Thank
you to all the collectors and artists who made
this first annual event a fun and successful one!
~ Workshops ~
On Saturday workshop students
had a wonderful day learning and creating with instructors
Irene Heckel-Volpe
and Laura Lynn Matthews. Irene taught a needlefelting workshop and the girls learned some
amazing tricks and techniques while having fun altering the
look of existing teddy bears and making unique creations.
Laura Matthews
taught a bear making workshop where her eager students had
fun learning how
to create a bear's face and how to joint and stuff a bear
properly.
Their finished bears each had their own adorable "bear"sonalities!
The day was topped off with an
evening pizza party,
shopping with Edinburgh Imports and needlefelting
demonstrations with Irene.
~ Show Day ~
Collectors and bear lovers of all ages
eagerly awaited the opening of the show Sunday morning and
were greeted with
a wonderful selection of handmade bears by many well known
artists from the US and Canada.
The cold, rainy weather made it the perfect day to be at
a teddy bear show!
Many teddies found new homes with very happy and
appreciative moms and dads!
~ The New
England Teddy Challenge ~ Artists enjoyed the challenge of creating a teddy bear
from a pattern by Daphne Blau. Only the overall size of the pattern could be changed
and every bear had to have a spring theme.
Artists donated at least 50% of the sale of each bear to
Habitat for Humanity. $225 was raised. Collectors voted on their favorite bear and the winners
were:
Grand Prize: "April" by Peggy Deyle
Runner up: "Nash" by Lydia Massarelli Edinburgh Imports sponsored this contest and Lisa Vought
presented the winners
with gift certificates to spend on bear making supplies.
Lisa Vought, Daphne Blau, Peggy Deyle
"April"
Lydia Massarelli, Daphne Blau, Lisa Vought
"Nash"
The weekend
was filled with friendship and laughter, learning and
collecting... just as we'd planned it to be!
A majority of exhibitors signed up for next year's event and plans are under way for
more workshops and an even bigger show!
Mark
your calendars!
Next year's show and workshops will be Saturday, April 16, 2011 Info and
exhibitor contracts will be available here mid-May.
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New
England Teddy Challenge - Some of the entries! All participating
artist were given the same bear pattern, provided by Daphne
Blau of Back Road Bears and asked to create a
spring themed bear.
Above center: Daphne's Bear
- made from the pattern provided for the challenge:
