An introduction...

I've made the name of this blog "Katrina's Artistic Adventures" because I never seem to know what form of artwork I'm going to try next. Throughout my life, I've painted, sewn, dyed fabric, marbled fabric, batiked fabric, drawn, sculpted, decorated cupcakes, played with Legos, played the guitar, and quilted. Art is something I've grown up with. My mom is very artistic and an excellent quilter. One of her quilts was even displayed in Paducah, Kentucky for a while. She recently opened up a quilt shop, and I maintain the store's website and work there when I'm not at school. My brother is also pretty talented. He takes amazing pictures, designed his own quilt, makes great Lego models, and makes WWII dioramas (with one-inch tall guys with amazing detail, even eyebrows!). My dad is an engineer, so he is also good at designing and making things. He invented an automatic transmission for a bicycle and also holds a patent on thimbles he makes at home and ships around the world! (I think they are the most comfortable thimbles around). I consider myself to be truly blessed with some talent and a great family. I don’t know why I should be so blessed, but I thank God for what he has given me and try to honour the Giver by using the gifts well.

For several years, I've been making and selling miniature teddy bears under the name of Katrina's Miniature Menagerie. Since beginning college, I've not been very good about updating my website or putting new animals up for sale online. I'm still in school, but I keep hoping to get back into the teddy bear world, so I'm hoping this blog will help me get connected and stay connected. I have a lot of new ideas for animals, so I'm hoping I'll find some time to work on them this semester! Maybe I'll be able to earn some money to pay some college expenses…

Most of the teddy bears I make now are about two inches tall, though I want to make some more one-inchers. I've made several other animals, all from my own patterns. I've made dragons, horses, an otter, penguins… I use upholstery velvet or mini bear fabric and ultrasuede for my animals. Every single one is entirely hand-made by me. The two-inch bears are all disc jointed, and the smaller bears are thread-jointed. Other animals typically have an armature so they are posable.

Recently, I've discovered needle-felting, and I really enjoy it! It's so much fun to see what I can make, and there's no pattern required! I really have needle-felted a whole menagerie by now, and I have lots of ideas still. One of my favorite creations is a miniature of our former dog that I made for my mom.

I guess that's enough to get started with. I hope to post more as I finish new projects and head down different artistic avenues. Here are some more examples of bears (and a horse) I've made over the years (I'll put up current ones in my next post, after I get my website updated):