Kelly Dean & Company

I am pleased to introduce you to Merlot! 18", 6-way jointed and cut from a rich, curly, purple viscose fur with an inset muzzle. Merlot has trapunto leather paw pads, a leather nose, and german glass eyes. he's wearing a waistcoat made from a nubby boucle fabric from Liberty of London, lined with gold silk shantung, and closed with a vintage MOP button. airbrushed muzzle, locline arms

Merlot is almost ready to be uncorked

Happy Easter, Everyone!! :-)

on my workbench this week: playing with purple :-)

on my workbench this week: wee Taffy Bear is helping pick the fur for the next bear. . . so many fun colored furs, so many choices

on my workbench this week: teddy talk

on my workbench this week: the 18" pink bear has been cut, sewn and assembled and is ready for some facetime

on my workbench this week: little Billy Bear is puzzling over a pile pretty pink parts

on my workbench this week: I think I found the leather and fabric I need for the pink bear. the leather is the backside of a brighter, shiny pink and the fabric is Japanese kimono silk, woven for an obi sash

on my workbench this week: sorting through fancy leathers, looking for the perfect pink. most of these were given to me by a ladies shoe designer, back when I had my shop and studio on Main St. her 8-year-old daughter used to come into the shop and chat while her parents ate dinner at the cafe up the street. one day her mother walked into the shop with a big box of leathers and fabric samples, saying she felt she ought to do something to repay me for babysitting. I've been eking them out for about 15 years now

on my workbench this week: I've finished curly little Billy Bear - more pics to follow - but while we're waiting, Billy's helping lay out the fur for the next bear - a fabulous pale pink, a color I've never worked with before. it should make a pretty bear :-)

on my workbench this week: an 18" grizzly in a wonderful curly brown faux fur is ready for a nose job

meet little Bobby Black Bear! 18", 6-way jointed (plus a disk-jointed tail) cut from a lush, fluffy black faux fur with a contrasting muzzle, Bobby has a leather nose and trapunto leather paw pads. he has locline arms for poseablity and sports a red-striped waistcoat over his ample belly. (Bobby's waistcoat is cut from a vintage sweater)

on my workbench this week: little Bobby Black Bear is getting in on the hug for the next bear

on my workbench this week: the 32" black bear head is picked, turned and ready to attach to the body

on my workbench this week: working on the head for a 32" realistic black bear cub

on my workbench this week: new bears Frasier and Webster help piece together the next bear, a 32" black bear cub

on my workbench this week: Harley helps hold the new bear steady while we do some paw work. he says he just can't look but I've reassured him that it doesn't hurt a bit! ;-)

on my workbench this week: assembling the head for an 18" 6-way jointed teddy bear. mohair is such a joy to work with compared to faux fur :-)

on my workbench this week: Jackson and his new friend Harley help lay out the fur for the next bear

Jackson would like to formally introduce his wee friend Brinkley, who is now fully dressed in striped overalls trimmed with gold braid, a gold lizard print leather vest lined with a gold micro tweed and sporting a silk rose boutonniere, and an antique linen collar closed with a vintage carved MOP button. Brinkley is cut from Schulte mohair, is 6-way jointed with locline arms, and has trapunto leather paw pads, a leather nose, and german glass eyes

on my workbench this week: Jackson and the new guy are helping lay out the fur for the next bear

on my workbench this week: caught in a ray of sunshine, Jackson helps the little bear model his new waistcoat. I have a whole hide of gold and white polka-dot leather (yeah, you read that right) that someone gifted me. I didn't have a clue what to do with it, so one day I threw it in the washer and then the dryer, figuring what have I got to lose. it came out quite pretty, with softer dots and a much nicer gold, so the new guy is sporting a gold polka-dot leather waistcoat lined in a tiny gold tweed. next up, he gets a pair of gold striped bib overalls and an antique linen collar (I'm so proud I got the dots matched!)

Woodrow and Jackson are helping the new little 15" bear pick out fabrics for his outfit

I put a lovely bit of vintage string mohair out on the porch this morning to freshen up in the sun and forgot about it. later in the day, we had a ferocious thunderstorm and when I went out on the porch tonight I found my mohair had been rain-washed and sun-dried, giving it a unique texture I haven't seen before. it will be interesting to see how it makes up

on my workbench this week: bear secrets

on my workbench this week: putting a face - and nose - on the golden brown 18" bear. they look so funny without the ears. :-)