Daniella Vereeken resides in Hemiksem, Belgium, close to Antwerp, and is the creative force behind Barboni-Bears and Creatures.

Her biggest fans are her husband Patrick and Korben,
7 years old. “Both are the light of my life. I could not ask for a more supportive team.”

“My journey into the world of bears and other creatures started on a sad note but soon turned my whole world upside down, bring me great joy!”

In 2013, the joyous anticipation of their first child was met with sorrow when, at 10 weeks, no heartbeat was detected. Daniella was left heartbroken by the loss.

In an effort to ease her grief, a good friend took Daniella to a hobby fair, hoping to distract her.

"She bought me a teddy bear making kit," Daniella recalls. "I was grateful, but initially,
I didn't think it was something I wanted to do." However, with her friend's encouragement eventually she give it a try.

"I started to cut and sew the material, and to my surprise,
soon I had created a bear!"

“Piece by piece I found my happiness and joy again.
I will forever be grateful that she introduced me to this fascinating bear world!”

When challenged with something new, Daniella dives in and discovers every aspect, and that’s exactly what she did.

Blueberry Honey Bunny

Woocka

Stardust

Draconis Limoncello

Spot

Soon Daniella began drawing her own patterns and creating not just bears but whimsical creatures.

“I learned how to needle felt and sculpt polymer clay so I could add unique details to my creations.”

Combining all these techniques along with her imagination, she is able to create detailed faces, paw pads, horns, claws for her creations.

“You just need to try everything and discover what works for you!”

“I admire many teddy bear artists styles, and think it is important for every artist to discover their own style and create what is in their heart!”

All of her pieces are one-of-a-kind.

In 2019 Daniella packed up her creations and exhibited in her first teddy bear fair.

“How I loved it! It was a thrill to see people looking at my creations, smiling and falling in love with them!”

The encouragement she received from fellow bear artist was heart warming. Since then she has made many good friends who are all in this wonderful bear-world.

She attends two to four exhibitions a year, “I need time between events to design and make new pieces.

Aranea

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Goldy Locks

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Luscious Lily

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Sweetie Pie

Elini

She absolutely loves the imaginary, whimsical creatures, with bright colours, wings, claws and sometimes teeth. “I let my imagination flow and see where it takes me.”

Daniella loves to create bears, but her heart is with creatures standing on all four legs!

“My dragons, my horses, my dogs, griffons, is where I can lose myself completely!”

Each is very intricate and takes hours to created, especially the creatures with wings!

"Many people have no idea what goes into making a bear or a fantasy creature.

It starts by creating the pattern, selecting the combination of fabrics, sewing everything by hand, even creating the aluminum frame that runs through the entire body to create the neck, legs, tails, horns and wings.

Time to assemble the sewn body over the frame to making custom hand-painted eyes, even making the head, ears, claws and horns in polymer clay.

Detailed techniques are used to created wings, and finally it all comes together and a new beastie is born."

While Daniella is exhibiting in fairs, she sells her hand painted glass eyes, hand sculpted clay noses and paw pads for other bear makers to use in their creations.

She does not sell her patterns, however she is weighing the idea
of conducting bear making workshops soon.

“In 2020 my work was featured in the Teddy Bear Times and Friends magazine. “Two of my favorite creations where featured on the cover!

In 2022 I participated at my first Bears&Buds URSA Awards Competition. I won First Place for my dragon Stardust and a Second Place with Sambucca, a dragon and his handler Lilly.

In 2023 I entered again in the URSA Awards Completion won a Third Place ribbon for Fenrir, a whimsical dog-like creature.

In 2023 I entered Fenrir in the Golden George competition in Germany, where I received a bronze teddy bear head award.

I enjoy the competitions
and I hope to compete for many more years to come!"

As the year unfolds, Daniella is eager to breathe life into more creations with each one destined to bring a smile to the faces of collectors.

Barboni-Bears
Daniella Vereeken

Lyla Bunny

Passion fruit

Sambucca

Scarlett

Fenrir