Tagged!!

Tagged!

I was tagged by Ruth of Flutter Bye Bears . I have to say 6 random facts about me and tag 6 other people. Most people I see have been tagged already so I will just write the 6 random facts.

1. I have a driving license but haven't driven a car for about 10 years!.

2. When I was 6 years old I climbed out of the bedroom window to get a toy which I could see in the gutter that must have been dropped there by the children who lived there before us. The roof was slippy with rain and I fell into the garden on a rockery. I was taken to hospital but only had shock, no broken bones - the doctor was amused and said I must have floated down as I was so light and thin.

3. I eat dry bread, I hate butter, margerine, spread or mayo.

4. I have two's, I like things in two's and do things twice.

5. I learned my daughter to read as a baby (she is grown up now). I didn't work so had time and found a book called "Learn Your Baby to Read" that came with flash cards, you started them at 8 month. I didn't believe it would work but amazingly she could read before she could talk and fluently at 2 1/2.

6. When my family buy cereal they try to hide it as I mix it all together in a plastic carton to save space, it infuriates them having to eat a mixture of cornflakes, sugar puffs and rice crispies etc.

Have a nice day
Pauline

A Blog Award

Thank you to Sue of Fenbeary Folk for sending me this award, she is one of my favorite friends in the bear world and her bears are just gorgeous. Pop around to see her Fenland Blog

" The authors say that blogs who receive this award are exceedingly charming . This blog invests in proximity in space , time and relationships . These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends .They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandisement . Our hope is that when the ribbons of these awards are cut , even more friendships will be propagated . Please give your kind attention to these writers !Deliver this award to 8 bloggers who will choose 8 more , and include this cleverly written text in to the body of the award . "

Now the game is for me to send this to 8 other people who I want to have an award.

Number one is

Vee of Bumblebearies, I visit her blog often and enjoy her posts so much, she always makes me leave smiling, and she is a really lovely person. A link to her blog is on my blog list to the right

Number 2 is

Ruth of Flutterbye Bears, she has one of the most interesting blogs I visit and also her bears are super cute. She is also a lovely lady. A link to her blog is on my blog list to the right

Number 3 is

Catherine of Bumpkin Bears, I love to visit her blog to see what she is up to next, such a talented lady. You can also visit her from my blog list on the right

Number 4 is

Ellen Borrgreve, she has such a creative blog and some gorgeous bears to look at. She can be found on my blog list on the right

Number 5 is

All Bear by Paula Carter, I love to visit her blog, very entertaining and she is very inspiring and a lovely person, she creates some wonderful bears too. You can also find her on my blog list on the right

Number 6 is

Bootbutton Bears. I like to visit her blog, besides seeing her gorgeous vintage style bears she gives a brilliant insight into life in Australia. Visit her by clicking on Bootbutton Bears on my blog list.

Number 7 is:

Country Bears, by Clare, a lovely lady who makes wonderful primitive bears and raggedy dolls. Find her also on my blog list to the right.

Number 8 is:

Aleta Sillybears, a very creative, beautiful and entertaining blog and her bears are to die for. Click on Aleta Sillybears on my blog list to visit her.

Happy New Year

A Happy New Year!

Hello and a very happy 2009 to you all. My first bear to start the New Year is Gok, a tatty little panda bear. I had him in progress over the Christmas holiday, we went to the Suffolk area but I didn't get time to sew much. Anyway here he is and has now made it on to Ebay until Sunday evening.


I have just had a nice order of mohair fabric and in my excitement I cut 2 little rabbits out immediately, was in the middle of putting the pieces together and then stopped to cut out again, 2 bears this time. Then I later in the day I had another flash of inspiration which led to me having 2 rabbits and 5 bears cut out!! I normally only work on 2 at a time so it is a little daunting now to see all 7 of them placed in individual plastic bags waiting to be sewn up. So watch this space for some new little faces appearing soon.

Pauline

3rd Prize at BBAAs

A Proud Moment - 3rd Prize for Loretta

I would like to share my special moment. I was so proud on Sunday at Hove that my Loretta came 3rd in the dressed bear category. All the entrants were outstanding creations so I feel especially honored to receive this award.

My other entry Mungo was also a finalist in the miniature section.

I have my thinking cap on for next year now, I think competitions could perhaps become addictive, I just have to find more hours in the day somehow to bring all of the ideas in my head to life!

Pauline

British Bear Artist Awards!!

British Bear Artist Awards!!

Good news for me and the bears!!


I am so happy and proud as I just found out yesterday that I have 2 nominations in the British Bear Artist Awards for my bears - Mungo in category one (miniatures) and Loretta who is in the dressed bear category. The final judging will take place on the 23 November. How exciting!

Pauline

Where has summer gone!!

Well, I must have blinked and missed it - I am talking about the summer, have we had one, we must have because it's September AGAIN. I can count on one hand the times we have mowed the lawn, got the garden chairs out, only to take them in again as soon as we sat down either because it was too cold or it rained after 10 minutes, hung the washing out in sunshine. I could go on!!

I have to say though that Autumn is lovely in its own way (of course it would be better if you had had a bit of sun through the summer!), I love the colours outside, love the cosy fire, the cuddly jumpers that I can hide my bigger bits under and the shops starting to get festive goodies in to buy. With Autumn approaching I have just completed my first Halloween bear. Ghostie was a commission for a special collector. I will miss him as I have a soft spot for him but I know he is going to a lovely home so it's on with the next bear now.

Enjoy the Autumn and lets home for an Indian Summer, if not a better one next year!

Pauline

A New Elephant

A New Elephant

Hello, just thought I would pop on to show my new creation. Little Libby is the 3rd miniature elephant I have made. Apple Blossom was the first I made in spring and then Fleur, the second one was born. I tweaked the pattern a little each time and think I now have it how I wanted it to look and Libby is my favorite of them all. I knew she was going to be a girl before I started her. Most of my bears and animals are boys. I do try to make a few girls but sometimes when I dress them they look at me like thunder and demand the girls clothes off immediately. It's difficult with some bears though to decide what sex they are until you start to accessorise the bears, most times they only ask for a nice matching bow and other times - well I get carried away and one of my favorite parts of making the bear is finding the right accessory at the end. Libby has decided to go on to Ebay this week to look for a new Mum or Dad.

Pauline

New Design

A New Bear Design
I have been busy for a while now improving my needle felting and wanted to incorporate it into my bears in some ways. I do love trying out new tecniques, some I never try again but with needle felting I wanted to persevere until I mastered it as I could see the potential detail I would be able to add to my bears. I finally came up with a bear design that I am very pleased with. These are the first two, with needle felted faces and feet detail. The khaki coloured one is called Corky and was adopted last week and is now living in Scotland and the little blue one is Bugsy, who is now on Ebay looking for a new home. There are more in the pipe line but I am awaiting a lovely mohair order arriving and can't wait to get started when it arrives.

Pauline

Fairs

Just thought I would pop in post a bit of news of what I have been up to. Besides a little holiday in beautiful Scotland (a few pictures to see), I have been mega busy with fairs and craft fairs this year, I now have a break from fairs though until October and then it all starts again. They are so much fun and I get to meet loads of people. I quickly realised that the craft fairs do not result in the sale of many bears but they are a good opportunity to promote the work of a bear artist and hopefully gain new collectors in the future - or even a few new bear makers, so this has compensated for the lack of sales at the smaller craft fairs. I have started taking along small bits and pieces of hand made things to sell which pays for the stand. However, I have decided to cut down next year on how many I do as I haven't been able to make as many bears and will book maybe just 2 craft fairs nearer home and then still do the bear fairs but maybe not as many as I have this year. It is easy to sit and sew bears at the fairs I know but I always feel it rude to sit behind my stand and sew, I to chat as much as possible to anybody who comes to look and also chat to other exhibitors. But as much as I have enjoyed them I will enjoy the summer break from them and catch up on some new bear designs that have been ticking over in my head.

Warm wishes
Pauline