21.

Polar & Penguin Toddlers

Artist's comments: My entry for this category depicts two

critters that are well known and loved by all: a polar bear

cub and a penguin chick.  Geographically speaking, these

little guys come from opposite Poles – yet they share a

bond that knows no boundaries, with endless days having

fun and being “best buds” in the snow and ice. Polar bear

cub stands 16" tall, realistically styled with double-jointed

neck, armatures in all four limbs for posing, little bear-tail

in back, made of Alpaca, ultra suede embroidered paw pads,

sparkling hand painted glass eyes set in satin cord eyelids.

Penguin Chick is created from German mohair and short-pile

fabric, chenille claws and painted-on toenails.  His “flappers”

can be posed up or down, German glass eyes.     

HannaBears
Karen Cwayna

22.

Breeze and the Princess, Dare I look?

Artist's comments: This Princess rides her “horned” steed

(unicorn) into the forest daydreaming of the day when her

prince will come.  As they walk along the foggy path, they

come to a rose-covered clearing with hearts strewn about

And there was the strangest thing she ever saw; a pair

of hands coming out of the ground holding a glass “future”

ball.  Somehow, she knew she had nothing to fear, but dare

she look into the ball to see if her true love awaits? The

unicorn was my inspiration for this vignette.  Breeze is 20”

nose to tail and made of short white mohair with black faux

leather hoofs.  He has lidded glass eyes, lashes, wooden

unicorn horn with gold trim, open mouth, curly yarn mane

and tail, loc-line armatured legs, decorated with red ribbon

streamers, bells, and crystal pearl halter and lead. Princess

is 16” tall, made of curly gold mohair, blue glass eyes with

lids, wool felt pads, and bent legs. She wears sheer red one-

shouldered dress with beaded trim, a “petal” skirt, and sheer

white underskirt, wreath with ribbons, red roses and princess

tiara on her head, rose wrist bracelet.

Sunnie Bears
Sonya Shaw

23.

Simon

Artist's comments: All my bears have child-like qualities and

I absolutely adore them! But there are some, like Simon, that

have the special something which starts to appear as the bear

takes shape, especially when they look at me with big eyes.

This one of a kind, 11" tall baby bear, is crocheted from Marion's

own pattern in a mix of three different threads.  5-way jointed,

high quality brown glass eyes, embroidered DMC thread features.

Wears vintage lace baby hat and lace collar

bearkidzTM
Marion Fraile

24.

Penguins Vignette

Artist's comment: I looked at a lot of photos including

those of the March of the Penguins. I drafted my pattern

and made a couple of penguins from polar fleece which

I found to be very useful to get the right shape and size.

It was my first time designing something so different

from a bear.  It is a lot of fun to work on new creatures.

The penguin chick turned out a bit too large for my liking,

but apparently it is slightly older and not just newly hatched.

Thi group is my tribute to the movie, March of the Penguins!

This little gathering is just standing around in the way

of penguins and includes three females and two males.

Serena and Vance have successfully managed to raise

their chick, Widget. The other three are young adult penguins

who have not been so lucky. Vance and Serena are together

as a family unit for a brief time until one of them will make

the long treck back out to the ocean for feeding. The penguins

are made from short pile black and white mohair fabric, cotter

pin jointed heads and flippers, needle sculpted black ultra

suede feet, gold and black ultrasuede beaks.  Adults are

10.5" tall.

Binkibears
Aina Ferris

26.

Drip and Drizzle

Both adorably wacky bear cubs are 6.5" tall and are showing

a little attitude with their very best sullen and dejected look. 

Hand painted eyes, fully jointed, made of spase, wild colored

mohair with contrasting color backing. 

Fool's Gold Bears
Laure Weltsch

27.

Hondjes Puppies

These adorable puppies are 12" high and 15" long not counting

their tails.  Created from batik mohair in beige/orange tones, filled

with sheepswool and rubber pellets, fully jointed, quite heavy. 

Mick Bears

28.

Alfie & Ben

Everyone needs a friend and Alfie has a brand new pal named

Ben! Both are Open Editions (furs will vary), tall, made from

string mohair, ultra suede muzzle paw pads, and face sculptured

and shaded, adding a bit of pizzazz to their cheeky personalities!

Fully jointed, glass eyes, filled with wool stuffing with glass beads

in their bellies for lovely hefty weight.  Ben stands, thanks to glass

sand in his feet.  Alfie is 8"/20cm tall and Ben is 7-1/4"/18cm tall.

durrerBears and more
Silvia Durrer

29.

Bearly Spring

Colorful twosome, Nurple and Twister are just barely awake

from their long winter nap. They spent the morning eating

fresh clover and tender leaves and decided to settle in

for a quick nap.  Felted from 100% wool, they peer about

from black onyx eyes.  Both have a content grin on their

faces from full tummies.  Nurple's grin is a little lop-sided,

which adds to his charm. Twister's too pooped to lift up

his furry head but did manage a sweet grin for the camera.

Cocoa-Nuts
Shannon Lueskow

30.

M & Emmies
2" tall standing, this little beauty has a severe chocolate
fetish! She lives for chocolate!! Eats, sleeps, and dreams

chocolate! Always room in her tiny tummy for chocolate!

Guess what her favorite candy is? They are tiny and it

doesn't seem as though she if overindulging when she

consumes a whole bag! Made from beautiful long pile

luxuriously soft vintage cashmere, ultra suede paw pads.
from artist's special center seam design, 5-way disc jointed,
large black glass eyes with tiny white accents, hand sculpted

nose, shading to enhance character, wired arms for extensive

posing, weighted for substantial hug, come with her very own

Boyds bear M&M, hinged trinket box, pretty red silk ribbon

bow atop her tiny head.

Hibernation Station, The
Ellen Barnett

31.

Pink Couple

Artist's comments: Each bear is 5" tall and has wired arms.

They are all mohair just with each couple sporting their own

mohair color.  The ladies all have ribbon tutus and beaded

silk ribbon head pieces while the gentlemen have matching

colored vests and bow ties. The vignette rests on a battery-

operated rotating mirrored base with a disco ball suspended

above the floor.  The fun part is they are all made with the

same pattern pieces but all assembled differently to create

individual styling and posing options.

Just Another MJ Bear
Mary Jo Sichak

32.

Reminiscing:  Grandma and Grandpa

Artist's comments: Think back if you will to a simpler time,

when the greatest of thrills was spending the night with Grandma

and Grandpa.  With supper over, the table cleared and dishes

washed, they'd settle into those big old easy chairs.  Grandpa

would doze, but always claimed he was "just resting his eyes".

Grandma would work on her mending, or if you were lucky, she

would teach you a stitch or two.  The entire piece is crocheted

with acrylic and cotton threads.  The bears were fashioned with

bent legs, disc-jointed heads, thread-jointed limbs, and onyx eyes. 

Grandpa measures 2-1/4", has an open mouth and closed eyes.

Grandma is 2-1/8", with wire-rimmed glasses and incorporated

apron.  Little Anna measures barely 2" with her Peter Pan collar

and skirt.  Grandma and Anna hold tiny crochet hooks.  The chairs

were crocheted over wooden block bases, footstools over wooden

knobs.  All are seated on an oval rug.

Head of the Holler Handcrafted Designs

Cheryl Leabo

33.

Bella and Bo

Bella lies down in a prone position with her paws to the front

of her.  Not counting her tail, she is 26 inches long,  Made

from German beige mohair, her back legs are jointed, filled

with sheepswool and rubber pellets.  Her darling puppy, Bo,

is fully wobbly jointed, also filled with sheepswool and rubber

pellets, and she is 16 inches long.

Mick Bears

34.

Anticipation

These two little girl bunnies are waiting in GREAT anticipation

for their siblings to hatch. One has started to emerge from
the egg, but the question is.......BOY or GIRL? Two more to go!

They decided it really doesn't matter as long as they are healthy

and equipped with all their fundamental bunny parts.  The bunnies

and their eggs reside in a hand made pine needle basket (pine

needles are from an Idaho Ponderosa pine tree).  Girl bunnies
are 2-3/8" tall, not counting ear measurements.  Hatchling is

2" tall (also without ear measurements).  Bunnies made with
beautiful vintage rayon in artist's special center seam design,
5-way disc jointed, large glass eyes w/ white accents, shading

to enhance character, wired arms, for extensive posing. wired

ears, weighted.  Hatchling's body and two eggs sculpted from

light weight polymer clay and hand painted.

Hibernation Station, The
Ellen Barnett

35.

Brown Couple

Artist's comments: Each bear is 5" tall and has wired arms.

They are all mohair just with each couple sporting their own

mohair color.  The ladies all have ribbon tutus and beaded

silk ribbon head pieces while the gentlemen have matching

colored vests and bow ties. The vignette rests on a battery-

operated rotating mirrored base with a disco ball suspended

above the floor.  The fun part is they are all made with the same
pattern pieces but all are assembled differently to create individual

styling and posing options.

Just Another MJ Bear
Mary Jo Sichak

36.

epimashko sptnk

A girly sptnk, 11cm tall, and ready for Easter fun and frolics.

Her orange nose resembles the orange jelly beans.  What the

inquiring mind wants to know, is - how does she balance that

egg on her head? Quite a character, this one! Made of Schülte

mohair with typical crazy-like sptnk eyes. Like all sptnks, she

comes with a vehicle.  Hers is a wagon that appears fashioned

from a sardine can!

Keuns & Bears
Karin Peire

37.

Buttercup, Daisy & Fern

What a trio, straight from the Letha's offbeat imagination!

All are completely handsewn.  Dasiy, the smaller bear

at 8.5" tall (middle of the top photo) mohair, fully jointed,

imported German glass eyes, embroidered claws, waxed

nose.  Buttercup, (shown on left in the top photo) is 10"

tall, made from vintage 100% wool coat, fully jointed,

ultra suede paws, embroidered body, claws and nose.

I mported German glass eyes.  Adorned with plaid ribbon

and hand sewn ribbon flowers. Fern, the Sitting Duck, (shown

on far right in top photo) is 10" tall, made from vintage

100% wool coat, imported German glass eyes, jointed

head. adorned with ribbon, velvet leaves and feathers.

TigerGod Ink
Letha Rodman Melchior