Rhoda & Jennie

Good morning!  Well, I finished my little set of 10 bears.  It didn't quite all go to plan, but I got there eventually!  They took longer to make than the hedgehogs, although I suppose that shouldn't be surprising.  With the hedgehogs, there's only one thing to stuff, and one opening to sew up.  With the bears, there are six of each - counting the limbs and the head.  And although the hedgehog design has its own complications - like wiring and wrapping the legs - stuffing and sewing up openings always seems to be particularly time-consuming.  Then there are the embroidered noses - they took me 25 minutes for each bear.  Am I becoming time-obsessed?  Good grief, how boring.  :-)

Anyway, the result is that I've had to increase prices slightly for Rhoda and Jennie (above, left to right).  They are still fairly averagely priced when compared to mohair bears made by other people though, so I'm alright with it.  Both bears are in my Etsy shop now.

Rhoda is made from mohair remnants - a hand-dyed blue and the remainder of the lovely fluffy grey mohair that I made Leon from.  Jennie is made from a gorgeous tousled blonde mohair.  Excuse her photos (below): she came out quite pale and pasty with my Nikon, so I ended up taking phone photos.

*   *   *

Did you see my Etsy Treasury this week?  You can find it here.  It is a collection of handmade and vintage Christmas decorations - the best kind, in my view!  In addition to my robins, there is a lovely set of little copper foxes (in galloping pose), some primitive snowmen tree decorations, dried orange slices, a gorgeous paper mache goose, a vintage Soviet Russia glass trumpet ornament and lots more. I'd be really grateful if you'd take a moment to look and 'favourite' it.

*   *   *

Aaaand, once again, I have completely failed to get a Friday Design Challenge finished!  I am aiming to do two for next week, to make up for it.  Now that all the shows are finished, I am starting to think about new designs for next year - like, entirely new creatures, not just a new feature here and there.  I'm expecting that Design Challenges from now on will all be different parts of a whole design.  So, watch this space!