My name is Ingrid Pienaar (known as Ingrid Els in the bear business)
I'm a miniature bear artist from Hermanus, Western Cape, South Africa.
My love for miniature toys and German Folk Art began when I was raised in Windhoek, former South West Africa (Namibia).
I made children's clothes, sketched and painted Bauernmalerei as a hobby until the teddy but bit me in June 1999 when I made a few teddies for the local craft market. My first 100 bears were made from synthetic fabric and at that stage, larger bears.
My favorite fabric is vintage Upholstery Velvet and I also work with different mini fabric. After 8 months, making bears as a hobby, I resigned from my job at an attorney's office to take up bear-making full time.
I've been selling my bears international since April 2001 via my website, blog and Facebook page and it was a great experience to meet other Artist and bear makers when I visited a bear show in Wiesbaden, Germany and Hugglets, London during 2005.
Each bear comes with a birth certificate with his/her name, date of birth and signed.
Thank you for visiting my little bears and friends!
Greetings,
Ingrid