Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose!

In September I stopped selling through By Local, a brilliant 'pop-up' gallery/shop in Cheltenham, in order to re-assess what I'm doing and change direction somewhat!  I started making 'artist' bears in 1997, under the professional name 'Orkid Bears', and managed to do quite well, at a time when bear collecting was popular and money was a lot more available.  In 2005 I stopped, due to health issues and changes in my personal life.

Biscotti, just adopted!

Two years later I destroyed my right elbow, and thought my crafting, and independent, days were over.  I taught myself to write with my left hand, and discovered the amazing online community - you can do a lot of surfing using only one hand!  My orthopaedic Consultant, however, had other ideas and 18 months later, after diligent searching, he told me he had found a replacement joint that would be suitable to bridge the yawning gap between my my upper and lower arms. Just over 2 years after smashing my elbow I had to get used to having 2 working arms again!

One of my knitted bears

I gradually returned to knitting again, then, after selling my knitted bears in By Local, along with other knitted goods, for about 6 months, I decided to see if I could still sew bears. I can!  After a year of re-learning the skills and working out how to do it with limited strength and dexterity, I'm satisfied that I can do it well enough to re-commit to my bears.

My bears tend to be smaller now!

So, I've moved back into craft fairs, I have a Facebook Page for my cuddly friends, and my husband is creating a new website for me, where you'll be able to buy my goodies with the aid of Paypal!  In the meantime, you can find them at http://www.etsy.com/shop/MwmynsMakes  and my Facebook Page is http://www.facebook.com/MwmynsMakesOrkidBears.  Look out for www.Mwmyn.com!