Another Little guy goingto Clarion...

I've put my ArtFire and Etsy shops on vacation... we are headed out on a road trip/vacation by Monday. First stop in Tenn. to visit Bob's brother, then on to Sanibel island, Fl. Then on our way home we will stop off at St. Augustine, FL. ... the first city in this hemisphere. There 's fort, light house, beaches, the Fountain of Youth and an old city downtown. We will spend a day and a half being tourists. Then we head to South Carolina to see Bob's sister. Then we head home stopping off in Tenn. on our way.
Considering our wet spring I have made lots of bags with cut out bears and everything to make them! Though I don't think walking on the beach has to be done in dry weather!

Anyway... here's today's little guy( Rusty... a little over 4 inches). The color's not true... he's a darker rust color and the backing is more like brown, but I took it with a flash at my computer desk!I've postedf a second picture... the one on the left is more "true".

Another newbie for the Clarion, IA "Reunion in the Heartland"

Snowball is a little 5in. anime cat made from white mohair with pale pink Ultrasuede inner ears and paw pads and horsetail whiskers ( thanks to Loretta's horse!).

We are headed for a road trip! We leave next Monday and will be going to Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, back to Tennessee and then home! This winter and spring has been very wet so I have made little of little bear bags".... bags of cut out bears, eyes, joints etc.... to work on if we are stuck inside.

something new...Sloan

tried something new for Clarion...

A fish not a bear or a mouse or a rabbit...

Bob and I gave each other stone carving classes for our birthdays. Mine was April fourth and his will be May 1st. We had our second class today and I finished my "project"... finish? I'm not sure it will ever be totally finished!
Anyway here it is ... a fish, not a bear nor a bear friend!

getting ready for Clarion... Reunion in the Heartland

I've started making bears for the "reunion/convention" in Clarion this June. We will be off on our May jaunt , from the 3rd to who knows when. We are going from Kansas City, to North Central Tennessee to Sanibel, Florida to St. Augustine, Fl. to near Myrtle Beach, SC to Tennessee to home! My suitcases have all my bear making things including bags of cutout bears , wool roving and my needles and foam block. I should be prepared to make bears in the car, at night or rainy days!
LavenderBlue couldn't wait and so I finished her yesterday.....

It's cocktail time.. TGIF

Martin the mouse loves martini olives!! After he's finished these, will he have a hangover tomorrow?

silk/mohair blend... leads to Boomer

I bought several pieces of this mohair/silk blend on eBay... there is a supplier in England that sells it... It is soft and dense. The piece wasn't very large so Boomer was "born". He's a sort of mushroom color with a slightly darker backing and is almost 10.5 inches tall....

By the way Boomer has a belly!

Revamping bears

When unpacking the bears and critters from their trip to Des Moines this past weekend I decided that "maybe" some could use a little revamping... a little change... a little oomph! So I spent today doing just that!

FuzzyWuzzy has changed the most... he really looks different. Sort of like my grandson who got a haircut on Saturday and no longer looks shaggy with hair in his eyes!
FuzzyWuzzy's BearPile listing ( and the others') have been updated!
I was asked for a before.. so here it is, on the right!

mice... mice... mice

Here is my newest mouse. I was working on him in Des Moines... sort of a demo. So many people were interested in how I felted my critters. I think there are a few who are going to go to Hobby Lobby and buy some needles and roving and give it a try. They may not find it as easy as they think. Getting the wool felted is easy... but "sculpting" in the form you want isn't.
I do like to have stuff with me at a show... I hate just sitting and waiting for customers. This way I am doing something... and that something is interesting enough to entice people walking by.

Last one done for Des Moines

I have been wanting to try Alison McKee's ( from eTeddy) wired ear. She has a great tutorial on her website... so here is Ralphie. His ear is only 2.5" long but Alison's instructions worked just as well for this small ear as for her larger one!

He went to Des Moines with me... but not home with someone else. So I have put him up on BearPile ... Ralphie is 5" plus his ears.

Des Moines Show

Saturday is the spring Des Moines Doll and Bear Show... up in Iowa! It's a three hour drive from Blue Springs, so we'll be heading out about 4 to 4.30 am. At least in the Spring the sun will be rising during the trip. In the winter, the whole way is dark!
This show is always fun.. lots of returning customers/friends!

what's up...

Fleur has made it to BearPile! and I have finished a green and goldentan panda(?) bear...His name is Gulliver and he is 9 inches tall.

This Saturday is the DesMoines, Iowa Doll and Bear Show. Luckily DesMoines is only a 3 hour "jaunt" from Blue Springs. We will head out in time to be set up and ready when the early birds arrive. I always enjoy the DesMoines show... a chance to see old friends... poke around in doll stuff looking for bear accessories and so on.

I hope to have a few "new" things ready by the show!