Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year from Mostly Bears!

What better way to start out the new year than a giveaway!
A Charlie Bears cutie pie..."Heather"...gorgeous plush fur. 14" with magnets in hands and face.









Enter by leaving a comment below or joining our mailing list at http://www.mostlybears.com/
(If you're already on our mailing list, you will automatically be entered.)
Happy New Year Teddy Bear Lovers!

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Class Photos

Steve Schutt Adventure...aka Zen Week...photos, courtesy of Laura. (Thanks Laura, you're the best!)

Steve Schutt Adventure 2009

Monday, November 9, 2009

#4 of 5 and 5 of 5!

There have been reports of Steve Schutt sightings around town over the weekend, which can mean only one thing: The Adventure is about to begin!

Here's Prize # 4 for the drawing: I love this one! One yard of teddy bear & friends fabric. Light to medium weight 100% cotton. There's some cute little animals hiding in there with the teddy bears.


And last but not least, here's the final offering for our "Prelude to Steve Schutt Adventure" drawing:


A 12" elephant named Bo Bo, from Charlie Bears. Bo Bo comes with his very own Charlie Bears muslin bag. And he's ever so cute! If you haven't already entered to win, leave a number between 1-100 in the comment section. We'll draw the winner on Wednesday November 11th. Good luck!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Prelude Contest Part 3

Here's prize 3 of 5, a Steiff cub on wheels ornament. Details on how to enter in Tuesday's post.


Enjoy!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Prelude To "Steve Schutt Adventure 2009" Contest, part 2!

Here's our second contest prize!


A pretty metal lunchbox, or maybe a sewing box, or a little box for teddy bear accessories perhaps? Enter for the contest by guessing a number between 1 and 100; leave your guess in the comments section. (See previous posts for details.) Enjoy!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

First of Five



Here's prize #1 (of 5) for our Prelude to Steve Schutt Adventure 2009 contest! Enter by guessing a number between 1 and 100! (See details below.) We'll pick the winning numbers on November 11th on the first day of Steve Schutt Adventure! Stay tuned for Prize 2 tomorrow! Enjoy!

Monday, November 2, 2009

Time for another blog giveaway

Happy November to all!

It just so happens that the month of November, at Mostly Bears, contains Steve Schutt Adventure 2009! So, we are bracing for anticipating a wonderful, fun, zen-like week of bear making craziness! Coming soon! Yikes!

To help jump-start the festivities, we must have a giveaway!!

The only question is: what should we give away? And how should you enter?

Hmmmm.

I have put a great deal of thought into this...ha ha...and I think this is how we should do it:

You pick a number between 1 and 100.
Email me your guess, or leave your number on the comments below.
Then, I will randomly choose a number.
The 5 people closest to the number, in any direction, will win a fantastic teddy bear related prize. (If more than 5 people are identically close, you'll all get prizes...of course they will be equally awesome prizes!)

And since I am also running this little giveaway on the "Mostly Bears the Store" Facebook Fan page (here), you can enter once here and once there, that's two chances each!

Now,
What are the prizes you say?

Hmmmm.

I have absolutely no idea.

So, this is what I will do: every day for the next five days, I will post of photo of a unique bear or bear related item to add to the drawing.

On November 11th, which just so happens to be the first day of Steve Schutt Adventure 2009, I will reveal the 5 winners.

You don't need to purchase anything to enter and you don't need to be signed up for the Adventure to be entered. You just need to send me your guess, either by email at mostlybears@gmail.com or leave a guess here in the comments section.

That sounds pretty easy.

(Hopefully, I have thought this through enough. This sounds a little TOO easy. And you know, Murphy of law fame and I are great acquaintances, so I'm never totally sure when I do something like this.)

Well, anyway, here's to Good luck for us all!!

And be sure to check back here for the next 5 days to see the prizes.

Enjoy!

Friday, October 23, 2009

Happy Friday to All

Here's the link to some photos of our Steiff event. (thanks Alice!) We had a most enjoyable day with Clare Steiff Meisel as our honored guest along with Steiff expert Chuck Steffes.
And the very best part...
We raised over $1200 for Arizona Greyhound Rescue! A huge thank you to all who generously donated!
Click the photo to view photo album.
Enjoy!

Steiff Event at Mostly Bears

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

And the winner is...

The winner of our Labor Day drawing is....
(Isn't this a really cute bunny??)
The winner is...
Crescent Moon Mama!
Congratulations!!
Thank you to all who commented...watch this blog for more giveaways soon.
I hope you all had a restful Labor Day.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

In plenty of time for H-"owl"-o-ween

So, I asked my granddaughter, how do you like the new owls we just got from Hansa? She said, "you mean the burrowing owls, Nana?" I looked at the tag...

"Burrowing Owl"

hmmm...


with jointed head, can rotate 360 degrees,

Enjoy!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Our 1st Ever Steiff Event!

Steiff 2009 Event at Mostly Bears!
We cordially invite you to join us Sunday October 11, 2009 from noon to 5 pm for a very special Steiff afternoon. Our very special guest will be Claire Steiff Meisel and we'll also be joined by Steiff expert Chuck Steffes. Chuck will be on hand to appraise your treasured older Steiff pieces and he will also present a brand new video release entitled "Ode to Joy", the life of Margeurite Steiff.
Mark your calendars now for this fantastic opportunity to view the Fall new releases and spend an enjoyable "Steiff" afternoon at Mostly Bears.
The event piece can be preordered. "Gretchen" is a pale pink 8" mohair bear and is $99. Visit www.mostlybears.com to preorder.
Enjoy!

Monday, July 27, 2009

New Fall Releases from Steiff

Here's a link to view PDF's of the new Fall releases from Steiff:
Fall Releases Part 1
Fall Releases Part 2
(big files...takes a few moments to open...click the "back" button to return to the blog)
Let us know if any of these really wonderful new pieces jumps out at you. Enjoy!
P.S. We offer layaway and flexible payment plans on all in-stock and pre-ordered items.
P.P.S. If you are unable to open these files, let us know and we'll be happy to mail you the hard copies.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Win Me, Win Me!


We love giveaways!
(Here's one we think you'll love too.)
A 5" alpaca rabbit...Dormili rabbit from Steiff...$45 value.
To enter, you will need to post a comment on any of the entries of this blog.
We'll randomly pick a winner on Labor Day Weekend. A nice way to start your Autumn...

Enjoy! And Good Luck!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Winner of the Hedgie Drawing

Well, dear reader, we are rapidly approaching hedgehog week (aka Mary Ann's hedgehog class) at Mostly Bears.
In honor of this momentous occasion, I have randomly chosen the winner (finally) of the hedgehog drawing offered in an earlier blog entry.
It seems the consensus of comments left on the entry was "herd" as the answer to the burning question..."What's a group of hedgehogs called?" Which is the same answer I came up with when I googled it.
I personally liked Cherie's comment, though, and give honorable mention to her for stating that a group of hedgehogs, when found at Mostly Bears, would be called "too cute"!


Anyhoo...


The winner is...


Drumroll...


Oh, Ok, I'll just tell you....





The winner is, Beth.


Ta Da!


Beth, you have won a lovely Steiff hedgie keyring...


Congratulations!


p.s. the randomness of this drawing occurred as follows: I assigned a number to each of the names from the comments in the blog entry. I then called out to my husband in the other room..."Ron, pick a number between one and eight."

He said, (of course), "why?"...


I said, "Really? Um, well there's this drawing...herd of hedgehogs...you know...it's too hard to explain...just pick a number."


Hesitation..."ok, uh, six."


"Thanks, honey, you're the best!"

Monday, June 29, 2009

Steve Schutt's Newest Creation

A limited edition of 50 pieces ..."The Flag Bearer" from Steve Schutt ... now available for preorder from Mostly Bears. This 11" bear features red, white and blue mohair, fully jointed, with flag pin on chest. He has a ruffle around neck, jester style, and holds an American flag. $195.

Contact us by phone (toll free 1-877-709-7191) or email to order.

(Photo courtesy of Beth Phillips ~ thanks Beth!)
Enjoy!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Monday, June 1, 2009

June 1st, 2009

New This Week:
We now have Gund Snuffles in 3 sizes.
We have received our first shipment of North American Bear baby items.
We have some really amazing, soft horses in stock from Steiff!
We have Clover awls in stock. Special introductory offer $6.75 (regular $7.75)
Join us for bear making this Wednesday, the 3rd, with Mary Ann, beginning at 11!
We're awaiting our 500th Positive Feedback on ebay! (the count is 499 as of now) We invite you to visit our ebay listings ~ many of our listings give a percentage to charity via ebay Giving Works.


(yes, we have this little guy in stock too!)

Visit www.mostlybears.com for more info on all of the above "new stuff".

Have a great week!

p.s. there's still time to guess the answer to the burning question below, then log into Blogger & enter to win the Steiff hedgie...just scroll down...

Sunday, May 17, 2009

A Handful? A pack? A Gaggle?

Hello fellow teddy bear lovers!


There's so much to report about the comings and goings here at Mostly Bears, that I have posted a newsletter for your enjoyment, here.

(If link doesn't work for you, it's at www.mostlybears.com/newsletterfrommostlybears.htm)


I do hope this finds you looking forward to the approaching "lazy days of summer"...and that you may be as blessed as I am...with youngsters & grandkids close by to enjoy them with!


Today, dear reader, I pose a very important question indeed. Those of you who are willing to post an answer will be entered into my special drawing & I guarantee you will love the winning prize!


So, without delay, I must ask...


What is a group of Hedgehogs called?

You see, we find ourselves, indeed, surrounded by hedgies here at Mostly Bears, with more to come soon, when Mary Ann offers her summer bear making, uh... I mean hedgehog-making class!

So, you must find a way to become "Blogger literate" ... hurry! ... and type your answer to our burning question in the section below to be eligible for the prize! (click below this blog entry on "comments", you will be prompted to sign in to Google if you haven't already... sign-in is free & easy ...)



The winner will be randomly chosen from the correct entries, and will receive:

As my grandson would say: Ta Da!

Steiff Sniffy Hedgehog Keyring...mohair...very cute...everyone needs one!

Best of Luck!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Divine...

Hello fellow teddy bear lovers,

Apologies to those who were expecting to follow along in our travels...we skipped home to Tucson earlier than expected, just in time to welcome our new granddaughter...little Miss Emma Elizabeth...into the world!

The divine Miss Emma arrived 7 weeks early but is doing, thankfully, quite well. And she is Beautiful!

Nana (me) and Papa (Ron) are happily plotting some new spoiling in the very near future...

And NO MORE TRIPS OUT OF TOWN for awhile!

No baby pics yet...but here's the next best thing:

A happy, happy big brother for Emma!

More later...
Enjoy your weekend!

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Mostly Bears On The Road

Hello fellow teddy bear lovers!
We're "on the road" for the next few days...so I'll be blogging along as we go.
Today we are in Albuquerque, where it is cold & rainy...
We've only been gone one day and I am already missing Tucson's sunshine and warmth!

Our usual traveling bear "Marvin" isn't tagging along with us this trip, so "Tucker" is taking his place as our travel companion. 
Luckily Tucker just happens to have a brand spankin' new pumpkin colored, cable knit sweater from Mary Ann and Whoo-Whee he's lookin' good!

Here's how Tucker got his new duds:

When Mary Ann brought her newest Tucker into the store a couple of weeks ago, 
(This guy:)
...with his beautiful sweater...I noted (maybe a little too loudly) that MY Tucker didn't have ANY sweater...and wouldn't he look just awesome if he had his very own pumpkin sweater too.

And the next thing you know...he did!
(Thanks Mary Ann!)


THE BEAR NEWS!

Mostly Bears has been hoppin' lately...and not just with bunnies.

We're havin' a Hedgehog of a time here...

First it was a little jacketed hedgehog that came to live with me from Sue Quinn...which was so cute & adorable that I just had to order more...and they are on the way as I write this:
I, ahem, acquired that photo from Sue Quinn's website...just to give you an idea of what's coming. I will post more after the little cuties arrive.

Second, a visit from one of our favorite customer's new little hedgie prompted our plans for a hedgehog making class with Mary Ann for later this summer. (Watch for details)

Which led to, of course, the ordering of hedgehog materials and fabric...such fun!

And THEN, a shipment of "Spikes" arrived from artist Heather D'Lyell:
These little interactive dudes have a magnet at each end of the body, so they can roll up in a ball and stay that way 'til you are ready to pop them open again. Spike is $115 and really worth every penny, he can sit in your hand just so...

Uh, Heather TOLD ME she was sending me 3 girls and 3 boys!! I will leave it to you, dear customer, to distinguish which is which!

Oh, and last but not least: 

A new little hedgie design from Steiff. Now in stock. $30.


NEXT UP: NEEDLES!

We have negotiated with Piecemakers to carry their needle selection and are very happy to offer several styles of Piecemakers needles, including the very popular 3 1/2 inch, 5 inch and 7 inch styles which bear makers use regularly.
And because we are now ordering direct from Piecemakers, our pricing has dramatically dropped. A win-win for all of us!

EARLY WHITE TAG NEWS FROM STEIFF! 

Right out of the blocks, even before Toy Fair, (which is almost unheard of!), we received our first shipment of Steiff Giraffe on Wheels, a beautiful 22 inch tall piece, really gorgeous. Yes, a bit pricey, but already a wonderful collector's item:


We also have the new white tag bunny "Clover", a pretty pale green piece with a felt clover in his paw & carrying a little itty bitty mohair chick in the basket. A superb Easter piece:


And yesterday I got the shipping notice that the new Zebra bear on the way, he will be a great companion piece to last year's leopard bear!

There's a link to the whole 2009 Stieff collection on our (www.mostlybears.com) website!


BEAR MAKING 101, 102 & BEYOND!

We continue to offer free, drop-in bear making on Wednesdays with Mary Ann Neisz. If you ever want to start or finish a bear (or anything in between), for free, with expert help, Wednesdays from 11-4 is "when" and Mostly Bears is "where" you will want to be!

Speaking of bear making, we put together a cool new kit for beginning bear makers, which is available now on ebay:

The kit is priced at $85, which includes enough mohair to make two bears.
And the tools and goodies you need to become a world-class bear maker. 
And a great bear making book by Jennifer Laing. 
And the best part is: we have included email "tech support" courtesy of Mary Ann, who can answer your questions from afar and keep you going in a direction that will lead to a wonderful collectible bear result!

(I also dispense free advice from time to time...but, I always start out with my usual disclaimer "I only know enough about bear making to be dangerous.")

I guess that's about it from here. Gotta go charge my computer so I can do this again tomorrow. In the meantime, bundle up and stay warm!

Enjoy!

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Sneak Preview of Our New Book Listings!

We will soon have a brand new page on our website featuring Amazon.com book listings related to Teddy Bear Making and general reading about Teddy Bears! We hope you'll enjoy our selections...and...if you click onto Amazon through our website to purchase, Mostly Bears will collect a small kickback (i.e. commission)!

We present a preview of our first offerings; three books from one of our favorite teddy bear making authors, Jennifer Laing:

The Art of Making Teddy Bears

This highly practical guide contains three original patterns of varying complexity, all accompanied by detailed instructions. A complete beginner will be able to create really professional bears in a very short time.


Constructing Teddy and His Friends

This book showcases 12 different animal patterns starting with Mortimer the Teddy Bear, then covering animals and fantasy characters from around the world; including Philbert the Golly, Erik the Elf, Nils the Gnome, Ickabod the four-legged bear, Tom Collins the pack rat, Esme the elephant, Viola the monkey (or chimp), Phoebe the Panda, Bluegum the Koala, Ethel the Emu and Reggie the Rabbit. All animals can be made from a range of different fabrics and styles with ideas for variations. Jennifer provides techniques to give the animals open mouths and realistic tongues, whiskers and tufted eyebrows, waxed noses, extra joints for increased pose-ability, wired ears, toes and tails.


Teddy Bear Art

Expert Australian teddy bear maker Jennifer Laing shows you her techniques for sewing the world's most huggable bears. This is a book for those of you who have tried the commercial patterns, have caught the bear making 'bug' and are now wanting to take that next step -- the most exciting one of all. Designing and creating your own teddy bears can bring magic into your life.

Enjoy!
Or, as my grandson would say: Ta-daah!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

A Bear Story

I have carried Dean's Bears at the store for many years now. Way back when, in about 2000 or 2001, when Jill Baxter's "J.B.Scruff" came in, this JB came home with me!
At about the same time, I spotted "Ragamuffin" on line so I decided to order one from Jill. A few weeks later, I received #3 of a limited edition of 4 pieces.

And this scruffy ragamuffiny pair has been together ever since. (Residing in my home)


Which brings us to the auction. In my effort to Reduce,Reuse&Recycle, (and as part of a negotiated settlement with my hubby to make room for people in the house***), I am semi-reluctantly posting this pair in a charity auction on ebay. You can follow along here in my ebay store! Enjoy!

***I made that up! There's a whole bear-free sofa in the living room!


Just look at that face...


And this one...



awwwwww......

Saturday, February 7, 2009

A couple more days on ebay....

...for this fave of ours...
Mr. Beddie Bye Teddy (by Steve Schutt) and a little dalmation puppy (from Steiff)
Enjoy!
Oops, ebay link here.

A Message For You

Yippie Oh Ki Ay!



Have a great Saturday!

Friday, February 6, 2009

A Fish Story

Hello from the "blog"...
Today's Artist & Friend offering is a story about a boy, er, I mean a Bear and a Fish.
The bear was a happy little bear, with a boyish grin and some curious Tom Sawyerish looking overalls. He stood a whole 13 inches tall when he stood up on his tippy toes. And he liked to go "bear-foot".
(sorry, I couldn't resist.)
One day the boy went out a-fishin' and you cannot imagine what he caught:
A fish as big as big can be!
(comparatively, that is.)
And he took out his trusty measuring tape. And he found out his fish was the biggest fish he had EVER seen...a whole 5 inches, excluding his tail. And he was also the most beautiful fish ever. (seeing as how his fish was made in Germany from lovely mohair by Steiff!)
So, the little bear, who incidentally was named Sandy decided to keep his friend, the fish, forever. And he even slept with him at night. And the little fish never, never, ever smelled even the tiniest bit fishy. Why, that fish had the best manners and grooming habits you ever did see. And that's undoubtedly the happiest bear and fish "tail" (sorry, again) you'll hear this week.
Enjoy!
(This pair is listed here on ebay as of a few moments ago.)