New Buttons & Magnets

I'm excited to finally share a whole new range of Pinback Buttons (also known as Badges) & Magnets.  I have created really sweet illustrated display cards for them and the bags they will arrive in will have a sweet To and From label on the back, making them perfect for gift giving.  They'd love to hop into a Stocking this Christmas or would be perfect for sending in the post.

I only have a limited stock of each design.  You can see them all in my Etsy Shop.  See you back soon, Catherine x

Childlike delight

As a child do you remember playing Pooh Sticks over river bridges, watching to see who's stick came out the other side first?  Well I certainly remember this and so it was with great childlike delight that we found the original Pooh Sticks bridge that Christopher Robin actually played at and most likely inspired this in Winnie The Pooh.  It was quite a challenge to find, but eventually our persistence was rewarded, it is looking rather tired but I guess I'd be rather tired if I was that old!

From Sussex we drove on through the ever beautiful scenery of Dorset, spending the day at the National Trust Property, Stourhead with its iconic temples and bridges nestled in amongst the tapestry of trees.

My new website is almost ready to reveal to you all after a long time in the making.  I've also started on a new embroidery pattern, so watch this space for lots of news!  Take Care, Catherine x

Bluebell Picnics..

As a child I loved to escape into the magical world of Bluebell woods, enjoying picnics on fallen logs surrounded by a sea of blue & heavenly scent.  A little while back I visited these woods here in Belgium and it took me right back.  Inspired by these memories I have created a new illustration titled "Friendship is sharing cake!"  

You couldn't ask for a nicer spot for a Tea Party than nestled in amongst the Bluebells, Bear is trying hard to listen to Rabbit saying how beautiful the flowers are, but his attention is leaning towards the last piece of Cake! As much as he loves Cake, he knows Friendship Is Sharing Cake ♥

Available as an Archival Print & Set of Postcards 

in my Etsy Shop

Back soon with more promised photos from the Garden Fair. 

 Hugs, Catherine

Would you like a new Friend?

I am so excited to reveal a little friend that I have had floating in my mind and sketchbooks for a long time. I couldn't wait until he is totally ready to meet you all so I thought I would share a few little sneaks out of my sketchbook! This little Bear loves his red welly boots and can't wait to share all his adventures with you. I've been behind this screen for days on end working on colours and digitally painting, time to step away from the computer I think before my eyes turn square! But do come back again soon, I have so much excitement to share. Bear Hugs from Catherine and your New Friend in waiting! x

Childhood Memories

I was commissioned to make this bear for a very special girl, it's been such fun to create a bear to the wishes of a child. All her toys have to be happy so Mr Bear got a nice smiling face. I love to think that my bear will be loved and played with and have tea parties and adventures, just as my bears did when I was a child. I made him his outfit and found these cute flower buttons. He will have his own naming ceremony so for now he is Mr Bear :) I remember even having a christening for a little china doll when I was little, my Granny made a beautiful chocolate cake with white icing letters spelling out her name - Elizabeth Ann! Happy memories, just as I wish this bear to bring to this little girl's world.




Busy busy washing and packing ready for our trip. Will pop by again before we leave. Hugs, Catherine and Mr Bear! x

New Friends & Special Offers

What a busy time it has been in my bear studio! Lots of photos on this post, keep going down to see the Special Offiers!

I've just finished bringing to life two very different bears. Colby is a 17" baby bear cub with THE MOST gorgeous luxurious silky soft faux fur. He has a really unique colour mix. He is a bear that likes to help, especially when it comes to making honey cake, he'll be the first one there with his apron on and spoon ready for mixing! Sitting in your arms with a glass of milk and slice (or two!) of cake would make Colby one very contentend bear. If you would like to share your life with this very special boy then he promises to love you forever and ever! You can see lots more photos of him and all his adoption info on my Bumpkin Bears Website.
** Update - Colby is now ADOPTED**



Heather is a wee miniature bear created from Schulte Mohair which I hand dyed in this precious colour, inspired by the soft lilac haze of colour that the heather creates over the hills of Scotland. She gets up to all sorts of mischief, but with such an innocent little face all you can do is smile when you find her head first in the sugar bowl!! I lovingly hand stiched every tiny stich to bring this Bonny Lass to life. She is one of a kind and such a darling size at only 3.7" from the top of her ears to her tippy toes! All her photos and adoption info are on my Website.

** UPDATE Heather has now been ADOPTED to a special new home **





Now for the even more fun part - SPECIAL OFFERS on all my available Bumpkin Bears from Friday 15th-Sunday 24th May (only Su-Lin the Panda and Hattie the Bunny are still available)-

If you would like to adopt Su-Lin The Panda you can choose from ONE of these special offers -

1. FREE Worldwide Registered Postage
2. One FREE Mounted Print worth $30 from my Etsy Store
- just choose a Print you would like and let me know and I will mount it for you and send it with your bear.
3. One FREE pack of 5 assorted Notecards worth $14 from my Etsy Store

If you would like to adopt Mr Tibbles The Kitten you can choose from ONE of these special offers - ** UPDATE - Mr Tibbles is now ADOPTED**

1. FREE Worldwide Registered Postage
2. 3 FREE Notecards worth $10.50 from my Etsy Store
- just choose 3 Notecards you would like and let me know and I will send them with your bear or kitten.

Stanley
** UPDATE - Stanley is now ADOPTED**



Su-Lin



Mr Tibbles The Kitten
** UPDATE - Mr Tibbles is now ADOPTED **



I hope you've had fun seeing all these friends, they are really excited about meeting you all. (UPDATE - Most of them have now been adopted but there is still a few friends looking for a special home). I have nearly finished a special lilac faux fur commissioned bear, she will be showing her face here shortly! I've also got some photos of another park and castle we visited. So pop by soon, Beary Hugs, Catherine x

Stanley and his tea parties!

I hope you all had a lovely Easter, we had lovely Spring sunshine, perfect for walks and relaxing. I've also been busy bringing a new Bear to life so I'd love you all to meet Stanley.



Stanley is an old fashioned boy that takes such delight in tea parties, even better if there are honey sandwiches without the bread!! At the weekends you can find him head first rummaging in boxes in little antique stores, he insists that you can never have too many china tea cups, you never know when you will have more friends to tea! He is proudly wearing an adorable vintage neck trim.

If you would like to have a life time of love and tea parties then Stanley would be a very happy bear to live with you. All his photos and adoption info can be seen on my website.



Here are the last of my photos from France, taken on the coast near Calais - it was such a clear day I could actually see the white cliffs of Dover in England across the sea!! You can click on the images to see the full size, see if you can spot England!





It's such a lovely sunny day here, time to sit outside and do some drawing. Back soon with some Spring images from my garden. Beary Hugs, Catherine and Stanley xx

My Sunshine.... and ice!

It's been a cold busy week in the world of Bumpkin Bears, with a beautiful sparkling white world. I took lots of photos in a local forest, it was -7c and just like Narnia!

I have just brought a new illustration to life called "My Sunshine" -

As the sun rose over the emerald hills they both set off to surprise each other. Wearing her best bonnet and favourite polka dot shoes she carefully carried her lovingly made heart. He had polished his red welly boots and searched for her favourite wild flower then set off to her home across the meadow. With dreams in their heads of what they would say they nearly bumped into each other! Each bear, so keen to be the first to give their gift they said in harmony "You are my Sunshine...". They often said the same things and finished each other's sentances, something they were teased about, but they never minded. They just loved their friendship.



This would be a precious gift to show how much you care for your friends, children and loved ones.  It is available as a beautiful mounted print in my Etsy store.

Click on these photos to enlarge and loose yourself in this magical world -





Thanks for popping by and leaving your lovely comments, it's such fun to hear from you all. Lots more news on the horizon, so join us again soon. Beary Hugs, Catherine and the Bumpkin Bears x

Help the bears with a poll!

With December almost knocking at the door the bears had a little chat with me and they thought it would be beary good fun if they could appear on christmas cards so they could get to meet lots of new friends all around the world. So we are having a fun poll (over on left side) to see if you would like these Art Prints as cards? Then the bears and I will get designing and printing if you fancy it :) One day left to join in the giveaway below! I'll announce the winner tomorrow when the bear's have pulled a name :) Happy weekend! Hugs, Catherine and the bears x

all sorts

It's been a hectic week finishing some orders. Thanks for all your sweet words about Cupcake, he found his new mummy within minutes and he will be joining some other Bumpkin Bears very soon, so there will be quite a party :) It was a good day at the Animal Park last week, my favourites were the koalas where there were some little ones too. There was someone dressed up as a giant koala going round the zoo for the visiting kids but I hadn't seen it, turned around and there he was - I jumped out of my skin much to everyone's amusement! I've got a wee film of the koalas and am learning a new film making package so will try and work out how to publish it here when I get a moment. In the meantime here are some photos, there was also a baby rhino which was so cute, they just look so funny - really prehistoric like you expect a dinosour to be just around the corner!! Yeah, I've got quite an imagination! Enjoy the photos :) Hugs, catherine x

Decisions, decisions

sorry it's been a week since I've posted here, don't know where the time has gone! Thanks for all your sweet comments, it really means a lot hearing from you all :) I'm in the process of placing (well trying to place!) an order for a new order of mohairs. When it comes to deciding what to choose I'm hopeless! There is so much choice and it is all sooo lovely, I have so many ideas of bears swimming around in my head it's a job to narrow my choices down. Especially as mohair is an expensive luxurious fabric, I can't get too carried away!! Anyway, I think I'm nearly there and can't wait to get my order to start, mmmm some lovely colours and finishes. There are so many different finishes to mohair from stringy, sparse, semi sparse, straight, curly, wavey, distressed, tipped...... see my dilemmas ;) I tend to prefer the denser mohairs with some wave to them.

Wendster was so very kind with her comments about my bears and how I was an inspiration to her following my bear making dream (my gosh, you made me blush!). She asked me to explain how I create my 3-D creations, well this is my thought process a bit. When I very first started out bear making I bought a couple of really good books about design of bears as well as having lots of books about antique bears. I have spent many many many hours studying the looks of different bears both real and teddy. I do lots of sketching and have beary images always floating in my head (yeah I sound crazy don't I!). I love the kindness and soulfullness you see when you look into the eyes of real bears (not that I have ever been THAT close to look right into their eyes!!). These majestic wild animals have such a tenderness that I try to capture in my bears. I am not of course trying to re-create a realistic bear like some amazing artists do, I just take the essence of character and try to get this in their faces! I was sketching a grizzly bear the other day from a photo I have...

The design part takes practice and more practice, after a good few years of trials and errors (the errors from my early bear making days are in my craft room smiling down at me from a shelf, of course I would never call them errors to their beary faces!). My recent bears have got wider foreheads which I am drawn too from wild bears. As much as I love wild bears I love the sweet innocence and friendship of a teddy bear, so I try to combine both in my Bumpkin Bears.

I'm currently working on a commission for a set of 2 mini bears with their little black and white ponies! I'll try to explain the pony creation process soon.
Hugs, Catherine x

Meet Rufaro, full of Springtime happiness

Well as promised here is my latest Bumpkin Bear - Rufaro -

He is a happy bear that loves Spring with it's clear blue skies and soft sunshine, you can see this in his colours. He is brought to life with faboulous heritage style English mohairs which I hand dyed in soft blue and gentle old beige gold which gives a really sweet 'patchwork' look.

He loves to sit underneath the blossom trees smiling as the little petals gently fall in the breeze. Springtime brings such a renewed hope and joy of new beginnings with it that I named this sweet bear Rufaro which means Happiness and Elation.

Click here to visit him and all his photos on my website, just click on his photo in the bear gallery.

Have a lovely day,Beary Hugs,Catherine and Rufaro