Kirby

Kirby and his favorite quilt up for auction on Bid4Bears along with some really wonderful offerings by other artists. I hope you can take a look.

He is 15" tall; his quilt measures 17" x 20".

New Halloween Bear

Bid4Bears Autumn Artist Power Campaign began this week.

This is Mason and he's ready for Halloween. He'd love for you to stop by and take a look at his auction.

Ronald McDonald House Charities

The Ronald McDonald House Teddy Bear Banquet and Auction has asked for a donation of one of my bears for their annual auction on October 26. I'm thrilled to be able to donate Gina for this great cause. If any of you live in the area of Albany, NY, you might want to check out this auction.

Important Dates

With so many online shows over the next few months, you'll find a list on the right side of my blog. Here are brief summaries and links to all these upcoming events.

September 19 - 21
Bid4Bears will be offering bears for auction with all proceeds going to Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for pediatric cancer research. You can read more by going to Alex's page.

September 21 - November 22
Once again, Bid4Bears is sponsoring the Autumn Artist Power Event. As with Christmas in July, registered artists will be auctioning one bear each week during this period. This is a great show for both artists and collectors.

September 27
Teddy Bears and Critters Australia (TBACA) is a new guild for those "Down Under."
Their first online show will feature many wonderful artists and a wide variety of styles.

February 14, 2009
Teddy Bears and Critters Australia has offered Affiliate Memberships to those from other countries, and Be My Valenine is their first international show. I'll be there along with many, many other artists. TBACA is also using this event as a fund raiser for their "adopted" sun bear, Bobo. Check out Bobo's page and read about these wonderful creatures and how you can help their cause.

Canute

Canute didn't find a new home during the Christmas in July show, but he's now happily living in New Hampshire with bear artist, Daphne Blau of Back Road Bears.




Imagine, who now resides with me, is one of Daphne's smaller bears. I was so excited to have one of her bears that I shared him with you back in May.


In addition to being a well known bear artist, Daphne produces two bear shows annually, one in New Hampshire and one in Maine. I'm hoping I will be able to display my bears at her Maine show in July 2009.

It will be my first in-person show and I'm very excited about the opportunity to meet other artists and collectors and see their reactions to my bears. The night before her show she hosts an ice cream social on the beach; I've seen the photos and I've fallen in love with the place. I'll keep you updated as I know more about the show.

Catching up

Catching up with the last few weeks:

Christmas in July was a successful summer-time show with more than 1,500 unique visitors and over 170,000 hits over the two-day period of the actual show. The "Oh Bears Show" is scheduled for November 15 and 16, 2008. It's not too early to mark your calendar.

Ashley was laid-off from her teaching job in the desert earlier this year because of budget cuts. Good news: she's been hired by the Corcoran School District in the Central San Joaquin Valley. She'll be staying with her good friend, Adrianne, in Hanford while looking for a place of her own. Ashley was about 11 when we moved to Corcoran and spent 5th - 12th grade in Corcoran schools and Adrianne has been her dear friend ever since. Ashley previously taught middle school in Corcoran before moving to Alameda so she has a sense of coming home as she looks forward to this move. Corcoran is a small community; everyone knows everyone and she's been welcomed very enthusiastically this past week.

During a long weekend at the first of the month, Allyn and I attended a Waggle family wedding in the San Diego area. Our nephew, Greg Waggle, married the lovely Andi Whitaker in a beautiful ceremony at Orfila Vineyards in Escondido. The backdrop of the mountains behind them as they recited their vows at 5 pm was just lovely and the dinner that followed was delicious. Greg and Andi very graciously invited family members from both sides to the wedding rehersal dinner on Friday night. This weekend gave us an opportunity to reconnect with family members that we don't very often have the chance to see. We had a wonderful time.

The Conference is Open

The Christmas in July Conference is now open. The Showroom will open on July 26th.

My own little Sneak Peek for you.