Showing off ...

Well, show day came and went in a flash as they always do and now my head's in a whirl after all the chatting yesterday!  As the hours have slipped through my fingers today, I've been feeling wearier and wearier and ... yawn!  I shouldn't complain though, it was a very good day for 'All Bear' yesterday and I am so thrilled to be able to tell you, all my bears found new homes.

Set up in the nick of time!

We arrived in the morning with half an hour to spare before the queue of eager collectors flew into the building and from that point on, I don't think I stopped chatting for more than about five minutes at a time - in fact, whenever I tried to grab a mouthful of sandwich, or gulp a glug of coffee down, someone else said 'hello Paula'!  It was fun catching up with old friends at the show and meeting new collectors for the first time and I was very happy to have my stand situated next door to lovely Yvonne and Chris (www.bebbinbears.co.uk) so we could enjoy a good ol' natter between customers ... oh yes, it really was the very most sociable kind of day!

Kensington Town Hall

Barbara and Mungo

Those of you who have visited the Hugglets shows in past years may remember Frank Webster's 'Charnwood Bears'.  (In fact, Frank made the very first artist bear I ever collected!)  Frank, one of the UK's longest standing teddy bear artists, has created many great bears over the years but one of his biggest characters (quite literally!) must be 'Mungo', shown above with his owner Barbara.  'Mungo' has visited many bear shows over the years and yesterday, he arrived at my stand in spectacular style garbed as a pearly king.  Barbara, who I have known for many years, has worked tirelessly creating fabulous outfits to assist Mungo in his charitable fund raising activities and after chatting with creator Frank, she decided to rise to his challenge of creating a special nautical themed pearly outfit for Mungo.  Little did Barbara realise at the outset exactly what that would involve!  It's hard to imagine how many hours were involved in researching, designing and sewing on 4,200 buttons to create such a stunning outfit for Mungo, but I think you'll agree with me, the result is absolutely fabulous!

The Great Hall

I almost forgot to mention my Autumn Dolly Doodle!  If you were wondering, yes I did finish her just in time for the show and here she is .. (this time wearing bloomers to spare her modesty!)

Autumn Aggie

After a successful day 'showing off', Stuart and I loaded the stand equipment into my Saxo and started the engine.  Fortunately the traffic home wasn't too heavy, but as we sailed along the motorway we both noticed my little engine emitting more of a roar than its usual gentle purr ... 

... but, *yawn*, that's a story for another day.  I think it's time for this sleepy bear maker to sink into her armchair before she falls asleep at the keyboard ...!