The wonderful world of bears entered my life in 1991. In a shop window, sitting all alone, a furry little fellow with soulful eyes begged "take me home, please". I started collecting bears and one day, I saw a kitset for sale and bought it. The thought of making my own bear appealed even though I didn't think I'd be much use with a needle and thread. The kitset lay in the cupboard for months until one day, at home sick I started sewing. Before long he was ready to be stuffed. But what could I use as stuffing? A solution was found. My husband's pants! Don't worry, Roy wasn’t wearing them at the time. The bear was finished, complete with lopsided smile and crooked ears. My passion for making bears had started! Bears were taking all my spare time. I read about bears, designed bears and searched out fur fabric so I could make bears. This was a busy time with my career as a Bank Manager and also helping Roy with our house restorations. Just as well Roy is understanding and doesn't mind the occasional bit of fur in his coffee. With my difficulty in obtaining bear making components I could see there was an opening for a specialised bear shop. A personalised one stop shop that could provide a comprehensive range of supplies.

Six months later I said goodbye to the bank when we opened 'Bear Essentials' in Auckland, a complete bear shop covering all aspects of bear making and collecting. We attended craft shows and covered many thousands of kilometres, enjoying the beautiful scenery of New Zealand. This did not leave much time for my own bear making so I limited myself to exhibiting at only two shows a year. In 1996 we moved into wholesaling our kits and supplies under the name of 'BearZerk'. Then in 1997 we sold the shop to give me more time to concentrate on my own bearmaking.

Now, as well as designing patterns for our BearZerk and D'Lyell Bears range, I undertake commissions and currently make several very different styles of Artist bear. The name D’Lyell was my original family name from France which was shortened to Lyell many centuries age when the family moved to Scotland. I use a ladybird as my emblem and every bear has one sewn somewhere onto his or her body. The 'Bears of Yesteryear' series which I fondly call 'my old girls' were inspired by a dream of a little old lady, dressed up in her Sunday best waiting for a train. Vintage clothing and accessories are used whenever possible and several of these special bears are featured in museums in Germany and Japan.

Our stand at the 2008 Essen show in Germany

Our ‘Bear Wear’ Collection feature smaller bears sitting in or along side beautiful handbags, while our larger pieces sit in lovely old leather cases or bags surrounded by antique accessories. These bears make beautiful display pieces and the response from around the world has been fantastic. We have been delighted with how many people buy them who have never bought a bear before, hopefully encouraging new customers into the world of collecting bears.

There have been several highlights in my career which I am very proud of. Peter Fagan from the Scottish company 'Colourbox', has purchased one of my 'Old Girls' and I have designed bears for the prestigious 'Hermann Teddy Original' of Germany.

'Edwin' was released in 1998 and I felt honoured as this was the first time any bear artist from the Southern Hemisphere had designed for a German manufacturer. Edwin has a unique centre joint which allows him to rotate in the middle. I believe this is the first time a centre joint has been used in the manufacture of bears and he was even the ‘cover’ bear for their catalogue. Hermann released 'Monty' in 1999 from a new style taking my bear making in completely new directions. These extremely flexible bears can be posed in many positions and come alive with fun filled personality . Hermann released 'Clarence' and 'Roy' in their 2001 catalogue and 'Daisy', 'Mortimer' and 'Holly' were released in 2002. 'Victoria' was released at the 2005 Nurnberg Toy Fair. It has been extremely rewarding to be able to work with such a prestegious company International company and I feel honoured they have given me this opportunity. I have continued to develope these designs in my Heathers Friends Collection

Our latest designs are not even bears. Starting with little ‘Spike’, our hedgehog, and now ‘Rastus’ the rat, these animals are very interactive. Spike will roll into a ball and Rastus holds many interesting positions. They have been a huge hit at the shows around the world and everyone enjoys playing with them!

I have also designed a range of traditional bears (and friends) for a new British company called Charlie Bears. They were very well received when released at the Birmingham Gift Fair in early 2006 and we look forward to developing this range with Charlie. These very affordable acrylic and mohair designs are now available around Great Britain and selected stores in Europe, Taiwan and Australia! You can see more on their site www.charliebears.com

We were also honoured to be invited to submit pieces for an teddy bear exhibition at the Bomann-Museum in Celle, Germany. This exhibition was from 30.11.07 until 30.3.08 and was very popular with the public.

D'Lyell Bears has also been featured in many bear magazines around the world including being on the cover of the influential German magazing Bär Report. It has certainly been exciting for us to see D'Lyell Bears being so well received in Germany, England, France, Holland, Belgium, America, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and not forgetting our neighbours Australia! Heathers skills have also been used as part of the Official Judging panels for the prestigeous German and Japanese competitions.

New Zealanders have a proud tradition of innovation and in our own small way we hope to continue that tradition. While bears don’t quite have the same global impact as Rutherford splitting the atom, Hillary scaling Everest, jet boats, electric fences, Lord of the Rings or bungy jumping we hope that our creations will have helped made the world a happier place. We have certainly made great friends around the world with quite a few even coming to stay with us in New Zealand. Our web site, www.dlyellbears.co.nz keeps those who cannot see us at the shows up to date with the latest creations although Roy can be a little slow updating it as the Bears usually sell before we have time to list them.

We hope you enjoy our bears as much as we have enjoyed creating them, and hope to see you at a show soon.

Heather & Roy