People often ask me just how I got into making bears in the first place. Well, you know, it's not something you just wake up one day and can do!
So there were a number of things that got me that way:
So there were a number of things that got me that way:
1. Bonzo
So, this sorry looking knitted toy was the first cuddly toy I owned. Dad bought him on the day I was born and he was given to me when I as still in hospital. He's now 28 years old(!) and has been with me through everything.
He was there at my wedding and my honeymoon (yes the OH understands I'm a bit weird!) and has travelled all over the world in my suitcase.
I didn't sleep if he had to be washed and if I left him at somebody's house then we just had to go back and get him. He's also been repaired countless times as those aren't his original ears, or his original body and that eye is the only one he's got!
So if anyone thinks I have a slight obsession with cuddly toys then Bonzo is probably the reason why.
2. This Pooh Bear
Now this toy is looking a little sorry for himself too but he's also over twenty years old.
He was given to me in kit form as a Christmas present when I was seven or eight. It took me a while to get round to making him with Mam but when I did we spent many hours putting him together. The only bit that I didn't do was his bum. Well it was complicated and I was only little.
Not long after I made him, I was at Brownies and was doing my craft badge so I decided I'd put him in as something I'd made. He wasn't allowed as Brown Owl said I couldn't possibly have made him myself. She thought Mam had made him instead. Cheers Brown Owl! So I made something suitably crap and submitted that instead.
So after that I always kind of enjoyed making things anyway but over the years I was bought various toy kits for Christmas and as treats and it was my Auntie Mavis who had the patience to help me make most of them (she was a talented bear maker herself before the arthritis got the better of her).
So after years of filling my house to the rafters with toys and deciding that I had to either give them away (most of my friends now have them!) or sell the odd one or two here and there, I finally discovered Etsy and now have an avenue for my bear madness (w00p!).
www.ClareBears.Etsy.Com
So, this sorry looking knitted toy was the first cuddly toy I owned. Dad bought him on the day I was born and he was given to me when I as still in hospital. He's now 28 years old(!) and has been with me through everything.He was there at my wedding and my honeymoon (yes the OH understands I'm a bit weird!) and has travelled all over the world in my suitcase.
I didn't sleep if he had to be washed and if I left him at somebody's house then we just had to go back and get him. He's also been repaired countless times as those aren't his original ears, or his original body and that eye is the only one he's got!
So if anyone thinks I have a slight obsession with cuddly toys then Bonzo is probably the reason why.
2. This Pooh Bear
Now this toy is looking a little sorry for himself too but he's also over twenty years old.He was given to me in kit form as a Christmas present when I was seven or eight. It took me a while to get round to making him with Mam but when I did we spent many hours putting him together. The only bit that I didn't do was his bum. Well it was complicated and I was only little.
Not long after I made him, I was at Brownies and was doing my craft badge so I decided I'd put him in as something I'd made. He wasn't allowed as Brown Owl said I couldn't possibly have made him myself. She thought Mam had made him instead. Cheers Brown Owl! So I made something suitably crap and submitted that instead.
So after that I always kind of enjoyed making things anyway but over the years I was bought various toy kits for Christmas and as treats and it was my Auntie Mavis who had the patience to help me make most of them (she was a talented bear maker herself before the arthritis got the better of her).
So after years of filling my house to the rafters with toys and deciding that I had to either give them away (most of my friends now have them!) or sell the odd one or two here and there, I finally discovered Etsy and now have an avenue for my bear madness (w00p!).
www.ClareBears.Etsy.Com
Glad you found etsy, because I found you!
ReplyDeleteLove your bears and adore your little friends that have been with you for years.
I am a teddybear fan too, and my 5 yr old cried when she had to go to school without her Teddy so it look sas if she is the same!
Such cuteness! I've nominated your blog for a Kreative blog award - check out my blog for more details :)
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