2012 TOBY Awards Announced!!!

Wow! I am speechless!! Tonight my good friends Susan Leigh @ Bearleigh Bears and Wendy Walker of ME Bears were congratulating me via Facebook on winning a TOBY Industry Choice Award for Captain Aramis Rex. So, as I hadn't heard anything official from the organisers, I just didn't know where they were getting their 'inside' information from. You can imagine my surprise when Wendy sent me the link to the Teddy Bear & Friends facebook page .... and there was my name in print!!!! W-O-W!!!! Here's an updated photo of my little guy - Captain Aramis Rex - a winner of Category 2: Small Bear - Dressed!!!!

Congratulations also to everyone who won awards, but especially to our Aussie contingent: Wendy for winning with her little marionette creation 'Wish upon a Star', Cindy Cherry of CC Bears Australia for her 'Mischief' and my great friend Linda Down of Lombard Bears for her fantastic 'Willopee'

Christmas Wishes!!

Well as you can see, it's been a while since I posted anything here on my blog. Not from want of intention: purely because I've been very busy creating new bears, both for sale and quite a few custom orders at the tail end of year, and I'd like to introduce you to them all: Cherish: is my latest commision piece. A 9" girlie fairy panda made as a keepsake for a gorgeous 2 year old little girl for Christmas. Like all my bears, Cherish was hand-sewn using the most exquisite long pile mohair in white and contrasted with hand-dyed mohair in a rich watermelon colour (dyed by the wonderful Valma Bolton at Teddy's Bits Her custom English glass eyes are in slate grey, copper and silver with a cheeky bit of sparkle, and on this bear I used my first ever attempt at baked clay noses!!! What do you think? I'm pretty happy with the way she turned out, and I'm loving the flexibility that clay offers you - will be doing a lot more practising on more upcoming bears, so watch out for them!

I also didn't realise that I hadn't introduced you all to Captain Aramis Rex - a swashbuckling fellow who's ready to sail the Seven Seas!!! Another commission piece as a mascot for a dear friend of mine who owns a racing yacht on Sydney Harbour - hence the maritime theme bear!

And last but not least, there's Lulu: a flamboyant, French floozie, flirty kind of girl measuring 14". Her fuschia coloured satin top hat has been hand crafted by me, and decorated with lots of flounces, pearls and other pieces of whimsical jewellery!

I'd also like to take this opportunity to wish you - my friends, family, wonderful collectors and blog followers a joyous and peaceful festive season with your loved ones - Nikkel Bears will have new bears on offer in the New Year so I'll be back here again soon! Take care, Hugs, Marg xx

Introducing ... Allegra!

A month or so ago, I was asked by a wonderful collector of mine if I would make her a custom bear - 'just pink' were my only instructions!

Pink being pink, lends itself to all things girlie, so of course ideas of a pink princess immediately came to mind.

And here's the result - Allegra: a 14" two-tone bear hand-sewn from the softest, baby pink alpaca with a contrasting muzzle and chest in white alpaca. Like all of my bears, Allegra's English glass eyes were customised for this project - handpainted in sparkling deep blue sapphire & silver to accentuate her fur colouring, with dramatic sweeping eyelashes!

I adorned Allegra with fabulous jewels fit for a royal princess, from her sparkling diamante tiara and faux pearl and diamante pendant to her pom-pom fur collar.

I received an amazing email from my collector telling me how much she adores Allegra, so I'm very happy to know that another of my bears has found a beautiful home!

2011 URSA Awards!!!

Happy Dance - Happy Dance !!!!!

I am thrilled to find out that my little bear Toto has won an Honourable Mention in the 2011 URSA Awards!!!!


What a complete and unexpected surprise!!! I have emailed Toto's new mum and she's just as thrilled as I am - yay!!!!!!

To see all the winners for the year's competition, please click here www.bearsandbuds.com

Thanks so much to all of you who voted for my bears this year - it really means a lot to me and I appreciate your fabulous support!

African Theme Birthday Bear!

I'd like you all to meet KOFI - my latest bear who I made exclusively for my darling nephew Troy's 1st birthday!



As soon as I saw this mohair, it screamed 'Africa' to me!!! It's pretty amazing - from the rich chocolate backing to the natural taupe-coloured whispy ratinee finish I knew it would be lovely to work with ... and it was! Troy also has relatives living in South Africa, so it seemed right to design an African themed bear - even the African meaning of his name Kofi is 'born on Friday'.

I've tried to keep everything in neutral tones, except for Kofi's eyes, which are of course my custom hand-painted English glass eyes, painted in crystal shades of slate grey and brown with a hint of sparkle.


In my travels I also found THE most amazing ribbon (which was added to my ribbon 'stash' for future use!) - a variagated wire ribbon in copper and bronze tones. His little birthday cap in black silk and lined with leopard print fabric has been adorned with copper coloured hearts and topped with a bronze jewel.

And as a footnote: I'm happy to say that Troy loved him!!! (and so did my sister!!)


PS: You'll be glad to know that KOFI was put away safely after this photo was taken!!!

At Last - A New Bear!!!!

Hi everyone!

Can't believe it's been so long since my last post - I've been so busy with bears, and my blog has unfortunately has suffered 'big time'.

I'd like you all to meet Aztec - he's made from the most amazing woolly Shulte mohair in a rich caramel colour - this fabric is very dense and brushes up really nicely. And very cuddly too I might add!!!



Aztec's custom starburst style English glass eyes have been handpainted in deep emerald and black with a hint of sparkle to give him a whimsical, cheeky look!



He wears a hand-crafted tri-colour wired ribbon ruff - the colours in this ribbon are to be seen to be believed! I'm sure I don't really do it justice in the photos - gorgeous and rich copper, gold and bronze metallic - just wonderful, and it compliments his bejewelled pendant nicely.

Hope you like him - if you would like to purchase Aztec, or just get some more info or photos, he's now available on Bear Pile here http://www.bearpile.com/item/47459

Meet Banjo !!!

Hi everyone - the last few weeks have been quite hectic in my bear studio, as I've been completing some custom orders and a couple of celebration bears for family and friends.

I managed to squeeze in a little time to make this happy little guy - meet Banjo! An 8" brown & white panda make from the most luxurious long-pile mohair in a deep, delicious chocolate brown and stark white, and of course, my usual custom hand painted glass eyes - I painted Banjos eyes in the colours of deep, liquid aquamarine pools to really contrast against his fur!



I also hand-crafted his little cap from gold satin with matching ribbon ruff around the edge of his cap and around his neck, and decorated with swirly, sparkly paint and twinkling diamantes - he's just a sparkling little panda!



I'm happy to say that Banjo has already been adopted!