I
began designing websites in 1998, when I wanted to change
the graphics on my first bear website. My designer was swamped
with work, so she suggested I attempt doing the work myself.
After a few gulps and some false starts, I learned how to
not only create the backgrounds, buttons, bars, etc myself
using PaintShop Pro and Adobe PhotoShop. I began learning
to set up the pages for my site. Another bear artist saw my
website and asked me to design one for her, and I was off
to the races!
I
now have a fairly large group of long-term clients - mostly
teddybear artists with a few graphic artists, some horse farms
and a doll shop thrown in for good measure - and am very happy
doing the updates and maintenance on their web pages, plus
designing for a new client when called upon. It's like coloring
with very special crayons in a very unusual coloring book.
You never know where a path will take you, and I'm very glad
I went down this one, daunting as it was at the start.
After
20 years of breeding and showing top Siamese cats all over
the USA, and sewing elaborate cage decor for show cats of
all kinds, I decided to "retire" to a less strenuous
hobby. I had always collected teddies, beginning with my mother's
antique mohair bear from the early 1900's, and I decided that
unpacking my collection to sit under the Christmas tree for
a month every year wasn't enough. I wanted to make a bear
of my own, and I wanted to design my own patterns. I used
my fabric knowledge and background in sewing clothing, draperies
and all sorts of cat toys, and eventually progressed from
using commercial patterns to designing my own pattern. Making
my own bears from start to finish - from pencil outline on
a piece of paper to three dimensional, furry "real"
creature was so satisfying I was quickly hooked on bear making
and haven't regretted the addiction at all.
My
bears were featured in the English magazine Teddybear Times
in May of 2000 and I have exhibited them at shows around the
southern USA.
My bears are stuffed with polyfil, pellets and copper or steel
shot, and have heads firmly defined with excelsior fill. I
use only hardboard joints with bolts and locknuts, or cotter
pins. For your convenience, I gladly accept Mastercard, Visa,
DiscoverCard and American Express as well as money orders
and checks.
