Spring Bears

SPRING BEARS

Its a while since I last posted on my blog, I have been really busy with bear fairs and craft fairs and just had time to look around and I think, I hope, spring is here, daffodils in the garden is a sure sign and after making Apple Blossom my little pink and green elephant I seem to have continued with the spring theme in my bears. My latest creations are Blossom a miniature pink bunny, Meggi a delicate apple green 6 inch sweetie and Yoshi an 11 inch cream and smoky blue panda. It is fairly unusual for me to work with these bright colours, most of my bears are browns and creams and a lot of them aged. However, I am finding myself increasingly drawn to pretty bright colours at the moment, it must be with the cold and dreary winter we have had. Blossom bunny is on Bid4Bears

until Sunday. Meggi is on Ebay until Sunday and Yoshi the panda is available direct from my website (the link is on the top left of my Blog).

Warm Wishes
Pauline

A Lovely Break

A Lovely Break

Just got back from a lovely break in Wales which I needed to recharge my waning batteries. My daughter Charlotte had a few days holiday to take before the end of March so we decided to meet up and take a break together and we stayed at Bodelwyddann Castle Hotel just outside Llanduddno. The weather was cold but sunny and dry and the castle had acres of land which was lovely to wander around, would be even better in the summer months. Being an historical castle there was a super museum to look around with most of the original rooms still furnished and paintings on the walls and the upstairs there was a play room set out with Victorian puzzles which visitors were encouraged to have a go at, we spent a good hour or so in there.

I took some bears to sew up but didn't get any done at all as there was so much to do in the castle during the day. There was regular dance classes, painting classes, archery, shuffleboard, beetle drives, quizzes, air rifle shooting, indoor bowls to name but a few. Also there was a leisure center with swimming pool, sauna, gym etc. You could also have beauty treatments in this building.

The evenings started with dinner, followed by early evening dancing, quiz and bingo...... followed by an amazing musical theater show by the entertainments team. After this there was dancing to the resident band music until the early hours. For those who wanted a quieter time there was another place to go where you could sit and have a drink and listen to the resident lounge entertainer who played the keyboard and sang.

Now back to work on the bears as I have a show at the end of the week and Charlotte has gone back to her job in Suffolk where she is an entertainer at the sister hotel to the one we stayed at.

Pauline

A new design for spring

A New Design for Spring

The promise of oncoming spring in the air and a few green shoots popping up in the garden prompted me to dig out a piece of green mini bear fabric I have had stashed away for a few months. I designed a new baby elephant pattern a few weeks ago for a challenge on Teddy Talk and felt this was the ideal time to bring him/her to life. The outcome was Apple Blossom, she is just 4 inches high and I am really pleased with how she turned out. To my mind she was definitely a girl and told me she wanted to be dressed. I created the little dress specially for her, crocheted in very fine cotton yarn and finished it off with pink to match Apple Blossom’s inner ears and feet. I feel she may have some brothers or sisters soon but I have a few bears to finish for a forthcoming show at the end of the month.

New Year's Resolution!

New Year's Resolution!

Well has everybody that made New Year resolutions stuck at them? I make the same one every year to cut out biscuits, sweets and cake only to find myself a week after with such a huge craving (it’s like a drug) that I cram more of those goodies into my stomach than I normally do to satisfy the week long craving. I seem to gain about 5 pounds in weight each year and it sticks around my middle for some reason.

This year I decided not to make the resolution and just to have the goodies when I feel like them but cut down on the amount and thought, instead I would do more exercise. I hate the sweaty, greasy gym equipment so my favourite way is to dance. I love to ballroom and Latin dance but have let it slide over the last few years so that just before Christmas I wasn’t doing any at all but I signed up for a new ballroom and Latin course this year in a bid to burn some calories AND…. Wait for it….. an Egyptian belly dancing course, oh my, the shimmying and waggling of the tummy doing this is, I am sure going to do the trick, I think I may lose so much weight that it won’t matter how many chocolate bars I eat a week. Honestly though it is so enjoyable, I can highly recommend it.

The belly dance class has just ladies of all ages and shapes, some wear belts full of dangly coins that tinkle as they shimmy. The ballroom class I attend with my hubby so he is getting exercise too, nobody gets too dressed up at this class just smart trousers or skirts but the place where we go just to social dance (without lessons) is very, very dressy, its usually on one Saturday night per month and the ballroom floor is huge, it ends up in 3 lanes as the better dancers move into the middle and centre for more room so it is like the motorway, slow and beginners around the edge, improvers in the middle and the inside with the professionals doing the quick step at about 40 miles per hour, it can get a bit dangerous if you don’t have much floor craft (we are not the centre ones by the way!!)

The funny thing is I am less tired with these classes, I can feel worn out in the evening and after a couple of hours at dance class I come out (at nearly bedtime) feeling less tired than I went and on such a high I don’t want to go to bed. I usually do an hour or so bear making to unwind before bed and the next morning, I am full of energy I seem to get more done through the day.

I don’t know if this will last or if I am going to be disappointed when I get on the scales, but I am sure whatever the outcome it is good for the body and such fun. Everyone should try it.

Pauline

I'm Neele Felting at Last!!!

I'm Needle Felting at last!!!

Well, at last I think I am conquering the needle felting phobia…. I have longed to try but had this, big phobia going on for ages with the needles, I eventually took the plunge and got over it. The first try was just a hard round ball which I just discarded. The second try was this red bear head, not sure if I will treat him to a body and am thinking about this at the moment. The third try was to felt onto an already made bear’s face and this white bear is the result and I think I personally prefer this to making a bear from scratch. I didn’t find needle felting easy, I found it quite difficult to shape a bear’s head with a needle, sponge and bit of fluffy wool… amazing, and I am now in awe of the talented needle felt artists that make whole and beautiful creations. I am still in disbelief that I did not prick myself once …I did come very, very near… but I must admit I did use that needle very, very, very, very slowly ha ha, Charlotte had a bit of a laugh through this little challenge.

I do not love this technique but I am so glad I know how to do it now and I feel it will be a valuable addition to add to my bear making techniques for the future.

Warm wishes

Pauline

Needle Felting Mania

Happy New Year to All

Just a few pictures to start off 2008 with – Charlotte has still got the needle felting bug, she hasn’t made any mohair bears since getting started, I am amazed that she still has all her fingers intact she gets sooooo near with that needle!! I sometimes can’t take my eyes off the process and watch her pricking and shaping for hours with little bits of wool that looks like fluff and turns them into these cute bears. Chip, Nutmeg and Gretchen are the latest 3, I think they are getting prettier with each one.

I have had a little go and am still so scared of the needle that I cant use both hands so there isn’t much shaping getting done, I would like to master it and am trying to devise something long to hold the piece well away from my hand and then prick with the other, I tried with pliers but it was just squashing the piece out of shape (much to Charlotte’s amusement, she is trying so hard with me) – there must be a way, I will find one soon!! But in the meantime I am happy to carry on making my usual mohair bears.

Tagged!!!

I have been tagged, by Marlys of Waggle Bears, never been tagged before but I will play I think. I have to tell 5 little known facts about myself and then tag 5 other favorite blogs that I like to visit.

So here goes:-

1. I have a full driver's license but have not driven a car for over 7 years. I do plan to get back into it at some point.

2. When I was a child, on my way to school I amused myself by running to a lamp post, walking
to a lamp post, running to a lamp post, walking to a lamp post all the way there and back. I did grow up to be normal.... honestly!!

3. I started tap dancing in my 40s, gained 3 gold bars and danced on stage in amature pantomines for quite a few years.

4. When my family buy boxes of cereals at the supermarket, they hate it when I mix them all together into the same storage container to save space!

5. In Autumn, Spring and Winter my house has to be kept at 25 degrees as I hate the cold..... I always know when it is under or if it is over I get too warm and I hate that too. I am ok in the summer.

Well that is the 5 little known facts about me and now I am going to tag the following 5 bloggers, these bloggers I don't think have been tagged lately and also I so love their bears.

1 Honeypot Bears

2 Scruffie Bears

3 Bears By Jodi

4. Lanie Bears

5. Wylde Thyme Bears

Now you all have to do the same. The rules are:

• Share 5 random facts about yourself on your blog
• Link to your tagger (that's me!) in your "random fact" post
• Include these rules in your post
• Tag 5 people by including both their names and links to their blogs in your post
• Let those you've tagged know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

Have a good day

Warm wishes
Pauline

More Fun At The Fair!

Well Charlotte and I took a stand at a local craft fair last weekend, there has been a lot of discussions on Teddy Talk about promoting artist bears to people who do not know much about this craft. I printed out some awareness leaflets (an idea from Laura Lynn) to point out what an artist bear is, the price of mohair, type of joints and the finishing touches and handed these out to the public.

There were about 25 stands of different crafts and we were the only bear stand, we got such a lot of interest and surprisingly sold some bears, handed all the leaflets out and our business cards (you never know what comes from this) and had a fantastic day talking to everybody and the other exhibitors. Mind you, half way thorough the day my sister in law and her husband bobbed in to see us and whisked Charlotte of to a nearby pub for a swift half (I think that swift half turned into a few swift halfs) and I was left holding the fort. She did eventually come back and was walking straight so I forgave her.

We also got some leads for other similar craft stalls in our area and have booked up for a couple more, both for next month, we thought it a good idea as it was near to Christmas, the only trouble is for the second one we have to dress in Edwardian outfits, oh dear!! We are going to look sooooo comical, we are planning our outfits at the moment, we wonder whether to dress as Edwardian school children as we are both tiny (although I am not so tiny width ways!!) Anyway we are having fun looking at pictures of costumes and seeking out fabric. I will try and get some pictures on the day to put on here. Oh the exciting times our bear making brings to us!!

Warm wishes

Pauline

Friendly Challenge!

Well, Charlotte and I read the other week about a few bear artists who completed a bear in one day from start to finish and as we cannot seem to manage more than 2 bears per week each we began to discuss how they might manage this. Charlotte is not an early riser and whilst she is home from contracts usually crawls down the stairs between 9.00 - 10.00 am. I hinted that the fast bear artists may probably get up at dawn and sew until midnight and that Charlotte would not ever be able to get up in time to complete a bear in one day.

Anyway, being girls that love a challenge she said she would prove that she could get up early AND complete a bear in one day. I work in an internet office in the afternoons for 4 hours and said to Charlotte “ok, if you could do that then I bet I could, if I pushed myself, make one bear in a day AND go to the office in the afternoon as I was usually out of bed at 7.00 am. We agreed to do this on the Friday and were allowed to get our materials ready the day before.

Friday morning arrived and I jumped out of bed and was cutting out at 7.00 am, not expecting to see Charlotte until 10.00 am but to my surprise at 7.30 am she padded down the stairs, had a quick breakfast and started to cut out her bear. We were both doing miniatures and hand sewing away. I had to stop and go to the office and we hadn’t gotten further than a couple of limbs sewn up, but these little bears need such small stitching and we are both always striving for perfection in our bear making. Anyway we were enjoying our friendly challenge and had a few laughs pinching each other’s pieces, hiding each other’s thread etc. We decided we wouldn’t go to bed until they were finished.

I came home from the office and Charlotte was way in front of me but still not at stuffing stage, I had a quick tea and was back to work. We were still sewing at 11.00 pm and as Charlotte had gotten up at least 2 hours earlier than she normally did she was yawning! My fingers were aching by that time and my eyes were also closing and as we did not want to spoil these little bears that were looking stunning already we agreed that we had failed our challenge and reluctantly put them down and went to bed. We are in awe of the people that can manage to make a bear in one day.

Anyway the next day we did manage to finish them and so glad we did not stay up and spoil them, we are so pleased with the result. Kiyoshi the panda (my little one) and Cloud (Charlotte’s little one) made their debut on Ebay Sunday night.