Hello. My name is Mary Jo Sichak and this is my self pawtrait. I have been designing and creating bears for 7 years now. From the very start bringing special bears and other critters to life has been a passion for me. My bears have appeared in the pages of Teddy Bear and Friends and the Teddy Bear Review in the US, The Teddy Bear Scene in the UK, and Teddy Bear Fan Club in Japan. I have bears in the Teddy Bear Museum in Cheju Island, South Korea and the Puppenhaus Museum in Switzerland. I have won awards and currently I have a bear nominated for the TITA (Tokyo International Teddy Award) and and I have a nomination for a Golden Teddy. But better than any award is the great feeling I get when I think about my bears being in homes in the private collections of people throughout the US, Canada, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, England, Germany, Singapore. I enjoy making bears of all kinds but I have to say I especially love creating a one of a kind bears for special people. It is such fun to try and create a bear that looks like a certain individual, commemorates a special event, memorializes a loved one.