January Newsletter

Happy new year fellow teddy bear lovers, near and far...

I hope y'all are hugging tight to your bears as we strap ourselves into this roller coaster ride called 2009! Here's hoping at the end, we'll all step safely out of our seats shouting "Whew~ what a ride!"

To start the year off right, we need a sale, of course. And what a sale it will be!

I'm nick-naming this the Mostly Bears "10-70 sale" for the following reasons:

10% off All Artist Pieces

20% off All Hansa

30% off All Steiff

40% off All Hermann

50% off All Deans & DCAD

60% off All Gund & Mary Meyer

70% and more on Selected Artist Bears

This is a GREAT chance to pick up an artist piece or Steiff bear you might've had your eye on for awhile.

JANUARY HOURS ~EXPANDED

Through January, in honor of our 10-70 sale, Mostly Bears will be open 11-5 Wednesdays through Saturdays. (just like the old days!) Hope to see you soon...

NEW CLASS
On Saturday, February 21st, Mary Ann Neisz will be offering a one-time class in Japanese braiding (otherwise known as kumihimo). These braids are quite beautiful and can be made from all sorts of wonderful cording, ribbon or thread. Mary Ann is a multi talented, creative artist & this is just one of her new interests!The class will be $75 and will include supplies and tools, so you can make more braids on your own after you learn the basics. There's more info and a link to sign up for the class here on the website or you can call the store anytime at 322-0208 or toll free at 877-709-7191. We hope you will be able to join us for this great new class!

JOIN STEIFF CLUB in 2009 for FREE!

Mostly Bears will deduct the price you pay for you 2009 Club membership from your first club piece order of the year. (Last year, dues were $55, this year may be a little more.) In addition, you will still receive the usual 10% discount on all Steiff items, club or otherwise, purchased throughout the year.

CHARITY EVENTS

Here's a trio of fundraisers for charity in the new year:

Plan One: STOREROOM BOX SALE

Long story short... a.)I found some older Steiff Club and Boyds club kits in the storeroom. b.)I want to raise some money for charity. So, I am asking $25 each for them to benefit the Ben's Bells Project here in Tucson.

If you've never heard of Ben's Bells, I hope you'll take a gander over to their website here and check it out. It is a wonderful, wonderful organization started by a Tucson mother to honor her son, who died at age 3 from croup. Several times a year, hundreds and hundreds of Ben's Bells are distributed randomly around town for people to find and take home. The exponential goodness which has arisen from Ben's Bells has been immeasurable.
I have found found two Ben's Bells in my front yard in the past several years...true random acts of kindness that seem to show up just when you need them the most. The first one, I gifted to a friend who needed a lift...the other is hanging in my kitchen window waiting for the right moment to pay it forward.
Uh oh, I guess that wasn't exactly a short story...but the bottom line is...if you are interested in these older Club kits (and whatever goodies are in their boxes), let me know and together we'll raise some funds for Ben's Bells. Thanks in advance!

Plan Two: RAFFLE

We are raffling off a really cute pair of bears by artist Sandy Czaja. All money raised will go to the Community Food Bank. Here's what the little cuties look like:Tickets are 50 cents and can be purchased at the store, by phone or on our website at www.mostlybears.com/raffle.htm. The drawing will take place Saturday February 21st during Mary Ann's braiding class. Good luck to all!

Plan Three: START THE NEW YEAR OFF RIGHT ON EBAY

Here's the third charity fundraiser for the new year to benefit our favorite local charity, the Academy for Cancer Wellness. I'm selling 5 like-numbered DCAD bears from the New Friends series on ebay. 100% of your bid will go to ACW. Check it out here on ebay. Starting bid is $80 for all 5 pieces. A great deal for a great cause! The auction is ending January 17th, so I hope you get a chance to hurry on over to ebay and take a look.

BEAR MAKING WEDNESDAYS

Mary Ann's back (yay!) from Winter Break & will be restarting our Wednesday get-togethers this week, January 14th. We invite you to stop in and start a bear, finish a bear or work on any of the numerous steps in between! Mary Ann is a true professional and can help anyone (including me!) to work out the fine details of teddy bear making. We hope you'll be able to join us one of these Wednesdays.

BEAR MAKING SUPPLIES

We've been hard at work since the holidays trying to get all our bear making supplies & fabric organized and neatened up so we can find stuff! And whew, we're just about there. We hope you'll stop and see what's new and/or re-found!! We're happy to say we have everything you need to make your first...or hundredth...bear!

On that note, I will leave our January Newsletter at that and sign off.

Sincerely, Trish