New Bear Sneak Preview - ADOPTED!

Yes, I'm still working on special orders, but the website has not had any new bears for a month... so I decided to create 2 new little guys for the site.

I'm happy to introduce Lil' Snickers to you! He was created out of yummy imported faux fur and is just a bit over 6" tall. He is not free standing, and sits at 4.75". His adoption fee is $85 with FREE shipping worldwide. w/in the US he will be insured. Outside of the US he will travel via first class mail - no insurance. If you'd like him to be insured - Canada will be an extra $15 and the rest of the world will be an extra $20

I am still working on my other lil bear, so will not be doing a website update today. Lil' Snickers has been ADOPTED, thank you!

Finally time for Bear Work!

It's almost 1pm and I'm finally finished with house cleaning! Still have laundry to do, but I can do that while I'm working on bears! I like to try to get all this stuff done by Friday cause I never know what hubby may have planned for the weekend :) The weather this weekend is stupendous!

Now onto making a Strudel!!! This one's for you Darla ;) Hope you all have a great weekend!

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.....