Mists and mellow fruitfulness

 

September, mists and mellow fruitfulness

For me, September is a season not only of mists and mellow fruitfulness, it is also the season in which my Dad passed away, one particularly glorious autumnal Saturday morning, fourteen years ago. There was no preparation, no last goodbye, just a simple telephone call to tell me Dad had gone ... and outside my window, the sun still shone like gold, leaves played in the breeze and the day was rich with warmth and autumn colour. 

Dad was a force of nature himself, he had a deep belly laugh and a colourful sense of humour, his was a presence never overlooked. He filled a room and loved an audience. The heart attack that took him from us, stole a man with a huge passion for life that never waned throughout his seventy four years. He was an explorer, a fighter, a big bold bolshy bloke with a firm handshake and a determination to succeed whatever the odds... and of course, he was our Dad, strong, solid and invincible... until he wasn't. Until the phone call. The call that rocked our world.

Over the years, shockwaves slowly eased into a ripple of acceptance and the equilibrium of life realigned with the arrival of a new generation, Dad's Great Grandchildren. Five perfect little people, full of fun, curiosity, talent and a familiar determination to push forward and conquer the challenges of life. I know Dad would be so proud of his new generation. 

And now, a picture of a hand knitted cardigan??? If you have read this far, perhaps you are curious to know why?! I am smiling as I write, because yes, this little cardigan is also part of Dad's story...

On the 12th of September 2024, six days before the fourteenth anniversary of Dad's departure from the mortal coil, a little boy was born into our family. Dad's sixth Great Grandchild. To welcome him, I have been knitting this cosy cable cardigan. We have no other family birthdays in September, so until now, September has been a month of memory... Dad, my Grandmother, my uncle. This September, I have enjoyed knitting for a happy family event!

At last, the beautiful month of September is filled with the joy of a new baby boy. Huge congratulations to his Mummy, my niece and his Daddy.

Welcome to your family little Nathan! 

Autumn Inspiration

 

Autumnal inspiration

A little teddy bear and his sunflower to say goodbye to the long summer days, as autumn rains and grey skies head our way. I have been dabbling with my pen and paints during the summer holidays and have enjoyed a wee break from bear-making ... I can't lay claim to any real talent for artistic endeavour, but do find it absorbing, relaxing and great fun to share the process with my grandchildren!

The rain is pouring hard today and there is a noticeable drop in temperature... it will soon be time to put away my flipflops and slip my toes into cosy slippers instead. I find myself drawn to my knitting bag on dark days like today and as I have a new Great niece or nephew due very soon, there is plenty of good reason to knit something snuggly for baby from the comfort of my sofa, on these darker evenings.

Of course, autumn is a lovely time for creating teddy bears too! I love the richness of autumn colour before winter drains the landscape. In fact, each season brings new inspiration for this bearmaker but I have always found autumn particularly inspiring, so I am looking forward to new fabrics and hunkering down in my workroom, to bring the new season's teddy bears to life!

Lilas Rose

 

Lilas Rose

Now and again it is fun to create a unique teddy bear in a more unusual colour. I was recently asked to make a special pink teddy girl for a collector, so rather than repeat any shades I have previously used in my bear-making, I decided to hand dye a piece of mohair and discover a unique shade of pink. 14" 'Lilas-Rose' teddy is the resulting bear... a wonderful confection of soft pink shades... and a lovely memory of our magnificent summer roses this year!

Memory Lane

 

Memory Lane

This morning it occurred to me, that I have forgotten to share my Facebook page here with you...

If you are a teddy bear collector who enjoys a trip along Memory Lane, my All Bear FB page is a great place to see the All Bear by Paula design journey over the past thirty years... I have compiled themed albums of my teddy bear creations for you to enjoy, drawing many bears together for the first time in collections such as 'The Rose Blooms', 'Spring', 'Summertime', 'Blue Bears', 'Traditional Bears', 'The Clowns', 'Laughing Bears'... the list is endless!

It is fun to find long forgotten friends among my dusty teddy bear archives and share them alongside recent designs in this way. So, if you would like to see them, please follow the link below. I look forward to seeing you there!

https://www.facebook.com/allbearbypaulacarter 

Sea, sunshine and curious seals

 

Sea, sunshine and curious seals

Even teddy bear makers appreciate a break from their daily routine once in a while, so my apologies for not being here last week but instead of making teddy bears, I was enjoying the fresh air and sunshine of peaceful beaches in beautiful north Norfolk with my dogs, Polly, Betty and Cooper. They had a wonderful time swimming and playing in the water all week and we even spotted curious seals watching us from deep in the water! So much fun. 

Now that we are home and our holiday laundry is washed, dried and put away, my sea soaked dogs are groomed and my cats home from their cattery, I feel refreshed and ready to head back up to my workroom to start a new teddy bear this week! 

Peonies, an inspiration

 

Peonies, an inspiration

Over the years, I have often been asked by collectors and writers, what inspires me to create my own style of teddy bears and when I recall the many bears I have made, it becomes clear to me, that most were inspired by Mother Nature.

I have always found the changing of seasons, beautiful flora both wild and cultivated, our woodland trees, the changing colours of our landscape and the British weather, a rich pool of inspiration for creating teddy bears. I think perhaps nature kindly lends my bears a particularly English flavour, an insight into the world in which they first came to life...

I am fortunate to live near a small peony farm called 'Little Buds Peony Farm'. It is opens its gates to visitors during the height of peony season in June. It is a joy to walk among row after row of the most fabulous flowers, the air full of their heady perfume. Delicate showstoppers, nodding in the breeze, set in the heart of the beautiful Kentish countryside overlooking green hills... such a magical experience.

Peonies are fleeting at this time of year, so I hope I have captured a little of their magic in my latest teddy bear, 'Peony-Rose'!

If you would like to visit Little Buds Peony Farm, it is open until the 15th June this year. Details can be found here: https://www.littlebuddspeonyfarm.co.uk/ 

The Mists of Childhood

 

The original 'Ellie' wasn't made by me, it was in fact given to me by an uncle in 1963, the year of my birth. Back in those distant days, my little pink ellie had floppy ears and felt eyes, but as is the way of much loved childhood toys, they were worn away with many hugs, over the passage of time.

Ellie was one of a select group of soft toys gifted to me as a baby... Big Ted, my first Chiltern Hugmee teddy bear, given to me on my first birthday by my parents, Scotty, a handmade black dog made by my Nana's boarding house lodger, Sooty, a Chiltern mohair glove puppet given to me by an auntie, a knitted dolly wearing a striped skirt who came from a school jumble sale and my now earless ellie, who somehow managed to survive six long decades and although a little more careworn perhaps, is still much loved today. Which brings me to the other pink ellie in the photograph (left) created by me in 2007, in an attempt to replicate my childhood elephant toy.

I had the ideal piece of pink wool fabric which was tucked away in the bottom of my fabric box. Using memory to help me, I created new ears lined with beige velvet and rather than the felt eyes of my original elephant, I inserted tiny glass eyes, as this little elephant was to be given as a keepsake, rather than a child's toy and I preferred the look of the traditional glass eyes.

To achieve the simplistic style of the original design was a little more tricky than I initially anticipated - we live and learn don't we?! Despite my teddy bear design skills, it took several attempts to figure out the body gusset pattern so that my wee elephant could sit comfortably, maintaining the shape of the 1960's original and embodying all of its naive charm.

When I was a child, it wasn't unusual for special gifts to be handmade, so decades later, I was delighted to be able to continue this tradition for my sister and her new baby (who by the way, is now sixteen years of age!)

The next elephant I made was a funny little chap called 'Abe', created from vintage style mohair in 2008. I developed the original softie elephant pattern a tiny bit, to include a jointed head and a head gusset in what was a simple two piece head, to give the head more definition. I also took a little more artistic licence with his trunk shaping, but other than those minor adjustments, kept little 'Abe' ellie, pretty true to my original 1960's elephant.

After Abe, I wanted to tackle something a little more complex, so began work afresh in 2008, using one of my previous teddy bear designs as a starting point for a 16" jointed elephant, created in sparse vintage pink mohair. I was so thrilled with the result I sent a photograph of 'Delilah' to 'Australian Bear Creations' and they were kind enough to print it in their magazine.

I returned to my jointed elephant design in 2009, curious to see how it would work in alternative fabrics ... and in 2009, my white standing circus elephant 'Starlight', was also featured in 'Australian Bear Creations' magazine!  

2010 was a challenging year creatively speaking, as I spent the first two thirds of the year working hard to develop my 'Careworn Collection' of teddy bears and the remaining third of the year simply trying to find motivation to work at all, after saying a sad farewell to my Dad that Autumn. Sad to say, there were no elephants in 2010 ...

My Dad would never have wanted me to lose my creativity, he always enjoyed my work and was proud of me; so in 2011, I picked myself up and dusted myself down and set to work. I wanted to develop my elephants' personalities further, so this time, designed two lovely new elephants with cute low slung ears and close set eyes, giving the ellies more character than ever before. 'Ma Cherie' and 'Forget-me-not' elephant worked their magic and soon had me smiling, inspired again, just as Dad would have wanted.

In 2013, I decided to make a Summer themed collection and came up with 'The Picnic Gang', a five piece group of friends including two bears, one rabbit, a clown and ... an elephant. This smaller design bridged the sweet naivety of my very first vintage style ellie design and the more sophisticated styling and personality of my later jointed elephants. 'Butterfly' elephant had a fun downturned trunk and nostalgic look, thanks to the vintage cotton print lining her ears and paws I used, together with her straw hat. I thought she was lovely, so in 2013, decided to take the design and use it to create Bluebell Ellie-Bear, part of my pastel 'Springtime Pals' trio, along with pals Hyacinth Bunny and Buttercup Bear. I knitted this pretty trio of friends sweet little jackets to complement their colouring.

It was ten years before another elephant came to life in my workroom. Last year, I made 'Jellybean' in the style of Ma Cherie and Forget-me-not, with large flappy cheerful downward ears, shaped arms and long, upward pointing trunk. This time, I wanted to introduce a new 'clown' element, by combining both pink and yellow mohair, contrasted with a cheerful Liberty print cotton fabric to line the ears and feet, giving Jellybean a bright, bold and cheerful personality.

In the sixteen years since my Great Niece Erin was born, I have created nine elephants, the threads of which are woven through the mists of my childhood and hers, inspired by a small straw-filled pink elephant, with felt eyes and loved away ears.

The tale of Miguel the Magnificent

I began bear-making before the age of the internet and before it became the norm to own a computer in households throughout the UK.

British Teddy bear 'artists' were inspired by the amazing teddy bear makers in the US, who began a passion for handcrafted teddy bears which miraculously swept across the globe without the aid of the internet, eventually taking a strong foothold in the UK in the early 1990's, in a country well known for its own teddy bear heritage, since the early 1900's.

Creating teddy bears was a passion for me well before I was nudged into selling my work in the mid 1990's. In the 1980's I was a dedicated teddy bear collector of Chiltern Hugmee teddy bears, manufactured in the UK since the early 1920's. By the early 1990's, I had discovered the world of teddy bear artists and was in awe of makers such as Sandra Wickenden, Gregory Gyllenship, Janet Clark, Frank Webster and Sue Quinn, to name but a few! By the mid 1990's, I was inspired to create  my own bears and the rest, as they say, is my teddy bear history!

The years have since crept by and it recently it occurred to me that my earlier, pre-World Wide Web teddy bears, are probably little remembered nowadays because in the days when they were created, I didn't have a website or social media to share my work, so I took photographs of my creations on film cameras, walked into town to have them developed in a shop, then walked home again, to sort and post the photos to interested customers and specialist magazines (in the old fashioned way with an envelope and a stamp!) The spare photographs were dumped into bags, stored in my loft and generally forgotten about as the years ticked by. Many bags of printed teddy bear photographs made their way to the local tip when I moved house seventeen years ago, so will sadly never be seen again. In those days, I simply stored a few favourite teddy bear photographs in traditional photo albums on a shelf. I have promised myself to scan them into my computer and make a proper photo album soon, as it seems such a shame to have lost so much of my earlier teddy bear making history. The older I become, the more I appreciate a need to save images of my work and play my part in preserving the history of the British Artist Bear to share with future generations...

And with that in mind, I will start the process this very moment with one of the very first images scanned into my first computer, many years ago... I think it was taken in 1999, or maybe 1998 - definitely in the days before bear-making took a toll on my eyesight! I was perched on the steps of the house I had lived since 1983. Sat with me was 'Miguel the Magnificent', a huge teddy bear created in alpaca. I was very proud of him and we were having our photograph quickly taken in the garden, before I settled him into a large box and sent him aross the world to America, to meet his new owner...

Shortly before Miguel was made, I won my first 'British Bear Artist Award' in 1998 for a similar bear named 'Himself'. After the awards ceremony, 'Himself' was featured in the 'Teddy Bear Times' magazine and then somehow seen by a lovely collector named Sylvia, who lived in Chicago, in the United States. I wouldn't normally share a collector's name publically, but Sylvia was a huge support to my teddy bear making career, for which I will always be grateful and she was a very kindly lady. Sadly she is no longer with us, but she was an absolute gem within our teddy bear world and as I mentioned, a very kind lady...

One day, Sylvia contacted me and asked if I could make a huge teddy bear for a little friend of hers, a young boy who had been involved in a terrible accident. When she visited him in hospital, she was so sad to see how damaged and frightened he was, so asked how she could help him feel more safe... between them they decided a huge teddy bear would do just that and so she contacted me to make a bear similar to my award winner, 'Himself'. 'Miguel the Magnificent' flew out to his new owner, but sadly, too late. The little boy, too broken to stay, slipped quietly away, before Miguel the Magnificent arrived in the US and so my huge bear was given to his mother to help her through her grief instead. Later his mother donated the bear in her son's memory to a charity where she felt he could continue to help... and a kind donor presented the charity with a significent sum of money, in return for one great big teddy bear, who, before flying out from the UK, had with one fuzzy photograph taken with his maker, perched on her garden steps...

So that was the tale of Miguel the Magnificent. I don't know where he is now but I will never forget his story in my teddy bear history and the memory of a kind hearted lady named Sylvia.  

Happy 9th Birthday Betty!

 

Happy 9th Birthday Betty!

It was Betty's 9th birthday yesterday and it only seems five minutes since I collected my sweet armful of puppy from the breeder. She was the smallest pup in a litter of seven and at that time was simply named 'dark pink', in view of a pink yarn collar her temporary mum had tied around her neck, to differentiate each pup from the other.

Polly, our older girl, took to little sister from day one, quickly teaching her how to 'tug' with a soft fleecey toy in the garden. By tea-time, Betty was following her big sister around happily and snoozing in the warmth of her side. The girls became firm friends and as she grew, Betty developed into a truly sweet-natured, funny girl, who loved to run, tug and play with her ball. She has always been a joyful dog, full of smiles and with heaps of love to share.

Unfortunately, as I have written in previous posts, Betty became seriously lame at the age of six after suffering cruciate ligament damage. It soon became clear that her future would be at risk if she didn't have major surgery to repair her hind leg, so she underwent a TPLO surgery. It was heartachingly gruelling, incredibly painful for her and yet, she put her trust in us to get her through, never complained and several months later, was able to run again... briefly. Sadly, the other hind leg then suffered the same catastrophic damage and there was no alternative, but to go through the process of major surgery all over again. Poor Betty. It was a horrible time for her. She endured the pain, confinement and long rehabilitation with grace, dignity and stoicism. I was so proud of her.

Both surgeries and rehab happened in 2020 and yesterday, four years later, we celebrated Betty's 9th birthday with a lively run on her favourite field. She may be considered a 'senior' dog at nine years of age but she still outruns our youngest dog Cooper, who isn't yet two!

Betty is the most gentle dog. I have never ever heard her growl or grumble; she has a beautiful sweet, loyal, nature, a wonderful sense of humour and a peaceful heart.

Wishing you fields to run in, balls to play with, sausage treats, ear strokes, interesting sniffs and love forever Betty Boo, you truly deserve the best of life because you are a very special girl... and we love you and your crazy Betty ears, very much! xxx

Raggedy Magic

In 2009, I attempted to make my very first rag doll. Unbeknown to me at the time, the pattern I used had been inspired by a very special doll named 'Raggedy Ann', created by US author and illustrator Johnny Gruelle, over a hundred years ago.

I have always loved dolls and at the time I made my first rag doll, was particularly fascinated by 'homespun' dolls created from scraps of fabric in the home, stitched together by mothers and grandmothers, with love. These dolls, now known as 'prim' dolls, are an art form in their own right... but once they were just simple cloth dolls, cheaply made from old clothing and bed sheets, some with embroidered faces, others with no facial features at all... and given to young children to play with and learn from.

Raggedy Ann, a cloth doll with shoebutton eyes, was born from the sadness of daughter lost and inspired by one such early cloth doll, long forgotten in an attic, then rediscovered. She became the inspiration behind a delightful, happy-faced character doll, who featured in a series of stories written and illustrated by political cartoonist, illustrator and businessman of the era, Mr. Johnny Gruelle.

'Raggedy Ann' was patented On June 17th in 1915, when Gruelle applied for a trademark logo for the 'Raggedy Ann' name. The PF Volland Company then published Gruelle's Raggedy Ann Stories in 1918, the first in a series of books about Gruelle's Raggedy Ann rag doll character and her friends. Gruelle established a merchandising agreement with PF Volland Company, to begin manufacturing, selling and promoting a mass-produced version of his doll and the Raggedy Ann books and dolls became a huge success. At the time of Johnny Gruelle's death in 1938, his first Raggedy Ann book had sold more than three million copies. Subsequently, his iconic Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy dolls and related memorabilia, have become sought after collectors' items... not to mention the inspiration behind many thousands of handmade, smiling red-haired, primitive style, cloth dolls!

I stumbled across a wonderful pattern for a knitted doll named 'Merrily Ann' whilst scrolling online recently. It is the the first knitting pattern I have seen that is designed in true tribute to the original Raggedy Ann doll. Naturally, I couldn't resist ordering a copy! I have spent several weeks knitting and sewing and enjoying the process of making this special doll. The pattern captures the essence of the Raggedy Ann character perfectly and I think knitting her adds a lovely fresh dimension to Johnny Gruelle's original cloth doll.

My Raggedy Ann style dolly, complete with antique shoebutton eyes, is to be a special birthday gift for my Granddaughter's sixth birthday in May. I will gift a copy of Johnny Gruelle's original stories to her too, as I love the notion of passing childhood magic from one generation to another!

If you would like to knit your own 'Merrily Ann' tribute doll, you can find Wendy's lovely pattern on the link below:

https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/80001832/merrily-ann-raggedy-ann-18-45cm-doll?ga_order=most_relevant... 

© 2011 Wendy Phillips copyrighted design.

Do not reproduce or distribute this pattern. 

Camellia-Rose

 

It is several years since I last used my dye pot to create a teddy bear but last week, I remembered just how much fun it was...

I had a beautiful piece of ivory mohair in my box but it wasn't quite hitting the high notes for me to want to start making a teddy bear, so I decided to use some beautiful silk dyes to mix up a little teddy bear magic! After mixing my dye, I hung the mohair to dry in my garden near the camellia plant my dad gave me for my birthday, about thirty years ago. The plant, originally in a heavy ceramic pot, was eventually transported to our new home and transplanted to the garden about seventeen years ago. It settled into the flowerbed perfectly and has since grown huge over the years, bearing the most stunning pink blooms in April. The colour of my mohair was the colour of the Dad's camellia blooms, which made me smile and inspired me to create my Camellia-Rose teddy bear last week.

Happily, Camellia-Rose was adopted shortly after I popped her onto my website and she will be flying out to America to meet her new owner this week.

I am feeling inspired to create my own palette of pretty teddy bears over the coming summer months, so have ordered a lovely selection of dyes and am looking forward to sharing the results on my website!

Teddy Bear Gold

 

After a pretty Spring full of pastel teddy bears, Treacle teddy bear's mohair has been calling my inner traditional teddy bear maker...

For me, there is always something very special about finding the perfect gold mohair, so when I spotted just such a fabric on one of my supplier's websites recently, I couldn't resist ordering half a metre to see if might live up to my expectations for a perfect teddy bear fur ... and luckily, it did! 

It may seem strange to non-teddy bear people, to learn that the discovery of a particular mohair can be an exciting moment for someone, but I am certain all teddy bear creators have their own special preferences and mine has always been luxurious, richly coloured and traditionally gold. I have created many types of teddy bear over the years and have always enjoyed exploring alternative design, fabric and colour but my heart remains true to the traditional teddy bear and I never lose the desire to recreate him in my own sweet way, with the perfect mohair..

Collectors the world over have loved the classic proportions and natural shades of traditional teddy bears for over a century and continue to do so today. Treacle was adopted as soon as he made his appearance on my website yesterday and happily, he will be heading off to meet his new owner this week. 

Welcome Home Cooper

 

Cooper (left) Betty and Polly

In just four months since his arrival, Cooper, now aged 10 months, has made a huge amount progress. Our three dogs now accept one another fully, take turns, respect food bowls, sleep and play nicely together. They also walk pretty well on leads as a group and Cooper has just about mastered a loose lead.. (unless he is very excited, in which case he pulls like a tram but those times are becoming fewer thankfully.) I use head harnesses on our group walks, which when used properly, are a tremendous help.  In fact, we can't be doing too badly because one of my neighbours stopped us a couple of weeks ago and asked to take the photo below as she said the dogs looked fabulous! 

Lead walks

We also started 'Real Life' dog training classes recently, so hopefully, they will help me continue to refine Cooper's lead manners and he will enjoy meeting a range of other dogs, in interesting environments.

Real Life training

When we first rehomed Coops, I don't mind admitting it was impossible to walk all three dogs together because Cooper's pulling on the lead was so extreme but after battling on (using head harness and starting with tiny group lead walks, then building up time and distance gradually), we are now able to enjoy daily local walks as a family. Walking three dogs together has been a steep learning curve for me too! Coop's recall is progressing well, although like most goldens, he is super sociable so off lead recall from dog distraction can be a challenge but the best thing is, he now enjoys off lead fun every day and knows to come back to me when I whistle. 

Free running

At home Coops is a big character and loves his cuddles. He understands much of what I say and learns fast. He responds very well to positive redirection and as he still likes to steal stuff (lingerie, slippers, knitting!) and to chance his luck sometimes with counter surfing etc, plenty of redirection is still necessary! After a shaky start, Cooper and Stan (cat) have recently become friends and seem to enjoy hanging out together. Cooper is learning to restrain his exhuberance with Stan and Stan is very grateful for that! Naturally, I still keep them under close supervision.

Making friends with Stan

Introducing a lively young golden has been far from easy... but four months of hard work, patience and determination have paid off. Our lad Coops is a fab fun dog and has settled in with us beautifully. We feel as though he has always been part of our family and despite the chaos, we love him to bits!

The Spring Ball

 

THE SPRING BALL

After the wettest and muddiest of winters, Spring has at last arrived in the South East of England...

... and it is such a joy to watch gardens and the local countryside, waking to a swathe of pretty pastel blossoms dancing in the breeze... from the palest, to the most bold and flirtatious. Mother Nature at her most feminine!

There are also daffodils in heartfelt yellows and oranges, swaying gently in the borders, guaranteed to warm the chilliest of walkers, frilly hyacinths in pretty tutus of pink, blue and lilac, the shy purple crocus (almost at an end now) and sturdy camellia shrubs adorned in the most fabulous pinks and reds, demanding the eye of any passerby.

This week, the most spectacular sign that winter has now passed, has to be the breathtakingly beautiful magnolia trees, their branches dramatic with glamorous pink and white blooms, inviting us all to enjoy the show as they reach for the sky. Definitely the Belles of our Spring Ball, for a few more days at least, until wind and rain sweep back in to claim them... but never mind, it will soon be the turn of our magical Bluebells, currently waiting patiently in the wings to take centre stage!

It is such a lovely time of year and for this teddy bear maker, the 'Spring Ball' is always an inspiration!

Happy 11th birthday!

 

Happy 11th Birthday Polly!

Time to wish my beautiful big girl Polly a very Happy 11th Birthday for the 7th March!

It seems to have been eleven years in a heart beat. Oh Polly, you have walked me through life every single day of your eleven years and have taught me so much. We have walked many, many, miles together, in all weathers, met all manner of people, dogs and other animals, laughed together and barked together. There has never been a day when I didn't feel safer with you by my side and grateful for you. Age may be creeping up on us a little nowadays and I know we share a few creaks from time to time, but we're both still young at heart, determined to make the most of all that life offers with us... and I am so very thankful for your friendship. 

Happy 11th Birthday my very special Big Girl, with all my love and the end of my bananas forever. xxx

Steadfast and true

Henry 16"

When I was first introduced to the world of artist bears way back in the 1990's, the bears that always captured my heart were soulful, traditional gold teddy bears. I loved them then and love now.

Steadfast and true.

In my eyes, they embody childhood and will never grow old.

This is my latest traditional bear, a lovely 16" fellow called Henry.

I hope he makes you smile.

www.allbearbypaula.com

Update: Henry has been adopted.

“ONE DAY, YOU WILL BE OLD ENOUGH TO START READING FAIRYTALES AGAIN.”

 

“ONE DAY, YOU WILL BE OLD ENOUGH TO START READING FAIRYTALES AGAIN.”

“This is the land of Narnia,' said the Faun, 'where we are now; all that lies between the lamp-post and the great castle of Cair Paravel on the eastern sea.”

― C.S. Lewis 'The Chronicles of Narnia

After a hectic family Christmas holiday, I was ready for a change of scenery and a breath of fresh air but little did I know I was about to be transported through 'The wardrobe', into the snowy landscape of Narnia with my mum, on New Year's Day!

As we pushed through hanging fur coats, Mum and I spilled out into a snowy landscape, where we had the pleasure of meeting Mr Tumnus next to the legendary glowing lampost. He gave us a whispered warning not to linger long should we stumble across the White Witch. Intrigued, we thanked him, said our goodbyes and continued on our journey around a wintery corner... and there she sat, every bit as imperious as her fabled character! The White Witch's icy voice invited us closer as she declared her evil plan to destroy the wardrobe and claim the kingdom of Narnia as her own. After a quick pose for photos (!) we were summarily dismissed and directed passed statues frozen in time... then onwards towards Cair Paravel. We were eager to see Aslan the Great Lion, so followed his fearsome roar in the distance, enjoying the most beautifully decorated Christmas trees and wintery scenery, until we spied him gleaming gold ahead. Through one heavy wooden portal, we met Father Christmas warming his toes by the most beautiful fireplace and despite our advancing years, felt the thrill of childhood envelop us once more. It really was magical to see how much fun my eighty one year old mum was having!

Leeds Castle is only a short drive from my house and the Narnia Experience was beautifully crafted for castle visitors to celebrate Christmas 2023. Mum and I hadn't expected to visit Narnia yesterday, instead we had planned a walk in the castle grounds... but our last minute decision to pop inside and indulge our curiosity, proved completely magical, the perfect start to the new year.

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

And the wisdom of C.S. Lewis...

'There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind'.



If ever you are in Kent, you won't be disappointed with a visit to Leeds Castle and although tickets are a little on the pricey side, 
once purchased you can visit as many times during the year as you like!

https://leeds-castle.com/ 

A festive hiccup

 

A FESTIVE HICCUP

I had planned several more festive teddy bears before Christmas arrives, but unfortunately was zapped with the 'head cold from hell' about a week ago, which proved far from conducive to creativity. I hope to finish one or two new bears over the next week, including a rather handsome Tweedy Ted, so all is not quite lost, although overseas shipping may prove a little late for the Big Day.

I have been creating my 2023 portfolio of teddy bear designs as they come to life and really wanted to include one more Tweedy Ted, after finding some glorious deep red and green Harris Tweed to work with, perfect for a Christmas Tweedy. 2023 has been a busy bear-making bear for me, with each new teddy quickly finding a lovely new owner... thank you all so much for wanting to share my bear-making world with me, I am so grateful to you.

Thankfully I feel better today, so am looking forward to a quiet afternoon with my sewing machine. As the song goes, 'The weather outside is frightful' (heavy rain laden skies as I write) so once my dog walk is done and the inevitable mud hosed away, I will pull up the drawbridge and settle to work. With luck, I may finish a sweet mohair teddy bear in time for Christmas too ... fingers crossed.  The other beautiful pieces of mohair I had planned to work on, including a very pretty rose pink fabric, perfect for a larger girly bear, will inspire me to begin my bear-making again in the New Year...

2024 we are heading your way!

 

• 13 DECEMBER 2023

The Norwich Gang

 

THE NORWICH GANG

Another collection of teddy bears soon be wending their merry way to The Bear Shop in Norwich. Donald 12", Duffy 18", Dooley 16", Dougie 18" and Dermot 14", have been keeping me very busy over the past few weeks!

I have two of their pals still in pieces on my worktable and they will be joining the Norwich gang in a few days' time ... after that, I promise faithfully to make a lovely new teddy bear to share here on my website!

Visit The Bear Shop on this link: https://www.bearshops.co.uk/

The Laughing Bears

 

THE LAUGHING BEARS

I was recently reminded of some of my more unusual teddy bear designs by a regular collector, who was thrilled to have located a teddy bear I made over twenty years ago and wrote to tell me about her find... a laughing bear with hugging arms, created from a beautiful animal print fur fabric.

The 'Laughing Bears' were a change of design direction for me at the start of the new millenium. By then I had become well known for creating large traditional mohair teddy bears but never one to rest on my laurels, wanted to expand my teddy bear designs with a range of more contemporary bears. I stumbled across a wonderful faux fur fabric produced by 'Tissavel' in France, a high end synthetic fur fabric used in clothing manufacture. This luxurious fabric was manufactured in a wonderful range of 'state of the art' faux fur, with an all-important stable woven backing... to my mind, perfect for creating showpiece teddy bears!

At the time, I knew there would be collectors loyal to my traditional teddy bears, who would perhaps frown upon this flamboyant change of design direction for 'All Bear', but to my mind, creative itches must be scratched, so I decided to be brave and forge ahead with my idea anyway. Beautiful 'Bisto', the teddy in the photo above, was one of my first Laughing Bear designs and still holds a very special place in my heart. Then one laughing bear led to another ... and another ... and another! Choosing names that reflected their personalities was fun ... Laughalot, Wotalot, VaVaVoom, Crazy for you, Happy-go-lucky, Tiger Feet, Beano, Bisto, Hullabulloo, Rumpus, Serendipity...  and so they went on... 

The Laughing Bears were a more complicated, time consuming design. I wanted them to retain the appeal of traditional teddy bears but also to stand proudly in their own right. I felt it was important to create an open-mouthed design which really brought the bear to life, lending him a truly happy personna, I didn't want a mouth that flopped, or worse still, grimaced!  After quite a bit of trial and error, I came up with a smiling mouth design that made me smile back... and when I added hand painted, twinkly glass eyes, it quickly became clear these new bears were going to be super fun characters! I also designed a new arm shape for my Laughing Bears, giving them arms to hug with and once I was happy with the overall design proportions, hey presto! I had created a blueprint to explore to my heart's content ... I couldn't resist creating Laughing Bears from leopard, cheetah, lynx, rabbit and bear furs ... the possibilities seemed endless. Sometimes I worked mohair, or alpaca muzzles and paws into my design with the faux fur and each design tweak brought a new character to life. 

Despite the teddy bear traditionalists among collectors, my 'Laughing Bears' quickly found their niche and were adopted around the globe, with many heading to the United States . I continued to create my much loved traditional teddy bears too and still do so today.

I made Laughing Bears for a good number of years, some in faux fur, others in mohair, or alpaca and some which incorporated a contrast of fabrics. Most Laughing Bears were around 19"/20" in height but there were also a few 25"/26" Laughing Bears... as you can imagine, those had especially huge personalities! 

Eventually, Tissavel faux fur became much harder to source (I was told the company went out of business) and once again, I began to feel a creative urge to take my designs into a new area, so I quietly retired my friendly Laughing Bears and headed off on my next teddy bear tangent.

Remembering the Laughing Bears this week has been fun, so who knows, perhaps I will think about creating one or two in the future, if I ever locate that glorious Tissavel faux fur again, for old time's sake!

A bundle of cuddles

 

A BUNDLE OF CUDDLES

Meet little Alfie, our newest family member!

We collected this bundle of cuddles a few days ago and brought him home to fill the kitty-cat sized hole that our old girl Puddle left behind. I wasn't sure I wanted to adopt another kitten after so many years with Puddle, but I missed my little black shadow and so did Stan, our black and white cat... so after three weeks, I found myself scouring local kitten advertisements and late one night, spied a brand new kitten ad...

A day later, my daughter and I drove a few miles to view this tiny ginger scrap, who was very content to rest in my daughter's arm's and have his tummy stroked while we had a chat with the owner, a lovely lady, who told us that her cat had been engaged in an illicit affair with the neighbour's tomcat (!) producing a litter of five kittens and the rest, as they say is history...

Little Alfie is almost eleven weeks old and has settled into our furry family beautifully. He is a very sweet natured kitten, gentle, playful and affectionate... just perfect. After slow, careful introductions with the dogs, Alfie has been fully accepted as one of the furry family and I have a suspicion Cooper and Alfie are already becoming good friends, so it will be lovely to watch them grow up together.

Polly and Betty are old hands at kitten introductions and are very gentle with Alfie; Betty, the most gentle dog I have ever known, is just mildly curious, while ten year old Polly is happy to let Alfie do his kitten 'thing' around her, while she snoozes. As for Stan, he will take a little longer to warm up to his new baby brother, as is the way with cats. He is currently playing things cool to retain 'top cat' status in the house ... perching on the back of 'his' sofa and quietly watching kitten proceedings unfold from a close distance. Secretly I can see he is itching to play with all the new toys, so I have no doubt at all, that within the next couple of days, our Stanley will be racing around with little Alfie, just like a kitten himself! 

The sound of silence

 

After a much needed change of scenery, I was able to add a lovely new traditional teddy bear to my website yesterday, aptly named 'Devon'...

My husband and I headed to Devon recently with our three dogs in the car, on the rainiest of August days. It was hard to believe it was mid Summer as the rain hammered heaven's hardest on our windscreen but fortunately, when we did eventually arrive at our holiday cottage about six soggy doggy hours later, the sun finally shone and my son and his family had already safely arrived and started unpacking. The scenery overlooking Dartmoor was absolutely beautiful, so we were eager to unpack the car, take the dogs and Grandchildren to the large meadow across the road for a good run ... and launch ourselves into full holiday mode, at last!

We spent a wonderful week exploring Dartmoor and Cornwall as a family. It was hard work but much fun. The dogs swam in the sea at Padstow and the children paddled and rock-pooled in Boscastle Harbour, traversing the scarily high bridge strung between the clifftops of Tintagel, in search of a statue of King Arthur at the castle ruins.

We walked miles with our dogs, meeting wild ponies, long horned cattle and sheep on Dartmoor, then listening to the sound of absolute silence far out on the moors. One evening we supped mugs of hot chocolate and ate marshmallows in the darkness by Harford Bridge while bats swooped around us and another day, we drove along barely used farm tracks lined with gorse and deep dark forest, to find the most beautiful hidden reservoir at the end of our white-knuckle ride ... and we all ate more pasties and ice-creams than were probably good for any self-respecting waistline!

It was a lovely week, full of laughter and family fun with my son, daughter-in-law and grandchildren but also full of happy summer holiday memories of my own children excitedly exploring Boscastle and Tintagel when we were still a young family just starting out in life, many years ago. It was very special to revisit some of the special places we had always enjoyed, with my Grandchildren this summer.

Many waters have since flowed beneath the harbour bridge you see in the photograph above... but over more than thirty years later, I can still picture my children posing there for photos snapped on my little Olympus point 'n shoot camera, hoping to be bought an ice-cream and taken to visit the gift shops further along the path, after scrambling over rocky cliff paths. They were such happy times. It is lovely to see my son now cementing his own special childhood memories by sharing them with his wife and children. Life it seems, always comes full circle. 

• 25 AUGUST 2023