February Bear Softie

As a self-taught stuffie maker, I am very hard on myself. I see so many imperfections in my creations, that it takes a long time for me to share or give away. It is one of the reasons why I don't like to sell my creations. All my little bears are made with love and prayer and usually given to someone I know. Not sure who will get this bear, but I'm really loving the outfit. I have another February bear that I hope to post soon that will go to a very special baby. One of these days, I might auction them to raise money for the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego.

Epilepsy Foundation of San Diego

Every Year for the past six years, our family has participated in the Sharon's Ride.run.walk 5k. We participate to bring awareness to epilepsy, raise funds, and hopefully bring a cure to epilepsy. Our daughter, Cassandra, suffers from this seizure disorder and anything we can do to help, gives us a little peace of mind. You can join our team "Cassandra's Kisses" and enjoy great family/friend time at beautiful Mission Bay in San Diego. Baking cookies is another way I help to bring in some donations. Its my "sweet" contribution.

Let the baking begin!

Conchitas

Baking sweet bread is easy and delicious! Conchitas are Mexican sweet breads that have a sugary top. You can find them in any Mexican bakery shop or you can make them yourself- which is what I did. I followed the recipe (Mexican sweet buns) from sprinklebakes.com. Go and give it a try. Yummy!

Bear Stuffie Tutorial

I have been having a great time creating these little bears. My goal is to create at least one bear each month. I have become better at sewing through the years (I'm a self-taught sewer) but nowhere near perfect. My best friend is the "seam ripper", haha. I also take advantage of all the wonderful online tutorials and patterns as well as classes (CRAFTSY), and follow many wonderful blogs. This is my feeble attempt at writing a tutorial:

Last year I purchased Kid giddys doll die cut to use with my Big Shot. I love it! I can cut patterns out quickly. I use the sizzix doll die to create the body, arms and legs. I like my bear to have a different size head, so I use a pattern I got from taking Wendi Gratz woodland critters class through Craftsy. I cut two of each. I also cut out bear snout, nose, and ears using the woodland critters pattern (or freehand them). Every bear needs to have a heart and label (my label includes my favorite verse- Jeremiah 29:11).

These bears are cut and ready to be sewn. I like to first sew arms, legs and ears. I stuff them lightly and set them aside. Then, sew the front head to the front body (set aside)and sew the back of head to back of body. All my bodies have a heart in the front and label in the back. You can sew the heart and label or use strong fusible web and iron it on.

Next, sew felt eyes and nose to front of head. You can also embroider eyes or use safety eyes. I purchased some safety eyes for my January bear and found that I really liked how they looked. I used felt for the eyes on the mouse. Then, stitch or embroider the mouth. Sew ears to front of head. To assemble, attach the arms to the front of the body.

Put right sides together making sure to put arms and ears in the inside. Pin all around to secure everything in place. Sew around and leave the bottom open for turning inside out.

This is ready to sew all around body (leave opening on the bottom). The last thing to do is to turn it right side out and stuff it. Attach the legs to the bottom of body and sew it close. (Sorry, don't have a picture of that). Check out Kid Giddy's youtube channel to learn how to create a doll. You might also check out Crafty Gemini Creates youtube channel for a great tutorial on sewing a sizzix doll. Voila! My January bear. I gave her a scarf and hat to keep her warm. Now, I need to find her an owner.

Challenge #2 - Create a Quilt

So you're probably wondering what happened to challenge #1? Well, I'll get to that in a moment. But first, one of my goals for 2017 is to challenge myself with many different projects. Hopefully, they will increase my creative skills, but most importantly, I will be able to bless others with my creations. Challenge #2 is creating a quilt. I have always wanted to create a quilt, but didn't think I had the patience for it. Wendi Gratz of Shiny Happy World has a quilt-as-you-go method that is easier and faster than your traditional quilting. She is offering a FREE quilting class that you can follow along. Hopefully, I will posts what I learn. Challenge #1 is a writing challenge. I have always wanted to write children's books, but can't seem to make the time for it. Well, considering this is a year of challenges, I am participating in Tara Lazar's storystorm challenge by writing story ideas for the month of January. So far, I have kept it up. Here is a sneak peak at my writing journal:

Handmade Bears- Waiting for a Home

Some of these bears have found a home and some are waiting to be in the arms of some little boy or girl. I've been experimenting with the size and I think I found the dimensions I like. I'm using a combination of Sizzix kidgiddy doll die for body arms and legs and wendi Gratz (shinyhappyworld.com) patterns for bear head. I also tried making a mouse, but didn't love it as much. I will write a short tutorial with links to how I make my bears (coming soon).