Two Decades Ago

Wow, these pictures of me and my bear Cyrano were taken 20 years ago! I can't believe it's been that long! I had been making my Crew members for about five years at that point. Cyrano was created from beautiful kid mohair and was named for his ample nose.

The last two weekends, my husband and I went driving in a new neighborhood and came upon a street called Dancing Bear Lane. I just love that name! Wouldn't it be perfect for a bear maker like me? Have you come across any fun street names? Do share!

Introducing Piccolino!

I'm delighted to introduce you to Piccolino. I created this sweet bear from three of my favorite Schulte mohairs in blond, red, and wedgwood blue. Piccolino stands about 14 and 1/4 inches (36.2 cm) tall.

UPDATE: Piccolino was adopted during the show!

Piccolino is my preview bear for the upcoming Teddies Worldwide online show. You can visit the site now to see all the preview bears and vote for your three favorites. If Piccolino is one of your favorite bears, he would love your vote.

New Avenue Crew will have five bears available for adoption during the online teddy bear show, which will be held on this website: Teddies Worldwide. The show starts Friday, March 17, at 12 noon eastern (New York) time, and it runs through 8 p.m. Sunday, March 19. Because it's all online, you can even shop in your pajamas if you like!

I hope you have enjoyed meeting Piccolino!

I'm so excited that New Avenue Crew will be participating in the ONLINE Teddies Worldwide Teddy Bear Extravaganza Show March 17-19, 2017.

I've been hard at work on my first two bears for the show, and I love them already! You'll be able to see preview pictures and vote for your favorite bears starting Friday, March 3. Then the show starts on Friday, March 17. I hope you will drop in and visit all the wonderful bears!

I have been part of two Teddies Worldwide shows before in November 2010 and March 2011. You might remember a couple of my bears from those shows. The little brown bear is Mullins, and the large light green and ivory bear is Sprout. They are both adopted.

Down Memory Lane

As much as I like to look forward to new experiences and new relationships, I also enjoy taking a walk down Memory Lane from time to time--sometimes revisiting my own memories, and sometimes discovering lovely parts of a past I have not known. Are you like me?

Today, a friend of mine shared a photo of a bear I created for her 13 or 14 years ago. I named him Juniper after the juniper bushes that grew in front of our house on New Avenue when I was young. My friend made Juniper some darling overalls to wear.

Juniper in his snazzy overalls

Juniper lives with my friend Hiromi Nagataki in Japan. Hiromi is a teddy bear artist and creates darling bears with exquisite clothing; her business is called Teardrops. She made a sailor bear for me named Satsuki. Before I sent Juniper to Japan, I took a picture of him with Satsuki taking tea in the garden.

Satsuki (by Hiromi Nagataki) and Juniper (by Debora Hoffmann) taking tea

I created New Avenue Crew 19 years ago, in 1996. The Crew entered cyberspace (cybearspace?) in about 2000 with a site on the now-defunct Geocities. I thought I would never see my website again, but three years ago, I found it on a site called Reocities and wrote a blog post about it. Imagine my surprise when today I stumbled upon my Geocities site in another place I didn't know it existed! You can visit my website and read all the pages and see all the photos as they appeared in 2008. It is a snapshot in time, a walk down Memory Lane.

The New Avenue Crew website on Geocities.ws

"On the Scrap Heap" Challenge

In January 2012, Paula Carter of All Bear by Paula issued a challenge on the Guild of Master Bearcrafters:

"Make a bear using reclaimed materials--no mohair, alpaca, or faux fur allowed!"

Challenge accepted! The gears in my head started turning. I had many different fabrics that were not fur, but I had always wanted to make a bear from denim. So in response to the challenge, I created my first completely furless bear from a worn, well-loved pair of my husband's Levi's blue jeans. Allow me to introduce you to Strauss:

Strauss, 12.25 inches tall, a furless Crew member 

made from my husband's well-loved Levi's jeans

The name Strauss is taken from the name of the jeans company: Levi Strauss & Co. I gave Strauss a nose, mouth, claws, and paw pads in the color of the stitching on the blue jeans. This sweet hairless bear also features black glass eyes; steel shot and polyester stuffing; and a nose, mouth, and claws embroidered in perle cotton. He wears a label from inside the jeans that says COMFORT (so appropriate for a teddy bear to wear), and his neck ruffle is made from some reclaimed furniture trim.

Imagine my delight when Paula told us that a print magazine from the United Kingdom called The Teddy Bear Annual wanted to run a feature about our Guild scrap heap challenge. What a thrill it is to see one of my bears in print! Here is Strauss pictured in the pages of the magazine:

The Teddy Bear Annual, Autumn/Winter 2012

"On the Scrapheap: Recycling with Guild of Master Bearcrafters"

Strauss is pictured on page 44.

The cover of the scrap heap challenge issue of

The Teddy Bear Annual, Autumn/Winter 2012

I ordered the issue of The Teddy Bear Annual from the UK and very much enjoyed it when it arrived. It is a very well done publication with lots of interesting features and lovely photographs.

New Avenue Crew and I have appeared in a few print and online publications, and I am always so delighted to have my creations featured in that way. You can see many of the Crew's appearances on the Published page of this site. (You can also find the navigation buttons to the site's other pages under the photo at the top of the page.)

P.S. Sweet Strauss has been adopted.

Sharing Saturday

Welcome to the second edition of Sharing Saturday live from the Crew studio! My husband snapped this shot of me working on my most recently completed bear...the bear who has no hair. I will have to tell you about him soon when it's time to find him a new loving home. For now, he is keeping me company here in the studio as I work on a new bear (with hair this time).

Sewing the final seams closed

A Pile of Pandas in Progress

As I was pawing through photos of the Crew members, I came upon this one and realized that I hadn't shared it with you yet. So without further ado, here is the photo you haven't seen before:

Chocoli, Ha Lee #2, and Ha Lee #1

OK, technically, you have seen the panda on the right here on my blog; her name is Ha Lee. She is a Christmas panda I made in 2001. I was so delighted when she was chosen to appear in the Christmas bears feature in the November/December issue of Teddy Bear and Friends that year, my very first bear in one of the major teddy bear magazines!

This is a picture of a pile of pandas in progress, so I should introduce the other two bears, er, heads. In the middle is Ha Lee #2 (Ha Lee was an edition of three bears), and on the left is a small chocolate-and-ivory panda named Chocoli (Chinese for chocolate). When finished, Ha Lee was about 8 inches tall, and Chocoli was about 6 inches tall. Here is Chocoli all complete, pictured with William, who is about 13.5 inches tall.

Chocoli with William the Cub

On my desk, I have a pile of sewn mohair teddy bear pieces and another pile of cut-out teddy bear pieces, but no pandas this time. Maybe I need to add a panda to my list of things to make this year!

Leap Day: Riding Along

The strange and mysterious day is finally here: Leap Day! It comes around only once every four years to keep us all in balance of some sort or another.

I had grand plans to finish the little bear I'm working on right on this day...but life got in the way. Still, I have been trimming fur from his seams and am nearly ready to sew his pieces together. I can't wait to see what he looks like--I designed a new pattern, and he's the first bear I've made from it. His fur is pretty brown-tipped golden mohair. In the photo below, Crew member James the jammie bear is wearing blue "pajamas," and his head and paws are made from the brown-tipped golden mohair that I'm using for this new bear. Love it!

James the jammie bear, 2001

The other day, I received a lovely email and photo from a dear collector friend. Sweet teddy Logan lives with her, and she shared this picture of him riding along in a small pedal car. To let you know how small, Logan is only about 10.5 inches (26.6 cm) tall.

Sweet teddy Logan riding along, 2012

I so enjoy receiving pictures of Crew members in their new homes (or vehicles, as the case may be)! If you have a Crew member living with you, I would love to see a picture or two.

Enjoy your Leap Day, dear readers!

Meet the Crew's Studio Manager: Sebring Austin Slater

Happy Friday, everyone! Today, I would like to introduce you to New Avenue Crew's sweet, ultra-cuddly, no-nonsense studio manager: Sebring Austin Slater. I love this guy!

(This introduction is long overdue; I've been keeping Sebring to myself for far too long. You'll see what I mean by "far too long" when I tell you his story.)

It all started with an idea for a big bear, a new pattern design, and some luscious wavy batik mohair. In the picture below, you can see the batik mohair in the bottom right corner. (As always, if you want a closer view, click on the photo.)

Did I forget to tell you when I started work on Sebring? Sorry about that. It was in 2002. Ten years ago. And I didn't finish him completely until late 2010...if I'm remembering right. That's a long time for a bear to wait to be finished! Sebring is definitely a patient fellow.

I had an idea for a bigger bear pattern and set to work on it. I designed the head, ears, and body, and then I laid out the gorgeous batik mohair and traced and cut out the pieces. It was a flurry of activity: I sewed, stuffed, trimmed, embroidered, and otherwise finished Sebring and then came to a halt. No arms. No legs. Just Sebring's head attached to an envelope of a body. I loved him right away, but I was stumped because I found that I had made his body too large. Uh-oh!

During this time, I took a few years' hibernation from bear making. When I started making bears again, I still didn't know quite what to do for poor Sebring. He watched as more bears were completed and adopted. But finally--finally!--in about 2009 or 2010, I decided I had to remove his head from his body (while he was under anesthesia, of course) and make his body smaller. This was no small feat, but once it was done, I felt so much better, and he looked so much better. Of course, there was still the issue of him having no arms and legs because I had never designed them.

So I set to work again and made his arms and legs. I'm certain he was relieved! I attached them to his body with joints (discs, bolts, and locknuts), and then commenced stuffing him. I was delighted to see him sitting up for the first time.

About this time, I was creating bears for an online show and thought I would offer Sebring for adoption during the show. Here he is with sweet Cinnamon.

I even had his photos and description as part of my show site--but before I went to bed the night before the show, I found that I just couldn't sell Sebring! So I removed him from the show site and went to bed, thrilled that he would be staying with me as my studio manager. (Sebring is only the third bear I have kept in my 15 years of creating New Avenue Crew. You can see J. Cub, a bear I made in 1997, on the mantel in the photo below.)

Now, Sebring usually watches over the smaller bears as they're being created and keeps them out of the honey jar. I have used his pattern again; Sprout, the green springtime bear, was the result. Here is a group picture. It is not often that so many Crew members are together at one time, so this is a rare photo.

I hope you've enjoyed meeting Sebring!

Springtime with Kalinka and Malinka

I have been wanting to share the story of sweet springtime sisters Kalinka and Malinka with you. I was inspired to create them by the lively Russian folk song Kalinka,* which is about a garden in bloom. Sometimes I'm inspired by things and people right here in my home. Our daughters are from Ukraine, and their first language is Russian, so the Ukrainian/Russian culture is a good source of inspiration for me.

Kalinka (Калинка in Russian, pronounced ka-LEEN-ka) means little snowball tree blossom. I created Kalinka from beautiful soft ivory kid mohair. She is lovely to hold! Kalinka's sister is named Malinka (Малинка in Russian, pronounced ma-LEEN-ka), which means little raspberry blossom. Raspberry blossoms made me envision a bear in pink, so I created Malinka from pink wavy distressed mohair. She is a sweetie.

*Here is the song Kalinka sung by Nikolai Baskov. I hope you enjoy it!

I'm Tickled Pink: An Interview

I'm not one who likes to toot my own horn, but I do love to share my bears and my life with you. I'm tickled pink today because Chrissie of I Love Teddies interviewed me and has put the resulting article on her site! Thank you, Chrissie!

This is such a thrill for me; it's the second article about me and the Crew that's been published in the nearly 15 years I've been creating my bears. I am humbled that someone was interested in learning a bit more about me and my little guys.

I hope you'll drop in to visit I Love Teddies and read the interview. Enjoy!

Then and Now

See the photo above? Garth found it today and scanned it into his computer. I just love it! It was taken 11 years ago this month (April 2000). It hardly seems possible that so much time has passed! Let me tell you a little about the picture. (You can click on it to see it larger.)

The blond bear in the foreground is Trudi. Early in 2000, I created a pattern I called Bear 2000. The first bear from that pattern is named Trua, and she looks very similar to Trudi. The bears from that pattern had the look I had been wanting to create since I started New Avenue Crew in 1996! The pile of black fur and the tiny pile of golden fur next to me on the ottoman became Gunnison (pictured down near the bottom of the right-hand sidebar), also a Bear 2000 bear.

Behind me (yes, that really is me!) is Garth's setup for painting. We were newly married, and this was our first apartment. We had the living room set up for painting and bear making--it was our very first studio. I really enjoyed our time creating together! And to my left, out the window, was a balcony, and beyond was the Santa Ana River (we lived in Southern California). We were able to watch so many different varieties of birds visiting the riverbed, such as cormorants and falcons and pelicans. Beautiful!

And above is a picture of me in our home in Colorado. I'm pictured with Sprout; he is such a sweet, cuddly bear. I finished him in early March of this year, and he was adopted during the Blooming Bear Show. He is not a Bear 2000 bear, but I suppose you could call his pattern Bear 2010!

Only 6 Hours Left in the Blooming Bear Show!

It has been a lovely show so far. There are so many beautiful bears! Two of my Crew members are still available for adoption:

Kalinka

Malinka

These sweet sisters are both 13.5 inches (34.3 cm) tall. They are both so wonderful to hug and carry around. My sister came over yesterday and bonded with them in real life, especially with Kalinka.

To see more about Kalinka and Malinka, pop on over to the Blooming Bear Show at http://www.teddiesworldwide.com/ and look for Debora Hoffmann, New Avenue Crew. See you there!

Sneak Preview for the Blooming Bear Show

I am so excited to introduce you to cuddly Sprout, a bear with lovely light green and ivory mohair! He is one of the three spring-themed Crew members who I will be offering for adoption during the online Teddies Worldwide Blooming Bear Show coming up March 12 and 13. (To see the other artists' sneak peeks of their bears, visit the show website. How fun to see creations by 75 international artists in one place.)

I've been working hard on creating my bears these last few months, and I can't wait to share them with you during the show. Less than two weeks to go now! I hope you'll visit the Blooming Bear Show--did I mention it's all online?--and maybe you'll even find a cuddly friend or two!

Teddy Bear Tidbit Tuesday: The Passage of Time

Today on this teddy bear tidbit Tuesday, I thought I would share a little time with you, dear reader. Did you know that I started New Avenue Crew way back in August of 1996? That's 14 years ago! How would you like to see my first Crew member? Introducing Madeleine:

Madeleine is made from white and brown variegated plush that I bought from the fabric store. She is the first bear I made from the first pattern I designed, and she stands about 9 inches tall. (A little bit of trivia for you: Maddie was originally going to be a rabbit, but I couldn't resist making a teddy bear. I started my first rabbit pattern this year and hope to complete it early next year!)

Madeleine still lives here in the Crew studio, and she helps me see how far my bears have come in design and finish work. I much prefer to use mohair with its woven cotton backing; Maddie's synthetic fur has a knit backing that tends to stretch when stuffed.

And now take a look at Cinnamon, one of my newest Crew members. Cinnamon is made from my newest pattern in mohair with wool felt paw pads. I don't really see a family resemblance to Maddie, but that's OK. Each Crew member has his or her own special place in my heart.

Speaking of the passage of time, I thought you might enjoy seeing an antique bear in my collection. No, I didn't make him; he was made by the Chiltern company in England in the 1940s or '50s. As you can see, he was well loved (and I love him now). Oh, the stories he would tell if he could!

Mullins

I am pleased to introduce Mullins to you!

Mullins was inspired by the smells and tastes of Christmas, but he is a bear who can keep you company all year round. He is named for the mulling spices used in spiced cider or wassail, many of which are also used in gingerbread. His name is also a nod to Linda and Wally Mullins, who did so much to promote our furry friend, the teddy bear, through teddy bear shows and books.

Mullins wears a solid brass "petal" sleigh bell. I love the tone it makes.

Here's a little more about this sweet Crew member:

Approximately 10.5 inches (29 cm) tall

Brown wavy distressed Schulte mohair

Muzzle of cider-colored wavy distressed Schulte mohair

Ultrasuede paw pads with pulled fingers and toes

Embroidered nose, mouth, and claws

Stuffed with polyester stuffing and plastic pellets

Bent legs; designed to sit

Here, Mullins is pictured with brother Goldenstern and sister Cinnamon. I love this photo of the three of them. I hope you have enjoyed meeting Mullins!

A Little More Cinnamon

Thank you all for coming out to see the online Teddies Worldwide holiday bear show last weekend. Did you enjoy the show? I very much enjoyed visiting all the lovely bears, and I've even met some new friends as a result.

I'm happy to say that sweet Cinnamon found a new mom during the show! She should be arriving at her new home anytime now.

I was inspired to create Cinnamon by my memories of the sight, smell, and taste of the delicious cinnamon apples my Grammie made each Christmas. I made Cinnamon from a new pattern I created this summer. I found that I really liked her size (13.5 inches / 34 cm); she's nice to hug and carry around. And her wavy, distressed mohair (from Teddybearmohair.com) was fun to work with. I love the beautiful red color! I adorned Cinnamon with a solid brass "petal" sleigh bell that makes a lovely tone.

I love to create classically styled bears with long muzzles, long arms, and a slight hump at the shoulders. I've already started working on my next bear from this pattern.

We will miss Cinnamon here in the New Avenue Crew studio. But knowing she'll be loved in her new home makes me happy. I will just have to make more bears!

Sneak Preview for the Online Teddies Wordwide Show and Sale

I am so excited to introduce sweet Cinnamon to you! She is one of the bears I will be offering for adoption during the online Teddies Worldwide holiday show and sale. (To see the other artists' sneak peeks of their bears, visit the website.)

I've been working hard on my bears and can't wait to unveil them bright and early Saturday morning. I hope you'll drop in to the show--maybe you'll find a cuddly new friend or two!

Fun Fur Facts Friday: Pieces and Parts

In these final four weeks leading up to the big online Teddies Worldwide show and sale on November 20 and 21, I am trying to grab every spare minute I can to work on my three show bears. I am pleased with how they are coming together so far! All three are sewn, and I've been stuffing their heads and paws. So what I'm seeing now looks a lot like this:

But all three have their legs and feet sewn and turned; this photo shows what the legs and feet look like before that step. This is actually a photo of Logan when I was making him. And below, Logan is pictured with Ben (both bears have been lovingly adopted).

Where was I? Oh, yes. Pieces and parts.

Because I'm surrounded with the pieces and parts of my show bears, I thought you might like to see a teddy bear in progress. My typical bear has 19 pattern pieces that need to be sewn together. The top photo shows teddy Logan in various stages of completion. The head is stuffed, most of the pieces are sewn and turned, and the legs and feet are still awaiting attention.

What else is pictured in the photo? There are two stuffing sticks, which help with pushing the stuffing into the far reaches of the arms, legs, body, and head. There are two "ropes" of stuffing. I pull my stuffing into ropes before putting it into a bear's furry mohair "envelope" pieces. I find this helps the stuffing go into the parts more smoothly. And then there is a plastic zip-top bag for keeping all the pieces and parts together so they don't get lost. I also keep the joint disks and hardware in the bag with the bear parts, so that when the time comes, I can put all the pieces together into a sweet little bear.

Here are Ben and Logan all put together, before they were completely stuffed and finished. I kind of like their saggy look.

And so, I am enjoying having all these pieces and parts around, but I'll be quite happy when there are three little bears looking back at me, all ready for hugging and eager to appear at the show.

Peekaboo!

I couldn't resist giving you a sneak peek of a little white bear I'm working on. He is only a head at the moment; I haven't even designed his body, arms, and legs yet. But his personality is already apparent. He looks a little mischievous, perhaps impish, don't you think?

Ah. Can you see his little grin? He has been making me grin, too.

As I work on my bears' heads, I place them in antique teacups on my desk. That way, I can look at them critically to see what else needs to be done. Seeing their faces also helps motivate me to finish them.

Next step for this little guy is to shade his face, and then I'll get out my pencil and paper to design the rest of him. I'm so glad he's patient.