How the Bears Came to Be

Kohler, Wisconsin  ~  1996

My business, Mary's Little Lamb, is now in it's 20th year. In 1987 we began by making country craft items such as muslin dolls, teddy bears, tole paintings, dried arrangements, and framed original calligraphy. With these items I traveled around the bay area selling at craft shows, and with the help of a great agent, stocked several craft and antique stores from San Francisco to Daffodil Hill.

When I learned to make mohair teddy bears and added them to our little cottage industry I quickly discovered how much fun they were and how popular the little darlings were with my friends and clients. By 1991 we had stopped all production on country crafts and Mary's Little Lamb began to exclusively make and sell originally designed, mohair teddy bears. Our teddy bears have been written up in Teddy Bear Review Magazine and in Teddy Bear and Friends Magazine. We also have our little gal bear, "Anna Panda", in a publication by Steve Kronk, former editor of Teddy Bear Review, entitled "The World's most Lovable Bears" by Portfolio Press. Our bears have been nominated for several awards and were sent across the country and around the world to collectors and to teddy bear shops. I traveled throughout the United States promoting and selling the little furry ones for over 10 years.  It has been about 5 years since I've made a mohair bear. With the exception of making a little bear for my grand daughter, we have stopped all teddy bear production, due to severe "bear burnout". 

In 1998 with lots of help from my son, Michael, and his wife Cari, I created the web site, Mary's Little Lamb to find another avenue to promote my bears.  Within a year, the site evolved from a bear maker's site to a graphic and web design site.  From 1999 until 2004 I enjoyed staying home to create graphics for home printing, web pages or small business web sites.  Today, with my husband gone, I am being used in our church and community to work with the grieving heart.  I am not available to create new designs at Mary's Little Lamb, but our collections are still available for download.  They are seasonal and we believe them to be timeless.  For more information please click here and/or here.