So Proud!

Hey Everyone!
I just received the newest issue of Teddy Bear Review in the mail today. They did a feature on male teddy bear artists called 'Fellowship of the Fur' and guess who was included? Me! :) This is the first time I've ever been featured in an article in a teddy bear magazine and it's so exciting! I have three pictures in the article. There is one of a fairy bear named Jordan, a green plush bear named Orrin, and I am pictured with Riley (see below). Check it out! It's a neat article and I couldn't be happier :)

In other news... I'm back on Bear Pile and I've just listed Riley this evening. Click here to check his listing out! Update: Riley has been adopted.

Have a great evening/weekend!
TCD

Cutting away and a new show!

Hello!
I would first like to thank everyone who made it to the Schaumburg show on Sunday. It was a good show for me and several of my pieces found new homes and many were to new collectors! Now that the show is over, what do I do? Look to the next one! My next bear show isn't until the beginning of June, but I'm already trying to plan and work for it now. I've already been cutting and have the fur flying! Next week is my Spring Break from school, so I'm trying to get a few things ready to be worked on and completed next week! I'll start sharing them as I finish them!

In other news, I'm excited to announce that I will be participating the 'Bears on Parade' online show. The show doesn't start until July 15th, but I will be creating at least 5 new pieces to go with the show, so I'm going to need to start planning them out in the near future! At least one of them should go with the parade theme... What should I make? We'll see what I come up with.

Take care,
TCD

Bears, Monkeys, Koalas, Elephants... It's a Zoo!

Hello Everyone!
I will be traveling to Schaumburg, IL for the Windy City Spring Fling show put on by Bright Star Promotions this Sunday. This is now the only all teddy bear show in the area and it would be great if you could make it to the show! The show is from 10 - 3 and is located at the Schaumburg Radisson. Click here to see a preview of the show and for the address and more information.

Below is a preview of some of my newest creations that I'll have at the show.

On the top left is Eldora the elephant. To her right is my second sock monkey, Kiki. Below her is my brand new koala design named Yuca. To his left is a new bear named Brendan and in the middle peeking through is one of my baby bears named Kalin (who was posted previously).

Hugs,
TCD

Guess what I'm working on next...MONKEYS!

The beginning of a new design.... Sock Monkeys!

I decided to try out a sock monkey this weekend. I made one a couple of years ago from a pattern and thought it was cute, but haven't given them much thought since. Zachary's been trying to get me to make them for him because he thinks sock monkeys are cute and I like them, so I finally decided to give it a go. So, above is the materials I bought from Michael's on Thursday. I didn't have a pattern for my creation, just a crazy thought in my head and I think I'm going to keep it that way. I just cut freely into the sock to make the pieces, sewed those pieces and put him all together. This free cutting will allow for individuality in each piece that I make. I think he turned out quite fun, although he is a bit crazy with the eyes. Here is my first sock monkey, Yalo.

Hugs!
TCD

New Baby Bear!

Hello!
I haven't taken the time to do an official photo shoot lately, but I wanted to share this picture I took on my phone of my newest baby bear. His name is Kalin. He is 7" tall and made of a hand-dyed, marbled purple mohair. He has violet ultrasuede paws, feet and eyelids. He has German black glass eyes, a hand-stitched nose of black perle cotton, and sculpted fingers and toes. Kalin is fully jointed and he has a little belly button that's been hand shaded. (Kalin is available now for $70)

Have a happy weekend!
TCD

Two Brand New Designs!

Hey Everyone,
I've been busy lately with school work. For some reason, I always procrastinate when it comes to grading papers. It's probably because I want to do other things like making bears, but last week I had to sit down and grade, grade, grade to catch up. However, I had a long weekend and I was able to sit down and come up with two totally brand new designs and I would like your feedback!

In my last post I gave a hint to a secret project that I'm working on for my TBAI gallery piece. I have made the teddy bear that will soon become said gallery piece. He is much slimmer than my typical bears and I made his snout thinner as well. Here he is:

I also created a new baby design and this little guy's name is Dalton. He has a fat, four piece body with shortened limbs, a shorter, more round muzzle, and a cute belly button. Here is Dalton:

Please let me know what you think of the new designs! Do you like one more than the other? Is there anything specific that you like/don't like?

Have a great week!
TCD

Secret Project...

Hey Everyone!
My trip to Tampa was quick, but fun. I did get to relax by the pool near my grandma's on Saturday afternoon and the show was pretty good for me on Sunday. Overall it was a good trip and it was nice to get away from the cold. Unfortunately, I came back to snow, but I just have to keep in mind that Spring is officially just a month away.

Anyway, I am going to be working on a new project. I am going to start on my gallery piece for the 2011 TBAI. This year, we have the opportunity to submit our pieces to be included in a preview article for Teddy Bear and Friends and the deadline is coming up in March, so I want to make sure that I can participate in that. This year's theme for TBAI is going to be Treasures of the World and I can't give you any specific details on what I'm doing yet, but here's an idea...

I'll try to keep you updated on its progress.

Have a happy week!
TCD

Venturing out of the cold...

Hello!
I will be emerging from the cold, windy city next weekend for Teds 'n Such's first show of the year! My mom and I will be flying down to Tampa, FL to participate in Bright Star Promotions' 600th show! From what I hear, the Tampa show is fabulous and there will be 40+ artists (including myself) coming out for the day. This is my first time traveling to Florida for a show and I'm very excited. If you live in the area, hopefully you can make it! The show is taking place on Sunday, February 20th from 10:00am - 3:00pm. Click here to see the list of artists coming and for more information. You can even get tickets for early bird shopping off of the site!

Right now I have 13 1/2 + 1/2 bears for the show... What are the two halves for? Unfinished bears that I am hoping to have completed by next weekend. I am working on a fun new panda with this really interesting green marbled wool felt used on his eyelids, toes, and paws. He should be done this week. I also have another bear that I started back in the fall and I've decided to change him up a little bit. Hopefully I can find the time to finish them and get to 15 bears before the show!

I will be doing a little photo shoot with all of the bears that I currently have available this week. I am trying to get into a feature article in a teddy bear magazine about male teddy bear artists and I need to get some photos to submit. This also means that I have some (hopefully) quality shots to share with you before I head down to Tampa, so look out for a show preview this week!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
TCD

New Bears!

Hello!
I have been quite quiet around here lately. It's not that I'm not working on bears, it's because I just haven't had a chance to take pictures. My first problem was that I had misplaced my camera. I had even started a search for a new camera when I finally found my old one. Then we had the awful blizzard here (see last post) and I just haven't been able to get these pictures going. I did take some snapshots today and they give you an idea of what I've been working on. I purposefully took them at angles and close-ups because I have yet to break out the airbrush and do the finishing details on a couple of them. I love to hear feedback, so please feel free to comment and let me know what you think.

On the left is Riley, named by one of you! (Thanks for the suggestion!) On the top right is a yet-to-be-named fairy bear. Below that one is a new anime bear and on the bottom right is my version of a 'traditional' bear (but he's still in a non-traditional color!)

Warm wishes from a cold, and again snowy, Chicago!
TCD

SNOW! The Chicago blizzard of 2011

Hi Everyone!
I just thought I'd share some fun/crazy pictures of our blizzard here that hit Tuesday night and continued through Wednesday.

I guess the snow was so bad that they couldn't use normal plows...?

I tried to squeeze into my car to start it and ended up covered in snow.

We took our dogs for a walk and the snow was piled higher than our 60 lb. dog!

We had a little time off too. It's the first time Chicago Public Schools has canceled since 1999. I took advantage of the time and worked on some new bears. I got one completed and one is on the way. I'm hoping to take some pictures this weekend and share!

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog!
Tyler