Raewyn is a gift for a friend that collects fairies. I had a lot of fun making her. The fur is from Sassy Bears and Fabrics. It is the first time I ordered fur from there. The fur is specifically for miniatures bears and is synthetic, kind of like upholstery velvet. It was wonderful to work with and I am currently working on another small bear in a tan color. Raewyn is 4 1/2" sitting(she was made to sit), her eyes are hand painted and her paws are ultrasuede. Her wings were purchased from JTBCREATIONS on etsy. Each wing had a 1/2" wire at the center for attaching. It took me a little while to figure out how I was going to attach them. Using a small jointing disc, I put both wires through the hole then bent the wires down. To make sure they didn't rotate, I put epoxy glue on the wires and disc. The disc was then inserted into the back seam and the seam sewed shut. I had a lot of fun looking through the bead catalog to find the perfect ones for her "crown".
There has only been time to sew at night because during the day for the last 2 weeks I have been going through my book inventory. I had high hopes when I purchased the inventory almost 2 1/2 years ago. I was led to believe the income would be much higher than it actually was. Now, with postal rates going up May 1, what little profit there was on book sales has gone down to almost nothing. The books with low values are just going outahere! The inventory, which took up the entire garage, will now only take up 2 walls along the sides. The plan is to have it all gone within a year.
On an upbeat note, another idea for a bear came to me night before last. Some new fabric I purchased on Tuesday sparked the idea but she sorta came together right before I fell asleep that night.
A vision of this little girl bear came to me one night several months ago. Sometimes my best ideas materialize right before I go to sleep. I saw everything, from the red polka dot dress to the little Mary Jane shoes.
The first thing I shopped for was the material for her dress. It had to be red with black dots. Most of the material had either the wrong color dots or the dots were too big. Finally, I found the fabric in the local quilting shop. Then after the two shows in February I ordered some mohair. After completing my submissions for the Black and White Ball, I started to work on her. She was ready to be dressed by the last week in March. Her dress was the first I have made with pleats but it turned out just as I had seen in my mind. Her little undies were made from a vintage hankie.
Now I needed her shoes. I have always had trouble fitting shoes for my bears. Generally a bears feet are wider than dolls feet. I had one pair of cute black dolls shoes but at 2 1/4", they were too big. Googling doll shoes, there were several good sites with prices from $3 to $10 per pair. CR's Crafts had the best price and selection so I ordered a pair of shoes along with a couple of other little things. After waiting almost a week for the package to arrive, I tore into it to find a pair of very tiny shoes. The soles were the right length, but there was no way they were going on bear feet. Drats!!! A trip to the thrift store solved the problem. I purchased a patent leather(I don't think it's real leather anymore) clutch purse. Using a down sized shoe pattern for 18" dolls, I made little patent Mary Janes and a purse.
The end result....Becky Ann . She is available on my website.
I don't know where the drive comes from to create but I feel satifaction.
I stopped at a few garage/yard sales on Friday after my regular errands. Usually I look for little knic knacks or doll things I can use with my creations. The last sale I stopped at was more like an estate sale with everything in the home being sold. Apparently someone had collected Teddy bears, as there was a table full. Most were Boyds and there were a few store brands. It's a good thing I decided to dig a little. These two wonderful Steiff bears came home with me for $5 each. They are in wonderful condition. The one with the red, white, and blue bow is called Teddy's Bear and is dated 1998. The other is Delighted and dated 1997. I think they are my best find at a yard sale ever!
