G'day! It is great to have you visiting my site....I mean our site of course (the bears are growling in the back ground). 

I grew up in Sweden. To make a long story short, I went travelling and fell in love with a surfer. So in 1987 I found my self in Australia for good. I love it here. I live with my hubby Wayne, three adorable kids and Elsy, the "Rotty-Collie", in a big house right next to the Pacific Ocean. They all surf while I swim and Elsy enthusiastically chases seagulls ( She's never caught one and she never will but we don't tell her that ).

I have always had a creative mind but it wasn't until my later teens I discovered sewing and drafting. I was well on my way to become a clothing designer when I met Wayne. Well, my career was put on hold. While the kids were little I kept on with my sewing but also tried woodwork and found that incredibly rewarding. 

I was actually considering selling my sewing machine to buy some more tools when....One sleepless night ( bronchitis and a late cup of coffee does this to you) I had this idea for a gollywog. And that was the beginning.

I started making gollies and other cloth dolls and angels, selling them at Bellingen Market. I decided to make a dressed bear out of flannelette. I had made a bear for my oldest daughter many years earlier with the help of a book that had a pattern in it. So it was quite easy to make another bear especially since it didn't have any joints. Well, my eyes were opened. I started looking at bear magazines and when I found an advertisement from a bear supplier, I thought, why not. It was so exciting to sit down with their catalogue and order my very first meters of fur. I made my own pattern and with some guidelines from this book that I had, I learnt how to complete a jointed bear.  I was hooked.

Each bear starts off with an idea in my mind but it is not until he or she is sitting there in front of me, finished, that I truly know its nature. I have realised that small editions are necessary sometimes and I even do a couple of open editions but I prefer to make one -of-a-kind bears. And I think I have finally found " What I want to do when I grow up."
                                                                 Lotta.