pretty.
And this they do very well.

Elise's flat hat was fashioned using sheer organza type fabric with vibrant pink, ruby red and hazelnut tones. The tiny hat has two tiers and Victorian lace strung around each layer and two sheer pink ribbons that tie on each end to attach the hat to her head. I also added purple and lavender poppies and leaves to the center of her hat for added charm.

Elise has deep black German glass eyes. Many hours were spent on her expression including thread sculpting and painting. She has a needle felted nose with added painting and sealing. Her ears and paws have been scissor sculpted and shaded adding to her antique allure.

A drink of tea with jam and bread,
her cup she wears upon her head.
To keep her warm and very well-fed.

The love for hats is not limited to only the human head...oh no!
Animal folk have long past understood the importance of a good defining
crown topper.

Some hats are meant to keep you warm,
although the best kind are those that simply adorn.

Elise is 5 way cotter pin jointed and has wire armature in her arms for gentle posing. She has a steel shot pillow in her belly for a nice huggy feel in your arms.

The original Robin Hood.
A good hat can create a legend.

Little girl bear Elise was created from the imaginations of
Bear Artist
Tomi Delaney
from design to finish making her a very unique
One of a Kind Bear.

As with all Bramblewood Bears, Elise has double stitched seams for strength making her a true heirloom quality bear to last for generations.

Thank you for stopping by and visiting the Bramblewood. My hope is that Elise has brought a smile to your face and joy to your heart.

Elise comes with a darling antique bisque doll. She has a cloth body and bisque bust, hands and shoes. I altered her dress to compliment Elise.

Baby Bear Bonnie

2009-08-15T09:51:00.000-07:00

Next to Come from the
Bramblewood

Presenting
Baby Bear
"Bonnie"

Bonnie is my newest creation designed and antiqued to be
reminiscent of an 'old world' bear, yet while showcasing modern
bear making techniques. A cute little combination of old and new.

Bonnie just looked to me like a baby girl bear with her innocent little eyes
and teenie toes. Her muzzle and paws are needle felted with imported sand wool and shaded
for added character.

In my mind, babies and bears just go together like coffee and cream, peanut butter and jelly, Abbot and Costello, childhood and innocence. There is something about a cuddly soft teddy bear and a baby's loving embrace that seals the essence of youth.

Baby Bonnie has 'mending' stitches on her belly and right ear along with
'rub' marks situated in various places on her body arms and legs, giving her
a truly old, loved feel.

There is a garden in every childhood, and the enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.

~Elizabeth Lawrence

Bonnie's sugary sweet fur is made from Hazelnut Spice mohair, that looks perfectly a bit messy and aged adding to her antique feel and allure. I have added shading and painting details to further deepen and enhance her olden youth.

Baby Bonnie bear is a medium-small size of 12" tall standing.

Dance little baby, dance up high,
Never mind baby, mother is by;
Crow and caper, caper and crow,
There little baby, there you go;
Up to the ceiling, down to the ground,
Backwards and forwards, round and round;
Dance little baby, and mother shall sing,
With the merry coral, ding, ding, ding.

~Ann Taylor

She comes with her own handmade rag quilt baby bear blanket with a periwinkle silk lining.

In my adolescence, I was a tomboy of all tomboys. Climbing trees and crashing my red BMX bike (and I have the scars to show for it), were the highlight of my summers, but one of my earliest childhood memories I can conger is of my ol' pooh bear.
My mind whispers of pale honeycomb yellow fluff and a small silver music box crank on his bear behind that played a simple fairytale melody. His outline form and soft yellowness melody are all I can remember of him, but he was my comfort and my friend.
My childhood love.

Sometimes I wonder what ever became of my ol' pooh. Did my love transform him into a real bear like the boy's affection for his Velvetine rabbit?
Is he lost somewhere in time, collecting dust in an old forgotten attic?
Were his stitches unable to withstand all my love and slobbery affection, and come undone, sentencing him to the bear graveyard?

I may never know, but his memory clings to the edges of my mind, teetering on the cliff of forgetfulness. For now, he lives on in my heart and inspires.

Baby Bonnie Bear is available on Ebay until
August 21, 2009

Violet

2009-07-30T20:31:00.000-07:00

O wind, where have you been,
That you blow so sweet?
Among the violets
Which blossom at your feet.

The honeysuckle waits
For Summer and for heat
But violets in the chilly Spring
Make the turf so sweet.

Violet Bear
Next to come from Bramblewood Studios

Many of my bears start with a glint of inspiration, yet lack the full view
of what could be. I ruffle through yards of Mohair until one 'calls' to me and I
settle on it's color, length and texture determining the size of the bear to come.
For Violet, I decided on a wonderfully luscious pile of golden honey Mohair with a slight
curl to it. My mind danced with possibility.
Most of my creations, find themselves.
As I work, they sort of emerge on their own. My fingers work, my mind buzzes, I tweak and alter, yet somehow each bear births itself and tells me what it wants to be.
So it was with Violet.

I wanted to adorn her in colors that contrasted greatly, but also complimented her warm, cozy fur tones. I delighted in finding some violets and poppies stuffed in the back of my craft closet and played around with arranging them in just the right spots and with just the most gentle color combinations. What I found was that I loved the contrast of the Vibrant violet color of her flowers against her more muted tan, brown and orange colors as so fabulously pictured in the painting above.

This of course led to her name being
'Violet".
Sort of obvious, but such a cute and fitting name to be had by such a little girl bear.
Violets remind me of one of my most treasured times of year, spring. Winter is fading and the chill of snow and smothered seedlings begins to wane. flowers emerge in brilliant colors, birds chirp their soul's song and the world again buzzes with life.

Down in a green and shady bed,
A modest violet grew,
Its stalk was bent, it hung its head,
As if to hide from view.
And yet it was a lovely flower,
Its colours bright and fair;
It might have graced a rosy bower,
Instead of hiding there,
Yet there it was content to bloom,
In modest tints arrayed;
And there diffused its sweet perfume, Within the silent shade. Then let me to the valley go,
This pretty flower to see;
That I may also learn to grow
In sweet humility.

~Jane Taylor

I spent a good time mixing varying colors to achieve a nice matching violet color for accentuating her eyes. I wanted this all important color to match identically the violet tones from her scarf and ear flowers. Ah, such a sweet little bear.

In-fatuous wings of Angels blow their fragrance upon the still earth.
Great waving wings eternal, of pure feathery billows flow, gracefully they
birth.
Adoring winds fondly silent upon the breeze, kiss pink cheeks of man’s maiden
fair.
Questing daylight to dawn, flowing gently o’er sea and land searching vastness to
declare.
Scent of violets doth the Angels tread tip toe drops of bluish haze amid Spring’s ebbing
flow.
This is how their love they
show.

~Tomi Delaney

She stands at 12" tall and has ever so slightly bent knees. Her ears are scissor sculpted along with all of her needle felted detailing on her muzzle and paws.
I also spend much time needle sculpting her face for expression and character addition.

Violet has sort of an antique feel to her with a petite bear hump on her back. Her Edwardian scarf was hand made in autumn colors bringing out the color of her embroidered nose and dark ears.

UPON the mead a violet stood,
Retiring, and of modest mood,
In truth, a violet fair.
Then came a youthful shepherdess,
And roam'd with sprightly joyousness,
And blithely woo'd
With carols sweet the air
"Ah!" thought the violet, "had I been
For but the smallest moment e'en
Nature's most beauteous flower,
'Till gather'd by my love, and press'd,
When weary, 'gainst her gentle breast,
For e'en, for e'en
One quarter of an hour!"
Alas! alas! the maid drew nigh,
The violet failed to meet her eye,
She crush'd the violet sweet.
It sank and died, yet murmur'd not:
"And if I die, oh, happy lot,
For her I die,
And at her very feet!"

~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1775

Violet is available for sale on Ebay until
August 7th, 2009

The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its lovliness.

~Therese Lisieux

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.

~Mark Twain

Angelina

2009-07-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

Angelina Bear
2009

I have always wanted to create an angel bear, but needed just the right
inspiration and accessories. In the end, she turned out just as I had imagined her when I first touched and examined the white feathery soft fur fabric that would become Angelina.

Angelina has been my highest selling bear that I have created to date at over $600.00. I think all of her components just worked really well together and made for a majestic and angelic fluff ball that is hard to resist. Her fur is an exquisite white faux fur that is so soft you could fall asleep on a couple of yards of it for a very long and comfortable nap (so long as you kept your mouth closed as you slept or you may have a mouthful of fluff when you awakened). I experienced this on occasion while working with her lovely fabric. It seemed that as I cut and pinned the fabric in preparation for sewing, little bits of fur would somehow wisp into the air like dandelion seeds caught in the wind, only to somehow settle in my mouth. Of course when I would try to carefully pick the soft ultra fine hairs off the tip of my tongue, I would then end up with double the amount in my mouth from what was sticking to my fingers. By the time I was finished with Angelina, I felt like I needed to cough up a hair ball!
The finished product of my first Angel bear was a success and no amount of annoying hair swallowing could take away from the excitement I felt when she was complete.

My bears mean so much more to me than simply the amount of money they bring at the end of an auction. They are my expression. My outlet. My art. They represent me in a way that is vulnerable and uncomfortable at times. I tend to rate them by how well they are received by collectors which is,9 times out of 10, wonderful. I am so thankful to my collectors. I consider each one a friend. Occasionally, I have a flop and even after all of those amazing sales beyond my expectations, one failure can make an artist feel completely undone. I know, it sounds a bit
extreme, but emotions run deep and thick in the veins of us artistic folk.
It is like announcing to the world, here it is! My soul, my innermost creative thought and expression. And then you wait.......

Will they like it?

Will the price go up?

Is my style obvious and unique?

The list goes on and on.

When the response is excellent, it is like a glee of acceptance that is personal and raw. When it is not so good, well, frankly it can devastate.

Angelina Bear was one of those bears that set my artistic flame on fire. She helped me to
gain confidence as a credible bear artist and to attain to a higher standard in my bear making. I still feel quite hesitant and insecure with finding my flow and consistency.....but I think if I felt that I had 'arrived' at artistic creation heaven, where would the fun in it be?

Where would the struggle at attaining that ever fleeting inspiration and striving to be better, being more attuned and skilled?

To me, that is the spurring challenge. And when that challenge is met with applause, it is like a long deep swallow of extra hot vanilla latte. It satisfies and sets the artistic fire burning ever brighter and stronger.

Never travel faster than your guardian angel can fly.
~Mother Teresa

Angelina is 17" tall, one of the largest bears from my collections. As with all Bramblewood Bears she has needle felted detailing as well as subtle shading to bring out her eyes, ears and paws.

Ever felt an angel's breath in the gentle breeze?

A teardrop in the falling rain?

Hear a whisper amongst the rustle of leaves?

Or been kissed by a lone snowflake?

Nature is an angel's favorite hiding place.
~Carrie Latet

I didn't want to skimp on Angelina's wings especially as they
are her crowning jewel. Her wonderful wings are made from real turkey feathers
and even have tiny wispy baby like down that flow into the larger brilliant white
feathers below.

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby ye may have entertained angels unawares."

~Hebrews 13: 2

To me,
Angelina's eyes are her most enduring feature. They seem so deep and innocent, yet so wise and attentive. She seems to almost peer into your soul like and old trusted dear friend, but with the knowledge of heaven and the inner-workings of the spirit realm.

I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. ~Michelangelo

I hope you have enjoyed Angelina.

Perry

2009-07-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

Artists, the strange and odd people we tend to be, look at the world
through inspired and interpretive eyes. Everything we touch, feel
and see becomes a part of our mind's palette. Inspiration can come from
anything or nothing at all, and it is a very fragile and funny thing.
It only shows up when it wants to. It can not be called upon
when needed or convenient. It can visit for great periods of time or stay away and only arrive occasionally to then
vanish again without the slightest notice, as if scared away by the faintest flitter.

So,

What do you think of when you see a fur coat?

Paris hotels with lush accommodations, lobbies brimming with expensive swanky women and cigar puffing men in top hats with perfectly folded handkerchiefs?

or

New York Fashion shows, long legged models strolling the catwalk in the latest fleeting must have fashion.

or

Perhaps you think, poor animal had to give up his life just for someone's ego.

What do I think?

BEARS!

Perry Bear
2009

Tale of two coats

Perry Bear's existence began as an old, very vintage
deep chocolate brown fur coat in a dilapidated musty smelling auction house hidden amidst a small nothing else to do town. I found it, and another shockingly ugly hunter's orange fur coat at a local low scale auction that my husband and I love to frequent. The two were sold as one lot and although I didn't want the orange beast, I did immediately see potential in the soft vibrant brown throwaway coat that no one else seemed the least bit interested. I quickly and all too obviously bid with my number in hopes of outbidding all the other half sleeping bored crowd, as if I would loose it to interest. To my delight, no one cared or was the least bit excited about the old worn out coat hidden behind the glare of the orange 'thing'. I could tell that even the auctioneer, who was not the picky type regarding what he was willing to sell to any paying dummy with a number, even patted himself on the back for selling such a tosser to some young ignorant girl. Well, needless to say I won the two coats with a single low bid

The lovely coat pictured here is very similar to the old faux fur coat I so cheerfully purchased from the rickety auction house. It has a red lined interior. Although, mine had big knobby brown buttons all down the front that were half falling off from years of fastening. I couldn't stop dreaming of what I could do with this forlorn little piece of treasure. It wasn't long before I was nervously cutting and clipping pattern pieces to my heart's content.

Perry was my second bear created from my 'Wilderness Bear' collection.
His tiny bear toes still delight me to this day. Each of my creations becomes
to me as sort of a child. They go off to their new homes and I miss them, but
delight in the knowledge and hope that they may bring some spark of joy
to their new owner's lives.

Perry's bear has old world characteristics with his
over sized bear hump and long bent arms and legs.

Perry seemed to extol properness. For him I designed and fashioned a vibrant salmon and evergreen vest with two bear sized buttons that reminisced of the coat that gave Perry life. Of course no respectable bear would be complete without a gentlemanly pocket watch. I used a real silver chain and paper glossed time piece to fit perfectly inside his embroidered pocket.

Perry is a bear very dear to my heart. My spirit finds delight in the thought

that he has brought a glimmer to your time here an ever so faint smile to your soul.

In case you are wondering.....the orange beast is still with me hanging heavily deeply hidden in
the back of my large closet. I still have to squint my eyes from the glare that shines from the back of my wardrobe. But I am a sucker and can't throw the poor thing away. Perhaps in the future if the economy slump worsens, you will find a brilliant orange bear beauty staring at you from my blog and you will know why.

Danika

2009-07-18T18:05:00.000-07:00

She dreams ever so shyly
of being a real grown-up dancing bear.
Twirling on cotton candy clouds of imaginations.

Created sweet as pie from long semi-sparse brown sugar Mohair
and imported honeycomb sand Merino wool.

Danika Bear is an example of mixed media artisanship.
Traditional sewing methods utilized in bear making with added
folky needlefelted details to accentuate her unique bearsonality.

I must say, my inspiration for Danika came entirely from her pink sticky-sweet
cotton candy tutu. As I contemplated on her adorning and wardrobing her
furry cuteness, I just knew she needed pink, pink and more pink!

Like most little girls, Danika doesn't venture far without
her most treasured companion.
Her dolly lovingly named
"Poppy"