Weaving a gentle magic

 

WEAVING A GENTLE MAGIC..

Years ago I established 'The Guild of Master Bearcrafters', celebrating the work of teddy bear artists around the globe. Our group ran successfully for many years, uniting the creative work of many international bear artist members. Some of the most outstanding and imaginative creations presented on the Guild, were designed by talented teddy bear makers from both Russia and Ukraine, teddy bear makers who seemed to weave a gentle magic through their work. I was always in awe of their skill and learned much from their inspired vision of the teddy bear.

To hear this week of the invasion by Russian military forces into Ukraine is both shocking and heartbreaking. To think of the fear now instilled into the lives of the creative people I knew as talented needlecraft and soft sculpture artists from both countries, makes no sense to me. To think of the wider issues implied by this act of aggression from one country to another, is simply too frightening to fully comprehend...

The teddy bear makers I knew from both Russia and Ukraine, worked with a passion for their craft, inspiring creativity in others as they pursued gentle, homebased businesses, creating teddy bears to share with the wider world. They were deft with their needles and generous with their knowledge.

They don't deserve this war.

No one deserves this war.

In the Spotlight

As I was updating the Guild of Master Bearcrafters' blog earlier this week (www.masterbearcrafters.blogspot.co.uk) it dawned on me that in my eagerness to showcase Guild members' talents, I hadn't actually added my own 'member profile' since I first started writing the Guild blog!  I found myself scratching my head and frowning as I pondered  my long bear making career, but eventually, did manage to make sense of it all!

So, if you have ever wondered why I have continued to design and make teddy bears for two long decades, I hope this blog post answers your question ...

A word from PAULA CARTER
creator of
'ALL BEAR BY PAULA
Bearcrafter since 1995

UNITED KINGDOM

Paula Carter

My bear making career evolved from a love of vintage English teddy bears since I was a little girl, particularly the wonderful Hugmee bears created by the Chiltern Hygenic Toy Company between 1908 and 1967.  I have a small collection of these dignified teddy bears and even now they never fail to inspire my creativity.

Some of my Chiltern Hugmee teddies:  C1930's to 50's

It hardly seems possible it has been twenty years since I designed my first teddy bear; the time has flown by!  Since then I have become immersed in the world of teddy bear artistry and am passionate about helping to steer our beloved teddy safely into his future.

Benjamin

It is never easy to describe one's own work, but if pushed to do so, I think I would say I tend to create in a fairly traditional vein.  Now and again I veer gently towards contemporary with my laughing bears, but mostly my bears hark back towards those gentle Chiltern Hugmee teddies, with their solid proportions and no nonsense charm.

Felicity

For me, a teddy bear should spark a sense of nostalgia and security in his owner, he must be soulful, comforting and honest in his design. My creations honour the teddy bears of my childhood and are protective of his heritage.

Beau was a 2015 Excellence in Bear Artistry award winner

I have been fortunate enough to achieve a collection of international teddy bear crafting and design awards throughout the past two decades and have had my work published many times in specialist publications around the world.  It is of course, always lovely to receive such accolades, but the very best rewards are the smiles and kind words I receive from collectors when they adopt one of my bears ... those smiles are at the heart of my bear making.

A trio of my careworn style teds

As part of my commitment to the future of the teddy bear, I established 'The Guild of Master Bearcrafters' back in 2009.  At the time I had a vague concept of providing a forum which could unite teddy bear makers from around the world, but had no idea it would quickly grow to almost eight hundred international bear crafting members.  I am immensely proud of our members' dedication to creating bears of outstanding creativity and am certain that in their safe hands, the beloved teddy bear will be ensured of a long and happy future.

With hugs and smiles,

Paula xxx

To discover more about Paula's work, please visit her website and blog:

www.allbearbypaula.com

www.allbear.blogspot.com

I'd love you to spare a few moments to visit The Guild of Master Bearcrafters' Blog.  I began writing it back in 2013 to showcase incredible bear crafting talent from Guild members.  As you will see, outstanding artist bears are being created all around the world!

www.masterbearcrafters.blogspot.co.uk

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Blogging for the Guild!

I have my 'Guild Admin' hat on today (although still haven't managed to write this week's or last week's newsletters ..where does the time go?!) but on a more productive note, have at last managed to create a Guild Blog!  

This idea was suggested to me by a clever member via the Guild's 'Suggestion Box' some months ago and at the time I thought it was a great idea but wasn't entirely sure how best to make it work, so put it on the back burner thinking that if the concept was a good one, it would nudge me again when the time was right and today I am delighted to tell you, is that very day!

www.masterbearcrafters.blogspot.com

I hope our shiny new Guild blog will be of benefit to Guild members and also to anyone with an interest in the wonderful world of teddy bear artistry.  I plan to share members' creations on the new blog and introduce readers to our very talented teddy bear artist members ... and of course, chat about some of the projects we are involved with and any other Guild news that might be relevant.

With a little luck and your kind support, I think our new Guild blog should evolve into an interesting, fun and informative look at the fabulous international teddy bear creativity currently on offer.

If you could take a moment to visit the Guild Blog

 www.masterbearcrafters.blogspot.com 

... and follow its progress, I would be delighted, thank you so much!

Christmas Kisses

The Guild of Master Bearcrafters' challenge group members always relish a festive challenge, so this year I set one titled 'O Christmas Tree', with four creative elements to choose from: members could design a 'Star of Wonder', 'Christmas Fairy', 'The gift', or a 'Beary Tree Decoration' ... and if they had the time and were feeling inspired, they could also create a vignette incorporating three of the four festive tree elements!

'Christmas Kisses'

As I have mentioned in previous posts, finding time has been a challenge in itself lately, so there was no hope of me ever completing the advanced challenge in time for the deadline, but I did manage to squeeze in one of the standard challenge elements and had fun designing my first Tiddler Christmas Fairy, complete with beaded wings!

Many thanks to my fellow Guild challengees for spurring me on to design 'Christmas Kisses' and to end this year's creative work with a lovely new Tiddler bear design!

On the Scrap Heap?

You may remember way back in March, when I told you about the 'Scrap Heap Challenge' I dreamed up for our Master Bearcrafters members - well, here we are six months later and I am delighted to be able to share some very exciting news with you ...

Our 'Scrap Heap' challenge bears have been published in 'The Teddy Bear' magazine this month!  

And as the magazine says, 

"It only goes to show what can be achieved with a large dollop of ingenuity and a generous helping of talent."

My personal thanks to Kathy Martin, Editor of 'The Teddy Bear', for all her support and long-standing commitment to the magical world of teddy bear artistry.

If you would like to read my earlier 'Scrap Heap Challenge' posts, please click the links below:

http://allbear.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/scrap-heap-challenge.html

http://allbear.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/recycle-reuse.html

The Guild and Charles Dickens ...

A little plug for my favourite teddy bear magazine!  

'The Teddy Bear' magazine

'The Teddy Bear' magazine is only published bi-annually so as you can imagine, each issue is eagerly awaited by bear artists and collectors alike.  I particularly enjoy this mag because it is always interesting and never patronises the reader.  So when the editor contacted me to ask if the Guild of Master Bearcrafters might be interested in creating Dickensian character bears for a forthcoming feature to commemorate the bi-centenary of the birth of Charles Dickens, I was delighted and quickly threw down the challenge to our members!

Eleven talented Guild members from around the world, set to work on submissions and between them achieved a very handsome Charles Dickens, two adorable Oliver Twists, an ethereal Miss Haversham, three dainty Amy Dorrits, a contemporary interpretation of Pip & Estella, a miniature Marley's Ghost and two rather dashing Mr Pickwicks!  I collated all the information on their behalf, formatted it, then sent it to the editor and I am thrilled to announce the outcome is the Guild of Master Bearcrafters has four splendid pages of  members' Dickensian creations published in this issue!

If you would like to purchase a copy of 'The Teddy Bear' to enjoy all that it has to offer, please visit the publisher's website below:

'The Teddy Bear'

Happy Bear Reading!

Recycle, Reuse ...

As I was saying yesterday, I've been hard at work on my latest project, a 'Scrap Heap' bear for the Guild of Master Bearcrafters' latest challenge.  I remember buying my pair of Levi jeans years ago, then loving them into a faded, shabby looking 'me' shape.  Eventually, as is the way of most old clothing, those jeans lay forgotten in the bottom of my wardrobe, waiting in vain for me to shed a few pounds. Despite a little nostalgic reluctance, earlier this week I made that first vital snip along the leg seams, sacrificing my worn out, too-snug-around-the-waistband Levi's, in the name of creativity.

'Red Levi' 

'Red Levi' has vintage buttons for eyes and I have tried to incorporate the most 'interesting' elements of my jeans, such as the famous 'Red Tab', pocket, Levi Strauss button and printed pocket linings, into his design. I was interested to read that the Levi Strauss Company, founded in 1853, actively supports a sustainability and recycling ethos within their business today, so now it seems all the more appropriate to have sacrificed my comfy old jeans for the 'Scrap Heap Challenge'!

Scrap Heap Challenge

Once every quarter, I put my thinking cap on and try to come up with an interesting challenge for the Guild of Master Bearcrafters; something to help crank up those creative artistic juices!  With news bulletins constantly reminding us to be more frugal, recycle and generally 'draw in our belts', it dawned on me this time, that a return to the wartime 'make do and mend' ethos could be fun ... and so our 'Scrap Heap Challenge' was born!  We are avoiding the temptation to use expensive mohair, instead we're hunting around for suitable fabric scraps with which to create our bears!

As usual, I'm way behind the rest of the group and am aware the deadline looms this Saturday.  I will be working on my Scrap Heap Challenge bear this week and have decided to sacrifice an elderly pair of much-loved Levis ... it's time to face facts Paula, they won't ever fit you again, so they might as well be put to good use!

I've never made a denim bear before, so this should be fun!

The Glad Game

Oh dear, I'm such a party pooper!  It's an undeniable fact of life that me and New Year's Eve don't sit well with one another, so in classic Paula fashion, I was in bed by ten and fast asleep as the clock struck midnight on Saturday. 

It's the 2nd of January and I have decided to begin my New Year today.  Yesterday was wet and gloomy, completely unbefitting the start of New Year, but today the sun is shining boldly and the sky is clear blue ... a far better start to my shiny New Year!

Some of my 2011 teddy bear designs

Despite my lack of enthusiasm for 2011, it was remiss of me to have overlooked the good stuff.  Last year may not have had me laughing in the aisles, but it did reward me with the love and loyalty of those closest to me, a raft of success with my teddy bear designs and another year's solid portfolio of work under my belt.  Also, the 'Guild of Master Bearcrafters' went from strength to strength, my bears found new homes despite the challenging economic climate and I learned that even when life does its utmost to stop us in our tracks, somehow we still manage to cope. 

See, what happens when I put my Pollyanna head on? Suddenly the world becomes a brighter place!

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year xxx

'The Teddy Bear' - a bear magazine for adults

Today I'm singing the praises of 'The Teddy Bear' ... but not the furry kind, no, this time we're talking about our excellent new UK magazine!  

'The Teddy Bear' is published by Warners Group Publications

The Autumn/Winter issue of 'The Teddy Bear' has just been published and like the two previous issues, it's an absolute gem bursting with well-written, informative features and delightful photographs.  All credit for this excellent publication must go to Kathy Martin, for her commitment to the subject and also for her complete professionalism.  Kathy is internationally respected for her exceptional understanding of the teddy bear, both historical and contemporary; together with her talented editorial team, she approaches the subject from many fascinating perspectives.

And if I may be permitted the tiniest trumpet of my own, I can't tell you how  thrilled I am to have my name included in the list of contributors for this issue!  Kathy kindly invited me to write a piece introducing 'The Guild of Master Bearcrafters' to the magazine's readership and having my article in print is a huge privilege!

I really can't recommend 'The Teddy Bear' too highly.  It is full of interesting features and written for adults, by experts.  We need to protect the future of this great publication, so please visit Collect It to purchase your copy.  

Incidentally, the first two back issues are also available to order (my bear Morris was the front cover star on the first issue!) so why not indulge yourself with all three mags - you'll thoroughly enjoy the read!

Challenged ... part 2!

As I was about to tell you yesterday, before I started work on my challenge bear's white bits I discovered I didn't have any suitable blue paw fabric;  fortunately though, I did have a piece of white felt tucked away in a storage box, so before I could go any further with my project, I had to nip back down to the stove ....

And after a little more hubble bubble, my scrap of white felt soon became the perfect matching shade of blue!

My plan for this project was to tackle the advanced element of the Guild's 'A Teddy Bear World' challenge by creating a 1950's 'Chiltern Hugmee' style bear, in clown style.  After scouring the internet for information about the Chiltern Hygenic Toy Company, I only managed to find a couple of photographs of their clown bears dating back to the 1930's, but that was enough to tell me Chiltern had once manufactured teddy bears in clown style!

1930's Chiltern clown/harlequin style bear

As my first childhood teddy was a 1950's Chiltern Hugmee and I have always had a fondness for this most English of bears, I decided to meet the Guild challenge criteria by attempting to create a 1950's Hugmee type bear in patriotic clown style ...

My mohair dye bath worked perfectly, giving me the vibrant red and blue colours of our national Union Jack flag.

And once sewn, I could begin to see my design taking shape!

As the Chiltern Toy Company used excelsior in their bears' heads, I decided I would give it a go too ... but it was such a messy job, I don't think it's something I'll be repeating in a hurry!

Chiltern Hugmee bears were stuffed with a natural fibre called kapok, so that's what I chose to use for my challenge bear.  Boy did that stuff tickle my nose ...  from now on, I will be forever grateful for my usual, non-tickly, polyester!

Something old, something new!

I have really enjoyed the opportunity this Guild challenge has given me to step away from my usual style of work and do something completely different.

 So here he is, introducing my challenge submission 'Jack' ...

I do hope you think he might have made an acceptable addition to the 1950's Chiltern Hugmee range of teddy bears!

Challenged!

As I mentioned yesterday, Friday is the final submission deadline for our Guild of Master Bearcrafters' 'A Teddy Bear World' challenge, so I need to start my project quicksmart!

Union Jack flag

Typically, my first hiccup was being unprepared.  I had no white vinegar to set the dye, so after a quick dash to the supermarket to buy some straight after lunch today, I donned a large craft apron and some rubber gloves before mixing the dye for my challenge bear.

I gathered together my research notes, white mohair and dye ingredients ...

And began by washing my white mohair so it would accept the dye readily.

The came the fun part!  The Jacquard Acid Dyes only require a small amount of powder to be mixed with water to achieve vibrant colour.

It's very easy to use these dyes.  I kept my fingers crossed that the dye wouldn't ruin my favourite stockpots, threw caution to the wind and dropped my lovely white mohair straight into the red and blue pots ... there was no time for shilly-shallying around with sample pieces first, my schedule was too tight!

Half an hour of hubble bubble later, my mohair pieces were ready for washing.  I don't think the blue is quite as dark as it should be (I bought 'brilliant blue' rather than 'navy' dye) but hey ho, it is a very nice blue and surely a bearmaker can be allowed a little artistic interpretation?!

Time to start work on my bear's white bits now ... I'll take pics as I work and share them with you when he's ready for submission.  Wish me luck with the deadline - I'm going to need it!

Me and my big mouth ...

I really enjoy running the Guild of Master Bearcrafters; it's a fascinating job and with about five hundred creative heads under one roof, it never fails to inspire, as you can imagine!

To keep creativity levels buzzing, earlier this year I thought it would be a fun idea to set up a Guild challenge group and invite members to design pieces of work to set themes ... to think a little 'outside the box'.  The challenges have been well received and our latest, 'A Teddy Bear World' challenge concludes on Friday. 

The Challenge is as follows:

As the Guild celebrates the work of teddy bear artists around the globe, I thought it would be fun to hold a challenge which celebrates our international bear-crafting community!  

Special materials required: white fabric (whatever type of fabric you would like to make your bear from) and dye!

Standard Challenge:  Your challenge is to create a teddy bear in the colours of your national flag, using white fabric and dye.  Your teddy bear may be created in any style.

Advanced Challenge:  Your challenge is to create a teddy bear in the colours of your national flag, using white fabric and dye.  Please read on further for the advanced element of this challenge!

Your bear is to be created in the traditional style of one of your national teddy bear manufacturers, from 1900's to 1960's.  

For example:

Steiff/Bing: Germany,

Chiltern Hygenic Toy Co/Merrythought: UK, 

Ideal Novelty & Toy Co: USA,

Fadap/Pintel: France,

Joy Toys: Australia ... etc. 

Needless to say, with such a high calibre of group members from around the world laying down the creative Guild gauntlet, the least I can do is join in the fun.  Trouble is, there are only three days until my own deadline .... and I haven't even started work on my submission yet.

So tomorrow I plan to be up to my eyeballs in red and blue dye - fingers crossed there are no calamities and that everything goes to plan first time!

I'll let you know how I get on!

Walking the walk ...

As you may or may not know, I am the person behind 'The Guild of Master Bearcrafters' (www.masterbearcrafters.ning.com) an internet group I set up a couple of years ago, to help professional bearcrafters promote and progress the concept of 'artist bear'.  With that aim in mind, I recently challenged willing members to explore new styles of bearcraft and incorporate at least one bear crafting technique hitherto alien to their work.

The results are rolling in now and I must say, I am delighted with the commitment our Guild challengees have shown to this project!  I have been a somewhat shamed by my own limited efforts after being compromised by a lack of available design time when a shop order was suddenly pulled forward, but nonetheless, I did manage to have a go at a couple of things I haven't tried before.  There's no point talking the talk, if you're not prepared to walk the walk eh?!

I haven't made a truly contemporary bear in a noticeable while, so opted to tackle a tricky open-mouthed bear with bendy legs and hugging arms; however as these elements weren't entirely new to me, I also decided to introduce eyelashes for the first time and to create pulled toes, which I nervously shaded ... one false move and I was terrified I would ruin my new bear!

Spurred on by my fellow challengees' enthusiasm for the challenge, I decided to squeeze in one last element to complete my 'Something old, something new' design, by creating a prim style rabbit companion - another first for me.

And here is my finished Guild challenge piece:  'Felicity finds her bun'!

It's hard not to be inspired by other artists' enthusiasm for a project, but I am particularly grateful to my Guild friends for this push ... they don't know this, but my laughing bears were always Dad's favourites and I haven't felt able to make one since he died last Autumn. 

Thank you all for being such an inspirational force xxx

Guild member Tami Eveslage created two fabulous bears for this challenge!  Please visit Tami's blog to read all about her approach to the challenge:  

http://insidemystudio.blogspot.com/2011/05/something-old-something-new.html

A Prim Dolly Doodle Dangle Bun!

I've been working on a special 'Something old, something new'

challenge project for the 'Guild of Master Bearcrafters' (www.masterbearcrafters.ning.com) recently and although I'm not quite ready to share the finished bear with you just yet (soon I promise!) I can at least show you a peek of the 'Something old' part of the challenge ...

I had so much fun making this daft little dingly dangly, prim style rabbit from an oddment of leftover mohair ... now I feel a basket of scrappy dappy buns coming on!

The Guild of Master Bearcrafters enters 2011 with a buzz!

The day I discovered  how to create my own social networking site was a real revelation to me and I certainly didn't foresee that eighteen months later, I would be running 'The Guild of Master Bearcrafters' with a creative membership of well over four hundred talented bear makers from all over the world!

http://www.masterbearcrafters.ning.com/

Building the Guild has taken a considerable amount of commitment, but I've loved every minute of it and think it has been very worthwhile to create a site where working bear artists can meet professionally to discuss bear crafting issues with peers and display new creations.  Our membership is far flung, from the UK, to USA, to Australia, Germany, Russia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, France, Israel, Lithuania ... and way beyond, in fact right around the globe!  It has been an education to me to learn teddy bears are so popular, on so many distant continents!  And on a personal note, running the Guild has offered me an invaluable opportunity to broaden my understanding of teddy bear design and make friends with many wonderful bearcrafters.

The Guild hosts a special showcase slideshow each week, featuring members' designs, so please pop in from time to time, to see what bear artists around the world are creating, especially for you!  As you can see below, our Guild members are off to a flying start in 2011 ... these are a few of the brand new designs they have created for the New Year!