Hi!

My name is Svetlana Stakheeva, and I am a Teddy Bear Artist. I live and work in St. Leonards-on-Sea, United Kingdom, although I grew up in Russia.

Creativity has surrounded me in one way or another since early childhood. As a little girl, I spent much time behind the scenes of the Opera Theatre in my home city, where my grandmother worked as a bookkeeper. I was often allowed to wander through the theater freely, and I still keep warm memories of those days as one of the most precious treasures in my life. Even then, I felt that I had been forever caught by the magic of that creative place.

Later, I had a unique chance to spend time in the workshops of the Sysertsky Porcelain Factory, thanks to my other grandmother.

Since the age of five, I have collected postcards with kind and colorful illustrations. I wish I had kept not only the cards but also the feeling of pure delight they gave me. I used to cut out favorite images and glue them into special albums—years later, finding those albums again brought me to tears. The love of beauty, fine motor skills, and precision has remained with me ever since.

As a child, I loved drawing and sculpting, like many kids do. I was good at it and truly enjoyed the process, but after a year in art school, I lost interest in painting for a long time. Around the same time—when I was in fifth grade—we started handicraft lessons at school. One term we had to sew an apron. Almost all my classmates did it with help from their mothers and grandmothers, but I decided to sew mine on my own. I received a “B” grade with the comment that I probably would never learn to sew. That remark only made me more determined! When my family was away, I secretly used my grandmother’s fabric stash. Once my mother discovered it, I had already cut through half of the materials. That’s how my strong relationship with the sewing machine began.

My parents always encouraged my passion for sewing. My father converted our old Podolsk sewing machine into a pedal model and adjusted it for me, and my mother bought me BURDA magazines. Our small flat soon turned into my sewing studio—needles were everywhere! I spent my pocket money on cheap fabrics, buttons, and zippers. By seventh grade, I wore clothes made by myself. They were rough and strange, but I loved them. With time, my stitching improved, and my clothes became more sophisticated—pants, skirts, bags, dresses, jackets, coats, even a sheepskin coat. Thus, my hobby grew, and the first signs of my future studio appeared.

Later, while studying at the University in the Faculty of Mathematics and Mechanics and working at a shop for extreme sports, I never stopped creating unusual things in my free time. This continued until mid-2009—when “They” suddenly came into my life.

At the end of May, longing for something new, I was browsing online and found the website of Elena Karmatskaya. I disappeared from the world for three days after that discovery! I remain her admirer to this day, and her bears hold a special place in my own collection.

I read everything I could find about Teddy Bears, exhibitions, materials, and their history. I watched countless photos, studied techniques, and soon I had an irresistible urge to create my own teddy bear. The attempt wasn’t instant, but on August 5, 2009, I completed my first Teddy Bear. I consider that date the official birthday of “ABCbears.”

During 2009, I made eight of my first quirky bears and one bunny. They took all my free time, and I stopped making clothes for quite a while.

By December that year, I graduated from university and finally became free. In January 2010, I attended my first Teddy Bear exhibition, where I saw and touched creations by real artists whose names I knew. The impressions were strong, and soon afterward, I made my first elephant.

On March 5, 2010, I left my beloved job at the extreme sports shop—for many reasons, but one of them was my new passion. That summer, I decided to devote myself to the Teddy Bear world seriously. I remain forever grateful to the universe for leading me onto this path.