Weekly Bear #2- Midnight Sun Polar Bear

Midnight Sun Polar Bear ATC by smallgirl

This torn-paper "Midnight Sun Polar Bear" is my second ATC in the Weekly Bear ATC series. The design was inspired by the painting style of British-Canadian artist, Ted Harrison. Weekly Bear #1, Sebastian, is still available. Find both via www.atcsforall.com

To begin 2013...finally

Happy New Year from Teddy Forest! It's already shaping up to be a pretty creative year, I hope! I figured out the photo issue: basically, my version of Blogger won't allow uploads from a computer anymore (so annoying).

I ended 2012 with creating a lot of ATCs and needlefelting this Cuban tody for my mom.

Cuban tody designed and needlefelted by smallgirl

Although I'm not much for resolutions, this year I hope to...

1. Finish needlefelting this Fantastic Mr. Fox.

2. Host an ATC swap
These birds were created for a Whimsical Bird Swap

3. See more birds!

Finally, I have a special project that will be the subject for my next post. Hint: it has to do with bears.
What are your hopes for 2013?

West Coast Creature Feature- Beautiful Barrow's Goldeneye



Barrow's goldeneye by smallgirl-apologies for the blurriness-it was raining

Walking in the rain by the sea is more fun than it sounds. One of my favourite winter activities is birding along the seashore, mostly to observe these guys.

Barrow's goldeneye overwinter on the West Coast. It brings me such pleasure to go down to the sea and observe them, swimming and hunting in huge rafts. You can identify this threatened species from common goldeneye by looking at the patch on the male's cheek: if it is a crescent (as opposed to a coin) you are looking at Barrow's goldeneye.

A simple thing that people can do to protect Barrow's goldeneye overwintering on the coast is to not run their dogs down the beach, or into the water, as it takes a lot of precious energy for the birds to get up and fly away.

Happy birding!

DIY-Hootie the Adorable Felt Owl Ornament

Teddy Forest Owl by smallgirl

Okay...so this is a lovely Teddy Forest Christmas ornament...but Christmas was two days ago. However, owls look nice around the house anytime, so I decided to post anyways.

Supplies:
Felt in a colour of your choice (we used Ecofi, felt that is made from recycled plastic bottles, but wool is still the most eco-friendly choice)
Scrap felt for feet and beak
Scrap of cotton or flannel fabric for belly
Scrap of ribbon or twine for hanger
Sequins for eyes
Glitter glue for the wings
Polyfil or scraps for stuffing

Tools:
Scissors
Sewing needle and thread
Stuffing stick/chop stick

What to do:
1. Cut two of the following body pattern from the felt. Add the marks in on the wrong sides.

2. On the right side of one of the body pieces, sew on sequin eyes, beak, and belly
3. On the wrong side of the second cut piece sew or glue your ribbon hanger
4. Sew the two pieces together, wrong sides facing, from A to B (you won't be able to see them once you sew both sides). Note that there is no turning involved, so your stitches will show.
5. Stuff from the opening in the tail, using a chopstick to help move the stuffing.
6. Sew the tail hole closed.
7. Draw on the wings with glitter glue.

Voila! You have a gorgeous owl!


by smallgirl

*This tutorial is for personal home use only, not for resale, manufacture, etc, and was created by smallgirl