A Panda Bear Named Link

Today is photo day. I don’t know why I dread it so. Once I have my table and background set up, it goes rather quickly, especially if the bears cooperate. And today they did.

I am so happy with Link’s session, I decided to post his photos right away.

He is made from 5/8 inch medium density white mohair that I airbrushed black (actually it turned out dark gray, but I like the subtle look) to accentuate his panda features.

He stands 10 inches (25.4 cm) tall, has glass eyes, a handmade nose, paw pads (handmade also out of polymer clay), and wears a simple chain and key around his neck.

Soon to be for sale on Etsy or I might even do eBay on this guy.

Contact me for details if you are interested.

And Thank You for stopping by to visit.

(I’ve been learning a lot about “linking” recently…. and today when I took his picture and realized I had named him Link a week ago upon his completion day, I had to laugh)

The Story of Raywen

More than two years ago my husband came home with a bag of clothing given to him by the wife of one of his co-workers. The bag contained an old suit and a couple of retired jackets she had extracted from the back of her husband’s closet, thinking I might be able to use them in my teddy bear business.

I love being able to use recycled clothing when I make my bears. The patterns and colors in some of the more vintage styles add character and a bit of the unusual in the adornment of my bears.

I proceeded to dismantle the rejected wardrobe and used a portion of the wool suit to make paw pads and a bow tie for my recent creation, Raywen, born on July 6, 2008.

For some unknown reason, Raywen had to hang around the teddy bear house and was never listed for sale. 

Well, I must admit the “uknown reason” was because I just wasn’t confident in his ability to sell, frankly because his little face was less than appealing…. I know, it sounds cruel, but it was true. I had sculpted around his muzzle and used a purchased plastic nose….. oh, I just wasn’t a bit happy with the results. So, he sat on the shelf here in the teddy bear room for two years until the inspiration developed for me to dismantle what I had done and give him a face lift.

So, riding on the wings of new inspiration, I redid his nose (with one of my own handmade ones), removed the sculpting, brushed him up and got him ready for the 2010 Alaska Juneau Public Market, still wearing his original bow tie and, of course, he got to keep his paw pads, too.



A couple of hours in to the Public Market, the woman who gave my husband the rejected clothing came into my booth. She exclaimed that she was expecting her first grandchild and wanted to buy a bear, not necessarily for a baby toy, but to hang out on a shelf and watch over the child for a few years.

She looked and looked and couldn’t quite make up her mind. Finally she said, “I just don’t know which one to pick.” I told her that one of the bears would just speak to her and she would simply “know” which one to buy. She looked over to the little bear sitting by the Christmas tree and said, “I keep noticing this one over here.” As she picked up Raywen, I felt the goosebumps tingle across my spine. It hadn’t even occurred to me that some of the material she had given me was on display at this year’s Public Market.



I then explained to her that her husband’s old suit was the material used for the bow tie and paw pads. She started laughing and purchased the bear on the spot.

Sometimes you just have to wait… the perfect person does happen by at just the right time in a teddy bears life. 

Thanks for joining in the magic.

New Bears….

Spring has sprung and the snow is melting fast. I spent all last week working on teddy bears, but this week it’s Spring cleaning and getting the greenhouse fired up. I was able to complete a few cute little faces, and I’ll have them photographed soon.

In the meantime, here are the individual shots of some of the bears I made from recycled jackets.

Hugs to all.. Vicki and the Bears

Another “has been” to share..

.. with you. Yet, another coat was given to me by my Mom a few months ago to see what I could do with it, if anything. So, this is the before picture…

.. just an old brown coat. The plush, however, is extremely rich and thick.. I had a hard time sewing it on my machine. However, with a little clipping and some fray check and a few hours of my time, please meet Arthur, a 16 inch Alaskan Parka Bear.

Good luck to all of you participating in the Blooming Bear Show  this weekend. I browsed through some of the listings and I, as always, am amazed at the incredible teddy bear talent in our world. 

Hugs from Vicki and the Bears

Before and After…

I love before and after pictures. I love taking pictures of the yard in early Spring and through out the Summer to mark the progress and progression of the plants.

So, to follow through with my love of “befores and afters” I am presenting four bears that I made from the same jacket. I am thrilled with the results, and happy to see an old coat transformed into four lovable teddy bears.

The tall bear is Charles at 16” (40 cm), the bear with the purple ribbon is Honeycomb at 10" ( 25 cm), the little one is Amberly at 6.5” (16 cm), and finally little Anthony is the bear in the parka at 8.5” (21.59 cm) tall.

Each bear is due their individual photo and I hope to have them posted on Etsy today.

Hugs from Vicki and the Bears!