My Work Table - Custom Built Just for Me!

There's a new blog by a fellow teddy bear artist called Studio Shots - Tuesday. It's a cool blog showing other artists' studios. I love peeking into others' studios! This week the theme is "what have you customized for your studio"

My work table was designed by myself and built for me by my husband. Yes, I do know how lucky I am!

Although I am tall (5.10") , my height is all in my legs. My body is actually short. When I try to work at a standard desk, I am always holding my arms, thus my shoulders - up a bit. After a while this gets very tiring, so I designed my work table to be a bit shorter than a standard desk. It is SO comfortable to work at!

I was asked once why I didn't just get an adjustable chair and raise it up. (a much easier solution!) The reason for this is that then my feet would not be flat on the floor. Feet flat is very important for back health!

My work table was created from solid red oak. The drawers and door were hand crafted from a lovely wood called Paduk. If you'd like to see a larger version of the photos (and be able to read the notes!) just click on the picture :)

2 More Strudels Available to Order!

I was happy to discover that I was able to get a little more of that yummy fur that Strudel is created from, so I was able to extend his edition by 4. 2 of those have already been spoken for, so there are 2 left available to order.

I'm really enjoying my new studio space! One of the unexpected pluses is that I can watch the hummingbirds visit our window mounted feeder all day long! Those little guys just amaze me ;)

Who's been keeping me busy... Isis!

Yep, that's my sweet Isis girl... asleep in a basket :) We had been noticing her slowing down over the past several months. (she has congestive heart failure) and lately she had been having some IBS problems. But then a couple of weeks ago she stopped eating or drinking. I wouldn't force her to eat, but I knew water was vital so I'd squirt water onto her tongue many times a day.

As you can see in her photo, she can't "not eat" for very long! Besides which, that is usually the sign that they are ready to "go home". We wanted to give her every chance though... and took her to our fabulous vets - Dundee Animal Hospital. We assumed we would be given the worst news....

But our Isis girl, she is stubborn with a capital S! She always has been, and it has certainly come in handy during her illness :) After Xrays of her heart and blood tests to test her organs, (as she is on some fairly strong meds) it appears she was dehydrated. She did start this on the hottest, most humid day of the year... poor thing! (even in the a/c)

The doctor gave her some fluids under the skin - which is tricky with heart patients... so she gave her 1/2 the normal amount. Also some meds for her upset tummy - which actually works on the brain, not the stomach.. cool. And help for her IBS.

The next day she was feeling better... not totally, but eating and drinking! After a few more days I called the doctor back and told her she felt a bit better, but still had problems with the IBS even on the meds. After a 15 minute phone consult, she had me just zip into the hospital real quick to see one of the techs for another dose of fluids, and some more stuff for the IBS. (probiotics) She also decided to go ahead and cut her digoxin in half. That med is the only one that she is on that would cause the IBS.

Boy did we see a difference within a day! Now our sweet Isis girl is behaving like she was 6 months ago! Full of piss and vinegar, trying to playfully beat up her favorite "sister" Athena :) This is certainly a dog with 9 lives!

Happy Birthday America!

I know it's been a long time since I've posted. It's been a little crazy around here - mostly due to our sweet Isis. She's doing well now :) Off and running again, but not before I say.....

Sneak Peek! Petal - Mini Mohair Butterfly Bear

Petal is my latest mini butterfly bear! You can read more about her on her page here.

Major Studio Overhaul!

I had a lovely weekend in New Hampshire with my awesome friend, Daphne Blau. We had a great time and loved that we were able to "play" all weekend.... this time our visit was not at the same time as a teddy bear show! I'll have a few photos later....

Sometimes the bears just aren't getting made -- it's kind of like writer's block for teddy bear artists. I think it's been going around the teddy bear world lately after hearing from many of my artist friends. This time, I decided I HAD to move my studio!!!!

My studio had been in a 3rd bedroom that I shared with our combined office and our Girls' crates. It could feel kind of cramped sometimes.

Although it does have 2 windows, it really does not get morning light and it can be hard to make myself "go to work" in a dark room (yes, I have lights... but I crave daylight!)

Also, having 5 dogs can be a little crazy sometimes. They are usually fairly mellow, but sometimes they go thru times when they need to pester Mom for one thing or another... one right after the other! Since their crates are IN my studio, I can't just put them to bed for a bit and close the door LOL! Pandora tends to be destructive if she's locked into a room without a person, so she must go into a crate (which she loves by the way :) (Yes, I do see the irony of her personality and her name LOL!!)

Before I left for New Hampshire, I brought up the idea of my moving my studio into the living room (front room, parlor) with DH. We really only used the living room as a place to display my bears and store a book case full of books.

Since my always helpful daughter was home on Wednesday, we just set ourselves to the task of swapping out and moving furniture! Today I was happy to have almost everything in place -- and took photos. I always love seeing where people create!

This first photo is coming from the open kitchen/eat in kitchen to the front door. (We don't use the front door because of the dogs) The next photo is what you would see if you looked to the right, then the left, and then walked into the front room... aka my studio. Please don't mind the tons and tons of nose prints on the window... or the rest of the dirt! That is a project for another day. And yes, I know I need a valance for the top of those vertical blinds... now that I'm actually using this room, I will actually get around to that soon :) Feel free to click on the photos if you'd like to see larger versions of them.

Sharing Photos of Custom Ordered Bears

Hi again! Don't fall over, I'm sure it shocking to see me post so often all of a sudden LOL! Today was a better day. The meds are better today and my Girls are too :) No sick dogs for the last 3 days (knock on wood!)

I thought I'd share a couple of photos of 2 little cuties I made for a special friend - please meet Smudge and Lil' Strudel. I'll let you figure out who is who ;)