Too much too do, too little time!
I´m sure every crafter, artist (and, well, pretty much everyone!) knows what I´m talking about.

Today I´d love to share with you two pictures. Both were gifts for very special pairs of people. One of them has been together for nearly 60 years. Their bears are having a lovely little date on a garden swing:

And the other pair is extra special to me, because it´s my parents! Their favourite holiday thing is trying local food wherever they go, so their bears are having a little picnic. The picnic basket was especially fun thing to make:

Both the swing pillows and the picnic blanket were handstitched - can safely say the blanket took FOREVER. All four bears look very similar (atleast I hope!), I was trying to go for a rather traditional look.

Many teddy kisses to you all!

Introducing... Sleepy Teddy girl

This is Sleepy Teddy, my latest bear girl. 

Sleepy is a one of a kind little bear, designed and completely hand sewn by myself. Made with top quality faux cashmere in gold colour and cream felt paw pads, she has pin jointed head, thread jointed limbs and heavy fibre fill. She is 8cm or 3 1/4inch tall when standing. Due to her height, she can also be a perfect 1/24 scale dolls´ house inhabitant.

 Sleepy comes with her comfy little bed and elegant night cap. There´s lots of roses and lace to make the little bear girl happy!

 Inspiration for Sleepy comes from the classic tale of the princess and the pea and her not-that-great night´s sleep...

Introducing... Summer the Bear Fairy

This is Summer, one of my latest bears. As you can see by his wings, Summer is a beary, or bear fairy. He is a little grumpy - and wouldn´t you be, if you were a rose fairy and the roses in your garden were still half asleep? But don´t let his grumpy face fool you, he is a sweet little fellow.

Summer is looking for a happy home now, preferably one where the Big Folk share his love for roses. 

Summer´s first steps: "Mommy, don´t let go...!"

Summer is a one of a kind little bear, designed and completely hand sewn by myself. Made with top quality faux cashmere, he has German bead eyes, pin jointed head, thread jointed limbs and heavy fibre fill. He is 8cm or 3 1/4inch tall when standing. Due to his height, he can also be a perfect 1/24 scale dolls´ house inhabitant.

Concerning Bearies

I have a confession to make: I have a serious obsession with miniatures. And with making miniatures. I´ve been making them for years. A big neverending work-in-progress 1/12 scale witch cottage (see picture) sits in my lounge where some "normal" decorative object could be, there´s bits of card and wood everywhere, embroidery threads organizer and little paint pots on my dining table. I have books on teddy bears, dolls´ houses and needlework by the bed. Every now and then, the cat is sporting bits of thread and mohair and fibrefill. I step on something tiny and/or sharp every other day. Only similarly crazy people know how much space miniature things take up.
 

Her Majesty the Cat and my sewing mess

I might have mentioned that I love fairy tales, mythology, fantasy books, which of course is nothing odd - love for stories seems to be pretty universal. I use my miniatures as a means of telling a story, and that´s how I came up with "bearies". At first, I just needed inhabitants for my fantasy settings. The tale of the three bears and their porridge and chairs and beds came to mind one day, and that´s how my "crazy" thing took a new turn. Making small bears to live in my cottages and roomboxes. It took a very long time - I started with bear making books and tried out some patterns, then some kits (the first one will most likely never get finished), but I wasn´t happy until many many months down the line, I started making my own patterns and designing my own bears.

Wee Witches favourite armchair by WeeLittleDelights

Now, what are bearies...?
We need to go back to stories and fairy tales. For some reason, the concept of other (or parallel) worlds is especially fascinating to us. And who´s to say they aren´t real? :) Just read this little bit:

"...There was the time when the fairy folk withdrew from our world, going further and further into the mists, so that only an occasional wanderer now can spend a night within the elf-mounds, and if they should do so, time drifts on without them, and they may come out after a single night and find that their kinsfolk are all dead and that a dozen years have gone by..."

Marion Zimmer Bradley - The Mists of Avalon, 1982

My daydreaming often ends up in fairy courts or fantasy lands. That´s where I "met" bearies, or bear fairies. They are small winged fey, very friendly to the Big Folk as they are quite curious about our ways. They are the true in-between dwellers: they build their little cottages and settle in tree hollows in the places where Faerie meets our world, and some choose to actually share our homes. I´m sure we could all use a little more magic in our lives.

TinyStar, a night bear fairy by Storybook Bears

Was the world a different place when we were little?

Are you a dreamer? Do you love stories and fairy tales? Curling up with a good book sounds like a great me-time to you? Maybe you often let you mind wander off to distant lands or distant times, maybe you´d like to run around or dance in the rain like you did when you were little. You might have written a poem or two. Not only you talk to stray cats, you are sure they understand you. Maybe some of these things do sound familiar to you... :)
As we grow up, our world starts shrinking. There were no limits to imagination, no excuses needed for dreaming and so much magic in every day. Now, we often complain about how little time we have, how bleak and repetitive our workdays are, how much money we have to grind in order to pay the bills every month. Mhm, I complain about that too. But I´m trying, trying so very hard to keep atleast a little bit of the childhood wonder in my life. I leave crumbs and seeds and nuts in the back garden for the birds, but hope the fairies have some too. I saw two rainbows in the sky the other day while stuck in traffic on my drive to work the other day. And someone left this extraordinary bouquet in front of my house the other week:

That must´ve been my angel, because the tree and its tiny flowers were just so beautiful. The world is still a magical place - just like when we were little - we just need to keep our eyes open.