Tuesday 17 July 2007

A winter warmer!




Yippee! Bear Artists Online has announced another new show for the 2007 calendar!






I've put my name forward because the last show really inspired me and I'm sure a pre-Christmas show will do so again.

The 'Bear Artists Online Winter Warmer Show' will take place on 3rd November, so please pop the date in your diary ...

Hey, if I listen carefully, I'm sure I can hear sleighbells already!



CLOWNING AROUND!







So, what have I been up to lately?

Well, do you remember I mentioned my clown challenge in an earlier post? I'm pleased to say I've finally finished my first entry! He was created from oddments and somehow they came together to make a really cute bear! I did wonder while I was working if I was being overly ambitious with the colour scheme, but everything worked out beautifully in the end.

I'm afraid 'Jimjams' was snapped up really quickly, but I'd like to share him with you anyway ... I really enjoyed making him. Mind you, I had such a fiddle making a hat to fit! I may be a bear maker and able to knit, but I will freely confess, I am definitely challenged when it comes to my dress making skills!

Wednesday 11 July 2007

URSA AWARDS!

Oh boy, oh boy! The URSA Awards are now open for voting! It's one of those nerve wracking times when I wonder whether I'm as daft as a brush for entering and whether or not egg will be plastered all over my face by the end of the voting period. Exciting, daunting ... competitions are such a belly churning time for this bear designer!




'Crocus' is my entry and whilst I love her dearly, I wonder whether or not I should have created a more contemporary piece for this competition? It's so hard to judge! I decided to work with a very classic design, using a harlequin colourway, in the hope it would show that bears rooted in traditional skills still have their place in today's bear art. Well, we'll see! The voting is done entirely by the public, which is a great way of giving the bear industry the opportunity to really listen to collectors' preferences.


There are so many great entries in this competition, it's going to be great fun going through them all to place my vote! I hope you will join me and place your vote too ... this is the link you'll need to enter the URSA AWARDS and support our wonderful world of teddy bear art!


First, I must post a link to 'Crocus' in Category 3 ... just in case you'd like to vote for her!


http://www.cyberdendesigns.com/Category3.htm


And this link will take you to the opening page of the URSA's ... have fun!


http://www.cyberdendesigns.com/C-VotingBeginsPage.htm

Thursday 5 July 2007

Cup of tea?

This piece of mohair has been teasing me for several weeks. I loved the antiquey rosey beige colour, but just wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it.
Eventually I decided it would be perfect for one of my 'Timeless Teds', a collection of traditional bears for collectors who prefer their teds classic in design. After my recent fun with flambouyant clown bears, I thought the time was exactly right for a Timeless Ted, so I set to work and Amelia (who bears my Grandmother's middle name) was the result.

I think the subtle shade of mohair, blended with cotton velvet paw fabrics works beautifully on this bear, but she needed a little something to finish her. First I knitted her a cardigan, but it really didn't suit her at all, so I put that to one side and had a think. That was when I remembered the delicate cotton crochet collar I had recently come across and tucked away for 'just the right bear'.

Trouble was, the collar was pure white cotton and that really was too strong a statement for Amelia's subtle colourway, so after pondering for a while, I decided to take the plunge and tea-stain the collar. Three strong teabags and a good rinse with fabric softener later, voila! A gorgeous antique shade of ivory beige ... perfect!

For
anyone wanting to try this, bear in mind that tea can be acidic and so you will need to rinse your fabric thoroughly after staining. I simply boiled up three 'Yorkshire Tea' teabags, strained them and used the bowl of tea to plunge my collar into. I left it for a couple of minutes and then sloshed it clean in fresh water, finally rinsing it through with fabric softener before leaving it to drip dry overnight.

Tuesday 3 July 2007

The morning after the night before ...

The inaugural Bear Artists Online Summer Show has proved to be a great success! About half of the 160+ specially designed bears made available for sale found new owners, a successful outcome by any show's standards.



Staying open for 24 hours to accommodate time zones around the globe, gave the show a wonderfully international appeal and the blend of artists from both the UK and abroad, provided a unique opportunity for a truly inspirational show. Best of all, we had such fun! Many of us kept in touch throughout the show via the BAO forum and I think it's fair to say, we all enjoyed our new online show experience.

Four of my show bears sold during the show and the last bear found his new owner a few hours later as a result of a collector finding her way to me after the show, so yesterday was spent in a flurry of packaging materials as I boxed and taped, addressed and posted. All bar one of the bears are flying off to take up residence across the USA and Domino is the only bear destined to stay in England!

So, back to work for me today ... I have no bears available for sale at the moment and need to rectify the situation!

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