Isabella was born in Freiburg, Germany, and grew up in the Black Forest region of the country. She moved to the United States in 1980, and became a U.S. citizen in 1984. She eventually settled in Wisconsin, and married the love of her life, David, on St. Patrick's Day.
Isabella has a very creative, artistic background and drive. She has enjoyed many different hobbies and career paths including retail, management, and even dental lab technology (making teeth!) before finding her fit in the mohair Teddy Bear making world. Soon after opening a small shop, she was invited to host classes for bear making at a local technical college, and has continued as the owner and operator of her business, Bearly Collectibles, since 1995. She is also currently a bear designer for the toy company Clemens Spieltiere GMbh in Germany.
Today Isabella is an accomplished mohair Teddy Bear artist, having been awarded 2nd place in a National Fiber Arts competition in 2000 and receiving a nomination for the Golden
George Award for the Toy Industry in Germany in 2005. She has also employed her love of helping and teaching others and is a wonderful instructor. She has taught everything from Teddy Bear making, three-dimensional needle felting and machine felting, to heirloom sewing, quilting, knitting, children’s sewing and German Language Conversation. Many of her students have gone on to become widely recognized Teddy Bear artists, are business owners themselves, or have received Toby nominations and other local awards.
Willow Nook "Machine Needle Felting" Timeless Collection is the first How-to-book that Isabella wrote.
This most recent innovative endeavor involves the relatively new artform of Machine Needle Felting and the methods she's created with which to capture the true detail and spirit of real life moments and scenes. Combining the nearly effortless meshing of pieces of felted wool using a felting machine and the embellishment of these wool "puzzles" with beading, embroidery and shading techniques, she is helping to move this very new and surprisingly simple form of expression into the mainstream for everyone to enjoy. Now available at www.amazon.com
or e-mail Isabella : bearlycollectibles@hotmail.com
bearlycollectibles@hotmail.com 414.327.0751
About Isabella
Isabella Hoffmann.com
