I have always had an interest in crafts; making my own clothes from an early age, patchwork quilting, oil and water colour painting, making leadlight windows, and making soft toys for my son and for school fetes.
At a visit to a Stitches and Craft fair in 1996 I was very interested and impressed with Gerry’s (Gerry Warlow) teddy bear making supplies. I was hooked. In 1997 I attended my first bear fair and was surprised and delighted to sell 8 bears.
I have always liked old and traditional items and so it was inevitable that my bears should follow that style. Steiff had a major influence on my designs.
In 2000 I made three sets of “Teddy Bear” skittles in wooden cases and sold all three very quickly.
Over a period I moved away from teddy bears into rabbits, foxes, badgers,
wheeled bears on all fours and a lion and unicorn set. Meerkats followed and these became the most popular creation of them all. These came in a variety of sizes and were sometimes bought as family sets.
Recent items have included a standing fox dressed in a red jacket as a fox hunter, and a standing Cavalier King Charles spaniel dressed as a cavalier in the time of King Charles.
The most satisfying item of them all were sets of nine different African animals mounted on wooden bases, representing skittles (nine pins). The lion of the set was the “King” and came with a jewelled crown and an engraved
9 ct medallian around his neck.
I have shown regularly at Sydney bear fairs since 1997 and for the past few years at Winter Wonderland in Brisbane. Other sales have been through Teddy Bears of Witney (3 years), Bears on the Wharf in Mooloolaba and a
store in Christchurch , New Zealand.
