Notice of some importance

NOTICE:

Hello Everyone: I wanted to check in and let you all know that I am still here.

My new medication makes it difficult form me to do anything quickly which is good but also difficult and causes me some moments of depressions. I am trying to adjust.

Because of this I have left my stockist stores in the USA and UK. I will now simply be working to make bears for you through me.

In the recent change I have also made a wonderful discovery... I no longer have themes and deadlines to contend with and this has opened all my doors and windows to allow the beautiful spring air in which has been inspiring. In this I have begun creating an entirely new design and style and am completely in love with these bears. To date I have designed three new designs all of the same style: A bear, A bunny and an Ellie. The first three are almost complete... two bunnies and one ellie and two bears are in the making. I am also designing a style of outfits for them that I think you will embrace as I have. My decision to change my style was also important to reflect this new change of leaving the stores to go on my own. It will mark a time and it was my way of honoring the stores that had me in as their guests for the short time I was there.

It was not until I began working on my own that I realized how restricting my working for my stores was. I am not saying that doing so is not a good idea but I think I was offered this position too soon in my bear making career. I had not yet settled on a style and was still experimenting on where I wanted to go in my style. It has only been since 2009 that I have been making bears so if I compare that to how long I have been doing hair, I am still new.

The positive of me being slowed down by my medication and heart issues is that a lot of things were brought to the forefront of my mind. I realized where I wanted to be in my art and I have the time, as I am forced to take my time, to go slowly and focus on character again and the style that is in my heart. Of course I also feel that my health has effected the desire to create a style that reflects where I am in my life right now. I feel that I have landed on a style that I enjoy and will be making as my style of bear for quite a while.

I will try to have some photos soon but I can say that I do have three entries in the up and coming URSA awards... and I will be planning on entering into the online Teddies Worldwide Christmas show, two local shows and one Toronto show this year. Due to my restrictions currently I am trying to build up my stock a bit before I release anything so please bear with me for just a bit longer!

I will be able to post more frequently for you and post available bear for you here, on bear pile and etsy.

Big Hugs and thank you so much for sticking with me these past few years and months!

Things are about to change for the better and get really fun here at Seraphim Bears!

This has been a rose year for me so far this year. I named an entire Hug of bears after roses and now I have begun planting my roses at our new home. I have planted the White Dawn climbers around my garden arch and I have purchased to shrub style roses that I will plant this weekend called Louise Odier and Tahnitian Moon. Those will be the protectors of the garden gate on the public side of our home as we are the house beside a walk through. Here is what they will look like one day ...

White Dawn - climber

Tahitian Moon - Shrub rose From Easy Elegance roses

Louise Odier - Shrub rose

I will take some shots of ours to share at some point this summer.

A few new bears

Here are a few new bears that I created of late. As of now I will be offering a lot more bears through Bear Pile, Ebay and Etsy for my collectors who for the past two years have been waiting very patiently for me and coming to the shows. I have only been able to supply to the stores which I am hoping to change now. I have two little bears that are still looking for forever homes so I will post one on Ebay this weekend! But for now here are a few for you to see that you have not seen as yet! Big Hugs

 Bearded Melancholy Bear - Pinkaboo

Bearded Melancholy Bear - Cuthbert Grant

Traditional Bear - Margaret Merril

Here are my new friends dancing last night at the Heart and Stroke Foundation fundraiser in a nearby town!

 

 I love taking photos of fabrics.... they always come out so beautiful!

Down 4.2lbs on my Weight Watchers for the end of week number one!

Hypnotized by the snake

Hello everyone:

I am in a rut. It seems the last week has past and I cannot work on my bears. I seem to be stuck. I am not sure why? I went the entire week last week without doing a single thing on my bears? I tried, I even brought the supplies to work ever single day but just left everything sitting there in a corner, with no desire to create! We were busy at work, this is true, but each day I then had the thought that I would do some work on the bears when I arrived home. But as I arrived home that was the last thing I felt like doing so nothing was done.

This morning I awoke and began looking through all the photos of bears I have made... from beginning to end! There are now many and all different styles! Some artist really have a set style and I know that is desired but for me, having been in the business only a few years I have dabbled in a few styles with all different techniques! I now have a look I like in a few different styles... But I still have a few different styles. Is that the problem? Should there be one style that I focus on so when you see the bear you absolutely know it is a Seraphim? I wouldn't know how to give up my traditional style bears and how could I leave my Melancholy bears behind and mixing the two together... well that won't work. Or does it mean a completely new change lies ahead in the future?
I don't think so. I am just the type of artist who enjoys variety and I think I have now settled on two styles that can be identified each to themselves as Seraphim Bears. You can see by my writing just how confused I am at the moment.

I have begun belly dancing! I started with a few DVD's to see if I would like it... it is something I have always wanted to try and after such a long run with my undetected heart issues and now that I am feeling better I thought I better try it if I am ever going to do that! I really love it and so I also have now joined a class. Maybe it is just that my focus is on my new thing right now as I have never really danced before. Well not in a style other than my style so now I have all this excitement that is focused on this new area in my life. The moves, practicing and eating better, and the beautiful fabrics in the clothes! My head is swirling with things and ideas of what I could make to wear for my dancing! So maybe it is just that the chiffon and silks are clouding my mind with flowing fabrics and making it difficult for me to see the bears?

I feel a bit anxious to get started on them again but I also feel excited about my new search for my inner woman through the dance! I imagine that might be what is causing all this confusion... am I hypnotized by the snake arms and belly rolls?

Fur Friday - What went wrong

Hello everyone

Well... I just couldn't walk away without knowing if it was something I did wrong or what so I wrote to my friend Nancy in a private message. I am delighted, well as delighted as one can be when finding out why all that time and effort was down the tubes, but delighted none the less to have found out what went wrong!

It was not the stitch length but instead it appears my coat had DRY ROT! You can not see it or smell it but when you stitch it the coat becomes powdery and falls away from the seams! AH HA moment! So in knowing this now I feel I might try again with a different coat as that might have also been the reason why I was sneezing so much! Powdery dusty leather microbes were most definitely floating into my nose...eeewwww! But hay, I might still have a shot at making a fur bear yet!

So what I would like to suggest to you all is this... before you spend all that time on cutting out the entire bear and lining it, make a test swatch from a few different areas on your coat and do a lining and seam! Just small pieces so you can be sure your coat does not have DRY ROT! THEN go ahead if the coast is clear and your seams stay together!

Thankfully I have not given away my other coats yet! And thankfully and regretfully I now have something plausible to tell the lady who gave me the coat as to what happened. I am learning a lot in this process so am grateful for my trials in that sense but it would be nice to get a bear completed from a coat down the line!

I will try again fresh with a new coat!

Thank you Nancy for sharing this wonderful knowledge with me and my readers!

Happy Friday the 13th - Three New Bears

Hello Everyone

Happy Friday the 13th. I know a lot of you out there consider this a bad luck day but for us we have always considered it a GOOD luck day! That's surely always nice to hear and I thought that maybe if I made a post today it would spread the GOOD so you would forget about the bad!


What I can share with you are the three Seraphim bears that are now awaiting adoption at Collin's Gifts:

They are Parker, Wylie and Delta Dawn - three bearded Melancholy bears

Click Here to visit Collin's Gifts

Have a great day everyone! Big Hugs from all of us here at Seraphim Bears.... now it is off to work to complete the Summer collection for Silly Bears! 5 bears are on their way to Scotland on Monday!

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!