WILLOW

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair
Hellow my dearest readers. I'm very pleased to introduce to you a new design. I always love to challenge myself and believe me, this vintage miniature teddy bear was quite a challenge!!! But I think he turned out so wel. He's such a lovely little chap. Little Willow is a traditional style teddy bear and he's only 7 cm - 2.75 inches, so far the smallest size I've ever made.

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair

The inspiration for this piece came from my childhood. And I think we all share this in common. Who doesn't remember those lazy, hazy days of summer.....when you could play endlessly. Sweet childish days, that were as long as twenty days are now...so let's bring back those sweet memories with this lovely designed vignette.

" There is a garden in every childhood, 
an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, 
and the morning more fragrant then ever again." 
- Elizabeth Lawrence -
brambly hedge Jill Barklem
Faded old colors....do you like them as much as I do? I just love the colors of this vignette in wonderful old blues, creams and briques. The whole piece is wonderfully aged to look old. Little Willow is made of a cognac coloured vintage rayon mohair. He has a darkened snout  and his nose is skip stitched with black thread and he has itty-bitty darkened ears and black onyx eyes. His paw and foot pads are heavily altered. He wears a cute knitted navy collar and his hat is made from a piece of vintage newpaper. He's coming home with his 3-wheel bike, his pinspinner, ball, kite and wooden box.

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair


miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair

Willo'w paper hat is 100% handmade of the finest vintage paper ever. Next to Willow are two coins: left a Brittish 20 pence and right 20 €uro cents. I added these two coins for you to see that Willow is a "très petit" teddy bear.
The French miniature bed was handmade by me during a solder class on a 1:12 scale. You are never too old to learn something new and improve your skills right! It's my first one and I'm sorry......it is NOT for sale.
The navy collar is the  smallest of its kind that I have ever knitted. It's only 2cm - 0.7 inches wide, made from cotton thread and beautifully aged for a vintage look.

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair, miniature knitting

miniature knitting, 1:12 scale

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair, miniature knitting

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair, miniature knitting

Little Willow doesn't like to sit still, he wants to play outside all the time and I made him a ball, a pinspinner and a kite. He keeps showing off for me because he's so proud of his new toys. And I'm very pleased to see him going out with his 3-wheeled bike and his new toys.
His vintage beach ball is made of hand tinted cotton pieces in shades of teal blue & pale brique. Who doesn't remember the childhood pinspinners that you maybe once had. At least I do. They really belong to the summer, don't they? The vintage pinspinner (1:12 scale) is made of double layered hand tinted cotton and it was a real challenge to make it, because it really turns around. It's pinned on a piece of rusty wire and wrapped around Willows arm.

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair
Little Willow frequently can be spotted outside riding his 3-wheeler. It is hand painted in duck-egg blue with brown rusty accents then aged. There is a tiny rusty basket to take along the beach ball.
And it ain't no proper bike without a real "license plate" right. I still remembered my little baby brother, he was approx. 3 yrs of age and insisted such thing had to  be made on his toy tractor. It was on Willows wishlist too :) And his wish was my command, so I made the monogrammed license plate with the letter W of course!

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair, pinspinner

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair, pinspinner

miniature 3-wheel bike, 1:12 scale

miniature bike 1:12 scale

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair, miniature bike 1:12 scale

miniature bike 1:12 scale

Say summer, say flying kites.....a synonym for fun in the sun! I let my creative juices flow and I made a cute little kite from fabric then heavily crumpled everything to make it look old. And a kite is not a real kit unless it has a tail: look at those itty-bitty bows, aren't they cute? It's pinned on a piece of rusty wire and it wobbles so cute on Willows 3-wheel bike. The backside has a lovely embroidered detail : 2012 as a wondeful reminder of the year in which this piece has been made.

miniature kite 1:12 scale

 And last but not least: the wooden box. It is painted with several layers of paint. I'm always experimenting with paint techniques to make my boxes look older. Sometimes it's just a matter of give it a go and see what happens. I now it's a risk, but also so much fun to see at how things turn out. And the result is always a surprise. And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the colors and antique look of this box. According to my brother it even smells old too, ha! At the bottom I added my signature label.
hand embroidery, vintage box

vintage box

hand embroidery

I added a strip of hand dyed vintage cotton around the outside on which I embroidered a very personal phrase. It's beautifully distressed and aged to give it just the perfect shabby vintage look. You can read the text from left to right, 1st row, 2nd row and finally the last photo. 

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair, hand embroidery

miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair

LITTLE WILLOW HAS BEEN ADOPTED
miniature teddy bear, viscose mohair, miniature bike
Believe me when I say I live by precision and excellence when it comes to bear making. The complete ensemble and everything else that you see is handmade. All my work is created with deep love and passion.
I take a lot of pride in my work and spend hours upon hours to give them their own personality, details, lovely designed clothes and accessoiries. It is what I call pure artistic love.
LittleWillow's description is 100% accurate, and you will not be dissapointed if you decide to adopt him. If you do have any questions about this item, please feel free to contact me. Or you can email me if you would like to be added to my customer E-list, where I notify you by e-mail when new pieces become available.

Please note:
As with all my work, including, clothing & accessoiries: it is for the ADULT collector only and NOT for playing!
All my pieces are created in a smoke-free home. Only items stated in the "listing" will be sent home with him.