Teddy Bear Times Magazine

Here at TBT we love hearing stories from readers and makers, especially when we get a mention. This issue Clare Fowler-Potts tells how TBT changed her life.
“It’s over twenty-five years since I caught the arctophile bug,” she told us, “and it was very much the fault of Teddy Bear Times. My husband bought me a copy to put a smile on my face a few months after my dad had passed away and the rest is history. The bears worked their special magic, I designed my own pattern and I was off. Now over a quarter of a century later I still use that very first pattern and like to think my dad would have loved the bears too.”
We’re only too happy to take the blame for that one. Clare, who is based in Scotland, tells us she found working with thousands of tartan variations “ a wee bit mind boggling” at first, but we can see she’s got the hang of it now.
Heather Brook is another maker who’s certainly got the hang of it. She’s been making beautiful bears for more than 40 years, although her first bear, made with the fabric from a recycled overcoat, didn’t bode well. Now, at the age of 78 she’s “still happy to be able to do what I love and spread that joy with likeminded folk.”
Jutta Michels won’t part with the first bear she made. He was far from perfect but he began “a new age of fulfilling life,” Jutta says. “I am very grateful for that.” You can see her latest wonderful creations inside.
Rhonda-Lynne Lanctôt made the stunning bear on our front cover and told us: “Audrey is a spellbinding little guardian of wonder, ready to bring a touch of enchantment wherever she lands.”
She certainly looks enchanting, and is a wonderful way to welcome in the warmer days of Spring.