DELILAH & FIGGY

I hope you are having a super Christmas and looking forward to the New Year.

I have been having a little break from bear making over the Christmas holiday, but thought you might like to see Delilah and Figgy who are 2 little 10 inch wacky bears I have specially made for two little children to give to the Mum at Christmas....I do hope she will be pleased with them.

It will soon be 2010 and before I know it will be in a panic making bears to take to London :-) Well the Christmas cake is calling my name so I think I will go and get a really big slice :-)

BEFORE AND AFTER

What a weekend it has been, so cold -7 at night and -2 during the day. Its a good job I have all this mohair to keep me warm. You can see from my pictures in our back field the frost and then the snow coming, did not stay out too long taking these pictures, I nearly became a human snowman :-) I think I should make mohair socks from some of this fur, but then maybe they might be a bit itchy :-) Well it looks as if we might get a white Christmas this year, lets hope the roads are kept clear for safe traveling over the holiday period. Well back to the grindstone for me more bears to complete.

NEW OPEN EDITION BEARS

Today I have released a new range of "Open Edition" bears onto my website. These are bears that will be numbered starting from No.1 and upwards. Every 3/4 months this page on my website will be updated with new bears added and some will have their editions closed. I will be posting an Open Edition Information page update on my blog and website, this will tell you the name of the bear with a picture for easy reference and the last number that the edition was closed. If a bear has to be made up (if not in stock at time of adopting) delivery within the UK will be 7/10 days, Overseas 10/14 days. If off the shelf delivery within the UK will be 48 hours and Overseas 5 working days.

Pictured is Chelford who is one of the new Open Edition bears, he is 23 inches tall and a beautifully soft bear. For further information about my Open Edition bears please click on the link OPEN EDITIONS.

THRU'PENCE & TUPPENCE

I would like to show you my latest Panda's from my Toy-Box Treasure range. Thru'Pence is a traditional black and white Panda and his sister is Tuppence who has been made from a hand dyed deep cranberry coloured mohair and a rich blonde mohair. Both Panda's are 15 inches tall and have their names from English coinage before we went decimalized. Tuppence has found a loving home with a with a gentleman who has not bought a bear before, but he just could not leave Leek without taking Tuppence with him.

PUDDINGTON

I am having so much fun working with this new faux fur, I just had to make a little cub bear, and here is my first attempt called

Puddington who is 13 inches tall, and a little bundle of fur. I am so pleased that Puddington was a big hit with my collectors, it has given me a nudge to make more like him.

Tomorrow it is back to working with a red mohair, this time it is one I have hand dyed, I am really pleased with the colour as with hand dyeing it can be a bit hit and miss, hopefully it will make a nice Panda.

Visit to a German Market

Last night we decided to go into Manchester and visit the German Christmas market. We decided to take half the journey by car and the other part by tram into the town centre. Well that was an experience in itself, going was pretty easy it only took 15 mins but coming home what a nightmare, we caught the wrong tram and ended up the other side of Manchester, decided to get on the next one and ended back where we started from, then got on another and the tram driver told everyone after the stop that we should have got off at that stop. Well I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life traveling around on Manchesters trams, eventually hours later we found our way back to the car. Other than the journey the visit was very enjoyable, the food chalets were great, had plenty to eat and drink too. The rain stayed off too which was good. It was a trip I would recommend to all, not so sure about the tram bit though :-)

The Wild Side

It is another shopping day less until Christmas. I do not fancy pushing my way through all the crowds on a Saturday, I much prefer to do my shopping late at night, when it is a bit quieter, but I think everyone is catching on to this as last year the queues from the check-outs went completely from back to front of the store and this was at 11pm.

While debating with myself this morning whether to go shopping or not, I finished off Chorley a big 23 inch traditional style bear who has been made from a beautifully soft imitation Wild Cat fur. I have sent him on his way with Darren to sit him in my shop window in Leek (I mean Chorley not Darren sitting in the window :-) ), hopefully someone will pass by and fall in love with him.

I am pleased to say Chorley has found a new home today in the UK. He did not sit very long in the window!

HUGO GROG

I have been having a wild time making this very large, chubby Grog called Hugo, he is a whopping 23 inches tall and approx. 16 inches wide. Certainly a heavy guy who stands out in a crowd. Hugo has been made from a beautiful faux Coyote fur which is so beautiful soft to touch. He was a bit of a handful to stuff, but I got there in the end, I nearly have muscles now like Popeye :-)

I hope Hugo has made you smile.

Hugo is off to live in a warmer climate....lucky Grog!!!!

EBENEZER

I have just popped along and thought you might like to see my latest Toy-Box Treasure called Ebenezer, who has been made from the red faux fur I mentioned in my previous post

Ebenezer is off to live in a warmer climate (lucky bear!). It is freezing today.

I know Ebenezer will be very happy with all his other bear friends.

SEEING RED!!!

I have been working with some very rich looking, red fur this week, and it has drove me crazy! How can such a lovely looking fabric create so much of a mess, that I have been finding red hairs everywhere. When I moved away from where I was working I left a red trail behind me, to be fair though it has been worth finding red bits in my drinks...yuk!!! as I have managed to make a 10 inch Toy-Box Treasure Elephant called Festivity and a 20 inch traditional style bear with a large hump called Ebenezer.

Tomorrow I am going to finish off a very large Grog, I am looking forward to that.

It looks like we are due a little snow this weekend, so that will make a nice change from all the rain we have been having :-)

NEW BEAR - SOMERFORD

I would like to show you my latest bear Somerford who is a large 23 inch traditional style bear. After many years of making bears from real fur and numerous commissions, I decided to dabble with some beautiful imitation furs. Somerford is the first bear to be made, and I am so pleased with how he has turned out. I must say it is far nicer to work with imitation fur than it is to work with the real thing, because it was such a horrible product to work with both Darren and I decided quite sometime ago to stop making bears from real fur. However we are still having numerous collectors asking us if we would still make them a bear from real fur, so because of this I have found a superior quality imitation fur and have started to make the bears again. I do hope you will like Somerford, my next one will be a Red Fox Bear.

Somerford is now on his way to Belgium to live with a very nice collector who will certainly make him feel at home.

PINKY & BEANIE

Well the weather here has been just terrible, rain, rain and more rain, ideal bear making weather though!

As I write this post these two Kats are on their way to sunnier shores, with a few traveling companions. They are called Pinky no prizes for guessing which one this is and the other is Beanie, both are 14 inches tall and made from hand dyed mohair. Pinky and Beanie will be available for adoption from Doug's Bears in San Francisco, if you have a spare moment his website is well worth a visit.

Well its back to the drawing board for me, as I have just had a large delivery of beautiful faux fur and have plenty of new designs to be working on.

FIRST GROG DOG called YARDLEY

This is Yardley my very first Grog Dog. I have really enjoyed making Yardley, especially doing his nose, which is needle felted. I have used really soft merino wool which has been supplied to me by one of our local farmers. His nose is 2 inches wide and over 1 inch thick so his nose is really huge. Yardley is a very chubby, large dog, standing 17 inches tall. As I have had so much fun making Yardley I have decided to make some puppy Grog dogs with big noses. I am itching to get started making these but have orders to be getting on with so better keep my head down.

I have just finished watching a TV programme called Collision. It has been on for 5 nights. I must say if you get a chance to watch this programme its a must, very clever writing by Anthony Horowitz and what an ending!!!

Yardley has found a loving home in California!

ATWELL

I just love to make black bears, but they are such a nightmare to photograph. After numerous attempts I have managed to get a few reasonable pictures. Its a good job we have digital cameras as I could not imagine how much my bill would be for developing film when photographing the black bears.

Well this is the little guy who has caused me so much trouble. Atwell who is one of my Toy-Box Treasures, this little bear is 13 inches tall and has been created with the 1912 Titanic Bear in mind. His eyes are black but have red felt behind, they certainly look as if he is watching you.

I am in the process of designing two very large bears for a shop display, one in particular I am looking forward to making, its a beautiful red one...something a bit more cheery than black:-)

Atwell is off to live in New Jersey with many of his friends, and also has a traveling companion called Amos who has been made by my husband Darren.

HAPPY SATURDAY!!

Well thats Bonfire Night over and done with for another year! Christmas starts here!!!:-( well according to the television! It is a bit weird really watching fireworks and munching on a mince pie :-) and in London they are singing Christmas carols and turning on the Christmas lights. Have I missed something or is it turning out to be like Groundhog Day!!

Inbetween the activities I have managed to make a little 6 inch miniature wacky bear called Jimble. This is the smallest size of bear I make, it was quite strange making him as the bear I had just previously finished was 31 inches, so I felt like I was all fingers and thumbs going to work on this little guy. Jimble is going to live in Illinios with his friend Harry.

Today I am making a couple of 10 inch Toy-Box Treasure bears which I am looking forward to doing.

Hope you have a happy Saturday!

Toni&Guy Hair Shoot by my Son Adam and modelling by my Daughter Bethany

If you have a spare moment please take a look at the video at the bottom of my blog. This is a presentation by Toni& Guy Macclesfield, it was a Hair & Fashion show my son Adam organised in aid of the East Cheshire Hospice. Adam is an Art Director at Toni&Guy Macclesfield, this video shows you some of his hairstyles. He needed a younger model for the show so decided to ask his sister Bethany who is 12 to help, she is the one wearing the red Beatles T. Shirt and grey short skirt, must not forget to mention her hair is by Adam and colour by Holly :-). It was an excellent evening, well attended and lots of money raised for the Hospice. Everyone loved the pumpkins....well what can I say to this except we could have made enough pumpkin pies to feed an army :-) Signed a Very Proud Mum!

SWEETIE PIE SIXPENCE

I hope you have had a great weekend and not too frightening Halloween. It's Monday again and the start of a very wet and windy week, ideal weather for staying indoors and bear making.

I have just finished a new little 8 inch Urchin called Sweetie Pie, who I have made from one of the mohairs I sell called Wanda. Sweetie Pie is on my website and might make an appearance on Etsy later. Still learning about how Etsy works, it is nice to try something different for a change other than using eBay.

I am off to play with some new mohair dyes I have just purchased, these are a bit different as the dye sets with steam...interesting!!!!

I hope your Monday will be a happy one.

DREAMBOAT A New Bunniko

At last this is Dreamboat my new Bunniko.

I have been amazed at the response to my new range of Bunniko's. I only hope you will like Dreamboat, who has been made from two types of hand dyed mohair in shades of lavender and pink. I have really enjoyed making this Bunniko as I just love to work with colour, as you will probably know I am not a traditionalist with colour and combinations, but saying this I do enjoy making my Toy-Box Treasures, and still sneak the odd colourful one in now and then:-)

I had better get back to my sewing as I am making some Kats that will be exclusive for Doug's Bears in San Francisco.

INTRODUCING BUNNIKO's

I hope you are having a restful Sunday.

I am just in the process of releasing a new range of bears and rabbits. The first to be released are the Bunnies who I have named the range as Bunniko. The one in the picture is Cotton Cloud who is 9.5 inches tall not including her ears, and has been made from a wonderfully soft, ice-cream coloured mohair, and a pale beige wool felt, her little nose has been needle felted in the same shape as my wacky bears (button like). Each Bunniko will come complete with its own box.

Today I hope to finish off another Bunniko called "Dreamboat" who is in a lavender and pink hand dyed mohair.

I hope you like my new Bunniko, Cotton Cloud.

IT'S KOOL TO BE A KAT

Well, weekend is nearly here!

Kool Kat has just prowled by to say hello, and wishes you all a wonderful weeked ahead.

This very laid back Kat will be making an appearance on eBay.com later tonight.

It has been a long time since I have put a bear/Kat onto eBay, I hope they have not changed things to much. I always used to list as featured plus, but it seems that no longer exists so it looks as if I am in for an evening of fun trying to fathom out the new ebay format for listing bears. Wish me luck :-)

p.s do not be surprised if I get something wrong :-)

INTRODUCING SAMUEL

This is Samuel a new traditional style bear created from my award winning pattern from my Toy-Box Treasures range.

Samuel is a 13 inch bear made from two shades of stone coloured mohair.

I have also been busy this week designing a new anime range of bears and rabbits, one will be released later today.

Well back to the drawing board.

RED HOT NEWS!!!

Here is Chilli Pepper my latest wacky bear.

Chilli is 12 inches tall and a One of a Kind. He has been made from my mohairs Doris and Daniel.

Soulful Chilli Pepper is currently available for adoption from my website jacqlynbears.com.

I am also pleased to say that Bradley and Maurice have found a loving home together in the UK.

New Limited Edition Bears

I have been a busy bee these last few weeks, designing a new range of bears to be released as "Limited Editions".

This is the first bear, you could say "Hot Off The Press"! who is called Tinker. This bear is 13 inches and limited to 5.

If you would like to see my new limited edition bears as they are released either via an email or to receive a hard copy of my catalogue, please let me know.

I am off now back to the bears, and maybe a quick cup of tea:-)

ROSE PETAL

This is Rose Petal, one of my latest wacky bears who is on her way to San Francisco with some other bear friends.

She will be staying at Doug's Bears until she finds a loving home.

BRADLEY BEAR & MAURICE MONKEY

Here are two best friends from my award winning range of Toy-Box Treasures, who I have been working on for the last few days.

Bradley Bear is a shy 14 inch bear who keeps cheeky 10 inch Maurice Monkey under control.

Bradley and Maurice need to find a home together as they would hate to be parted, and I am sure they would never forgive me!

URSA AWARD WINNER - JESSIE

I am so delighted to say Jessie one of my Toy-Box Treasures has won an URSA Award. I would like to send a very big THANK YOU! to all who voted for her. Jessie is living in her new home in America, I will have to accept the award on her behalf :-)

Three Bears

These are 3 big bears I have just completed, Wardle, Harrington and Henbury who are now available to purchase from The Bear Shop, Norwich, Nofolk.