We are a large professional Teddy Bear, Doll Artist &

Collectors community website!

TBAAF details current leading professional Bear and Doll Artists worldwide. We provide Teddy Bear and Doll related information for artists and collectors worldwide. Learn everything you need to know about how to make, sell and show Teddy Bears and Dolls amongst master craftsmen and women.
 

Teddy Bear Artist and Friends provides every member whether an avid collector enhusiast, Bear artist or, Doll artist with their very own detailed and informative profile where they can share their interest with fellow members.

We can report the fair proved to be a great success... We know that taking over the fair was a great challenge as the organisers had no previous records to help them build a clientelle...

It was extremely well promoted Richard held a huge folder of promotion for all to view... They even managed to get the fair featured on the radio on the Saturday...

It all worked a treat as the fair was bustling with visitors all day.  

A good day was had by all, WEST COUNTRY BEAR FAIRS are a good place sell your bears...

TBAAF Proudly Introduces

Heidi & co Creations

By Soft Sculpture Artist Heidi Bartruff

Multi-faceted Soft Sculpture Artist Heidi Bartruff ; Plush Toy Inventor; Plush Prototype Designer; Animal Replica Artist; Illustrator; Handbag Designer and self proclaimed Plush Mad Scientist.

             While it’s not unusual for teddy bear artists to expand their style and embrace new ideas, Heidi is a true Inventor with each of her ventures. “All these vastly different, seemingly unrelated techniques I’ve acquired over the years have all come together in this crazy unpredictable art niche I’ve landed in.”

            Creating plush animals was Heidi’s initial introduction into the world of teddy bear artistry. Intent on making a stuffed bunny for her daughter’s third birthday, Heidi learned to sew, design patterns, and work with new mediums in cluding classic mohairTeddy Bear design. “Bear making was so comforting to my own soul,” she noted. “I studied the (bears) that I really admired and how they were made, bought a few of them and teddy bear patterns. I experimented in making large and tiny bears, dying the mohair, implementing the traditional cotter pin and wood disc joints, and re-cycling Rex rabbit pelts and vintage mink fur coats into bears.”And while the “little bunny” delighted her daughter, the process opened a whole new world for Heidi. “To create a huggable expression of love and comfort” was all the inspiration she needed to begin a new career...

            Not only was Heidi creating warm and fuzzy creatures for animal lovers of all ages, but she was getting noticed by big name companies like Mary Meyer Toy Corporation of Vermont! They produced and distributed a line of toys that Heidi invented called “Magneatoes,” plush refrigerator magnets that combine functionality and fun. Her royalties from those little Magnetic plushies allowed her to move her family from Oregon to California and open a small studio. Other opportunities presented themselves as well. Heidi designed a tiny plush “Toto” companion  prototype to be mass produced for the Franklin Mint’s porcelain “Dorothy” doll.  She was then commissioned to illustrate a children's book that won a Mom's Choice Award and was hired for a seasonal stint at Animatronic Production company,G. Holt Productions as the Head of their Figure Finishing Department.

            “I realised I was capable of any wild, random design and fabrication task they asked of me, including seasonal animatronic feature character installations in Disneyland’s main attraction rides. Such as Disneyland's Haunted Mansion Ride's big green Oogie Boogie monster” . She found herself working side by side with engineers who constructed giant robotic characters that came to life once she added their “skin” exteriors. Unlike plush pets or teddy bears, these creatures had to go through a range of motions. Heidi had to ensure that her fabric “skins” would withstand the character's repeated performances of extending and contracting without losing their integrity. Each day presented a new challenge for her and pushed her new and seasoned capabilities to higher levels...

 

      Heidi has provided custom props,  stunt doubles, for T.V. commercials, films, and private parties as well as for big corporations such as Disneyland, The Franklin Mint and  Bridgestone Tire Corporation. But according to Heidi, “The weirdest prop so far was the Benylin Cough Syrup Phlegm Monkey stunt double. He was a life-size green chimpanzee wearing wrestling attire and armatured to be posed in any position.” But ,according to Heidi , the most difficult aspect of this project was that the company needed to have the monkey finished and delivered in just a few days. “I got no sleep or shower that week! Film company's are notorious for contacting me at the last minute, saying they needed it yesterday!” she recalled and laughed.

            Heidi’s artistic drive ultimately led her to designing realistic custom plush pet replicas for private clients around the world. These replicas are made to comfort the pet owners to immortalize, honor, and remember their furry,( as well as feathered and scaled), family members. And some even include an inner hidden encasement, with zipper access at the tummy, to store pet's ashes, serving as an unbreakable, huggable urn!  Every feature, expression, and coloration detail is addressed in the creation of each animal. “When I sit down with a new custom plush pet replica order,” Heidi explained, “I first spend time perusing the client’s written description, then I carefully study the pet’s photos. I almost meditate on the pictures and get myself so familiarized with the expressions they display until I feel a loving sense of the animal’s character and soul.” The time consuming, labor intensive design process includes projecting photo images to draw the conformation of the body structure, measuring and creating a unique pattern, cutting, assembling, stuffing and inserting bendable armature wire into the fabric body shell,.... and then the replica finally comes to life with Heidi’s needle and leather sculpture, scissor sculpting, coloration techniques and airbrushing. Anything , real or imaginary, can be brought to life in plush form for clients and collectors who submit to Heidi's Studio their pet's photos, or written description, or sketched idea. 

            The largest size order to date for Heidi was a 7 foot tall “Bug Man” book character replica. She exclaimed, “I had to hire a local welder to make the internal skeletal frame. It was so huge! Then I had to tediously hand sew all the fabric/skin and even his shoes onto that frame.” Thankfully for her, the company that commissioned it sent its own trucking service to pick it up!  Working with extremes comes with the territory as Heidi has created a range of sizes and styles of soft sculpture from a life-size standing plush grizzly bear, to artistic leather handbags, to a teddy bear the size of a thimble...

             "I believe you know you are doing exactly what you were born to do when you realize that you can't not do it." Heidi says with a smirk. "I found that even if I try going on vacation somewhere,... all I do is gravitate to the local fabric or craft shop and start designing a soft sculpture of something that I see there!" She giggles," I made a Pelican shaped handbag last time I vacationed in San Diego." It's a force of passion; like a fun, obsessive, healthy addiction...

            In 2007, the NBC Today Show contacted her and featured her plush pet replicas for a special segment on their show.“That was so amazing! Like a dream I never dared to wish for!” Heidi remembered with a humble smile.

            With her skills, talent and imagination, Heidi continues to explore the realm of soft sculpture artistry...

Most recently she designed a “5" mink teddy bear with a custom leather carry pouch-sling bag” for her mother as a cheerful , comforting gift to take a long to her Chemotherapy sessions, which was very much enjoyed. Heidi is now considering making more mini mink bears and  carry pouchs for this soul fullfilling purpose in the future... 

            As a life-long animal lover,Heidi’s personal goals aspire beyond needle and thread. “My ultimate wish is to somehow have my artistic abilities and products be utilized as part of a solution to save animals, and families with pets, from the perils of the current economic recession’s negative, destructive effects and provide funds for No-Kill Animal Shelters and housing programs to help pet owners keep their pets, ...Heidi says:" I'm always open to new ideas and potential collaborations to accomplish this goal...”