edenbears

My family originates from Yorkshire and Lancashire and I was born in the White Rose County of England, in Doncaster, South Yorkshire on the 4th of July,1960 and lived there until I was 9 years old.
From then on, I lived in Scotland, in Dundee, famous for it’s ‘3 J’s’ - ‘jute, jam and journalism’ and continued to live and begin my working life there in the field of Graphic Design with Printers and Publishers DC Thomson & Co Ltd, of the Dandy and Beano comics fame and the ‘journalism’ part of Dundee’s ‘3 J’s’ fame until the beginning of 2005 when I found myself moving back to England, but this time to the Red Rose County of Lancashire where I now live with Jason, my partner, and our two cats, on the promenade in the seaside town of Morecambe - so I’ve become a bit of a pink rose and thistle!

MY BEAR PAST:
I have loved bears for as long as I can remember. I still have my very first bear, simply called "Teddy" he is a jointed 24” gold bear with black paws — a bear very much of the 50’s / 60’s era given to me by my late Grandma before I was even one year old. 
He sat in a rocking chair by my bed as a child, he’s been well looked after and consequently in a relatively good clean condition and he’ll remain with me always.

Photographs of me and 'Teddy' in 1962


My bear collecting began as soon as I left school and started working — my first memorable purchase being a mid 1970’s Gabrielle design Paddington which I still have in complete and pristine condition.
There have been numerous other bears joining my hug along the way until a few years ago I became a member of Ebay — then my hug really expanded!!!

It was only at this time I became aware of the different types and styles of bear on offer from antique (my favourite) to artist bears. 
My most expensive purchase to date is an early 1900’s bear called Oscar, he really is 12 inches of unidentified antique bear!

I can’t say exactly how many bears I have in my entire hug because I’ve never had them all out at once to count them, but I know the day I finally do have the space to do just that I will get a surprise and my ‘other half’ will get an even bigger one!!

MY BEAR PRESENT:
So, it’s been my love and passion for bears that set me off on my new venture (since mid 2007) — the making of traditional and traditionally-styled bears of my very own!

I've worked in Graphic Design for many years, my passion for design extends to Interior Design, Garden Design including a love of outdoor / indoor plants — I’m quite green-fingered and have consequently always had lots of varieties and sizes of houseplants around me, which is how the name edenbears became my chosen label for the bears I create — partly after the ‘Garden of Eden’ and also my connections to a property with the word Eden in it’s name.

Where befitting to the bear, I will name him or her after a plant, flower, tree or other garden related item in keeping with the name edenbears.
As I write this, to date, I have created bears by the names Rose, Wellington, Cherry Blossom, Birch, Cane, Basil, Trellis, Elder, Eve, Sweet William, Nimblewill,  Alyssum and Maple as part of this theme.

MY BEAR FUTURE:
Every bear I create is cut from a pattern originated and drawn by myself from start to finish then sewn together entirely by hand at every stage, resulting in each one being unique and One-Of-A-Kind.
I will always make a design alteration to every new bear I create in my quest to design the pattern I am ultimately happy to call my very own style.

In the meantime, as my own bear style evolves, I hope that throughout my learning curve and journey, I can produce a bear that will make you smile or fall in love with enough to want to give him or her a new home!

As I produce new bears I will add them to my AVAILABLE BEARS page - so please take another look soon where hopefully you will see another of my arrivals!

Thank you for visiting me!

Elaine