Underground, overground, afloat and back in time!

Some time ago, Stuart mentioned he'd never really 'done the London tourist thing', so I craftily made a mental note to plan a surprise trip to the City one day.

Stuart taking in the London skyline

It was Stuart's 50th birthday earlier this year, so the perfect occasion to tuck tickets in his birthday card and spring my surprise day on him!

Magnificent Big Ben

After catching a train from Ebbsfleet to St Pancras and hopping onto a tube to Leicester Square, we began our day out by taking a lovely stroll along the Embankment in the April sunshine.

Southbank from the Embankment

Then we collected tickets from County Hall for the London Eye and a river cruise along the Thames ...

Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament

Seeing the heart of London from the river was a real treat!  If you ever have the chance, I highly recommend booking a cruise and whatever the weather, sitting outside on the boat armed with a camera - it's a fabulous way to see the Thames and soak up some fascinating London history.

Tower Bridge

Stuart has always wanted to try out the London Eye, so despite my fear of heights I decided we'd give it a try and after queueing for a while, up, up, up, we went!

I think if you look closely you can probably see the terror in my eyes!

Houses of Parliament and Westminster Bridge from the London Eye

The views from the London Eye were well worth trying to overcome my vertigo though, they were absolutely amazing and I think on a clear day you probably really can see forever!

Having seen the Houses of Parliament from the River and 450ft in the air (!) we then took a stroll on foot to see the rest of Westminster ...

It's a truly beautiful area to explore if you enjoy architecture, but all that walking sure works up an appetite!

After a slight hitch when we discovered the tube we needed wasn't working and after a subsequent long hike along The Strand towards Blackfriars Bridge, we finally gave up walking and hailed a black cab to take us on the last leg of our journey to The Tower of London.

Stepping through Edward I's magnificent entrance was just like stepping back through time; as Stuart loves medieval history, naturally no birthday visit to London would have been complete without a visit to 'The Bloody Tower' to inspect gruesome instruments of torture ... it seems boys will always be boys!  I, on the other hand, much preferred to ogle the Crown Jewels - sparkles are far more my thing!

We thoroughly enjoyed being tourists in London, rounding off our day footsore and weary, with a delicious pizza in Villiers Street's 'Fratelli la Bufala' before heading back to St Pancras International to let the train take the strain back home to Kent.

A quick nosey ..

My bear-making has been a bit 'stop/start' lately, but between training and exercising Polly, knitting for my new grandchild and a hundred and one other tasks that seem to claim my time, I have gradually been pulling together three lovely new big bears for the 'Teddy Bear Hollow' shop in Loughborough ... 

I know it's not much of a preview, but until I've photographed each of the bears properly for the shop, this nose is about the most I can share with you.  More pics very soon ... that's a promise!

Priceless!

There are some surprises which come right out of the blue and are absolutely priceless ... 

Anthony and his Hannah

The excitement on my son's face when he gave me his news ... 'I'm gonna be a daddy', was one such surprise!

Time for some baby knitting!

I couldn't be more delighted for Anthony and Hannah and am so thrilled I am going to be a brand new granny in time for Christmas this year!!!!  

Happy, happy, happy!!!!!

Doddington, a birthday treat!

I've had a busy weekend!  First, a lovely, unexpected visit from my son on Saturday which always makes me happy, then yesterday, a surprise birthday gathering with my sisters at beautiful Doddington Place Gardens near Sittingbourne in Kent, to celebrate our 'seventy-something-young' mum.

The five of us, with our mum

As we live spread wide across the South East of England and all have busy lives, gathering together to share a Sunday afternoon is no mean feat, so many thanks to Fiona and her fiance Simon for making this happen.

A variety of granddaughters and a great granddaughter

All in all, we scored one Grandmother, her five daughters, three of her five son-in-laws, five of her ten grandchildren, one great granddaughter, one grandson-in-law and four out of nine of the family dogs for this special get together ... 

not bad going eh?!

Mum's great granddaughter Ella, enjoying the daffodils

Doddington's gardens are absolutely beautiful; I can't begin to imagine how much work must have gone into their creation over many, many years to bring such magic to life.  Walking through the grand formal gardens transports you to a time usually only enjoyed in historical drama and at this time of year, the beds and lawns are bursting with primroses, camelias, daffodils, tulips, blossom trees and so on ... it's really is absolutely enchanting!

The dogs!

Left to right: Marley, Bugsy, Polly and cheeky little Jessie

These are dog friendly gardens, so rather than leave ours at home, we popped them on leads and brought them along to join in the fun.  Thankfully, they didn't disgrace us!

The younger grandchildren delighted in exploring the gardens; playing hide and seek through the trees, racing along woodland paths and spending the afternoon laughing together.

It was a lovely visit and the perfect place to bring us together to wish a 'Happy Birthday' to our mum and also to remind us all of how special it is to be part of a large family.

Below are a few of the many snaps I took of the gardens. 

I hope they capture the tranquility of this perfect 'English Country Garden' ...

There are many hidden treasures to discover in Doddington's gardens (not least of which are the home baked treats in the tea room!) so do visit if you are able ... I don't think you will be disappointed!

Knit one ..

A little raglan sleeved knitting project I've been working on.
I just need to hunt out a few more buttons, then it will be ready for someone to wear ...

I first taught myself to knit when I was expecting my daughter over thirty years ago and after all these years, still love to curl up in an armchair with my knitting needles of an evening ... makes me feel all cosy inside!

Point 'n shooting

I try not to work on my bears at weekends, to recharge my batteries and  I love to pop a camera in my pocket and go out walking with Polly whenever possible.  There's something very therapeutic about a walk close to water, so we took Polly for a tromp round Leybourne Lakes in the sunshine on Sunday afternoon.

Much as it would have delighted her inner retriever to be allowed to splosh, I decided it would be less messy and kinder on my car's upholstery, to have a dry lead walk instead. Polly gazed at the lakes longingly a couple of times, but she was a good girl, trotting along beside us, just happy to be outdoors with her people.

With low cloud reflected, the lakes looked stunning in the sunshine. I only had my little 'point 'n shoot' camera with me, but did my best to capture a few pics.

Polly met a group of three sweet little dogs as we walked along, taking a particular shine to a cheeky young spaniel.  As we chatted to the owners, the little spaniel was in danger of becoming tangled in Polly's lead, so I dropped it and they raced across the grass together, enjoying a wonderful game of chase.  Despite Polly being much larger, it was plain to see the spaniel pup was leading the game, especially when he grabbed Polly's lead in his mouth and led her in large circles for a jolly good run ... they had such a fun time together!

Back home, I couldn't resist tweaking the above photo to give it a more arty, dramatic look; there's plenty of fun to be had with even a simple pocket sized compact camera, which is just as well, as it's very convenient when we're out dog walking!

Speaking of celebrations ...

It was my daughter's 31st birthday on Saturday ... it never ceases to amaze me that both my children are now adult, it seems I blinked and my babies grew up overnight!

Birthday cake time!

Much as I would prefer time to linger a little longer than it does, I can't fail to be proud of my clever daughter's achievements over the years, but most of all, I am proud of who she has become ... a beautiful, loyal, caring, generous girl, who deserves only the best to happen in her life.

Happy Birthday Fay Anne,

With all my love to you always, 

Mum xxx

Coming soon ..

Weeks seem to be flying past me lately and I have so much to do - not least of which is to build myself a brand new website and work out how to set it up on my current domain after losing all my graphics on my defunct hard drive.  It's good to have a new challenge, but goodness me, I sure could do with more days in my weeks!

I've been meaning to finish this bear for the past week, so without further ado, I am about to plonk my bum in the armchair, switch on the TV and pick up my knitting needles, so hopefully, tomorrow I should be able to squeeze some time to photograph him properly and show him off on my website ...

New website, new bears, coming soon!

Creative Energy!

With daffodils cheerfully brightening virtually every verge, it's hard not to feel a burst of creative energy at the moment. 

This week, I have been working on a gorgeous new bear, in an unusual shade of lavendar, or dove grey, depending on your view ... either way, it is very pretty and silky soft too!

Now my new bear is completed, I plan to spend a pleasant afternoon sharing my conservatory couch with my cats and Polly, while I knit him a vest top.

Peaceful days spent crafting in the Spring sunshine, are definitely some of my most favourite days!

New bears available to adopt!

The All Bear stand

With four large halls full of visitors and exhibitors at the Winter Bearfest show in London on Sunday, it was a good day for teddy bears, thanks to the Hugglets team.  People were immersed in the serious subject of bears everywhere, eager to chat, inspect and adopt.

Unfortunately my day didn't start well after spending the first couple of hours at the show trying to connect a new card reader to my mobile phone to take payments, but then being unable to establish a wifi connection ... so much for modern technology!  Maybe I should have stayed with my old paper voucher/swipe machine system after all?!  By lunchtime I'd given up all hope of making the wretched thing work and abandoned it before it spoiled my day entirely. The bears behaved impeccably despite the card reader hiccup.  They sat smartly on the stand, welcoming visitors and lapping up compliments, while I fussed and flapped ... I don't think there's a bear maker in the business who would be able to honestly say show days are never stressful!

Happily as the day wore on, five of my bears found lovely new owners.  The bears below came home with me after the show, despite being much admired; sometimes that's just the way shows go.  I am now free to offer these fine teddy bears for purchase online ...

Beau

Handsome Beau is a 20" mohair bear, created in traditional clown/jester style.
I have used a lovely dense wavy gold mohair for his head/paws and beautiful silky plum and sky blue for his body.Beau has black glass eyes, a professionally embroidered black nose and wool felt paw pads, which I have shaded. He wears a cotton lace collar tied with hand dyed ribbon and has vintage buttons stitched to his front. Inside this lovely bear's tummy is a growler.

Beau is priced at £325 plus shipping.Update: Beau has now been adopted.

Crumpet

Cutie-pie Crumpet is an 18" mohair bear, created from the same lovely dense wavy gold mohair I used for Beau. He has vintage black boot button eyes, a professionally embroidered black nose and wool felt paw pads, which I have shaded.  Crumpet wears an old fashioned key tied with hand dyed ribbon, around his neck.

Crumpet is priced at £250 plus shipping.

Rhett

Dear Rhett is a wonderfully chunky 20" teddy bear, created in a soft, mid-brown mohair. He has black glass eyes, a professionally embroidered black nose and wool felt paw pads, which I have shaded. Rhett wears a cheerful multi-coloured, hand knit waistcoat and like his companions, has a growler in his tummy.

Rhett is priced at £295 plus shipping.

Do any of these bears tug at your heartstrings?  If so, I would be delighted to hear from you and to help facilitate your investment in my special statement teddy bears, I am able to offer a layway instalment opportunity spread over three monthly instalments, if required. 

To arrange a purchase, simply email me at: allbearbypaula@aol.com 

Thank you!

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