This group of over-the-top teddy bears were all made from the same vicuna coat.  Each of their faces is different and their beaded embellishments are all unique to themselves.  Working from left to right, they are, Mrs. Glane, Mrs. E. Worthington Manville, Madison and Belle.  Three of the four are already sold but Belle is still available at $275.  Her beads were harvested from a antique Victorian blouse and the tail of one of my whole-animal stoles.  Her hat was created from vintage and antique bits an pieces I had left over from other jobs.  She sports fish-net stockings, heavily made up eyes with lids and lashes and is named for the heart-of-gold lady of the evening from "Gone With the Wind".  Just looking at her, you can see that she is a lady with a slightly soiled reputation to go with her garish taste in clothes.

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the collage above to see more detail.

The first Lacey (far right), Lacey II (top and bottom, one in from the right), III (top row center), IV (far left, top and bottom), and V (bottom row, center), are all one-of-a-kind bears made from upholstery velvet appliquéd with antique Belgian lace pieces that I have embellished with Japanese glass beads and French knots and various gem stones.  The first Lacey was sold to a collector who watched me start her at a show in Greensboro.  Another collector saw her while I was finishing her off for the first customer and asked me to make a similar bear for her.   I had more lace and more dusty rose upholstery velvet so what the heck, I made some changes in the details and face of the bear and did just that.  After the first two, I added gem stones, rubies for III, Australian opals for IV and emeralds for V.  I still have more lace and more of the same upholstery velvet so, if you like these five bears, I could make another, similar bear for just the right person. 

Lacey V, is pin.  she is the only one of this series of bears that is designed to be worn.  All of the Lacey bears pictured above are sold.

Amy Thyst (below, top row, right) is made of vintage short pile, mohair upholstery fabric.  She sports an elaborate assortment of amethyst colored Japanese glass seed beads.  To her left is Garnet who wears a vest of garnet and gold beads, a beaded Elizabethan cap and ruffled collar with gold trim.  Her ensemble is completed by a beaded garter.  Garnet's body is made from butter colored, ultra suede.  As if that was not enough, I have added Pearl (left, middle  row) and Emerald (far right in group shot in the middle row).  They too are made of vintage short pile, mohair upholstery fabric and outrageously encrusted with name-appropriate Japanese glass seed beads.

   To the left of Garnet is Noelle.  I found the fabric for her in a second hand shop.  It was masquerading as one of the tackiest jackets I ever saw.  Without a shadow of a doubt, it looks much better as a bear than it ever did as a jacket!  I got 15 bears in two different sizes out of the scraps.  Because of the design of the fabric, no two of them look alike, but they all have wobble joints, red leather eye lids, holiday bows with jingle bell accents.

Speaking of jesters (center of the bottom row below) here is a bear to make you sit up and take notice.  The very first of my Jeweled Bears series, Gilles is 4½ inches tall, weighted with lead shot, made of upholstery velvet and heavily adorned with crystal and gold beads, Kreinik embroidery threads and tiny gold bells.  He is a one-of-a-kind bear as are all the bears in the Jeweled  series.

All the jeweled bears are stuffed with polyester fiberfill, heavily weighted with lead shot and glass pellets.   They vary in price from $65 for the 3½" version of Noelle to $200 for Amy Thyst in her Elizabethan blouson sleeves.

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Lapel and/or Hat Pins

These pins, each delightfully gaudy, are the perfect something special  to complete a bear collector's wardrobe.  Each unbearably charming pin is carefully crafted from German mohair Alpaca, wool or crocheted.  Each one has  onyx bead or glass eyes and sports a stylish chapeau that is the very last word in chic.  All of my pins are one-of-a-kind designs. 

Tanta Zula and Tanta Jewel are the only pins still available.

$45 each.

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