Thingumy & Co

Indian Summer?

2011-10-01T10:52:00.000+01:00

Good day fellow bloggers and blog followers! Yet another month has skipped past me and I have no idea what I have done with all that time! Naturally I have been busy sewing, getting ready for a show next month in Sheffield, my only show this year!

This last week has been an odd one. Not only has the weather been acting strange but my mind has been following suit! We have been having temperatures up in the high 20's which is most odd for this time of year but we must make the most of it as no doubt it will be a long cold winter.......which I have to say is most welcome to me as I am a winter loving girl! Nothing makes me happier than long cold wintry walks, howling gales and snow! I can put on my thick jumpers, wooly socks and curl up on the sofa in front of a nice coal fire and read a good book..........heaven! I hate loathe and detest hot weather, it makes me all uncomfortable and grumpy!

As for my mind being a bit odd well that is fairly common place really, I have always been an out of the box thinker and some of my ideas are a tad 'out there' but recently it has been my beary business that has caused me great consternation. Sales have been horrible this last few months and I had to consider giving it all up and going back to main stream work (yeuch). But not being a quitter I have decided to struggle on and see if things improve over the next six months. Mercenary though it may sound, I am waiting on the outcome of my husbands claim for compensation. If he gets enough money we can pay off our debts and the burden of having to make a certain amount of money a month is lifted from my shoulders and I can suffer some bad months a lot easier. I have however decided to reduce my prices to make the bears more affordable to everyone who wants to collect but is in the same boat as me!

Also I got sick and tired of my website! I was having huge problems with it just not doing what I wanted it to do and I get plain old fed up with paying for something that was not giving me value for money so I moved the whole lot over to blogger and now run my business from there. It is much easier and I rather like the look of it too thanks to Shabby Blogs who have some amazing templates to make it all look lovely! My new website/blog can be found at http://thingumyandco-bry.blogspot.com .

Lastly I have been working on a new design. Well it is an old design that I love but there was something missing so I fiddled around with it and now I am delighted with it, hope you all like the new bears that I have created from it.

It only remains for me to say ttfn and speak to you again soon :0)x

Autumn is here.....hoorah!

2011-09-07T11:53:00.000+01:00

My apologies for the huge gap in musings! I can't believe it is already the 7th of September! I haven't been on here since mid July! I wish I had a good excuse but I don't! I have been busy sewing as usual and have even taken a small break and disappeared off to South Wales for a few days but apart from that life jogs along as normal.

I love this time of year, the trees are all turning and changing out of their green coats and donning the reds and oranges of Autumn. The winds have started to blow a chillier tune and the sky has turned a paler blue and the sun is losing her heat. I adore the Autumn and Winter months, I positively look forward to the end of summer as I like nothing more than rain and sleet, snow and ice. I have no idea why I guess I am just a home bird who likes to snuggle up in warm sweaters and have log fires and warming food none of which you can get away with in the summer!

My darling hubble is going into hospital next week to have more spinal surgery. I am not looking forward to this as I do worry so but this op is supposed to be easier and quicker than the others he has had so I am hopeful that he will not be in hospital for long and that his recovery is quicker.

I also have a show coming up in November and I am plodding away with my schedule to get lots of bearies done in time. I am managing to fill up the fair box quite nicely but have decided on doing no more commissions this year, maybe never again as I find them so draining and sapping on the old creativity!

I have a couple of little lovelies to share before I go, there is Skipper the Beagle Puppy who happened by chance and is a real dream boat and a couple of little Ellies and mini bears that I produced in August, hope you like them :0)

Until next time.........ttfn xxx

It's been a while

2011-07-22T11:59:00.000+01:00

It feels like such a long time ago since I last posted on here!! It was in fact only last Friday, wow!!! To be honest not a huge amount has happened in that time, just the usual day to day life plus the normal family hassles and nightmares! When my hubby and I decided to be parents we had a very different idea of what that would be like than it actually turned out to be! I adore my kids, they have given me a depth and meaning to life that I would never have wanted to not know but at the same time they have given me more heartache and despair than I thought possible! I imagined that by the time they were all past 18 years old they would be either at Uni, working, in relationships or doing something cool and maybe even crazy! Not so, my oldest is just on the cusp of moving in with his girlfriend, he is there more than he is here but he can't find a decent job and works in a sports bar, he is happy enough but is a bit adrift where work is concerned as he just doesn't know what he wants to do. My daughter who turns 20 in a few days works part time in a supermarket, she is really intelligent but suffers with mild Aspergers and a serious lazy streak! She seems to be so completely adrift, I worry constantly about her future and she seems to be choosing some extremely questionable men to get involved with too! Then there is child number 3, he is probably the most switched on of the three and takes all opportunities when they come to him, he hasn't worked a proper job since he left school and couldn't even get into college because the course he wanted to do were all full. He would love to join the army but they won't take him cos of his foot problems so despite looking for apprenticeships and applying for everything going he remains out of work (well he does two short shifts in the supermarket). I can do no more than I have, I encourage, cajole, shout, scream and push them as much as I can but it seems to me that our youth have lost interest in life! When I was 18 I was living away from home and having a really good time, out every night making the most of my youth, what has changed? We didn't have computers then, only the basic machines like the Amstrad with the tennis game - anyone remember that? Even so, why now would you want to live your life on a computer rather than getting out there and finding something interesting to do with your life? I don't understand it at all!

Anyhow, I should not waffle on about my kids, they are good kids at heart and have never been in any trouble and have hearts of pure gold. I just worry about their future and I want my house back!!! LOL

I had a fabulous show last weekend and sold 8 out of the 10 bears I had on offer, it was great fun and unlike the real life shows I could sit in my PJ's throughout the whole thing! Can't do that at the in person shows!!! LOL The little Ellie and bear left have since found new homes so all in all it was a great success. I thought I would share the three critters to have made an appearance this week, first is Lord Popple a vintage style prim bear, a whopping 11" tall (big for me), next is the diminutive Piri a mini vintage ellie and last but not least, Bun Bun (rather unimaginative name I know) who is a new bunny design, which needs some adjustment but is rather cute nonetheless!

Lord Popple

Piri

Bun Bun

I must get on with my day, hope you all have a fabulous weekend, I shall be back with more nuggets of wisdom and hopefully bears next week!

TTFN x

The time is nigh..........

2011-07-15T18:46:00.000+01:00

..........for Bears on Parade. In just two and half hours from now all the bears will go live on the internet, I hope lots of you get the chance to pop along and see all the wonderful creations on offer. I finally managed to get 10 bears done and have dropped in a wee taster of the bears for you to see.

If you want to see more then pop along to the show at:

I am currently working on some new and exciting pieces of art which I should be able to share with you soon, totally not bear orientated but pandering to my rather quirky nature.

Until next time.....TTFN xx

Bears on Parade

2011-06-30T12:46:00.000+01:00

I may have previously mentioned that I am participating in an online show called Bears on Parade and tomorrow is the preview for it. There will be a picture from each participating artist so it will be a great opportunity to get a taster of what will be on offer when the show starts on the 15th of July.

Click on the picture below to visit the site:

I really hope you can make it to the show on the 15th, where I have got lots of lovely scrumptious bears all waiting patiently for new homes :0)

Now that bit of blatant self publicity is out of the way I thought I would share some piccies of the kittens. They spend most of the time running around my workroom like total loonies!!! My feet are scratched to ribbons where they keep practicing their hunting skills on me!!! They are all still totally adorable and I still do not want to part with them.

This is a rare moment of rest!! I have made the fatal mistake of naming them all and have changed my little kitties name three times now but this last one has stuck. The little black one is called Noir, the tabby is Minerva, the little Bengal lookalike with the white tip on her tail is Winky and the one without is Moo-shoe!!! I know that Moo-shoe is supposed to be spelt more like Mu-shu but I like the phonetic spelling better!

My sons operation was cancelled at the last minute yesterday and I am not at all happy about it, neither is he and they have given us no clue as to when surgery will be rescheduled for, so it is back to the waiting game again! It means that I can do a bit more work before the weekend whereas previously I was going to be looking after the invalid!!!

I must get on, lots to do as usual

TTFN xx

Musings......

2011-06-27T11:30:00.000+01:00

I never know what title to give my blog updates, perhaps I will go with something a little different in future, something random like blibble or flump!!!!

Anyhow, I am sweltering here in Lincolnshire it is 11 in the morning and already I feel like I am melting and have my fan on full blast but it is just circulating hot air!!!! Thank goodness the heat is only supposed to last today and hopefully by tomorrow it will be more comfortable! That is one of the problems with this country, we get everyone else's second hand weather and so we have one hot day, two rainy days, a thunderstorm, hail and a bit more rain then sun and so on!!!! Today is forecast to be 31degrees, too hot for me!

My youngest child Andy is finally getting his foot operation done this week so I will be busy running up and down to Leicester. We have to go today for his pre-op and then back again Thursday at 7.15am for the actual op. Fortunately he is just in for the day as it is a small op and then I guess back up there in a few weeks for a check up.

I received my copy of the Teddy Bear Annual, a really fantastic twice yearly magazine edited by the lovely Kathy Martin today. They have written a brilliant article about me and my furry little creations and I am over the moon with it. On the back of this article I have been asked to teach a Master Bear Class next Autumn with Jean and Bill Ashburner of Bear Bits fame and am absolutely over the moon about that too! I will keep you posted on that one as it is not until next year.

Anyhoodle, there was an article in the magazine of a rather controversial nature which has had some bear artists up in arms. It was written by a lady by the name of Sandi Smith of Barely Sane Bears in Australia. I don't agree with her views altogether although she does raise some good and valid points and I commend Kathy for putting it in the magazine. We need controversy sometimes to make us sit up and not get to stagnant. It is easy for us to do the same thing day in and day out and get into a rut of apathy. Then along comes a person with strong views who airs them in the most public manner and we all suddenly wake up and take notice! Sandi believes that the bear making industry needs regulating and a code of ethics by which we should all stick. This is totally unrealistic and I can't imagine that there would be a soul out there willing to take on that particular job! However she has said that 'some' artists are deceiving their customers by putting OOAK on their work and that this implies that the bear is a one off never to be repeated pattern. Here I strongly disagree, One of A Kind means that this bear in this form will never be repeated. It doesn't mean that I am only going to use this pattern once, that would be ludicrous and I don't think that one of my customers has ever seen me produce the same bear twice unless I sold it as an edition!

The only point in which we were in agreement was that she finds the blatant copying and passing off work made from someone else's pattern abhorrent, I do to. I used to sell some of my patterns but stopped having seen my patterns used and sold as the bear makers own work. However the only solution to this is either costly court cases or just don't sell the patterns in the first place which is where I am now. I will never ever sell another pattern.

The last comment she made was that too many of us call ourselves artists. Um....excuse me but I am an artist. I have a design book which holds every bear I have ever created in its original drawn form from which I make the patterns. Yes I design but the bear itself is a little work of art, it is not to be played with but displayed and enjoyed. I wouldn't give my kids a Rembrandt or a Picasso and say....'go have fun with this'!!! I believe that most professional bear makers these days are most definitely artists and should have no fear or guilt in using that title.

There, my rant is over!

I have to sign off now as I need to leave for the hospital, but before I go I thought a quick update on the kittens...................they are running around, climbing up my legs and being a general nightmare but still uber fluffy and so very cute! I tried to get some photographs but they move too fast so I need to catch them at rest!!!

Also I thought I would share the latest bear......Rosaria Cupcake, she found herself a new home very fast, hope you like her.

Have a wonderful week..........TTFN xx

Garden update

2011-06-20T14:41:00.000+01:00

As you know I have been doing my best to battle bindweed and try and do something nice with my rather concretey garden. We have lived here in Lincolnshire for nearly 10 years now and have never really done a great deal with the garden, either we have been too busy or the lack of interest flag has been out and we have just let the chickens run wild. Chickens do not like to eat bindweed so for a number of years that was the only thing that grew!!!

Since David had his accident he has not been able to do any digging or weeding so the garden just went from bad to worse. Since giving up work at the beginning of this year I decided to put some time and energy into making it a pleasant place to sit in the summer. I have done about all I can do for this year and it is just a question of keeping it weed free and hoping the plants grow and survive!

So this is how it looks today, the sun is shining and lots of my plants are flowering and all my pea plants are thriving and today I picked my first crop

On the right hand side of our garden we have the original wall built in the 1800's but it was hidden behind yet more bindweed and some rather well established forsythia.

Well a few weeks ago we dug most of the forsythia out, thinned back the Laurel which is growing by the back door and had a damn good dig over of the rather pathetic soil there. We found this fabulous old concrete sink set into the wall which the cats have been using as a sort of bed but I have cleaned it up and am using it to put my pots in.

Now I have added in some plants and the majority of the tomato plants it is looking much better.

I am ridiculously proud of my efforts this year as the majority of it I have done on my own and turned my horrible concrete weed infested dog toilet into a pleasant place to have a brew and enjoy the sunshine.

I have great plans for next year which involve some bricklaying, fence building and even a touch of lawn laying!!! How much gets done is dependent on many things but watch this space.

I will leave you with a piccie of one hot and bothered canine and some gorgeous tealights which are hanging in my maple (will get some night time pics soon when they are lit).

TTFN xx

Rainy days and Sundays

2011-06-19T13:45:00.000+01:00

The weather continues to be a misnomer at the moment, one minute bright gorgeous sunshine, the next we are deluged with rain! Makes gardening a bit haphazard but I always have lots to do to keep me occupied.

I took a couple of days off this week to do the usual family errands. On Friday I had to take my youngest up to Leicester hospital for his latest appointment. When we arrived (early for once) we were refused admittance due to an armed gunman apparently running amok somewhere in the hospital! We had seen a police helicopter circling as we drove up to the hospital but I never saw a single police officer the whole time we were there! Eventually we were allowed in and incredibly were on time! As we thought Andy has to have a small op to free up a tendon in his ankle but it is looking increasingly like he will also have to have a more major op at some point to re-align his ankle. All this from a simple game of football!

I had some nice quality time with my hubby yesterday. He fiddle with his bike, cleaning it and stuff and I did some more potting of plants and general garden maintenance whilst it wasn't raining. I have also become slightly addicted to Michael Powell cross stitches and so spent the latter part of the day sewing whilst watching a rather interesting men's final at Eastbourne.

I am slowly catching up with the bears for my online show but was sidetracked a smidge with a rather interesting request from one of my favourite collectors who wanted a felty faced moggie. I haven't done any of them for years and no longer had my old pattern so I started afresh and here is the result. I rather like him, what do you think?

Another rather cute distraction whenever I go to do any work these days are the growing kittens. They are so beautiful I just do not know how I will be able to part with them!!! I couldn't get any really good pictures as they just wont sit still long enough but managed to get these.

They are all walking now although somewhat wobbly but oh my are they wonderful. We also discovered this week that they are in fact all girls, not sure how I made the mistake of thinking one was a boy. We have named them.....the little black one is Muzzy, the tabby is Minerva, and the twins are Winky and Puddles.

Right time to get on with some work, my poor old hubby has had to go to work today so I am going to use the time to get some more work done on my show bears.

TTFN xx

Summer?

2011-06-13T11:43:00.000+01:00

It really is hard to believe that it is supposed to be summer. Saturday night saw some of the heaviest rain I have seen in years, my poor garden was deluged in hail and it took quite a battering! We had thunder, high winds, roads were flooded and parts of the garden resembled a rather muddy swimming pool! All that on the weekend that parts of Lincolnshire had been declared drought areas!

I managed to get a fair bit of work done last week and made the most darling 6" bear called Mrs Wilkinson who found a new home super fast. I adored her and was tempted to keep her but I am trying to run a business and won't make much money if I keep all my bears! What do you think of her?

This week I am going to catch up with a couple of new orders and get some more website bears done plus one or two for the upcoming online show.

The kittens are coming on great, they are starting to explore their area now and are often spread out around the work room mewing for Mum to come and find them! The are still very unsteady on their pins, they get wobbly on to all four feet, take a couple of tentative steps then collapse in a heap! They are getting cuter by the day and I just love them! Parting with them will be very difficult, I can see it now!

Time for me to get sorted out, a trip to the vet to get their wormer is on the cards today then I can get on and do some work.

Have a fabulous week everyone :0)x

Another drab June day

2011-06-06T12:00:00.000+01:00

Gosh the weather just does not know what to do with itself. Yesterday we had wind, rain, hot sun and then more rain and wind! Today it is positively chilly and grey! Never mind, as with all drab days it is the perfect excuse to get in the old work room and do some sewing!

Not much has gone on since I last posted. I worked quite hard last week, got some more commissions completed and worked hard in the garden. The boys, encouraged by David, got out chainsaws and axes on Sunday and hacked away at our garden wall....just look at them go.....

My garden is now looking much bigger but oh boy what a mess to clear up now!

I have just listed a new ellie on ebay, they are my absolute favourite thing to create at the moment and hate to drag myself away from them, I have a little mini beary on the go upstairs which should make his/her debut either tomorrow or Wednesday. If you would like to visit little Columbus just click on his picture and that will take you to his auction.

Columbus

The kittens continue to grow exponentially, I can hardly believe that they are nearly two weeks old already, very soon they will be up and about and creating havoc in my work room, then perhaps it will be time to find them a new home in the house!!!

Time for me to get my butt in gear and do some work xx

Another Wet May Bank Holiday!

2011-05-30T12:39:00.001+01:00

I guess I shouldn't complain about the rain.....my garden has been suffering from severe lack of water so the rain is most welcome.....besides rainy days are the best excuse in the world to stay home and do nothing or in my case to stay home and do some work!

I have finally got around to finishing a sweet little Ellie who I have put on Ebay this morning.....he is another of the mini series of elephants which I just love making!

Livingstone - click on the pic to visit the auction

The hubby and boys have disappeared off to Cadwell Park racing circuit this weekend for a spot of marshalling and my youngest is spannering for a racer which he is really excited about as this is his dream job and would love nothing better than to work for one of the big racing teams. If enthusiasm was the only requirement for such a job he would be doing it already!!!!

The kittens are doing really well, getting fatter by the day. I didn't see the point in taking any more pics at the moment as you can see from the one below not much has changed. I have decided to keep one of the twins, who after a bit of tail lifting appears to be a girl. I would love to keep them all but just know that I would be a divorcee within the month if I did that! Besides I couldn't afford to feed all of them!!! Mrs Norris is a fab mum although I think she gets a bit bored and is seen out of the box a lot more now just to get some 'me' time! That said if you have the audacity to pick up one of her babies she is straight back giving you the evils until you put back said baby!!!

I was lucky enough this week to be offered a place in the Bears on Parade online show. This is taking place in July and I very much hope you will bookmark it and come along and visit the bears :0) I was pleased to get a place as I had to cancel all my physical shows this year. The uncertainty of the boys hospital appointments meant that I just couldn't committ to shows which is such a shame as I do love getting out there and meeting all the collectors!

Well given that the weather is so grim, I have a commission piece to finish today and then I can get on with some fun stuff.

Have a great week good peeps xxxxx

Itty Bitty little bundles of gorgeousness!!!

2011-05-26T01:45:00.000+01:00

Last year my daughter moved away from home and against my advice bought a moggie, just a cute little tabby kitten who grew into a beautiful little cat. She is friendly and loving and totally adorable. When my daughter decided to move home she brought the cat with her. A few weeks ago I noticed that Mrs Norris (huge Harry Potter fan here!) was a tad porky, on further investigation it turns out she was expecting! This afternoon she gave birth to four little bundles of fluff and gorgeousness!

She made the entire process of giving birth seem ridiculously easy. The whole thing was over and done with in a couple of hours! She didn't complain once and purred like a train when we stroked her!! She has one black one, a tabby just like her, and twins who are a sort of speckled tabby. I intend to keep one of them as they are just too gorgeous for words!

I had every intention of knuckling down and getting some serious work done today but with all the furore surrounding the birth I just couldn't concentrate for long, I kept on turning round to look at them (they are in my workroom as it is the quietest room in the house).

Perhaps tomorrow will see a little more production on the creative front!

Before I go though here is a piccie of the last bear I finished already off to his new home :0)

Toodles :0)xx

Motivation?

2011-05-24T12:19:00.001+01:00

My mojo is feeling a little depressed at the moment. I am finding it very hard to get motivated and so have had a shocking month in terms of sales cos apart from my commissions I have just not been doing a great deal!

My birthday came and went and hubby bought me a smashing new sewing machine. I had great plans for being a quilting diva and started out on a quilt at the weekend. It is very simple to start as I have no experience of quilting and not a bloody clue what to do. I have sat and watched hours of You Tube video on how to quilt and have made a tentative start on a special quilt that is under wraps until it has been delivered to its intended recipient! I soon discovered however that free motion quilting is really really hard and I need to practice A LOT, so I am staying with simple straight lines for now!!! It has boosted my enthusiasm a little but my mojo is still pretty much missing in action!!!

I guess the main reason for the lack of motivation is that simple fact that sales have been depressed, no matter how fab I think a piece is the collectors seem to disagree as they are just not buying much. I have put stuff on Ebay which always has been good to me but even then the prices are disappointingly low. I know that the world economy is in free fall so I shouldn't expect so much, but the bills have to be paid and I am not going back out into the big bad world of work.....so I am determined to ride this out and keep making my little creations and hope that things improve :0)

Here is what I did manage to create this week.

I have to confess that I truly love creating the little mini felted face bears, they are so much fun to make and I am working on a slightly bigger one with a really really really fat body at the moment, piccies soon :0)

Time to get back to work and bully my creativity into line!!! Until next time..........xxxx

It's Monday again!!!

2011-05-16T14:10:00.000+01:00

I just do not know where the weeks go, it seems like only yesterday I was writing this blog commenting on another new week!!! Sigh, well time doesn't stop for any of us does it?

I had a rather quiet week last week, did a lot of thinking which can be really dangerous but I survived the thinking process and didn't really come up with anything fascinating or world changing!!!

I made a couple more mini Ellies which I just adore. The first was LuLu who found herself a new home on Ebay

And the second was the delectable Puddles who is waiting patiently on my website for a new home :))

I just adore Puddles, he is everything I love about creating bears and elephants and other things, he is teeny weeny and sits in the palm of my hand and oooozes character. I was tempted to keep him but I have to keep my business head on and he really does need to find a new home.....he will most likely make his Ebay debut later on today.

Well not only has another week passed but another year has flown by and I woke up this morning another year older! I did comment to my husband that I wondered why we celebrate getting older, he merely laughed and said it was more like celebrating the fact that we had made it through another year! I really do not like birthdays. The shallow part of me wants lots of pressies but the rational sane side of me would rather just have a normal day but with copious tea and no housework!!! That is my idea of a perfect birthday, tea on demand and someone else can sodding well clean!!!

After many years of being without, my gorgeous hubble has purchased me a brand spanky new sewing machine. I do not have a good track record with sewing machines which is one of the reasons why I hand sew everything I ever do, I have been even known to hand sew curtains!!!! I am not too sure why I don't gel with sewing machines but I have, to date, had three, all of them second hand and all of them have given me grief! I struggled with the first two to even thread the damn things (would you believe I have a university education?), then I could never get the tension right and sewing in a straight line really was a challenge for me! However I am convinced that now I am older and wiser I can master my nemesis and so I am prepared to try again!!! I have, for a long time, had an urge to make quilted creations, I just adore the wonderful colourful fabric that you can buy now and would just love to make quilts. I mentioned to himself in a massive hint that I wanted a machine for my birthday and the adorable man has come good. I should get it in a few days and then I can get creative! I won't be sewing my bears with it though, I still like to hand sew them as I find it so relaxing.

Well so long for now good people and catch ya next week! x

A new week.....

2011-05-09T11:50:00.000+01:00

.....in the workroom and disaster struck on Friday!! I have the most horrendous eyesight and actually have three different pairs of glasses, one for driving and tele watching, one for reading and going on the computer and one for working. Well of all the calamities I managed to break my sewing glasses! The only good thing is that I can buy these particular ones off the rack so I was back to finishing off my commissioned ellie and my little blue bear without too much delay :0)

I actually don't have much to say really.....I have had a quiet few days while my hubby and two sons have been off playing with motorbikes in Angelsey....I have done a lot of gardening, which seems to be a constant battle between me and the damned bindweed! I have finished off little Diddy the blue bear and finally got around to finishing off my commissions.

I feel a little flat today, I have been playing around with lots of different things in the last few weeks and put my bear making on a much firmer timetable, which has enabled me to indulge in some of my other passions, drawing being one which I just adore. I love to just pick up a pencil and scribble stuff down a lot of my bears have come from such scribblings. I also like to do a spot of cross stitch but I have to be honest and admit that in the 20 odd years that I have been sewing I have not yet finished one single cross stitch!!! I am currently doing a hotch potch of cats but have this fabulous froggie kit sat upstairs just begging to be started but I am determined to finish the cats! I have also been fiddling about with clay and wire, my intention is to create an art doll of some description, the idea of how I want it to look keeps changing so the whole thing is going slowly. It is a lot of fun getting messy with clay and so far I have the basic wire structure, a torso and the beginnings of legs. I do a bit then let it dry then if I feel like it I do a bit more. I reckon it could be years before I finish it!!!

I must get on, I have a lot of housey things to do before the boys get back this afternoon and I am just not in the mood!

Till next time :0)x

Lots of new Stuff

2011-05-04T13:17:00.000+01:00

I have been a busy little bee in my studio this last week! I think being nominated for an award had me buzzing for days and as a result I created some new bearies for your delectation!

First of all I wanted to continue my miniature theme and redesigned the anime style bear of which I have always had a big soft spot and after creating my little bear which I showed you in WIP (finished bear below), I wanted to change it a bit more and presto we have a little cutie called Lapsang.

This is Wilbert the finished WIP

and here is Lapsang

I do so enjoy needle felting and just love doing my needle felted faces, each one turns out slightly different almost as if the bear chooses his/her own character as the felting develops.

I was on a roll and have been trying to make some mental changes to my Ellies. I love the original Ellie pattern but I wanted a slightly rounder head so went for a revamp on the head design and instead of a three piece head opted for a four piece head. Here is Perinella (now available on my website) and she is the prototype of the new head design. I rather like it as it gives a more innocent look to the face.

We have a charming tradition here in deepest darkest Lincolnshire....every May bank holiday weekend the town of Spalding puts on the Flower Parade. These days it just seems a great excuse for the locals to get stinking drunk during the day and make fools of themselves but the history is fascinating and the parade itself is always worth at least one visit! We made that pilgrimage the first year we were here and have not braved it since. The town is packed, roads closed and general mayhem ensues but the gist of it is that there are a bunch of floats all decked out with flowers celebrating the fact that once upon a time Spalding was the capital for flower production in this country. At one time you couldn't go anywhere in the spring without seeing field upon field upon field full of wonderful colour from the many millions of daffy, tulip and other spring bulbs. Coach loads of visitors would turn up to do a tour of the bulb fields, quite something! Sadly these days we are pretty much restricted to just the parade on the Saturday but my favourite bit is all the local churches join in with the festival and put on a display of flowers, all themed to various different movies, books, or historical figures and events. Every year David and I visit our church which is conveniently situated dead opposite our house and this year I took a few piccies to share :0)

Getting artistic in the graveyard

Even weeds look pretty

The Railway Children

Pirates of the Caribbean

Star Wars

Glen Miller

The Titanic

Cleopatra

Mary Poppins

My Fair Lady

I must get on with my day and get creating, I have a couple more commissions to finish and then I can do something for me!!! Have a fab week and enjoy today, it is Star Wars day.....can you work out why?

The Golden Teddys

2011-04-29T10:17:00.000+01:00

I don't think I have ever blogged this much in one week before!!!

Just before I went to bed last night I thought I would just check my emails and low and behold there was an email sitting in my inbox from Teddy Bear Review magazine. I have been nominated for a Golden Teddy Award!!!!! Eeeeeeeeeeeek!!!!

I have such little confidence in my abilities that I rarely if ever enter ANYTHING as I manage to convince myself very early on that I am not good enough etc etc. Anyhoodle this year I decided to bite the bullet and enter one award. I wanted to enter the Toby's but am not quite that brave so I thought I would give the Golden Teddy's a try. I created this little fella.....Ipso Facto,

I love this design of bear and to give him a bit of a kick I painted his eyes to really make them stand out! He will be in the August edition of Teddy Bear Review and details of how you can vote for him will be in there. I do believe you can also vote online and I will be posting details as soon as I have them :0)

I have been doing the happy dance all round the house since 2am!! I did manage to get in a few hours kip before I had to get up and get back to some sense of normality!!! I am off to do the shopping soon, once the rest of the nation are ensconced in front of their tele boxes to watch the wedding! I have to say, I live on a busy main road and the traffic is always constant, lorries, cars etc etc but it is already much much quieter this morning. Mind you there are no street parties to be had (thank goodness). I read a lovely comment on Facebook this week from someone who was asked if they would be watching the wedding.....

"I don't think so, after all none of them came to see me get married did they?"

I thought that was very funny and so apt. I love a good wedding, but I fail to see why we always get ourselves into such a froth over the royal family. I guess I have lost my patriotism somewhere over the years of struggle and hardship whilst the royal family continue to live in opulent luxury and privilege, somehow doesn't seem quite right does it?

Ho hum, back to the work room once the shopping is done and more work, happy days :0)xx

Work in Progress

2011-04-28T18:16:00.000+01:00

I spend rather too much time reading blogs and whooshing around the internet looking at dolls, bears and other interesting things and not nearly enough time working!!! However, one of the things I like to read and see is the process that artists go through to get to their finished pieces. So, I thought I would share the process I go through to create one of my mini pincushions. This time I have chosen to do a felted face anime style bear.

I have noticed over the years that bear artists all do things slight differently. Only a few weeks ago I was chatting to a bear making pal and she does things totally differently to me, I was quite surprised at how many different ways there are to create a bear!!! Anyhow here is how I do it!

Naturally the first stage is to cut out and mark the fabric. I only mark the head on the Anime Style bears and that is just for ear placement and the opening at the bottom for turning.

So here is the finished and stuffed head, it might look a little less than perfect right now but it has a long way to go yet.

Now it is beginning to look a little better, I have felted the muzzle and the nose and it is starting to look more bear like

Next I have added on the lip, I am totally self taught in the art of needlefelting and don't have a clue how other artists do mouths etc but I add mine on after I have done the muzzle.

So here is the finished head, the mouth has been shaded a little and I have added the line between nose and mouth to give a little shape, eyes are in place and I have shaded and trimmed.

I have added on the body here, I always cotterpin joint the head to the body and have a wide range of joint sizes so I can joint down to the tiniest bodies and heads.

Here is the little fella with his arms on. I always thread joint limbs on my mini bears as I find that I can get a nice tight fit and add extra shape to the overall bear.

Tomorrow I will add on the legs and make the cushions for him to sit on.

My photography is not good, I wish I was a better photographer but I am not so these pics aren't the best AND they were taken in my workroom with really crap lighting.

Another bank holiday weekend looms large and I am not going to take anymore time off. I have little interest in the royal wedding tomorrow so will take the time to work and do the weekly shop, hopefully the shops will be quiet.

I discovered this week that my daughters cat, is expecting kittens! This piccie was taken when she was a baby herself hiding out in my bear collection.

I have to be honest when I say that I am less than happy about the news of impending motherhood for her. I think it is very very irresponsible of Rachel to have not had the cat spayed as guess who will be the main carer once the novelty of cute kittens has worn off? Yup, you guessed it.....me! I considered getting her spayed now but having spoken to the vet I have decided to let her have this litter only then Rachel will get her spayed as soon as the kittens are weaned and gone. I reckon she will be a good mummy as she is a lovely little cat, very friendly and loving.

Well that is my news for now, have a good weekend folks :0)

This week I have mainly been.......

2011-04-26T13:54:00.000+01:00

...............making mini bears!!! I thought with my deteriorating eyesight that making really teeny bears was now not going to be possible, but with the purchase of an extra strong pair of milk bottle bottomed glasses I can now see to do smaller bears!! Some time ago I saw a rather cute little bear which someone had put onto a pincushion; obviously the idea had lodged itself in my rather chaotic brain and last week it started tapping on my creative lobes! I thought that instead of trying to design a whole new bear to satisfy my craving I would take a trusted pattern and get tiny with it. I actually started with the Ellies and came up with the delectable Eric

Eric himself measured in at a mere 2.5" tall but sat on his little cotton cushions he is elevated to the massive height of 4" or thereabouts. I liked him so much I thought I would play around with another favourite pattern, the Munchies and yesterday afternoon I finished, Pinot.

I am really happy with how this little experiment into the teeny tiny world has gone and intend to do some more of both the Ellies and the Munchies in this size.

I had a very pleasant couple of days off this weekend just gone. I made myself stay away from the studio as much as I could but did cave in a couple of times when David was fiddling around with oily engine parts in the garage. I think bear making and possible just being creative is a bit of an addiction, I always seem to want to get in the studio at the most inconvenient moments!

I have now got my new form of transport and despite my nervousness of two wheels I ventured out last Thursday to visit my friend who lives about six miles away....I needn't have worried though, the day was glorious, warm and sunny with very little wind and I had a really pleasant ride out.

I took this shot on the way home, I just love the way at that at certain times of the year the fields round here are full of new crops covered in plastic, it looks like water and when the wind catches the sheets it looks like a rough sea, quite impressive really.

I had better get on and do some work now in the meantime have a most excellent week :0)

Ellies and Bears

2011-04-19T14:52:00.000+01:00

I have been ultra busy in my little studio this last week and have managed to catch up with some commission pieces now happily winging their way to their new homes across the globe and have even managed to create a couple of new pieces to add to the website! I have been hoping to get things done so that I can take a few days off over the Easter holidays seeing as David is actually at home for a change and not off doing his marshalling thing!

The newbies to put in an appearance this week are:

Hestia a lovely vintage style Ellie

and the delectable Hobnob a cute little mini bear cub

I am getting quite excited by the prospect of the imminent arrival of my new transport having waved a sad farewell to my little car last week. My new bike is due to arrive at some point tomorrow....all I have to do now is dig out my bike stuff which is lurking somewhere in the garage and I am all set for a summer of two wheeled motoring....woo hoo! I admit that I am actually rather scared! Daft I know but I heard at the weekend that another young life was taken on our roads in a motorbike accident. It was a friend of Davids who he used to work with. After so nearly losing David it seems a tad mad to be getting back on two wheels but if we don't live our lives to the full and do the things that scare us we will grow old regretting never having done it! Besides the way I see it is that if Dave (who has just got himself a new bike too) is not too scared to do it then I shouldn't be such a poofter!

Time is marching on and I need to get on with finishing another little beary and perhaps maybe even manage a little gardening when it cools off again......it is a mighty warm day which has already found me in the garden having a Howard Keel moment!!!!

Toodles x

It has finally happened..............

2011-04-14T10:41:00.000+01:00

I noticed yesterday with a certain amount of consternation that I have started making 'ooooooooof' noises as I get up out of my chair, I suffer more with Cupboard Syndrome (a curious affliction which leaves a person standing in a cupboard with no clue why they are there), and have started complaining a little too much about aches and pains and general twinges in my joints! To cap it all I have even started to bemoan the state of the youth today and spend more time nagging my kids about how different it was when I was young! All signs I feel of impending old age! I have to say that I am feeling more old than ever as my youngest child has hit the magical eighteen today, it seems like only yesterday I was huffing and puffing in a hospital in Germany, giving birth to this gorgeous wee baby and now he is taller than me and has to shave!!! Don't you just wish you had a Philosophers Stone and could stay young forever?

I have been feeling a little stressed of late, general worries that I think most of the country if not the world are suffering with at the moment, not least that I have gone self employed at a time when the economy is so bad. Mind you good luck finding any other sort of job around here, I got the paper yesterday for Andrew who is still looking for full time work, two years after leaving school, and there was a sum total of seven jobs in there, four of which were teaching jobs!! Anyhoodle, I digress.............I have put the family on a belt tightening exercise, you know the sort of thing, turn lights off, shut doors, save energy etc etc. The biggest money saver so far was my decision to sell my beloved car and go back to two wheels. I live in a little village about six miles from the nearest town and so do need some form of transport but running a car with the price of petrol so high is just not cost effective and does not fit with my new budget. So I have sold my car on Ebay and have bought myself this..............

It hasn't been delivered yet, but I should have it in the next week or so!! Cheap to tax, pennies to insure and pennies to run as well! I think it said in the ad for it that it does about 100 miles to the gallon which is pretty good when fuel is £1.32 a litre! I have to admit to being a tad nervous as I swore off bikes when Dave had his accident but needs must and it really is very cool, don't ya think?

I have to say that the best de-stresser for me is to sit in my workroom and get creative! I am so lucky to be able to do what I love for a living and actually look forward to getting in there everyday to sit and sew and listen to my talking books.

I have done two new little bears this week and am really rather pleased with how they have come out, what do you think?

They measure about 4" tall and have needlefelted muzzles and big noses (I do love big old noses on bears), I love needlefelting it adds a whole new dimension to a bear and I have even stopped stabbing myself now!

Well I should go, the chap who bought my car should be here soon to collect it, lets just hope he doesn't turn out to be a tyre kicker and doesn't give me too much hassle!

Until next time...........'be excellent to each other' (Bill and Ted)

Sunny Days and Happy Smiles

2011-04-06T14:56:00.000+01:00

Well what a difference a day makes......as they say!! A beautiful sunny warm April morning, a bit of Michael Buble blaring in my lugs and I am one happy bunny!!!!

I went out to photograph some bears and also snapped up some piccies of the garden in the sun, it is certainly coming along and looks a lot better than the last time I took some pics!

I have done all the hard work now, I just have to clean up the garden furniture and get all the horrible weeds out of the cracks in the concrete!

Rachel and I spent hours and hours on Sunday planting all the summer flowering bulbs and spreading seed and planting some spring bedding plants, so hopefully in a couple of weeks we will have a little more colour. I have planted a plum tree and twisted willow at the end of the garden near the chickens, which are so small right now they just look like twigs but I am sure in a few millennia that will look great!!!!

While I was taking the pics I was nudged by the pooches who wanted in on the fun so I took some piccies of them too.....Colin is one year old now, a huge handful but I do love him so! Little Alfie is as cute as ever, can you guess which is which?

I was really stressed out and tired on Monday but I have been beavering away in my work room and finished a few more bears, done some redesign work on the hippos (made them a tad smaller) and with the sunshine filtering through the windows feel so much better.

Here are a few piccies of the latest bears available!

Well I have procrastinated far too long today, spent too much time enjoying that lovely sun on my pale skin and now I must go and do some work.

Happy Days.....live long and prosper :0)x

Stress and shows!

2011-04-05T14:21:00.000+01:00

I really do not do stress anymore!!!! I have had a headache for the last week and I put it down to the fact that I have three grown up kids, all living at home and all being a real pain in my backside! For example, yesterday I wanted to photograph my bears and reached for my camera only to find it wouldn't switch on, why is that? Cos my 21 year old had nicked the batteries to use in his XBox remote!!!! Then my youngest son phones me at gone 9pm saying he couldn't get home from work and could I now go and get him, I didn't mind too much but when I got there he wasn't there, I drove around the car park three times and was just about to go home in high dudgeon when I saw him in the staff canteen!!! THEN, when I got home the oldest son sheepishly told me he had lost his second mobile phone in as many weeks....normally I wouldn't really care but this was my spare phone which I had lent him, it was a new contract phone and as it was my spare there is no insurance, so I am now stuck with a contract and no phone!!! He actually got annoyed with me when I said I wasn't replacing this one!!! Sigh........I wish they would all move out and give me my house back, it used to be so tidy and neat, peaceful and calm!!!!

The other thing I have have been stressing about is the show calendar for this year! I have been struggling to keep up with orders and stuff this last few weeks and then thought I should start to think about getting organised for the first show on my schedule in June! I decided that I just couldn't do it! I have to think about the fact that I have both my hubby and my youngest son due to have surgery this year and do not want to add the stress of shows to having to look after them and still make enough bears to keep my head above water! Being self employed does have its downsides sometimes.

So I thought I would share with some of the bears that I made for the show which I have now either put on my website for sale or offered out to a shop. I hadn't done many so this won't take long!

Do you like the cloth doll ellies? I really do like them a lot and am currently working on another one, they are so much fun to create and I need to have fun some days, especially on my stressy days!

To top off my not so good start to the week, I now have to sell my car! I did the math at the weekend and I just cannot afford to run it anymore! It is due to be taxed and MOT'd at the end of this month and I have not got the money to do it, so it is going on Ebay later this week :0( And to add to the whole stressful few days I am going to have to go back on two wheels again. After Davids accident I swore I would never ride a bike again but it is the only option for transport! With fuel now at £1.32 a litre and tax for my car at over £200 a year a bike is the only alternative.....I am going to get a small little 50cc scooter, retro style and more bunny ears for my helmet!!! With a 100 miles to the gallon and just £15 a year to tax it is the only way to go!!!

Gosh I have been a moaning old cow today haven't I? I guess I can't be happy and upbeat all the time :0)

Have a fab week fellow bloggers :0)xx

Bread and Hippos

2011-03-31T12:43:00.000+01:00

Yup you heard it right bread and hippos! Bread, well yesterday afternoon my hubby came home unexpectedly from work.......most folks may ask why coming home from work on a Wednesday would be unexpected, but that is easily explained. My hubby is a long distance lorry driver and goes to work on a Monday and comes home on a Friday! It is a crap existence for both of us but given that he has been doing it for 17 years now I have got used to it! So him coming home midweek is unexpected! His lorry was due to be MOT'd so he had had to clean it out and as his replacement wasn't ready he came on home. He went to bed early and I continued to work until gone midnight. I had just decided to go to bed and thought I should make his sarnies for today when I realised we had no bread! Now let me just say at this juncture that I am no cook, in fact I loathe hate and detest cooking in all its forms and avoid it wherever possible! I don't generally eat much in the week (which begs the question of why I am so fat) and baking is really not my thing. Anyhoodle despite this aversion I set to and started making bread! By 3.30am I had a lovely loaf and 13 bread rolls all lovely and warm and I although I may say so myself delish!!! I made hubby his sarnies and woke him up at 4am with the words 'I AM the best wife in the world'!!! LOL The bread was the best I have ever done, it was a proper loaf of white bread all light and yummy, I could have put Hovis out of business with that I can tell you!!!!

Now for the hippos. I have no idea what has come over me recently, first I thought Elephants were a good idea to make and fell in love with creating the little vintage pachyderms and now I am suffering from Hippolitis. I started nice and easy and made a hippo with a non jointed pattern.

But although I liked this design I had to have a play and decided something more along the lines of the Ellies would be better and so was born....

Now I am hooked, I finished the second one at midnight..............

I have to say though, they are none too co-operative in the photography department but I think I did ok.

Right now I am off to my friends this afternoon for some tea and larfs, be good to each other..............until next time ...................

Of Hippos and brains!!!

2011-03-25T13:48:00.000Z

What a combination!!! Let me explain!!! Let us start with Hippos and why not? As you may or may not know (if you are new to my blog) I have a wee thing for Elephants and have been creating vintage ones and others for the last few months, well time to try............Hippos! I saw this fab You Tube video yesterday which showed just the best advertisement starring mini hippos and quite aptly named House Hippos!!

I actually want one!!!!

Anyhoodle, here is my take on it, bear in mind she is a prototype and will probably never be repeated (if I know my fickle brain).

I named her Patroushka, a name I thought was very fitting :0)

Now brains.........well, my hubby has gone off doing his motorbike marshalling at Donington Park this weekend and I was really missing him and I got to thinking how much I loved him and it was still as strong now as when I married him 22 years ago. So I have to ask this question for all those who believe that we are just a bunch of electric signals bouncing around our bodies like a sort of organic robot, if we are just electrical impulses etc etc etc why do we love? It is a pointless emotion, without it we would probably function better, in fact emotions are a bit of a pain generally really aren't they? I mean grief is a real pain in the arse, love makes us do some utterly ridiculous things, need I go on? You know what I believe? Our emotions are our soul, that little bit of us that goes on forever which means that my love for my David will go on forever past my physical life and that is a wonderful thought........ooops there are those emotions again :0)

Well time for me to go and take my tablet (LOL) and get on with some work :0)

Have a good day, live long, laugh lots and love :0)

Oh yeah, don't forget, lights off tomorrow night 8.30pm (GMT) for one hour and help save our world xxxxx