Amazing!

The wonders of nature surprise me frequently! My dear neighbor, Tania, shared a bouquet from her hydrangea bush - yes!!! all three colors of blossoms are from the same bush!!! They are so lovely! as is Tania for sharing the beauty!

From Russia - I LOVE it!

My new friend, Vika, sent some wonderful photos when Bella arrived at her new home in Russia! The journey took quite awhile, but Bella arrived safe and sound - AND - her little tea cup and saucer made it too!

Vika kindly game me permission to share one of her photos here and I am taking the liberty to show you two of them! I do love to see my little bears' new families. Thank you so much, Vika, for your support and your friendship! I am so lucky!!

How a little bear comes together - in which I find a little soul in a tiny bit of fur.

The face is the most important part of the bear to be sure! That can take quite a while - until the little one looks back at me with the love I've put into him. 

Because I started out making big bears, I never realized all little bears aren't jointed just like the big ones. I've learned that some "string joint" the bears rather than using cotter pin joints.  I just make the little ones the same way that I made the big 'uns! The smaller they are, the fiddlier they are to get all the hardware into to make their little arms and legs work properly. All of my bears with straight legs stand nicely by themselves. This is an engineering exercise using mat board in the soles and enough weight from steel pellets in the feet so that they stand easily.

The little arms are wired before they are added on using these little discs and washers to make them move easily. After the wire is put in, polyfil surrounds the wired arm giving it a nice form.

Then finally, a new little dear is born! Here he looked up at me and asked, "May I have some little wings now?"

Happy Mothers' Day!

Look, Rocky Pierre! A new Beary Fairy! What do you think?
RP: Where's all that glitter coming from??

P. S. If you haven't seen me mention it before, you can have lots of fun with an ap called Pixlr-omatic! AND it's free! You can add lighting effects and cool frames to your pictures. AND there's a website as well if you don't have a phone that uses such aps: http://pixlr.com/o-matic/  or use the photo editor or add retro photo effects at pixlr.com .  Enjoy!

Beary Fairy gets her wings!

Well, don't you know - as soon as she got her wings, miss Beary Fairy (name yet to be determined) wanted to go out and play in my newly planted flower boxes on the deck! The top photo was done for a

magazine ad, so it was a little more "posed" and the flower is silk.

But then it was on to the real flowers! She flitted from mini petunia to marigold!

I usually go with some kind of color scheme for my annuals, but this year, I just picked everything!!! It all seems to "go" - doesn't it??

If you'd like to make one of the little fairy hats, check back soon and I'll tell you how. You'll need some crochet thread, a tiny hook, and a couple of tiny flowers.

A Tiny Fairy!

I've made a lot of butterfly bears that were pretty small, but here's one that will be even smaller! My plan for my gallery piece for TBAI this year includes some wonderful fairy bears. I've made some "tree houses" in the clay studio which include limbs for little fairies to sit upon! I plan to photograph the piece as it comes together so I hope you'll check back to see. I think I spend about 1,000 hours on these pieces - most of which is just dreaming about them - and do so enjoy the creation process. I'm dreaming of fairy wings for this little doll - wonder what color she'd like???

Real Kitties' Fun

Up at Kim's, Beau takes a break on top of the radio. Looks like he's been doing some heavy reading!

Here in Virginia, Cleo enjoys one of her favorite food groups - Cheetos!!!

At Jason's house, the brothers - Samwise and Mr. Frodo - search for goodies they've stored under the stove!

and next to my work table, Rocky Pierre keeps an eye on me........I must look better upside down.

Though spread around the country, the Griffin kitty clan keep us all entertained ! Happy May all!!!

Kitty Prototype

Whenever a new design is in the works, many changes happen! This little kitty has already had three different ear sizes! You know grandkitty Beaker has really big eyes and this design kind of appreciates that look! Actually, when a prototype is being made, one just uses what one has! Years ago I ordered these kitty eyes and they may, in fact, be too big. But I kinda like 'em!
The online show with Teddies Worldwide in July is for "friends" of Teddy so I'm sure you'll be seeing some very interesting pieces in that show. With all our family kitties I think it's about time that I added some, don't you? I plan some whiskers, too, so you'll just have to check back to see how my kitties progress!!
Thanks so much to all who took part in my first ever lottery. I am thrilled to announce that Diana will be leaving soon for her new home in England. Thanks so much Peter and Cynthia!! With so many positive comments, I feel sure I'll offer another bear or friend in a lottery soon!