Sam the Judges Award Winner - This is Sam, the winner of the Judges Award at the California Mid State Fair in Paso Robles California. The Judges Award is next best to winning the Sweepstakes Award. I am aiming my sights at winning the sweepstakes award next year. Sam is mohair fabric with ultra suede paws and ear linings. He also has imported shoe button eyes and a dog license from Hawaii. (I found the tag at a thrift shop here in California.) His head and hind legs are jointed. The pattern is from a wonderful Australian artist by the name of Lisa Pay. I do design and make teddy bears, and have done so for the past 25 years. I love the freedom of being an artist and am so pleased that my creations make people so happy. I have 6 teddy bears on display at the Tokyo Teddy Bear Museum in Japan and have bears in homes all over the world. It is so awe inspiring and humbling to me to find people enjoy my designs so much. But when I started making my creations I decided that if I couldn't enjoy what I am doing I wouldn't do it. I did take 8 years off when my Mom passed away in 2000, although I did still make bears I just didn't have the heart to do many shows because of loosing my partner and my best friend.