Online Show: Bear Hugs 4 U

Hello!
I am excited to announce that I am joining a wonderful group of artists to participate in the Bear Hugs 4 U online teddy bear show starting this Friday at 10:00 AM (eastern time).  Go to http://www.bearhugs4u.com/ to see all of the excellent talent now and join us all on Friday for the opening of the show!

I am going to have several new bears in this show that I'm excited to share with you!  As a preview, here is my new Halloween panda, Ha-Lo, who will be available starting Friday at the online show!

Hugs,
TCD

Exciting News

Hello!

I have a couple of exciting announcements from the past week!  First, is that I have been featured in the UK magazine Teddy Bear Times with a 3 page article on my teddy bears!  Go to their website at http://www.teddybeartimes.com/ to check it out, see how to get the magazine, and see the 3rd page.  (They have options like getting the traditional print magazine and you can also get the magazine in digital form.)

The second announcement is that I traveled to the Kansas City Teddy Bear Jubilee this weekend and as part of the show they hold a teddy bear competition.  I entered my teacher bear, I have dubbed Mrs. Baker, into the over 6" dressed category and I've been honored with second place in the category!

I'm now going to be working on a couple of new designs which I will share as soon as they're ready!

Hugs,
TCD

Ummm... Hello?

...Hello?  Is anybody out there?  I hope you haven't given up on me since it's been almost a whole month since my last post.  (Literally.  I am only one day away from it being a month since my last blog post.)

So much has happened since my last post!  I started my new teaching position! (YAY!) I'm working at a fabulous new school as a 1st - 8th grade Technology teacher.  I have my own computer lab and each class comes to see me once per week for a 60 min technology class! :)

However... after being in school for one week, the Chicago Teacher's Union went on strike (you probably heard that on the news) and we were picketing and marching for 7 school days.  We did finally get back to work this past Wednesday!

In the midst of all of this back to school excitement, I've been working on several new pieces.  I have two new bears (both incorporating the color orange... I must be in the mood for fall), a new bunny (see previous post), a new koala, and a pair of circus elephants...

Circus elephants!?  You read that correctly.  I have a pair of circus elephants made with two different kinds of unique colored mohair.  They each have a ball that they "balance" on the tips of their trunks and they have a hand-made red tutu that they wear.  Since they deal with the circus, I named them Barnum & Bailey.  Below you can see Barnum.  She is going to be up for auction this weekend (Friday, September 28th) at Good Bears of the World's Kansas City Jubilee.  I am going to be there on Saturday, September 29th with her sister Bailey and 21+ other creations for the show!  Hope to see you there!  I'll make another post a little later in the week with a sneak preview of the other pieces that I'll be taking.

Hugs,
TCD

Website Update

It's been a L-O-N-G time since the pieces on my website have been up to date, but I spent some time today taking photos and updating my site.  It now shows a lot of my new teddy bears and other pieces including this brand new bunny which I finished this morning. 

This is my brand new bunny named Norman.  Norman is an 8.5" bunny made out of a unique black silky viscose with a white tipping pattern.  He has hand-painted silver eyes with green glitter accents.  He has white ultrasuede eyelids, inner ears, and feet.  His nose with hand-stitched out of a black perle cotton and he has perle cotton whiskers.  He is fully jointed and stuffed with a mixture of polyester fiber and steel shot.  Norman is capable of standing on his own.  He is currently available for $120.

Please visit my newly updated website:  http://www.tedsnsuch.com

Thanks!
TCD

Off to TBAI!

Hello!
I have been quiet for a while for a couple reasons:  1) I just went out town for a week to Orlando, FL for the annual Zumba Instructor Convention (which was amazing by the way) and 2) I've been sewing my fingers off (figuratively) and haven't spent much time on the computer!  I wanted to let you all know that I am heading off to TBAI this weekend.  This is a fabulous show and it's my third year attending it.  I'm so excited to see everyone and attend all of the fun events!  The actual show that is open to the public is on Saturday, August 18th.  Please visit www.tbai.org to learn more about the show.

Each year, the artists create one of a kind pieces to be sold exclusively at the show and to benefit the Ross Park Zoo.  This year's theme is 'Any Occasion Will Do!'  My special piece is titled 'Teacher Appreciation Day.'  I have created a female teacher bear with a little boy student bear.  Check it out below and please share what you think!  (Please forgive the quality of the photo.  I took this shot at night in my studio with little light.)

As I said earlier, I have been sewing my fingers off.  I have created many new designs including a new bird, bunny, and several new bears.  I'm excited to present these new pieces and I hope to see you this weekend!

Hugs,
TCD

P.S. If you make teddy bears, I will also be bringing a large selection of my hand-dyed mohair and alpaca to the show.  Each piece is carefully dyed in unique colors and patterns.  I believe I have 17 different pieces to choose from.

A little girl

Hello!
For those of you that know me pretty well, you know that I never, ever make girl bears.  It has nothing to do with me not wanting to make females, it just happens that whenever I try to make a girl bear it looks more like a boy in a dress.  I've played with different designs and made several attempts over the years, but I think I've finally done it.  Today, I am introducing to you all my first little girl bear!  Please meet Anna.  Anna is a 14.5" bear made out of an ivory mohair with a dusty pink backing.  She has black glass eyes with ultrasuede eyelids and eyelashes.  Her nose is hand-stitched using brown perle cotton.  She has a light pink ultrasuede used on her foot pads.  Anna is fully jointed and stuffed with a mixture of polyester fiber and steel shot for weight.  She was made using a bent arm and bent leg design which allows her to cross her legs or to sit on an edge (such as a shelf).  Her little white dress has a pink ribbon and bow with a vintage green button in the front.  She is currently available for $160.  I will be bringing her along with all of my new creations (many of which I'm hiding until the show) to TBAI on August 16th - 18th.  For more on the show visit www.tbai.org.

 

Please let me know what you think of Anna in the comment section!

Hugs,
TCD

New work out of the studio!

Hello everyone!
I have been feverishly working on some new creations in preparation for TBAI.  I still have about 3 1/2 weeks before the show, but I'm going to be off to Florida for one of those weeks, so I'm trying to get as much done now before I head off on my trip.  Today, I want to show you two of my newest creations.

First up is Sho Pan II.  The original Sho Pan was included in a special Christmas Story book many years ago and a collector of mine found the book and decided she had to have one like him.  So, I searched for the materials and pulled his pattern out of retirement for this special piece, with some new updates.  Let me know what you think!

The second piece is a new bear that I made out of a wonderful new mohair that I hand-dyed and fell in love with.  For those of you that don't know, I do a lot of hand-dyeing of mohair and alpaca and like to take them to shows to offer to other artists, but with this piece I just couldn't bear to part with it.  So, I made this guy, Ronan.  Ronan is a 12" teddy bear made out of a hand dyed mohair that is silvery grey and hunter green marbled with a brown backing.  He has black glass eyes, brown ultrasuede pads, and a hand-stitched nose made out of a medium brown perle cotton.  He is fully jointed with disk/cotterpin joings and he is firmly stuffed with a mixture of polyester fiber and steel shot.  Ronan is currently available for $115.

I hope you enjoy these new creations!
TCD

New Dragon! And Show This Weekend!

Hello!
I have been silently working on some new pieces because I have a show this weekend.  I'll give you some more information on that at the end of the post.  First, I would like to share with you my newest dragon.  This piece has been on my to-do list for many months.  I bought this fabulous synthetic a while back and just knew it had to be a dragon, but still I was hesitant to make it happen.  This week I finally got it together and made him!  This guy's name is Falkor. (This is the name of the dragon from The Neverending Story, though they bear no resemblance.)  He is made out of a wonderful yellow synthetic plush with red tips that's been shaved to look like scales.  He has big black glass eyes with orange ultrasuede eyelids, belly, tail, feet, and spikes.  His feet were soft-sculpted to give him toes.  He is stuffed with polyester fiber and a little steel shot in his tummy for weight.  Falkor is fully jointed for pose-ability.  He has hand-made wings using green wire and yellow film.  Please leave me a comment to let me know what you think!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 This weekend I will be off to Columbus, OH for a show that I've been doing for a very long time! The show has had to change locations due to the old hotel being torn down, but the show continues on and there will be several artists with fabulous pieces there!  The show is this Sunday, July 22nd at the Ramada Plaza Hotel from 10am - 3pm.  I will have Falkor there with me at the show along with several other new pieces yet to be shown on my blog!  I hope to see you there!

CLICK HERE for more information on the show and to see the list of artists attending!

Hugs,
TCD

WIP...

What's that?  Oh yeah!  It's the sound of me working on bears again!  The school year is over, I'm on summer vacation and I've got lots of time on my hands to create.  So, here I am working on a new bear.  It is made out of this gorgeous deep purple colored mohair (one that I've always loved) and I've paired it with some beautiful green eyes and eggplant colored eyelids.  Check it out.  It's just the face.  I may be able to get the rest of the bear together before the end of the week!

Update:  Quinn has been completed.  I hope to get some pictures taken soon!

Hugs,
TCD

(P.S. I think I'm going to name this bear Quinn)

Coming to Indy!

I am traveling to Indianapolis this weekend for a bear show on Sunday!  I've been doing this show for a long time and I always look forward to seeing my friends and collectors.  The show is at the Caribbean Cove Hotel (which was formerly the Holiday Inn by the Pyramids).  The show runs from 10-3 and I'm going to have some new creations along with some brand new specially dyed mohair.  Click here for more information.  I hope to see you there!

Hugs!
TCD

And the winner is...

The winner is:

I went through the list of people who sent comments on the blog and then through the people who are in my Facebook group and number 37 turned out to be... Jessie Beck!  I will be sending you an e-mail shortly.

Thank you to everyone who entered.  Look for more updates soon, including some of my first new bears in a while for a show that I'm going to next Sunday!

Hugs,
TCD

Last Chance to Enter!

Hello Everyone!
This is your last chance to enter for my blog giveaway.  The drawing will be held tomorrow, May 25th at 5:00pm CDT.  Here are the basics:

1) Follow my blog and comment on the post below with your e-mail address.
2) Post the picture for the giveaway and a link to this blog on your own blog and send me the link.
3) Join my Facebook page






See the post below for all of the details.

Good Luck!
Tyler

Thank You! Blog Giveaway!

Hello Everyone!
I traveled to Philadelphia this past weekend and I found a new realization about how much I love the teddy bear world and that I love all of my friends, collectors, and supporters!  As a thank you for all of your love and support I am having a new blog giveaway!

You could with Kae-Lin!  He is a OOAK 12" tall panda bear made of wonderful cream and black curly mohair.  He has premium black glass eyes and a hand-stitched nose of black perle cotton.  He has red wool-felt details on his eyelids, paws, and feet which have all been hand-shaded.  He is stuffed with a mixture of polyester fiber and steel shot and he is fully jointed.

 Here are the details:

1) All followers of my blog are automatically entered to win.  If you are not already a follower, please follow my blog and keep up on my creations!  I need e-mail addresses for all of my followers though, so please leave a comment on this post letting me know that you are a follower and what your e-mail address is.

2) Post the blog giveaway picture on your own blog and provide a link to this post.  This will get you another entry into the drawing.  Just leave a link to your blog post here in the comments section.

3) A third entry can be obtained by joining the Teds 'n Such group on Facebook.  Just follow this link:  Teds 'n Such and join!  Anyone that is a member of the group is also eligible to win.

The drawing will take place on Friday, May 25th at 5:00 PM CST.

**I will provide free shipping anywhere in the world for this giveaway.  So, whether you live in the United States or overseas, please feel free to enter to win!**

 List of Entrants

 1) Allison Bowden
2 & 3) МамаФиалка
4) Sandra (meeuwpje)
5 & 6) Joanne Livingston
7 & 8) Липушок 
9 & 10) Wildflower 
11) Gerda
12) Sabo Eva 
13) Nancy
14 & 15) Елена R.
16) Jessie Beck
17) Julie Baldwin
18) Alison McKee
19) Donna A

Plus 149 members from Facebook!

Thank you to everyone who is entering!  In case you're curious, I am reading the comments, but will not be publishing them to protect your privacy.  I'm making the assumption that you don't want everyone to have your email address :)

Hello!

Hello Everyone,
It's been a while since my last post.  I've been very busy and unfortunately it hasn't been with bears.  Zac and I just moved into a new place last weekend and since the end of March we have been working in this place to renovate it and get it ready to move in.  It's eaten up most of my free time and even though we're in the new place, we still have a lot to do (unpacking and finishing details).  Anyway, I wanted to say 'Hi' to everyone.  I'm still around and hopefully soon you'll see some new creations coming out of the studio.  I'll be setting up my new studio this week hopefully with all that I need to begin creating again and then begin work on some new pieces!

Hugs,
Tyler

New Update

Hello Everyone!
I just updated my website with some of my new(er) creations. I've posted 4 pieces that I've completed within the last couple weeks. You can see them here below, or go to my website for more information on each one.




Hugs,
TCD

Coming to Phoenix! (And my new dragon)

Hello!
I am trying to get some last minute work done this week on some new pieces and I've been dyeing some mohair to bring along with me to the show as well (a new purple/blue tie-dye and a chartreuse/green tie-dye). I wanted to give you a little preview of what I've been working on. Last week I showed you the wings of my new dragon, but I wanted to share the rest of him with you. Here is Allyx the dragon:
Now, about Phoenix. Valerie Rogers of Bright Star Promotions is starting up a new show this year in Phoenix, AZ. I'm very excited to be going because I've never taken my bears any farther west and Kansas City, so it's a big step for me and an entirely new show audience. I'm also very excited because I'm going to get to meet a lot of people that I've talked to online that are from that area! The show is this Sunday, March 11th from 9:30 - 3:00. Go to this preview page for more information!

Hugs,
TCD

Dragon Wings!

Hello Everyone,
My latest project is a new dragon. He is quite a bit smaller than my other dragons, and for the first time I've been playing around with a new technique for wings and I handmade and designed these wings specifically for this dragon. The dragon itself is done, but there is one more element that needs to be finished this weekend before I can share with you the final product. Until then, enjoy the wings and let me know what you think of them!

Thanks!
TCD

Return from Tampa

Hello!
I got back from Tampa on Tuesday afternoon. We had a great time while we were down there. We took a trip to the Salvador Dali museum on Saturday afternoon. We stayed with my grandma for 2 nights and we also spent a night with Zac's mom.

The show itself was on Sunday. Below is a picture of my table. I'm happy to say that a few of my creations found new homes and it seemed like many other bears found new homes as well.

I also wanted to share this picture with you of my grandma's bear collection. All three of the bears on the left are pieces that I have made. She just got the blue one in the middle this weekend :)


Hugs,
TCD

Coming to Tampa!

Hello!
I am going to be heading down to Tampa, FL for a teddy bear show this weekend put on by Bright Star Promotions. The show is this Sunday, February 19th from 9:30 - 3:00 at the Crown Plaza Westshore. For more information on how to get there and who else will be showing their bears click here.

I currently have 19 pieces ready for the show and I'm hoping to finish one more this week. The last piece I finished is a brand new elephant design. Her name is Elina and she's pictured below. She's an 11" elephant made out of a hand tie-dyed purple and gray mohair. Her inner ears are made of a purple fabric with little butterflies on it. She has black glass eyes that have hand-shaded lavender upper eyelids and I also added the 'whites' to her eyes on the bottom. She is fully jointed and stuffed with a mixture of polyester fiber and steel shot. I'll have her with me at the show, and she's available for $105.

I hope to see you at the show!

Hugs,
TCD

New Bunny: Briar

Hello!
I'm not working very quickly because I'm trying to balance work and the bears, but I'm trying to keep working as much as I can. I am trying to prepare for my first show of the year, which will be in Tampa, FL on Sunday, February 19th. Here is one of the pieces that I just finished. His name is Briar and he is an 8" rabbit made from an off-white alpaca. He has light topaz colored glass eyes with cream ultrasuede eyelids that have been hand shaded. He also has cream ultrasuede inner ears and feet that have also been shaded. He has a hand-stitched nose of pink perle cotton and his mouth and whiskers are made of a black perle cotton. He is fully jointed and stuffed with a mixture of polyester fiber and steel shot. He is available now for $80.


Thanks for taking the time to check him out!

Hugs,
TCD

BearBits Blog Giveaway (drawing on Jan 21)

Hello!
Go to the bearbits blog and enter for Ginger's lovely giveaway of Bouton (pictured below). Enter quickly, as the deadline is on Jan 21st.



TCD

For the first time in many, many weeks... a new bear!

Hello Everyone!
A couple nights ago I finished this little guy and I just snapped some photos so that I could share him with you. I am proud to introduce my first new bear of 2012, Vinnie. Vinnie is a 9" baby bear made out of a hand tie-dyed alpaca using a grape/wine colored dye. His colors range from richer grape tones to lighter pinks. Vinnie has German black glass eyes and a hand-stitched nose of perle cotton. He has eggplant colored ultrasuede paw/foot pads and eyelids (his eyelids have been hand shaded and his paws/feet have soft-sculpted fingers and toes). Vinnie is fully jointed for poseability. Vinnie's name was chosen because in French and Italian the names for wine are Vin and Vino, respectively. Vinnie is available now for $90.
I hope you like this new little bear! Zac and I are working on a new project together which involves him making paper mache eggs... Hopefully I'll be able to show you some progress on this new project soon!

Hugs,
TCD

First post of the new year!

Hello Everyone!
The holidays are over now and I hope everyone's season was great! I was able to go home for a few days for Christmas to see my family and Zac and I went away to Disney World for New Year's! We've been back in Chicago for a few days and I just started back at school today. I never seem to get any teddy bear work done at this time of year with all of the traveling and get-togethers, but now is the time I get re-motivated.

I'm working on a new baby bear out of a hand dyed grape wine tie-dyed alpaca (I didn't actually use wine, that's just what the color of dye was called). I'm going to try to get him finished in the next day or two and then I'll share him with you! :)

Hugs,
TCD