Mohair Divas Social Network

I am pleased to announce that one of my online teddy bear pals, Kelly Dauterman of Blondheart Arts has announced a new online social networking site called Mohair Divas. The site allows members to create their own personal page, a discussion forum and a place to post pics of their newest creations! I personally believe that within a short time the community will be the best, busiest place online for fellow teddy bear artists/makers to meet and swap ideas and stories. Such a GREAT idea.

Visit The Community At : http://mohairdivas.ning.com/

Huge Kudos To You Kelly,

Jer

Bears For A Cause

For the second year in a row, Jenny Johnson of Three O'Clock Bears is organizing the Breast Cancer Care Pink Bear Draw. The tickets will be on sale from September to October and are £5.00 each. This year, there are five bears to be won from well-known artists Jenny Johnson, Yvonne Andrews, Victoria Allum, Samantha Potter and Melanie Jayne Culshaw. All five bears are just gorgeous and all the proceeds from the raffle will go towards Breast Cancer Care services. To help support a wondeful cause and for the chance to add one of the bears to your hug, more info on how to contact Jenny can be found at:

http://www.threeoclockbears.com/hope/

As many of us have known for years, teddy bears can provide hope and comfort. So make a difference, buy your tickets today...

Jeremy

Here's a Challenge!

As you may now know, I am a moderator of the Bears and Soft Toys category of the forum on www.toycollector.com . Each of the moderator's was asked by the site administrator to come up with a challenge for their respective forum. Steiffi (the other mod) and myself are each doing a challenge. Hers involves finding 50 images of stuffed toy hedgehogs in one thread and mine involves finding 50 images of miniature soft toys. They can be any animal, manufactured or artist made. If anyone would like to help me complete my challenge, it can be found at the following address:

http://www.toycollector.com/forum/bears-and-soft-toys/

Thanks In Advance,
Have Fun Hunting!

Jer

TBOV Toronto Show

The Toronto Teddy Bears On Vacation Summer Teddy Bear Show & Sale is on Sunday and I'd like to wish all of my teddy bear artist friends who are attending the show good luck! Here's some info for those of you who might want to attend.

SUNDAY, JULY 6, 2008

Teddy Bears on Vacation
TORONTO BOTANICAL GARDEN
777 Lawrence Ave. East at Leslie Street
10:00am-3:30pm

Are You A "Toy" Collector???

Have you ever rummaged through a flea market or antiques store looking for that perfect vintage Steiff bear to add to your collection? If you have, you might just be a toy collector. Now before I get my head torn off for calling teddy bears "toys" instead of soft sculpture, let me remind you that the teddies of times past were indeed created as children's play things and were basic compared to today's artistic teddy bear creations. As I have always been a fan of the teddy bear, I am pleased to announce that I am now a forum moderator at a fantastic new website called Toy Collector. The website is set up for collector's of all different types of toys from antiques to modern pieces, from die cast cars, dolls & teddy bears to sailboats, construction sets & toy soldiers. There is a forum to chat with other members, an area for members to post pics and videos of their collections, an events calendar & even a section for member blogs! I moderate the Teddy Bears/Soft Toys section of the forum, with fellow bear fanatic Steiffi and we both hope that you will pay us a visit. We can never have too many members! So without further adieu, I present to you, www.toycollector.com

Bear Hugs,
Jeremy

The Cat's Meow?

So, after struggling for God knows how long to get my first self-designed pattern created, I have finally succeeded! The only problem being, it isn't even a teddy bear pattern! You see, a friend of mine requested an artist version of her real life kitty named Felix, so I put my drawing skills to the test and came up with a design that I am actually quite proud of. It's nothing mind-blowing, but it's a start and that's what counts right? LoL. Anywho, it is a teddy bear style, sitting design with large feet and bent arms and I can't wait to get a rough test kitty sewn up. Let's hope he doesn't turn out looking too hideous, cause I may be heartbroken after all the work I put into it. Pics will be posted on here if (and when) I ever get around to actually making the poor fluffy little kitten!

Take Care,
Jeremy

PS - I hope the weather is nicer where you are. It's been raining cats and dogs off and on for two day now and that doesn't make for a very happy/creative environment...Yuck!

SNEAK PEEK : New Needle-Felted Bear!

Hey Guys & Gals...

So last week when I had some spare time at work (I work midnights) I busted out the needle-felting kit that I had bought almost a year ago and finally worked up the courage to give it a try. About an hour later (and many many painful finger pokes with the "daggers" as I like to call them) I had finished the head of the cute little bear! I am sooo very happy with the way he turned out. As it was my first attempt ever at needle-felting, I was honestly expecting a "Frankenstein's Bear" as the final result, but I think he is actually quite nice to look at! I think I am enjoying the needle felting medium the best as far as methods of soft sculpture go. It allows for more creativity, which is great for me as sometimes I have a hard time translating my ideas into a formed paper pattern. With this method, you just make the shapes to form the creation you have stuck in your head. So without further adieu, I am proud to introduce (well, at least the head of) my newest Newelley.Bears creation "Boysenbeary"! Enjoy the pics and please leave comments if you happen to like what you see...

Thanks

Jeremy