Here I'm 2 yrs old
A creative life....
My name is Thea de Bruin (1965), I am the designer behind Milly Me®.
I live in the east of The Netherlands with my husband Bert and a Small Münsterlander dog.
As a young child I lived in my own fairytale land. I played endlessly with my dolls and teddy bears. I grew up with a needle in my hand, thanks to my mother who was a and still is wonderful seamstress. A great part of my childhood has been spent sitting cross legged on the floor, cutting and stitching tiny clothes for my bears and dolls. Nowadays I still work like this as if nothing has changed. In my "adulthood" I attended the School of Fashion in the city of Arnhem for a few years.
Until today I still live in fairytale land, creating teddy bears, rabbits & mice.
I find my inspiration everywhere in a long list of things that I love: antique doll clothes, antique toys, teddy bears, trims, beads, scrapbooking, visiting a great variety of exhibitions etc. etc. etc.
Even a special piece of lace or fabric, found on a flea market can set my brain racing with ideas to create around it!
Each piece is made by hand and created with deep love & passion. I enjoy this very much. I take a lot of pride in my work and spend hours upon hours to give each of my creatures their own personality and lovely designed clothes. I pay close attention to details to ensure that my teddy bears and other creatures look and feel wonderful.
Therefore I only use high quality mohairs, beautiful fabrics and supplies. I feel it adds "soul" to the character.
In this way Milly Me® wants to be exclusive. For this reason I don’t make duplicate teddy bears unless I decide myself. So I apologize, but I don’t take any custom orders for making teddy bears for this reason. I do not intend to change this concept.
Meanwhile my creations have found their way all over the world! So I’m very proud. What I want to achieve is that my bears bring hugs and smiles to the new owner. I want them to be the “ keepers” of new memories.
I feel very grateful receiving emails of my customers telling me how they love their new furry friends.
To me these are the best complements ever that a teddy bear artist can get. To me those are the best compliments ever that a teddy bear artist can get. It also feeds my chaotic and creative soul. And they make “my journey” in life possible…….
Thea de Bruin - Milly Me®
