I began making teddy bears in 2001 . My good friend, Esther, owned a teddy bear and gift store and had gotten Fred Slayter and Joyce Martin of the Paisley Bear to teach bearmaking. She sort of cajoled me into signing up for a class so we could make bears together. You know the rest. I was hooked! I made four bears and one bunny with Fred and Joyce and then went on to start drawing my own patterns. Rather than spend huge sums of money on mohair while I was trying out prototypes, I scoured JoAnne’s and the Rag Shop for upholstery fabric that might be suitable and called my bears “Couch Potatoes.”I always wanted to do something artistic. However, early in life, my art teacher told my mother that I had a wonderful sense of color and design but that I couldn’t draw. I was devastated. Thanks to that fateful day when I agreed to take a class on bearmaking, my life was changed. I now have at outlet for all that artistic energy which was pent up and just waiting to erupt. I always say, “Better late than never!” Thanks to hard work and perseverence (and a little help from my fellow bearmakers), I have managed to have my bears nominated for several Golden Teddy and TOBY awards throughout the years.I presently live in Sunny South Florida. As far as hobbies go, I do a lot of reading and also do counted cross stitch. I am going to start experimenting with some sculpture this summer and see how that goes.
About me
Charbears
