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!