We have a winner!

Firstly, I must say a MASSIVE thank you to everyone who donated money to enter our charity raffle. You have all helped to raise a fantastic £402 for St.Margaret's Somerset Hospice.

The draw has taken place* and I am pleased to announce the winner is:

Hollie Pearson

Well done Hollie, I hope you like your bear!

So, thank you all again. I will be raising more money for charity through the year with my bears, so if you have a charity in mind that you'd like to help, and you'd be willing to help promote another raffle, then please do contact me.

*All entrants were allocated "ticket" numbers reflecting the order in which, and how much, they donated and the winning ticket was chosen using an online random number generator. 

Spring flowers

I'm determined to believe that Spring is on the way despite the gloomy weather, so I am gradually adding some pretty Spring-inspired bears to my stock.This is the first one, made from a lovely floral linen - upcycled from a no longer worn skirt, so she's done her bit for the environment too.

 

Also added to my stock are these colourful polka dot bears:

 

They have been made from fabric kindly donated by Rachel at RayStitch and I will be donating 50% of the sale price to the British Heart Foundation.

All three bears can be found in my Folksy shop.

 

Win a bear!

Just after Christmas a very dear friend of mine lost her sister Anna to cancer. She was an amazingly strong lady who fought the disease for 5 years. She will be very sadly missed by all those who knew and loved her.

In the last 18 months of her life she received fantastic care at St Margaret’s Somerset Hospice. They provide free hospice care to those living in and around Somerset and seek to improve the quality of life for those suffering with an incurable illness while also providing a support system for their carers and families. St Margaret’s is mostly funded by public donations.

In Anna’s memory, I would love to raise some money for St Margaret’s so they can continue their good work.

So, for just £2 for 2 “tickets” you can enter into the raffle to win this lovely handmade teddy bear. For every extra £1 you donate, you will get one extra entry into the raffle, the more times you enter the more chances you have of winning. I will close the raffle on the 25th February at 8pm UK time.

To enter just click on the link: www.justgiving.com/bubsbears

Starry starry night...

Now if you've read the title and you know any Don McLean songs you will now be singing the words "paint your palette blue and grey...."

Why have I got you singing that? Well, it's because this new bear below is called Vincent, as is the song, and anytime I  hear the name Vincent I start singing!

He's a very sweet bear, who I made for a very dear friend of mine, Adam, who is approaching his 40th birthday. I met Adam at art college 20 years ago and for as long as I have known him he has always had a paintbrush or pencil in his hand. So when I saw this watercolour palette print fabric on the Liberty website I knew it would be just perfect for the bear he'd asked me to make. I left the naming up to Adam, so Vincent he has become.

He even has little pencil buttons...

It's feeling quite like Spring here today. The sky is blue, the flowers are pushing their way up through the soil, and there are little bunnies multiplying by the day!!

 

 All of these have been made from pretty vintage floral fabrics which were kindly given to me by Donna Flower. They are all one-offs so completely unique. All are available to buy from my Folksy shop, with 10% of the sale price going to charity.

Now the bunnies are made, I will be going back to my ever growing list of custom orders. I have some remembrance bears to make, plus two baby keepsake bears from these lovely baby clothes:

I can't wait to see how they turn out!

Hop, hop, hop!

This little Bubs Bunny has hopped it's way into my Folksy shop today...

 

It would love to find a new home soon...and you never know, it might just come with an extra little surprise!

 

New banner, new blog!

I've been having some new designs created for me by the lovely Catherine over at Bumpkin Bears. Not only does she make gorgeous teddy bears, but she is a very talented artist too. The banner above is the first thing she has designed for me, there will also be some others which I can use as business cards, labels etc. So to make the most of her beautiful artwork, I have decided to start up a new blog here. Wordpress is great for blogging, but it's not so great for pretty backgrounds and colour schemes, and I really wanted something to compliment Catherine's designs.

I'm still finding my way around blogger so bear with me. Things may get changed along the way, until I find a layout I'm happy with. 

For now I will just leave you with a quick reminder that it's Valentine's Day on Monday. Any bears purchased from my shop, as a gift for your loved one, will come with a little embroidered heart. I will be able to post as late as Saturday morning, so don't leave it too late!