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Finnteddies

sind alle Unikate oder Einzelstücke, kein einziger Bär wird zweimal hergestellt.

Ganz und gar von Hand gearbeitet aus verschiedenen Materialien, meist aus bestem deutschen Mohair oder Alpaka, aus Wolle oder Filz, aber auch aus ganz ungewöhnlichen Stoffen hergestellt,mit Glasaugen und echten Leder- oder Filzsohlen, oft mit Naturfarben handgefärbt, mit Holzwolle, Mohairschur oder echter Schafwolle gestopft und mit Stahl- oder Glasgranulat beschwert, meist 5-fach gegliedert und mit gestickten, gewachsten oder gefilzten Nasen schauen sie ernsthaft und voller Hoffnung auf gute Bäreneltern in die Zukunft.

Finnteddies are all unique or one-of-a-kinds. Completely handmade from different materials, most often from best German mohair or alpaca,, but also felted or made of unusual fabrics, with glass eyes and real leather, felt or ultrasuede paw pads, often dyed with natural colours, filled with excelsior, mohair cut or wool, fully jointed and with stitched, waxed or felted noses they are waiting calmly and hopeful to meet their new friends.


  This bear "Pertti" was finalist in the EVA-Awards-competition in London 2002

Introduction:

My name is Susanne Mensing-Varila, I have been living in Finland for more than 20 years (came from Berlin originally) and I am a teacher for German for foreigners and a translator. I'm living in the east of Finland with my husband Pekka and my wonderful children Johnny (16) and Juli (12).

I started to make bears in the end of 1998 when I attended a class at an arts-and-craft-school here in Joensuu and never stopped making them ever since. My favourite size is 15 to 25 cm (a handful!) or bigger than 50cm, but I make miniatures too, often needlefelted.

I work with all kinds of materials, leather, goblin, wool, felt,vintage upholstery velvet but mostly with German mohair or alpaca in all pile lengths, denses and colours. I love to make all my creatures individuals (that's what fascinates me about people and bears!), so no one looks like the other. My bears are almost always one-of-a-kinds or unique, but people say they can recognize them as mine the moment they see them, so there must be some kind of "Finnteddy-style". My bears are a little shy and withdrawn, often melancholic too. Maybe they are just Finnish. (I am just the other way around ;O)))

Most of my bears are sold through the Internet. I have had my own Homepage for some years now. As there is only one real collector's shop in Finland, "Benita" in Helsinki, I sell most of my bears through the Internet and I offer them at www.bearpile.com or Ebay (seller:Finnteddy). There are no bear-events in Finland at all.

Nowadays I see bears everywhere, in flowers and trees, lakes and oceans, the sky and the fields, anywhere where I find something colourful, something not black and white (then I see a panda....). That's where I get my ideas. Also all kinds of interesting fabrics and sometimes music or even single sounds make me think of a certain bear I want to make.

My bears have been featured in the magazines Teddy Bear Scene (England), Teddys, Teddybär und seine Freunde and BärReport (Germany), TeddyBear Review, Teddy Today and TeddyBears and Friends (USA) and at the Teddybears on the Net and Teddybear HUG sites on the Internet. They can be found in Calendars too.

2008