Bette Carter - Trunk Bears

Welcome to my web site! I began making stuffed animals for my children when they were small. When my children were grown, I started a new career as a police officer. As a police officer on patrol, I witnessed first hand the calming, comforting support a TEDDY BEAR can bring to a distressed child or adult. I returned to my earlier love of designing and creating my own artist teddy bears as an antidote to the sometimes frustrating, but fascinating, job of a street patrol officer. A recent on the job injury necessitated that I medically retire from my profession. Again, the teddy bears have come to the rescue in the loss of my chosen career.

Many of my bears are designed to reflect the bears of olden days, with a distressed love-worn look. I sometimes further hand distress the fur to simulate the look of a bear who loyally comforted a child of long ago. My inspiration for a particular bear often stems from a special pair of infant's antique shoes or christening dress. When I travel to bear shows around the country, I haunt antique shops searching out exquisite christening gowns, carriage robes, or, conversely, ratty, tattered infants clothing. Other bears are dressed in authentic World War II uniform tops. This is a wonderful way to save a bit of history or they can be designed to honor and remember your own family's history with personal vintage uniform, medals, or other memorabilia. I have a wide variety of key wound music boxes that can be incorporated into your bear designs to further personalize "your" bear.

My bears are lovingly constructed of imported mohair in a wide variety of colors. The paws are of wool felt or vintage fabric. They are fully jointed, some with a double jointed head that adds that "antique" look. Their stuffing is of polyfil, excelsior, glass beads or a combination. They view the world through antique shoe button or German glass eyes. Some bears are "one-of-a-kind," some are limited editions, and others are open editions.

My bears have been featured in numerous magazines in the United States and abroad as well as residing in Teddy Bear museums. One of my bears, "Fitzwilliam," was fortunate to be a TOBY nominee for the year 2000. I am creating new bears all the time, so please check out my web site or contact me personally.

Fitzwilliam - 2000 TOBY Nominee by Bette Carter
Thank you for visiting my site!