Edenandfriends

Making soft toys, bears and all kinds of art has been a love of mine since I was a child. I love making things and even in earliest photos I see of myself, I am always making something. Even if it is just a mess : ) My studio is always messy as I have several projects on the go at once- fur pulled for a new bear, fur being cut for other animals, sewn bodies with no faces yet, finished animals watching all this...and a lot of shed fur all over the place. My studio on cutting days is not a good place to be if you have allergies.

My decision to make soft toys and bears as a business came about because I wanted to work from home so I could be with my little one and support her when she needed me to. We also wanted to create all the animals she designed in her head, but we could never find in a store. She kept me so busy that I named my store after her- She is the Eden: ) Family comes first and I steal bear making time when I can. I am a self taught bear and stuffed animal artist.

I am both an Industrial Designer and Industrial Engineer, so one part of me is designing the bear and the other is working out how to make a quality product. I create one of a kind hand crafted bears and each is made from my own patterns and they are all finished by me from nose to paw tips. I will make limited edition of simpler bears but with all of them I put in care, love, attention to the finish and detail. A huge amount of time and effort goes into the creation of a high quality unique bear, so my OOAK bears are for collectors and not for children.

I have always loved making bears- I still have some that I made when I was at high school. I often buy fur before I plan an animal. Some fur just wants to be a bear. I have an entire studio devoted to sewing, polymer clay sculpting, painting and needle felting. I combine my needle felting with the animal I make, as I think I can get more interesting features on the face that way.

My Granny was a sculptor of note and her work is such an inspiration to me and I want to bring that to my work and is also probably why I am always looking to 'sculpt' my bears faces which needle sculpting and felting allow.

I get inspiration from watching cartoons and movies, and reading. Beatrix Potter has been a great source of inspiration for me. I read comics, love Terry Pratchett's discworld series and play the Smurf game.

Nature has always been important to me. I have a 'furry addiction' when it comes to fuzzy things. If it has fur, there is a place in my heart for it. Feathers too, actually. I do not make animals out of real fur as I feel the fur is needed more by the living animal and that animal will die if it is taken from them. I do not like the practices of many places that obtain the fur, or trapping methods used to catch an animal.

I make everything from the beginning. I do it all: from faux fur fabric to finished animal. Making bears involves developing the pattern cutting, sewing, stuffing, jointing and finishing the bear. I use scissor sculpting, needle sculpting, needle felting and on occasion I will airbrush color to add special detail.

My days are full and happily creative. I hope that love shows up in my work.