The featured artist of the month for May is Sandra Bolton of Australia!

What got Sandra started in Bear-Making:

A friend asked me to make a bear for another friend who was having a baby. I used a commercial pattern for that. Afterwards, I was hooked. After several more bears made from commercial patterns, I began to find them too limiting and my husband and I began to design our own. Usually from ideas that pop into my head at night, they have no time to 'pop in' during the day as I'm usually too busy sewing.

What unique quality Sandra's bears have:

All of my bears are still hand sewn. The designs are all original and are limited to very small editions, usually less than 20, more often only 10. A lot of people say that my bears have something which is hard to define, but they speak to them and they have to keep coming back to look and buy again. Now that I have my own web site, I can finally reach a wider market for my bears.

Sandra's opinions on Bear-Making:

I think that bear making today has come a very long way. There are so many new and innovative bear makers out there. But there is still a market for the traditional teddy bear, and I guess there always will be. I really admire miniaturists, as I don't have the patience to make really tiny bears.

You can see more of Sandra and her bears at A Bit of My Heart Bears