Meet Leap !

This is little Leap ready just in time for Leap Day !  He is the bear made from the Fitch fur coat .  I think he is a rather handsome fella with great coloring.   It seems he may have found a home .

 I'm sure there will be another a bear or two from this fur someday in the future.  The hand sewing parts were  hard on the fingers  as the pelts are quite thick., but worth the needle   pokes and cuts for sure  !!!

A unique fur coat

 I was fortunate recently to acquire this beautiful fur coat made from fitch pelts.  It is the first one I have ever seen and it is so pretty.  Fitch are related to mink , but have unique coloring on their fur.  It reminds me of cross-mink in some ways, but is also very different.  Fitch  are often white or blond colored (like this one)  and  have a dark stripe down their back that widens as it reaches the tail area and legs. The tips of the fur are also dark.  The fur is also a little longer than mink, on this coat anyway,  so I'm not sure what size to make.  The narrow  pelts  along with the stripes affect the pattern layout and size too .
  

 I am eager, however.  to make a bear from the coat to see what it will look like. 

Meet 7" Evan

Please meet 7" Evan, my new mink bear available on my website now:)    See him HERE

A peek behind the scenes

Sometimes I have the opportunity to work on bears that you may never see.  Most times they are gifts for very special people in my life, but occasionally I make a bear in exchange for a beautiful mink coat.   That is the exception and really depends on the circumstances.  Most times I just buy the coats as I prefer not to do custom work.  

However, since January I have been very busy and  made 10 bears. Only 6 have been for adoption.  I thought you might like to take a peek behind the scenes at some of the others.

The mahogany/black bear is Lorna, named after her owner's mom who owned the coat.  The white mink was named Louie , after the owners ex-husband who gave her the coat :)   Both  are  larger bears.  Lorna is the first all dark bear I've made andI really like her.  The little white bear is Whisper , who I recently sold.... this photo just shows the size difference very well between 10" and 7" bears.

The little 7" panda, was named Tickles, the nickname of the  2 yr old. granddaughter for whom she was made.  She is a keepsake of her grandmother's and great-grandmother's coats.  One coat was  mink and the other muskrat. It's the first time I've used muskrat for one of my little bears.

The mohair bear was a birthday gift for a very special friend across the miles :)

I hope you enjoy seeing these other creations.

Please meet Babaco

Here he is , the finished bear that my daughter and I were working on.  He is available for adopt on my website HERE 

He is being offered to raise funds for our church mission team headed to Haiti soon .  My daughter and husband will be on the team as they go to help rebuild.  This is a whole new experience for our family  , and one I think will be life changing for them.   It will be alot of hard work, but a wonderful way for them to make a difference.

Please keep the team in prayer !

A special project

My daughter and I have enjoyed working together on a special project for a fundraiser.  It is a mink bear from one of my older , larger patterns that I haven't used in ages.  She chose the pattern and fur colors.  She also cut out, trimmed and pinned all the pieces.  I am doing the sewing and finishing.   Hopefully it will be done soon and I will explain more about it then :)

Whisper- a new mink bear

Please meet Whisper , a 7" mink bear.  He is the first I have made in this off-white color from a coat I recently acquired.   I love  this fur  and may have to make myself a bear in this color to keep.  It is just so gorgeous .  Whisper  is available on my website HERE

 

Henzie, my newest bear

Meet 7" Henzie, my newest creation.  She is happy to have found a new mom in the USA. 

 
Henzie was named by a gr. 5 student who saw my article in the newspaper recently.  She likes to sew and was interested in my bears .  She emailed me and said she was doing a  school presentation about my business.  She even  invited me to her class,  about 1 hour from my house.  I was happy to accepted, so quickly worked on a couple of bears last week.   Unfortunately,  the class time was limited so the teacher was unable to allow me to attend after all.   

This young lady  was very disappointed , so I decided to email her a pic of the bear and let her choose the name.  She combined her name and her best friend's name.  I think it is a cute name and suits the bear well.   Thanks Kenzie and Hannah for the great name suggestion :)  I hope we still get to meet sometime soon !