WELCOME

If you have found your way to the Browny Bear website, that means that you, too, are a great lover of very special collectable teddy bears. (Click here to follow us on Instagram or here to visit us on Facebook.)  

The Browny Bear artist, Angela Joan Dimond was born in Port Elizabeth in South Africa in 1976. In 1997 she graduated with a diploma in fashion design. She had a successful career working in the industry as a clothing designer for over 17 years. During this time, she designed under big brand labels for children, ladieswear and menswear. She was most recognised for her denimwear designs for both Wrangler and Lee jeans. This gave her invaluable experience with fabrics, trims and textiles. Angela developed a great eye for style and learnt the importance of high quality. All these qualities and skills she lovingly has carried over to development of her precious Browny Bears.

Angela has been making bears now for 14 years. In 2012 Angela did a course at Teddytech with South African famous teddy bear artist Eunice Beaton and her daughter Di ( https://teddytech.biz/eunice-beaton# ). Teddytech was known as The place "Where the magic of bear making begins" and true to this was as the teddy bear making bug hit Angela. Eunice and Di encouraged Angela to design her own bears but for a long time she kept bear making as a hobby. Not knowing that this would one day become a successful business, in 2019 Angela started a personal Instagram page #brownybearmaker. This was named after her late dog, Brown ( affectionately called Brownie bear), a rescued dog from SPCA. Brown was a really special scruffy doggie with very wiry fur and gorgeous hazel eyes.

In May 2022 Angela and her immediate family moved from Cape Town to Haarlem, the Netherlands, to start a new life.

In 2025 Angela started work as a volunteer at a zero-waste store called Mooizooi in Haarlem so as to improve her Dutch. Surrounded by amazing people and so much creativity inspired her to make a teddy bear using the waste fabric and trims available to her. This bear turned out to be so adorable that Angela decided to make more, many more, in fact enough to start a career of bear making. .

SUSTAINABILITY

We all know that we should make a difference in our businesses for the sake of our beautiful planet. Angela is constantly trying to be as proactive and responsible in her decisions in bear making as possible. Like with Brown, her rescue dog, she wants to rescue unloved treasures that would otherwise be discarded and turn them into your best friends for life. A teddy bear will always be there for you when you need love and cuddles.

Browny Bears are made earth friendly by following the 6 Rs of sustainability:

Rethink – The way that I make teddy bears so as to reduce my carbon footprint. Use sustainable or deadstock fabrics.

Reduce –. Buy filling, joints, fabrics and thread in bulk. Use overruns of fabric & trims.

Reuse – Shopping atZero Waste and 2nd hand stores or markets instead of buying new.

Recreate –Making bears from discarded pillowcases. Using off cuts of fabric and leather, Repurposing textile sample fabric swatch books.

Recycle - Using recycled polyester filling made from recycled plastic bottles.

Repair – Embroidering and patchwork over damages or holes instead of throwing away.

THE DREAM

This is hopefully just the biggening of Browny Bear.

Angela's biggest dream for the future is to open her own bear making store in Haarlem where she can run bear making classes. Angela's dream is to expand her editions of bears in different shapes, sizes and fabrics. To attend bear fairs in Germany, Belgium and England. To put together and make available DIY kits for bear makers. To promote, sell, and make available recycled polyester filling and other sustainable or waste fabrics and trims for bear making in her online store and online.

#brownybearmaker (Facebook Store)

@brownybearmaker (Instagram)

Angela will be exhibiting and selling her bears for the first time at the

Internationale Teddyberen & Antieke Poppenbeurs Expo in Utrecht on the 6th of September.

THE BROWNY BEAR RANGES

THE ORIGINALS

Some of THE ORIGINALS from the Chocolate Browny and Creamy Caramel range.

The designer edition of Browny Bears called THE ORIGINALS are designed to be heirloom collectable bears. They are the first range of bears developed for Browny Bear.

THE ORIGINALS take just over three full days each to complete. This loving work comprises of sourcing and cleaning fabric & trims, matching & designing, cutting & fusing, machine & hand stitching, jointing & filling, attaching eyes, embroidering noses & mouths, as well as making clothing & accessories. For such large bears this all takes a lot of time and so far, there have only been 20 of these handmade bears made. Interestingly, the first 10 or THE ORIGINALS were completely handstitched, and this makes them extra special. This makes them extra special. Due to her designer background, Angela tends to design sub ranges in colourways. Can you guess which of the Original bears fall into the Chocolate Browny, Delft Blue, Forest or Creamy Caramel ranges?

What makes Browny Bear's THE ORIGINALS authentic?

• No one of THE ORIGINALS is exactly the same.

• These cute-as-pie 43cm tall artisan bears have special character. THE ORIGINALSpattern, developed by Angela, follows that of vintage style bears with side seams, front darts, extra-long arms and just the cutest snout.

• THE ORIGINALSare jointed bears with movable heads, arms and legs.

• Hold up one of THE ORIGINALSbears, facing you. You will find the bear's unique style number embroidered on their inner right thigh. This number depicts the order that the bears were made. For example: BBO1 depicts the 1st or Browny Bears' THE ORIGINALSever made.

• The paws and footpads of THE ORIGINALS are made of real leather.

• A leather embossed logo is visible on THE ORIGINALS left arm or hand.

• THE ORIGINALSbear comes with an information card including the bears name, size, style number, date made and the designers signature.

THE MINITURES

Development of the Christmas festivity Miniatures

The festive miniatures are a range of miniature bears made for special festivities.

They are tiny, only 7cm in height. All bears are handsewn and have thread knotted joints, so their arms and legs are moveable. They have tiny, beaded eyes.

The first 11 festive miniature bears have been designed around Christmas festivities and are all made in red fur / plush from left over scraps from previously made bears. Angela hates to waste hence most bears are made of mixed fabrics. There are also Santa bears which come with beards. The Christmas decoration bears come with ribbons to attach to your tree.