Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

swoooooonnn ....praise indeed! thank you 
I just ordered some new shoes for them ...part of the fun

thank you again ...to say I have been around for so long I am always insecure of my work
to have other artists think well of it is the highest compliment

thank you

I wanted to share these little cuties with you
I made them for Hugglets , but managed to pick up a nasty Virus , so have been quite out of it until now

I loved makeing these , I hand dyed the mohair, and the fleece so the colours matched
I am always a little nervous when I go to a show with a new range ...you never know what will happen

I was thrilled when they all sold

I was sort of enspired by my Animes and the 50s rag toys and Dream Pets ...all mashed up
  they make me smile 

I'm scratching now 
its funny now   but at the time my family wasn't laughing
it was June or July a few years back
I had 2 very smelly dirty Jacob fleeces arrive, it had been hot for days ...
my mind was thinking .... TICKS ...so I dragged the fleeces down the garden and hit them with the hose  full blast

Hot sun ...cold water on smelly fleece ...they began to steam in the sun ...the smell was horrific LOL
THEN just to make my family and neighbours even happier ...it started to rain ...warm summer rain ...dirty smelly wet fleece everywhere  ...I dragged them into my Husbands shed ...were they steamed for days ,he was far from happy
and I had to keep rushing out grabbing a hand-full and boiling it to death ...because it may have ticks

we live and learn ...I Boiled into oblivion 2 fleeces ...then the penny dropped about Ticks
found various lady bugs and beetles ...and realised this wasn't the way to treat fleece LOL ...I have a dozen outside now , I keep it in boxs or sacks ,the smell has almost gone form a lot of the older wool , so it makes cleaning much easier , so I grab a bit at a time now ...much easier to dry 
today I have to brave the cold and go and drag some in 

,  THANK YOU 
everyone , Im so pleased with the reaction my Hug has recieved ..Im off to bed now a happy bunny 

hope you don't mind me joining ..my pet love is wool , I love to use the raw product , I find it much easier to use than processed wool
can I ask
What type of wool are you using ?
it could be your problem ..I think what could have happened is ....

there are certain parts of a sheeps fleece that will not felt (I had a diagram once but I lost it when my PC crashed )
and wet felting impossible ,
but as needlefelting is such an aggressive way to felt the wool , you can normally do it
but 
I had a Jacob fleece once ,

it was my first raw fleece , someone told me to be careful of Ticks when I got it ..I was pertrified !
so I boiled it !
I used hot water...to wash and dye it ...the water  was too hot and it felted the wool -
it didnt lup togeather , I was very carefull of not rubbing it ..but
hot water will open the scales on the wool shaft ...
if the scales are open .like with hot water .and friction is not applied ...the wool just stops with the open scales and its very , very hard to make it felt ...in some cases , like mine ,it will not needlefelt - that is what happened to my fleece ...
this batch of wool would break apart after it was needle -felted - because the scales are already open so they cant..well.. felt for the want of another word , it just wouldnt stick togeather properly ,
it was almost lumpy and bits would just come off
it was dreadful to use , so I ended up stuffing bears with it ..I suspect it could be the wool you have could have been over heated in the cleaning process or from a part of the fleece thats just very hard work to felt

or it could be the type of wool you are useing  some wools are just nicer to use than others
I use my friends rare breed fleece off her farm ,and it is just stunning I love it 
and I hate using Merino ...I find it too slippy ...there are just different 

and the Tick problem
when the fleece has been off the animal anyway for a few weeks ...there are no Ticks , they live off the animals blood so they cant just live in a fleece ....so I panicked for nothing
did have a few HUGE beetles though

thank you everyone 

I am  hopeing to do a couple of miniatures for Hugglets too  Berta
, by the way Berta , I love the little bear in your Avatar , he so made me smile

thanks both of you
no havent posted to much , But I hope to do more this year
I have a golly head cut out at the momment , well a base for one in black long fur ...I figured if I could use it as a bear , I could make a Golly

and a rather strange Anime Dolly/Sprite Gobling thingy - I will see where that one leads me

Hi Paula !
cant wait to see what you do 
I have to warn you its adictive!
I must admit I dont stab myslef half as much when Im needlefelting onto a head as I do when Im making the miniatures 

I took a fall before Christmas and damaged my back   so havent been able to get around untill now
helping my daughter do her paper round of all things !
I jarred my back when I missed a step and trapped a nerve !
anyhow ...glad to be back and creating ...Hugglets in a few weeks

because of the lovely acrylic fabrics  I have I began to wonder if I could needlefelt onto it
so before Christmas I began to have a play

I am so pleased to say yes you can - the fur was a pain to sew , but looked great

I LOVE    the results , I did stuff the head , hands and feet with fleece so the wool would bond

I have put some pictures in the showcase of Rainbow, Blondie and Kabuki

I have so disapointed - a lot in my work last year 
I have been needleflting for about 4 years now
so when I started to Needlefelt onto mohair ,I was so exited , these are my first bears

Rainbow was my first
I was inspired by some plush fabric I had bought , I didnt know if I could felt onto plush ...but I gave it a go
I loved him , then I made Blondie and Kabuki , who is my all time favorite

Kabuki , I actually thought I would like to keep him ...and Its very rare I keep anything of my own
but I love his face

they also are filled with Buckwheat , they are so soft and walm ...I love them ...I dont get that much with my own work , Im so pleased with them , they make me smile  :love:

this is terrible , I admired her and her work for some time ...such a shock

Judi 
your work just takes my breath away

beautiful

I have also found pastel fabric crayons , they are like oil pastels ...nice and easy to use , and it leaves the fabric soft too ,I use them on my bears and needlefelting 

falls off chair

what a beautiful Bunny !!! :love:
I love it !
she is tha same colour as my real bunny , Hazel ....love it !

Oh Eileen  :(
that's happening right now to Hazel my big doe
I was hoping she would get better ...but she acts OK but he poor face,  looks dreadful ...it looks as though I am prolonging the inevitable  :/

my Old English Bunny lived untill he was 7 

I made her a couple of weeks ago , but the light has been so bad for photos ,I havent been able to share her
I am so happy with her , she reflects my "Angels" character so well  :love:
Angel is my own Lop , I have 4 , but Angel was thrown out of the run when she was born , I found her and put her back with Mom , but she was always the runt of the littler and for some reason my other rabbits have never allowed her to mix with them , so I have to keep her in a run on her own
but she is lovely , ever so timmid and gentle , so when this one just came to life as I was sculpting her , she was Angel

I have just made her a friend , a white lop bunny called Angel  ...Im trying to get pictures but the light is terrible

falls off PC chair and needs CPR
BREATH TAKING

its Forums like this that can help too
a Guy just listed 1000s of $ worth of  very rare Volks dolls and Blythe dolls,including a One-Of-a-kind Sara doll ...who he listed 6 times!
they were dolls he couldnt possibly have 
, with pictures lifted off genuine auctions in Taiwan ,he had very good excuses for lifting the pictures ..ie broken camera ..out of the country , item in the  wearhouse ...I dont think so
he had hidden feedback and would only accept Western Union Transferes
, these are also banned by Ebay ,I have learnt ,and you should not use them ,
...when the Den Of Angels board ,the doll Foirum ,saw what he was doing , we bombarded ebay with compalints . Today Ebay acted he was struck off. :D
Its a shame because it makes you very carefull , and there are some wonderful sellers on there too

thanks ...she wants a change of clotheing ...so tommorow she will be Halloween  :teddybear:
Im  designeing a bear now , the same size as one of my BJDs so I can have outfits she can change into ..Im so exited about it ..a teddy with a sleepsuit and teddy coat  :)
...the things we do LOL

I alway reccomend her 2 books more than any others (so far )
it is just the BEST ,especially for needlefelting - ie everything ...good read and fabulous tips
it gave me the confidance to use raw ,fleece and Ive never looked back
I also went on an online course - the one I went on no longer runs , but it was a great jump start for me as there was very little available a few years ago ..when I discoverd needlefelting ...about 3 years ago it took hours of to find anything , especially in the UK
I was over joyed yesterday to find size 42s needles in the UK ..LOL of course I jyst had to buy 1 or 2 ...or 20 

she is about 10 inches , Im looking forward to spending a little more time on one of my own designes ,
but I found it so relaxing 

thank you  :)
I love the technique , and now I know how to do it ..I can see rabbits and cats and elephants and elves    Oh happy joy joy