1.

Wilber, Teddy Tote

Artist's comments: The backpack is my variation on teddy bear

purses.  I have always loved bags and purses and have made

tapestry back packs for quite some time now.  Since I usually

carry both a bag and a bear with me to work, I thought this bag

would meet both needs.   This luxurious backpack is for the teddy

bear lover who never wants to leave home without one.  It is made

from gold dense mohair and richly patterned coordinated tapestry

fabric.  Features tapestry piping and long straps with an easy open

top. Wilber is an adorable 11” teddy made from the same gold toned

mohair fabric, wears a tapestry vest which is firmly stitched to the

backpack.  Wilber is firmly laced into his vest and can be removed.

His face is needle sculpted and shaded around his nose, inset black

glass eyes and ears, paws are scissor and needle sculpted and

shaded, paw pads made from the back of the mohair fabric reversed. 

Black floss nose, 5-way cotter pin jointed, stuffed with fibrefill. 

Binkibears
Aina Ferris

3.

TuesDai

2" tall Japanese Anime inspired polymer clay miniature sculpted

entirely by hand.  He has the greenest handpainted German glass

eyes and his little features have been shaded to add depth and

personality.  TuesDai holds a similarly fashioned heart - is it yours??

Felted Bear, The
Alecia Edwards

6.

Doll Bear Replica of the Early 1900’s

Artist's comments: As with many of the items I create, the

inspiration comes from the antique toys in my own collection.

I have been making the doll bear and its different variations

for over 8 years.  Each of the doll bodies must be created

specifically for the head and often body styles vary.  It is

not something that I just cut out one pattern after another.

This gal is made of the finest German mohair in an old gold

shade and stuffed with excelsior as the original would have

been.  The head, is antique with sleep eyes. Her mohair locks

peak out of her bonnet.  The bonnet is adorned with antique

metallic lace in a wonderful patina.  As the lace works its way

to the front, a full bow is formed using lots of this wonderful

old lace.  Note the vintage brass teddy bear pin which could

not be more appropriate.  She emanates the children’s toys

f long ago, which we admire on shelves today.  Height is 13".

Laura Boeck-Singers

9.

Tonks

Entirely handsculpted Japanese Anime inspired, polymer clay

miniature Siamese kitten.  Bright blue handpainted German

glass eyes, rather large pink nose.  Tonks holds a lovely pink

heart that has been handshaded (just like Tonks).  He sits

just under 2" tall!

Felted Bear, The
Alecia Edwards

11.

Moon Shine

Artist's comments: This piece is made of of layers of bead

embroidery. The faces of the moon and stars are made

of polymer clay, from a mold that I created.  I used glass

seed beads, glass bugle beads, crytal beads, glass flower

beads and mother of pearl star shapes.  Some of the star

shapes are suspended in open areas of the collar.  After

all of the layers of beads were stitched, the back was covered

with leather and the edges, beaded.

Esmerlda's Enterprises
Bev Haring

12.

Willie

Tiny sprite of a polar bear and a rare one at that!  Japanese

Anime inspired polar bears are quite rare!  Willie is hand

shaded to accent his sweet little features.  He has lovely

teal handpainted German glass eyes and holds little blue

heart.  Don't be blue - Willie is full of love! Sits 2" tall.

Felted Bear, The
Alecia Edwards

13.

Mergirl & Merbear

Artist's comments: My second sculpted creation is made

without the use of molds.  She would be about 4" tall if

standing and is just 2" in her kneeling position. Little

Mergirl hold her Merbear and gazes out in wonder at her

very beautiful world.  She is highlighted with genesis heat

set paints and her hear is needle felted from Tibetan Lambs

wool.  Mergirl is removable from her scene as is the wee

Merbear.

Sharon's Mystical Bears
Sharon Hawkes

16.

DeNim

2" tall polymer clay miniature entirely hand sculpted.  He

has lavendar German glass eyes and holds a shaded red

heart.  DeNim has been created from a special 'stone' type

clay to give him his unique color.

Felted Bear, The
Alecia Edwards

17.

Polar Dreams

Artist's comments: I purchased the carved walrus bone bear

from a stone and glass artist, just because I thought it was

really nice looking.  After thinking about it for a year or so,

I decided to try to work it into a beaded piece.  Most of the

bead pieces I do involve gluing a stone or polymer piece

to a backing and working beads around it.  This time I wanted

to do something that would allow the back of the bear to be

seen too. So I needed a design idea that did that. After a night

of not sleeping well, the idea began to take shape.  Imagine

the lone polar bear on the ice as the pale northern light casts

his last shadow on the ice while overhead stars are beginning

to appear.  The preliminary sketch established the bear paw

shape – the bear within a bear was an intriguing idea – like

reading the polar bear’s palm.  I used natural rose quartz cab

stones for the “paw pads” of the bear.  The stars in Big Dipper

star formation are Czech crystal beads.  The claws are made

of a material called Art Clay Silver.  First the claw shapes were

formed from cord clay allowing us to create exactly the size and

shape we wanted.  After the clay had dried, layers of silver clay

were applied and dried.  Then the claws went into the kiln to be

fired leaving only the almost pure (.999%) silver.  Beads are

all stitched to the background.  Even claws have bead “frame”

worked over the top edges where they are attached.  Finished

piece is 4" wide by 6 ½" long and suspended on 20" necklace.

Esmerlda's Enterprises
Bev Haring

18.

Marty Graw, Vintage Snowman Candy Container

Artist's comments: I have collected (actually, the word

should be "obsessed") for years with vintage holiday

decorations, especially Christmas and Halloween.  So,

when the opportunity came for me to teach a class to

a soft cloth doll group of which I am a member, Marty

Graw was born and became the subject of my class.

Marty Graw is a reproduction of a vintage snowman

candy container.  I sculped his head completely from

Paper Clay, then hand painted it with a crackle medium

to make him look older.  His clothing is made from wool

felt in complimentary colors to his hat, which is made

of upholstery velvet. He stands on a paper mache

container that you can fill with your favorite treat.  He's

holding a mask so he can fool everyone when he goes

to all the Mardi Gras events.  This is one snowman that

is sure to melt your heart without leaving a puddle.

Twin Cubs