In 1996, I designed my first teddy bear pattern and made a bear from synthetic plush from the fabric store. I then moved to using mostly mohair because it was so much easier to work with and gave such a beautiful finished look. Many bears emerged from the studio on New Avenue and found adoptive parents. (In 1999, I got married and moved away from New Avenue, but the love and legacy of my happy childhood is passed along through each of my Crew members. To find out a little more about me and New Avenue Crew, click the About the Crew tab above.)
A few years into my bear making, I set up a website on Geocities, and then at Newavenuecrew.com, my very own domain and home on the web. I really enjoyed meeting collectors and bear artists and sharing my creations and Fun Fur Facts with others. A few years in, because money was tight, I naively took down the site, losing my URL in the process. (I still regret that decision, and I don’t have the nearly $3,000 it would take to buy back my domain.) And then, Geocities ceased operation in late 2009. I know that many people figured I had disappeared, never to appear again!
Enter blogging. I started a WordPress blog in November 2006 and didn't do much with it at first. But then, as the bear bug bit me again, I started writing and sharing photos and bits of my life. I really enjoy writing and creating and making friends, and blogging is a great forum for doing so. But I've found that WordPress is not so easy to use and is not very customizable...
All this is to say that I'm planning to move my blog from WordPress here to Blogger soon. There are things to be worked out here, like a blog theme/design and such, but I'm excited about the possibilities. I hope you'll join me here and consider following my musings from the New Avenue Crew studio (there's a place to become a follower in the sidebar at right). And when there's a bear or other creation available for adoption, you'll find out about it here on the blog--or join my mailing list to be one of the very first to know!
In fact, here's a sneak peek at two little bears in the works. Visit my other blog to hear their quiet conversation.
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We love getting comments here in the Crew studio. Thank you for taking a peek at New Avenue Crew and leaving us your calling card. Blessings and bear hugs to you!