Some bears just insist on doing their own thing! I had a comfy bamboo beach mat and cool sunglasses in mind for this bear, but he was NOT interested. Instead, he climbed into a little Chinese tea cup, put on a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles, and asked for my copy of "Teddy Bear & Friends". Needless to say, it was a bit big for him, so I made him his very own copy, and he hasn't stopped reading since.

Arctophile is made of pale gold hand-dyed vintage long-pile upholstery velvet. His paws and footpads are made of sunflower yellow ultrasuede, and are needle-sculpted in a matching color. His arms and legs are jointed with cotter pins and mini fibre disks - he is such a poser that I thought string joints would not stay tight enough. I made him a specially designed fabric-covered polymer clay neck joint to enable him to look both up and down. His arms and legs are also wired to extend his posing abilities - his paws are just perfect for holding his magazine.

His tummy is filled with polyfill and steel pellets to give him that "real" feeling you need in a little bear. (I use only specially treated steel shot that is guaranteed not to rust or discolor the fabric.) Arctophile's face is needle-sculpted with subtle shading inside his ears and around his eyes. He has a heavily waxed black embroidered nose and huge glass eyes. His mouth is embroidered with waxed thread.

I made his glasses of silver wire and transparent film. His teddy magazine consists of a laminated front and back cover and four pages inside, all printed in full color. It is 13% of the size of the full-size magazine!