Teds in Tweed!

After receiving fabric samples from a couch maker recently, I couldn't resist ordering a cosy old fashioned wing chair and cushions to be made from Harris Tweed for our living room ... and being the bear maker I am, one thing naturally led to another!

Paying homage to the war time tradition of using alternative fabrics for making teddy bears (http://www.bourtonbears.com/bears-mohair.php) I will be making a few special teddy bears in Harris Tweed, complemented with pure wool felt paws, for the forthcoming 'Teddies 2014' show in London on 14th September.  This fabric has a lovely autumnal essence, perfect for creating cosy traditional teddies with olde worlde appeal.

If you would like to come along to the show to see my latest bears, please visit www.hugglets.co.uk for further details.

Cutting it fine!

Talk about cutting it fine!  I am ploughing on with show preparations and there is still so much do, so please forgive me for keeping this post brief!

Introducing my 'New Romantics' show collection

18" Romeo

20" Beau

18" Lancelot'

20" Rhett

18" Crumpet

8" Patootie

This collection of teddy bears has been created especially for 'The Winter Bearfest' show in London and will be making their official debut in Hall 2 of Kensington Town Hall tomorrow. I will also be bringing along 'Gentle Star', a beautiful white bear I created at the end of 2013.

15" Gentle Star

I hope you will be able to come along and share in the fun.  I am looking forward to introducing my latest one-of-a-kind bears to you in person!

www.hugglets.co.uk

Countdown to The Winter Bearfest!

Only a few more days until my trip up to the 'Big Smoke' with my first bears of 2014 ... the days are flying past.

Show-bear-in-progress

 

For this show, I have created a select collection of beautiful traditional bears (sizes 8" to 20") from classic shades of gold/cinnamon, wearing scarves or knitted waistcoats.  I will also be bringing along a gorgeous plum/pale blue traditional clown bear, wearing a cotton lace collar tied with hand dyed ribbon.

Show-bear-in-progress

There is plenty more to do before I load my little car with stand paraphernalia at the weekend, not least of which will be to set up my studio and take formal photographs of each of the new bears ... but before I do that, I really must get my skates on and finish my final two big bears!

I will post studio pics of my completed show bears later this week for those who aren't able to visit the show, but if you are coming to Kensington Town Hall on Sunday, please pop over to stand 75 in Hall 2 to say hello and see the bears in the fur ... we bearmakers love to escape from our workrooms to share our bears with you in person on show days!

For details of 'The Winter Bearfest' including a full list of all the famous bear makers from both the UK and overseas who will be exhibiting, please visit the promoter's website: 

http://www.hugglets.co.uk/festivalindex.php

Reserved!

Still feeling somewhat fuggy, but perhaps ever-so slightly less now that I have managed to set aside two finished bears for the Winter Bearfest show.  This is of course, a long way short of a full table of furry new bums, but at least it's a start!

18" Periwinkle is made from beautiful hand-dyed alpaca ...

And his little buddy 'Tod' is just 12".  I know you've seen him in an earlier post, but here he is again, this time after his official photo shoot.  Incidentally, he is made from alpaca too ... I love that it makes such cuddlesome teddy bears!

Here, there and everywhere!

Only five weeks until 'The Winter Bearfest' and as usual at this stage, I seem to have bits 'n pieces all over the place - but very little finished and needless to say, an ominous sense of impending panic!

There are new fabrics I'm still hoping to find time to work with ...

My desk hidden under piles of 'bears-in-progress' destined for the show and also an impending shop order ...

A yet-to-be-started basket of teddy bear pieces waiting for their turn on the sewing machine ...

... and of course, as it's a winter show, sweaters and scarves in various stages of completion (not to mention the knitted teddy waiting patiently for her dungarees, a gift for my Great niece!)

Oh, that reminds me, I also have a balls of my new favourite yarn yet to be cast on!  (By the way, I'm loving this random stripey stuff from Turkey as it reminds me of the gorgeous colours in my framed photo of my kids and nieces taken on my wedding day!)

So as you can see, I am nowhere near ready for a major show yet, but I remain ever hopeful that when the big day arrives on the 24th February, I will have a collection of lovely new bears to take to London with me!

The 'Golden Season' Show Collection!

It has taken me all day to photograph these bears, (for some reason I struggled with lighting them properly) but finally I have pics I am happy with, so can share a quick peek at my 'Golden Season Show Collection' with you!

'The Golden Season Show Collection' will debut in

Kensington Town Hall on Sept 11th 2011

There have been ups and there have been downs during the creation of this collection, but at last my bears are ready for their big day out in London on Sunday and I can breathe a little easier for a few days!

Back in the saddle!

There are only five days until the prestigious Teddies 2011 show in London and I must admit, with all the distractions I've had of late and the sad year overall, I was starting to worry I may not live up to my show commitment this time and might fall horribly short of bears.  It's an odd fact, but I'm sure most bear artists will agree that when you take a knock or two, it can be hard to settle back into the creative saddle. 

But on a positive note, I seem to be doing okay with the show bears after all and think I will have my usual nine or so to take along ... thank goodness! 

The bear in the photograph above helped reinstate my confidence this week.  I found a rare piece of gorgeous English mohair on a well-known auction site a while ago and finally set to work on it yesterday. It was lovely to work with and made a really beautiful head for this Autumn clown bear.

If I knuckle down this afternoon, I should have another bear finished by tea-time and maybe tomorrow, the pink bear currently in pieces on my sewing table might stand half a chance of coming to life ...

Yep, with a little more grit and determination, I think I will safely be able to say that despite everything, I am almost ready!

Wide-eyed

To be frank, it hasn't been the best of weeks on the work front. I can only assume there must have been a full moon meddling.  I won't go into details, life as we all know is way too short; suffice it to say my eyes have been opened wide during the past few days and this has saddened me, after so many happy years working in the bear world.

As my Dad would have told me, it's time to move forward with my chin firmly held high and to remember that for every gossip mongering bad apple, there is a  barrel brimming with loyalty, friendship and support.

Right, now that's off my chest ... to Hugglets!  I am way behind schedule this year but doing my best to produce a few lovely bears to take to the show.  Time is against me because the show is only a week from Sunday, but with a fair wind and no distractions, hopefully I will be able to turn the basket of pieces above into three new bears in the nick of time!

First things first though, these two need their noses finished.

Snotty hooters is not a show worthy look!

Autumn in August?

Would you believe it's mid afternoon in the middle of what should be one of our lovely summer months here in the UK, but already I have my lamps on because it's so dark, wet and generally miserable outside!  Where has Summer disappeared to?!  Ah well, with the tv chatting away in the corner and the warm glow of the table lamps, I'm feeling all autumnal, so am taking the opportunity to cosy up in my favourite armchair with a pair of bamboo needles ...

With a hand knitted, vintage style jacket to wear on the big day, this bear will be dressed to impress in plenty of time for the 'Teddies 2011' show in London on the 11th September!

Finishing touches ...

Here I am again, with only a week until my first major show of 2011.  I'm aiming to have nine bears completed for the big day and am busy putting the finishing touches to bear number six today.  Would you like a quick peek?

Here she is!  I've been working on her authentic vintage colouring this morning and I'm happy to say, she's coming along beautifully!

Much as I love bare bears, I think it's especially important to get the finishing details just right for show day ... after all, they need to be 'dressed to impress' to meet their public!  I finished my knitting above a few days ago and it has become a smart little teddy bear jacket, complete with vintage button ...

And for a bigger bear, I used the same red wool teamed with green, to make a stripey scarf ...

But I'm not one for frills and flounces and I'm certainly no dressmaker, preferring understated accessories, like this lace collar tied with prim style rusty bells ...

In fact, I love bears simply dressed in plain bell collars, or with nice round bells tied around their necks ...

So, I hear you ask, who is the sixth bear and how has he been finished?  Well, a bearmaker has to keep a few things up her sleeve doesn't she?! Sorry, but you'll have to wait and see!

Work, rest and play!

Here I am, a weary ol' bearmaker after my weekend showing off in Stratford.  It seems incredible that after all the preparation and worry about being ready, now I'm back home and it's all over and done with!  I confess, the weekend didn't exactly get off to a racing start when we packed up my little Saxo and drove to the end of our road before almost expiring in the heat!  Stuart and I took one look at each other, nodded, turned the car round and drove the few yards back to our own driveway.  Heaven only knows what the neighbours thought as they watched their daft neighbours take one step across the drive, only to load up Stuart's car instead - had they been strapped into my ten year old car in temperatures of 28 degrees celsius minus aircon, they may have more easily understood our antics!

Oh dear, too late for Shakespeare's Birthplace ... again!

Eventually we arrived in Stratford just in time to miss the opening times for Shakespeare's Birthplace for the second year, so my cultural education remains unimproved .. ah well, maybe I'll try harder next year!  We spent a beautiful balmy evening in Stratford nevertheless, mooching along the riverbank and then back to one of the riverside pubs.  We plonked ourselves by the river Avon with beer in hand, watching the world sailing by, before ambling back to the 'Garrick Inn' for a delicious meal and yes, a little more beer!

Stuart watches the world sail by on the River Avon ...

One of the benefits of staying overnight in Stratford, was that on Sunday morning we were able to virtually fall out of bed and in through the show door ... well, perhaps not quite, but as the Civic Hall was just a little way down the road, it meant we could enjoy a traditional full English breakfast in our hotel restaurant before getting into show mode.  Stuart heartily approved of that arrangment I can tell you!

Enjoying our evening by the river.

The show itself was lovely, so well organised, beautifully presented and very sociable.  I thoroughly enjoyed my day and as usual, spent almost every second of it chatting to visitors, friends and basically anyone prepared to listen.  I was absolutely delighted by the kindness of the visitors to my stand and utterly thrilled when the doors first opened and one lovely collector flew to my stand to grab 'Gustav' as quickly as possible.  This gentleman had travelled and queued early to ensure no-one else adopted the special bear he had set his heart on and let me tell you, that passion is what makes a bear maker's world turn!

My stand.

One thing I love about this show, is the opportunity to catch up with bear artist friends ... for us shows are like coming out of a long hibernation and it's so good to be able to actually natter in person with one another!  This year I had the pleasure of my table being positioned between Sue Quinn of 'Bears by Sue Quinn' http://www.bearsbysuequinn.co.uk/  a lovely lady I have known about for many years (Sue has been a bear maker for thirty years!) but never met in person before and Shelly Allison the Rabbitmaker http://www.therabbitmaker.com/, who I have known since before her first show and who makes the most wonderful sculptural rabbits.

The show before opening.

The journey home was heavy with stop-start traffic, so we pulled off at an Oxford service station to refuel with Kentucky Fried Chicken ... (what with that, the beer, the fried breakfast, the homemade chocolate cake and the beautiful duck dinner with dauphinoise potatoes, this has not been a good weekend for my waistline!) eventually arriving home just after 8pm in the evening.  You might think show day would end with the emptying of the car boot and a nice glass of wine, but oh no, several of the bears remained unsold, so hopeful emails had to be answered and their adoptions finalised ...  by the time I eventually fell into bed it was somewhere around 11pm by which time I had lost the ability to think straight!

17" Petal

20" Sweet Dreams

My 'Petal' and 'Sweet Dreams' bears are waiting to hear if they will travel to new homes later this week, so I'm hoping everything goes well for them, please keep your fingers crossed!

8th June update: I am very happy to tell you all the show bears (and doll!) have now found new homes!

Show prep for the 'Teddy Bear Artist Event'

I've escaped from my workroom this morning ... you see, the sun came out and as there wasn't a cloud in the sky, I decided to plonk myself in the conservatory with 'This Morning' on the telly to finish knitting a cute little cardigan for one of my show bears.  The weather is so beautiful, I'm even wearing shorts today!

 

My pink girl bear, waiting for her cardigan to be knitted

I thought you might like to see how I'm getting on with my show preparation with only two and a half weeks until show day.  As you can see below, I've left my worktable under a pile of 'in progress' bits 'n pieces, so will need to have a big tidy up soon because I don't like being in a mess (albeit a creative one) for too long!  By the way, if you look closely, you can spot the head of my pink bear (above) lolling on the table.

In progress ... my work table is buried under there somewhere!

I have a few show bears with all relevant limbs and ears attached, waiting patiently on my workroom shelf for their final titivations, so at least I can see some progress now ... there's still a long way to go before I'll be completely ready for the show though!

On the shelf ...

Well, on that note, I suppose I had better get back to my knitting needles and make the most of our lovely May sunshine!

A hop, skip and ... two work-in-progress bears.

After my last post, I thought it was about time I shared some work with you just to prove I haven't quite drifted away with the breeze!  Here is a little work-in-progress peek at two of the bears I have been working on for my next show 'The Teddy Bear Artist Event,' which takes place in beautiful Stratford Upon Avon on June 6th.

They aren't aren't quite finished yet and are waiting patiently on my workroom shelf for a few final fiddlings while I crack on with a few more bears.  I snapped this pic quickly on my new 'point 'n shoot' camera yesterday - it's a Canon Ixus 210 by the way and I really must read the book to find out how to use the camera properly;  I know it takes better pics than this ... I blame the photographer!

All in all, bear production hasn't been as successful as it should have been during the past few days, unfortunately my son dislocated his knee whilst playing football at the weekend, so we spent seven hours waiting for treatment in the Accident and Emergency department of our local hospital, which wasn't much fun as you can imagine!  Poor Anthony is now hopping around on crutches with a knee the size of a football.  Typically he was grateful the accident happened during his last match of the season, so he can be match fit again for next season's games ... boys and their footie eh?!


The Civic Hall, Rother Street, Stratford Upon Avon

Before I go, perhaps I should mention the bear show in detail for anyone who might like to visit!  It's a truly lovely bear show, celebrating the very best in teddy bear artistry.  It will take place at the Civic Hall in Rother Street, Stratford Upon Avon on Sunday 6th June and I do hope you can visit!

For full details, including the exhibitor's list, please visit http://www.teddybearartistevent.co.uk/

Kingsley is coming to Hugglets!

Just popping in to show you my final bear for the 'Careworn Collection' before I run back to my workroom to finish my 'just one more' show bear!

15" Kingsley will debut at the Winter Bearfest

on Sunday 28th Feb!

I have really enjoyed creating my collection of weary, scruffy ol' bears, but I'm now feeling the urge to make a lovely big, fluffy white, pristine, twinkly eyed ted.  Watch this space ... hopefully he'll be ready in time for Sunday!

Bears with a tale to tell ...

I have just one more working week to finish my show bears!  As always, the time is flying by so quickly I'm wondering if I'll ever be ready ...

19" 'Blyton' will debut at the Winter Bearfest show next Sunday.

Last week I managed to finish two more lovely bears for the show, 'Blyton' is a truly scruffy careworn ol' bear, completely mischievous and adventurous, rather like one of the characters in his namesake's 'Famous Five' books!  How I used to love those books when I was a young girl! 

19" Kipling will be there too!

His pal 'Kipling' is a gorgeous slumpy bear and the two of them together look absolutely adorable sat telling tales on the back of my sofa at the moment - I will miss them when they find new homes!

If you would like to meet the bears in person, please come along to the show on Sunday ... we'll be on Stand 63 in Hall 2 at Kensington Town Hall in London SW8.  Doors open at 10.30am!

Countdown to the 'Winter Bearfest'.

From time to time, a collector makes a special request to name their own bear, which is that's how 'Kevin' came into being!  I'm sure Kevin's owner won't mind me sharing him here with you, he's such a handsome fellow!

20" 'Kevin', a special commission

Kevin is now living in Cumbria with his new family and I'm busy trying to finish the final few bears for the Winter Bearfest Show in London on the 28th February.  There are only two more working weeks until the big day, so I'm sorry, but I must keep my blog posts brief! 

Before I return to my sewing machine, here's a quick pic of my first four completed show bears ... I hope you enjoy my new 'Careworn Collection'!

'The Careworn Collection' will debut at the 'Winter Bearfest' on February 28th. 

Please see www.hugglets.co.uk for further details.