To all our loyal Bear Essence family...New years come and new years go,
Pieces of time all in a row.
As we live our life, each second and minute,
We know we’re privileged to have you in it.
Our appreciation never ends
For our greatest blessings: our family and friends.

Happy New Year xxx

Verse written by: Joanna Fuchs

aNd tHAt WrAPs iT fOr tHe YeAr...

As the year draws to an end, the door to our classroom closes, but only for a little while.  This year we have seen many students come through the doors, some beginners and others advanced but the one thing they have had in common has been their "love" and "passion" for all things bears!!!  Let's face it, nothing beats the magical feeling you get when you hold your finished creation in your arms for the first time...

...and after a whole year of pinning and whipping, sewing and stuffing, we finished off with something relatively easy and relaxing -- handpainted Christmas baubles... 

A beautiful day was had by all, and the fruits of their labour covered the entire table - dozens of cute little teddy bear baubles to give to their friends and loved ones this Christmas...


May you all have a truly blessed CHRISTMAS, we look forward to seeing you in our classroom next year...


Bear hugs xxx

Charlie Bears are here....

It is always so much fun to visit the post office and see the huge Charlie Bear boxes waiting for us!

Here is a sneak peek at some of those gorgeous little faces we found peering out of the boxes when we opened them....

I will get them onto the website over the next couple of days... keep watching!

tHIs LiTtle pIg wENt tO mArkEt...


A couple of Sundays ago a few of us got together so that Charmaine McMurdo of Giggle-Sprinkle Bears could make her debut as a teacher in the wonderful world of bear-making... Charmaine designed this little piggy especially for this purpose, she is just so talented and it shows in all that she creates -- be it bears, kittens, octopuses and now even piggies.


Unfortunately the little piggies ran all the way home before we had a chance to do a group shot, but don't despair they have promised to come back in the near future so that we can show them off to you.


This is my little piggy --- and I love her to bits!!!  

Due to the enormous interest that this little pig has generated, we will be running this class once again early in the new year and we have even managed to twist Charmaine's arm into releasing the pattern.  Keep an eye on our website for details...

aDD a LiTTle bODy tO a BrOOcH hEaD aNd LooK wHat yOU gEt...
Last week saw Adella running her brooch classes at the shop.  These sweet little heads were originally designed to be used as an accessory for Adella's big girl bears, but they were all looking so gorgeous that we decided they needed to stand on their own two feet, hence we started making bodies to suit them.

My little head was looking very brown so I decided to step outside the box and give her a body made from our beautiful velvety brown cashmere, rather than the traditional black used for golly dolls - a see-through little lacey number and gold shoes finished her off.  I named her "Cocoa" and she is already wrapped and sitting under my Christmas tree waiting patiently to go and live at her new mummy's house...

Here are some of the class photos of the "works in progress" -- just adorable.  Thank you Adella for another wonderful class,  looking forward to seeing what you have planned for us next year!!!

Twinkles with Josey

A few months ago Josey and I were chatting about how much fun it would be to have a few quick, fun, one day classes leading up to Christmas...

But who would have guessed what would happen when Josey designed this gorgeous little bear hanging on tight to his Christmas bauble...

Twinkles has become one of the most popular patterns and kits we have ever sold!!!

We have just finished the first of 2 one day classes and these photos show some of the work created by Josey's students.

Petra, who is not technically a "bear" lady booked into the class just wanting to paint baubles for her tree and skipping on the mohair bits... She painted the most beautiful purple and silver baubles... 

 These then inspired Josey to paint some herself using the same colours, but with the addition of some purple mohair and lots of bling... and here is the result!!!

Without the use of joints, these little bears come together very very quickly, there is still plenty of time before Christmas to make one for yourself or to delight a friend with...

pINs aND nEEdLeS...   

A little incident happened in our home last week and although I posted it on my personal Facebook page, I have been asked by some of my fellow bearmakers to blog it, in an attempt to save others from going through a similar experience…

I come from a line of women who have always sewn for a living – my great grandmother, my grandmother, and my mother -- hence from a very early age I was introduced to pins, needles and thread.  My predecessors had great respect for these sewing tools, and whenever one was found on the floor, it was as though they had found a nuclear weapon --  immediately picking it up and sticking it into its pincushion home.  If a needle was dropped whilst sewing – well they would not rest until it was found!!!

But I have to admit that I am more than a bit blasé when it comes to these things and now its come back to bite me.  The other day whilst sewing, I threaded my favorite doll sculptor needle and in a blink of an eye it disappeared (I’m blaming the cat).   I searched for it high and low – more because it was my favorite needle than anything else.  In the end I gave up and threaded another.

Two days later my baby boy (who is 21) walked into the room barefoot, I heard a yell and he had found my favorite needle embedded in the sole of his foot.  To make matters worse, as he quickly pulled it out, it broke with more than half remaining inside his foot.

My peaceful morning turned into chaos with a phone call to our doctor followed by a trip to the nearest hospital Emergency Dept.  The x-rays confirmed it all, but as it had gone into the foot vertically it was going to prove a challenge to remove.  The doctor made a small incision and using his tools prodded and probed trying to get it out, but he only succeeded in pushing it in further.  In the end he stitched him up , sent us home and this week we have an appointment with a Plastic Surgeon at another hospital where they will once again attempt to surgically remove it.

My son is on crutches, in quite a bit of pain and discomfort and all I want to do is KICK myself.

Moral of this story:  Please be careful with your needles and pins, they really are lethal weapons!!!

A tIMe tO pLAy…

Well the weather in Melbourne today was WET, WET, WET and there was not many a brave soul who would venture out in it.  But three of my beautiful and very loyal class ladies decided that come rain, hail or shine nothing was going to keep them away from their weekly Saturday bear class and they set out to face the elements.

It was a small class, very relaxed with loads of time to play.   Kim and I were even able to join in.  We had both started Geraldine bears with Merilyn last week, but hadn’t had time to finish them yet and today gave us the opportunity to be able to do this…  Here are a  couple of photos for you.  Mine is the pink and Kim’s is the blue and they are the beary best of friends, just like their mummies in real life…

Brenda also was able to put the finishing touches on her Geraldine – the gorgeous burgundy one pictured below.  Isn't her dress exquisite -- it is a hand crotcheted and beaded little number which Brenda bought from a doll show and has had hiding in her stash just waiting for the perfect bear to wear it.   Just beautiful!!!

I must say we all had a lot of fun using the bedazzlers and “bling blinging” our bears with all the Swarovski crystals we could get our hands on.  Look at them sparkle!!! 

The rest of the class did some preparation work for the upcoming Twinkles class which will be taking place next Tuesday, drank cups of tea, chatted and enjoyed the day in the company of some very passionate bearmakers…