Pete, my swap bear

I recently participated in a bear swap on Teddy Talk, a forum for teddy bear artists and collectors. My swap partner is the talented Janice Mc Leod of Jigpaws in Edinburgh, Scotland.

This is Pete, the adorable bear I received last week from Janice:

Isn't he just fantastic? Thank you so much, Janice!!!

The bear I made for Janice is on her way so I'll wait until Janice has recieved her then post a picture.

Pim Tatters for my Paigie

This sweet little bear was presented to my daughter, Miss Paigie last Sunday. I made a similar bear a couple years ago who was promptly adopted, but not before Miss Paige saw, and fell for him. I promised her I would make a Pim Tatters for her and so . . . here he is. He now lives with Paige.

Nevada City International Teddy Bear Convention 2009

Well folks, that time of year is just around the corner. Spring will be here soon and along with it, the 26th annual Nevada City International Teddy Bear Convention.

(Edit Feb 2 - Alas, I won't be able to participate in the show this year, but I will be there one day to visit.)

This will be my third year participating, although last year I was "absent/present", as a last minute Tennessee trip for me put my gracious husband Dave behind the table in my place. My hero!

The show will take place April 3rd, 4th, and 5th, Friday Noon-5:00, Saturday 10:30-5:00, Sunday 10:30-3:00at historic Miners Foundry, 325 Spring Street at Bridge Street, Nevada City, California.

If you could use a day or even a weekend away, this would be the time and Nevada City's charming historic downtown area would be the place.

Ornament Swap

I promised earlier when I wrote about the Puddle I received in the Teddy Talk ornament swap, that I'd post a photo of the ornament I made. My angel has completed her journey and has been received by Penney in Connecticut.

I got a puddle ! ! !

On Teddy Talk (a teddy bear forum I belong to) we're having our 3rd annual Christmas Ornament swap. Today I received a package from Austrailia and to my delight, this is what was in my package. I'm so thrilled to have a puddle ornament made by Wendy Cheng of Matilda Huntington Beare. Wendy is famous for her puddles which are made of fur with bills perfectly needlefelted. Thank you, Wendy ! ! ! Check out Wendy's website at http://matildahuggington.webs.com/index.htm


I'm working on my ornament and I'll post a picture of it after my recipient receives it. Wouldn't want to spoil any surprises.

Just a few bears

Like I said below, I'm taking a short break . . . but in the meantime . . . I have a few bears available on my website or directly from my Etsy shop.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5149736 or

http://www.swanvalleybears.com/

Hyacinth

This is Hyacinth. She's my August bear of the month on "A Time for Primitives" website. She can be purchased from my website at http://www.swanvalleybears.com

Hyacinth is 11 inches tall standing and 8 inches sitting. As you can see, she can stand on her own with careful balancing but prefers to sit. She's made of the softest mohair and wears a shawl made of antique hand tatted lace and a silk bow on her head.

Barclay on A Time for Primitives

Meet Barclay. He is my July "Bear of the Month" on A Time For Primitives website. He's 12.5 inches tall, made from soft, pale gold, curly, dense mohair. He stands unassisted and has a soft, squishy tummy. You can check him out on my page at http://www.atimeforprimitives.com/ or my website at http://www.swanvalleybears.com/

Laundry Can Wait

This is one of my favorite bears, Fiona, who now lives in Reno, Nevada. I have entirely too much fun with my PhotoImpact program. It's like Photoshop but I like it better. And there are some fantastic digital scrapbooking graphics out there. So much fun. The laundry can wait.

Beau Harley of the Harley Clan

This is Beau Harley, who is the first member of the Harley Clan of bears.

Beau will be available on June 1st on my sales page at A Time For Primitives

I hope you'll take a peek at him.

Nevada City International Teddy Bear Convention

Wow, big name for a teddy bear show. It does live up to it's big name, though.

This year will be the show's 25th anniversary and my second year as an exhibitor at the show. I've attended the show many years as a collector and I'm so happy to be able to participate on the other side of the table now.

The show dates are April 4th, 5th and 6th. Yes a 3 day show. Friday- noon to 5, Saturday - 10:30 to 5 and Sunday - 10:30 to 3. I think one of the things I love best about this show is getting to know the other bear artists. We've communicated on Teddy Talk and Edinburgh's Teddy Bear Forum for a couple years and meeting them in person is just the best. A wonderful bunch of people, we bear artists are, if I do say so myself.

Swan Valley Bears - The Beginning

In 1986,I worked with a nurse who mentioned she had a bear-making class coming up. My daughters were aged 2 and 7 at that time. I had made a few bears from a McCalls pattern for my girlies and was interested in expanding my bear making abilities so took her up on it.

My first bear was made of inexpensive plush and very loosely jointed with cotter pins. Not too impressive, but I kept trying and after I discovered mohair, there was no stopping me. I soon started designing my own patterns. After everyone in my family and many friends had received bears as gifts, and to support my mohair habit, I decided to make my bears available to collectors and started Swan Valley Bears.

I had considered BaroneBears which sounded pretty good, but we pronounce it Baroney (like baloney). Most people pronounce it Barone (rhymes with loan). Everybody Loves Raymond's family pronounces it that way. And, really, BaroneBear pronounced in the "loan" version just doesn't sound right. So . . . when doing research for a new name, I discovered that Swan Valley, Montana has the largest population of grizzly bears in the lower 48 and they have an area where the bears are protected. I loved that, and with visions of one of my bears riding on the back of a swan, it was decided. So January 1, 2007, Swan Valley Bears was born.