The Bears are right at the start of my journey with my Bumpkin business. It was the first winter I had spent in Belgium back in 2001, having moved from England with my boyfriend and one weekend we noticed a Bear Fair in a local Town Hall. I was in awe as I walked in and gazed at all the stands full of hand made Artist Bears and silky soft piles of mohair!

As I child I had always wanted to make my own soft toys when I grew up, and even recently found a letter I had written to a manufacturer when I was 7 asking if it was possible to do this! Studying Textiles at College had even furthered my love of working with fabric. I had always loved Teddy Bears but until that day in Belgium I had never heard of Artist Bears. I was treated to a kit to make my own Bear and I was hooked straight away, buying books about making Bears and learning to make my own patterns. The industry of Bear Artists is a very encouraging world to be part of and after a lot of practicing I eventually took the leap in launching Bumpkin Bears and have never looked back since! My Bears were received with open arms and have been adopted all over the globe, nominated for Awards & featured in many publications.

Every Bumpkin Bear I bring to life is one of a kind, with patterns entirely designed by myself, I use only the finest quality Schulte Mohairs & Alpacas to hand make each Bear. I use a range of techniques of scissor & needle sculpting & hand shading to bring the characters out of each Bear. All together many many hours are spent on each Bear, so that they will be the best friend possible for their new family. If there are no Bumpkin Bears available for adoption straight away I take special commissions, so do get in touch if you would like me to bring to life a new Best friend specially for you.

Available bears for adoption

 

A selection of adopted bears