In the blink of an eyelid ...

Birthday girl!

Don't the weekends fly by? This weekend has hurtled through at breakneck speed and here I am, back at Monday all over again! Today I have to box and post 'Blush', my Spring-spiration bear as she's going to be be flying over the Atlantic to the US to meet her new owner this week. Oh and guess what? My Tribute Ted Leon sold at the weekend too! He'll be staying in the UK though, which seems completely appropriate for him; he will soon be settling into his lovely new home with several other of my 'All Bear's' to keep him company. Unfortunately, despite having lots of interest in his auction, little elephant 'Abe' didn't find a new friend on Ebay last week, but to be honest, I'm quite happy to keep him with me for a while longer, he is very cute after all!

And speaking of cute, Stuart and I spent Saturday afternoon at the park running around in the pouring rain with his grandson; Grandad forgot he's no longer a 'footballer extraordinaire' and succeeded in kicking our ball so high, it wedged in the top of a tree, rather than flying over said tree as had been intended, so there was nothing else for it, that tree had to be climbed! I did worry for the tree's safety as my hulk of other half hauled himself through the branches, but to his credit, he managed to free the ball and what's more, lived to tell the tale.

Unusually for April, it snowed very heavily here yesterday ... well, heavily by Maidstone standards anyway. Needless to say, I couldn't resist snapping a few pics because everything looked so picture postcard pretty for a brief while, but it didn't lay for long and has just about all melted now. Hopefully we'll be basking in Spring sunshine again in a few days' time!

April snow showers!
Yesterday was my Mum's birthday. Two of my sisters and I contrived to descend on her house and between us, managed to scrape together a not too shabby four grandchildren, plus my son's lovely girlfriend, for a family afternoon. Cards, pressies, nibbles, natter ... as you can see, Mum enjoyed having her family around her for her special day, most especially her grandchildren!

More Auntie cuddles!
And while we're talking of birthdays, my daughter had her 25th birthday a couple of weeks ago. An entire quarter of a century has flown past in the bat of an eyelid! How does that happen? She'll no doubt give me a sound telling off, but please indulge this proud mum by sharing a few rare photographs of my beautiful girl ...

Spring-spiration!

'Blush' 22"

I couldn't leave it at the spring flower photographs, now could I? After my recent diversion towards the vintage genre, I have been bursting to return to some colour and my contemporary designs, but needed a splash of inspiration and hey presto, a little fresh air in my newly emerging Spring garden has worked wonders for me! There is something quite magical and very energising about the the gentle warmth of Springtime colour after so many dull grey Winter days, don't you think?

Much as I enjoy taking a sidestep now and again, wandering off course always refreshes my drive to return to what I love doing best, which of course as you know, is creating big bears.

I spotted this piece of mohair on one of the UK supplier's websites recently and I swear it cried out to me! It's one of Schulte's finest, most beautiful kid mohairs, new into the UK and it's in the most delicate pale peach, absolutely perfect for a Spring bear. I've had the vintage pale green silk velvet for a little while, waiting for the right bear and with all the fresh green shoots popping out in the garden, I came to the conclusion it would make a lovely complement for my peachy mohair. For me, this bear is all about colour, a fresh new zingy palate for a special Springtime bear!

'Blush' 2008

Spring Celebration

We may still be suffering grey skies, rain and chilly winds, but look what's happening in my garden ... plenty of inspiration for Spring bears!

Works in progress

Vintage German Mohair - my fabulous new stash!

Postie knocked about an hour ago and I almost fell over myself trying to get to the door as quickly as possible. Why? Because I knew he was bringing me a very special parcel! I slit open the wrapper the second I could find a pair of scissors and positively squealed with pleasure ... tucked inside was bear maker heaven! Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, is this package of genuine vintage mohair beautiful ... *sighs* ... the colours are so rich, it feels so soft, there are fabulous markings, ageings, areas of stunning embroidery ... ooohh aaahhhh!!!!

What more can I say? Here's a tiny peek, just to satisfy your curiosity! With luck I should have a couple of cracking bears available from this fabric to take to 'The Teddy Bear Artist Event 2008' in Stratford Upon Avon on June 8th!

Secret head project in progress ...

I've also been working on my secret head project and can now share an 'almost but not quite there' preview ... I wonder if you can guess what I'm up to from the pic?

... And finally, to make up for the dearth of scenic photographs yesterday (although little Erin Rose was definitely a lovely compensation!) I can now show you our new living room. Hasn't Stuart done a great job?!

Finished Lounge pics:

Before shot:

We're still waiting for our overmantel mirror to arrive and we have issues with a warping door, but other than those incidentals, we're done, I love it! As you can see, so does our cheeky little Puddle cat who is making herself very at home here these days!

Puddle laying claim to Stuart's armchair!

Ahhing and aarghhing!

The rain eventually eased yesterday afternoon, so Stuart and I drove over to Detling with the intention of taking a gentle stroll through 'White Horse Country Park'. We've often driven past the park en route to visiting my Mum, but have never taken a walk there.

After our recent decorating, we were crying out for some fresh air and exercise and as the ruins of Thurnham Castle are a little way inside the park, it seemed a good idea to visit them. We ran down the path, past all the grown-ups, to find the castle, which was tiny and once we'd seen what was left of it after several centuries had taken their toll, Stuart thought he'd climb a small hill to admire the view. I watched cynically as half a dozen eager goats chased up behind him and thought I'd take a more dignified approach to my mountaineering.

Thurnham Castle ruins at White Horse Country Park

I picked my way gingerly through the nettles at the bottom of the hill and began my ascent but without warning, my trainers let me down badly and in what felt like slow motion, I slid less than gracefully back down the horribly muddy slope, landing on my knees in a slump at the bottom, hands spread out in front of me as I grabbed desperately at clumps of nettles to steady myself.

The goats didn't seem in the least bit perturbed by my antics and my gallant knight, minus white charger, also remained oblivious to my escapades as he gazed enigmatically across the countryside from his vantage point. I squelched my way upright and whined pitifully, until he caught my wail on the breeze, picked his way delicately down the hill, espied my sorry state and promptly roared with laughter. Only when he had recovered his equilibrium sufficiently, did it dawn on him to hunt for some dock leaves with which to rub my poor prickled palms. Charming eh?!

That all happened within the first fifteen minutes of our walk and naturally, we weren't going to give up on our excursion simply to spare my mud-splattered blushes, so we left the castle and its goats, pointing ourselves in a general 'downwards' direction along the road beyond. After a little while and to avoid too much of a trek back uphill on the return journey, we took a left turn towards what we thought would be a pleasant, level tramp through woodland.

Two and a half hours later, even Stuart was gasping for breath as we squelched our way through mud swamps, hiked the steepest of rocky hillside footpaths, clambered over barbed wire fences past marauding sheep and then to cap it all off, "I think we should just walk up these steps back to the castle Paula ... I'm sure it'll be easier ..." at the top of said steps, found ourselves gasping desperately, leaden legs refusing to carry us further. Once our breathing had steadied to a less volcanic rate, we heaved our respective bulks back to the top of the steepest of all mud swamped hills, using the farmer's wire fence as a pulley. Bent double and grimacing as we fought to reinflate our lungs, we were met at the top by several small children happily playing catch with their parents. Needless to say, if you ever find yourself perched on the top of a hill, there really is only one way down,"run Paula, it's the easiest way ..." called Sir Galahad as he recovered himself at the bottom of the hill ...

Yeah right.

I descended in the most undignified manner, legs buckling as my body finally caught up with the rest of me, to a chorus of raucous laughter from said several small children, accompanied by a round of discreet snickering from their parents. Hmph.

Oh and in case you are wondering, no, we didn't race back along the path to the car like daft teenagers afterwards, no, we staggered back, our bodies in shock, feeling every ache of the fact we are no longer in our twenties (or for that matter, even our thirties).

In many ways I would agree, it is a shame I didn't remember to take my camera with me; the views from the tops of those swampy hills were indeed spectacular. However, on the other hand, at least this way my dignity (and my camera!) remains intact here in Blog Land as there can be no photographic evidence of such tomfoolery to be held against me!

Erin Rose wearing her pink cardi knitted by Auntie Paula

I'm afraid I only have one tiny pic (purloined) of Thurnham Castle and very little else to offer you. Having said that, do you remember the cardigans I shared with you in earlier posts? Well, my sister Laura has sent me photos of little Erin Rose wearing them and I'm delighted to say, they fit her at last!

So, maybe the mental images of my Sunday stroll will entertain you today and the pics of my cute niece can provide the 'ahh' factor for this post!

Erin Rose wearing her lilac cardigan - knitted by Auntie Paula!

Abe

I mentioned a little elephant in my previous post and now, through the magic of Blog Land, I can introduce him to you. As you can see, he's full of vintage charm! I've called him Abe. He was a devil to photograph, so I hope these pics have managed to capture his personality!

Abe is just under eight inches in height and as those of you who follow my blog regularly will recognise, he bears a deliberate resemblance in proportion and shape to my own hand made childhood elephant, 'Ellie'. I think Abe is a funny wee scrap of trumpeteer and I'm really not sure what you'll make of him, so please let me know if you think he's the kind of elephant only his mother could love! My instincts are that he would make a super companion for a special vintage, or vintage style bear; one thing's certain, he's definitely a great size for the job.

Left: woollen elephant 2008 - Right: my original 1960's elephant

I've 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've also taken a little more artistic licence with his trunk shaping, but other than those minor adjustments, I've kept Abe pretty true to my original 1960's elephant.

I last used Abe's mohair to create Walter, my recent vintage style bear and as this mohair is perfect for that aged feel, I thought it would be interesting to see how it would work with my three piece, unjointed body design ... I've combined the mohair with a lovely silk/velvet blend in an antique bronze colour for his inner ears and have given him vintage style matt boot button eyes. I didn't want to overwork this design, because I wanted him to retain a simple charm. He's been great fun to make, but tomorrow, I promise, it's back to the bears for this bear maker! Mind you, now I come to think about it, I may just have enough of this fabric leftover to make a companion bear in similar style to Abe ... now there's a thought!

What will be, will be!

My Easter daffodils

Easter? Easter you say? But, would you believe it snowed?! Yes, we actually had snow here in Kent on Easter Sunday. These are the pics from my garden to prove it. Brrrrrr! Puddle was fascinated by the snow and couldn't wait to investigate first hand in the garden. She scaled the heights of our back fence just to get a closer look at the flakes, daft puss! If you look closely, you can spot her doing her tightrope act in this pic ...

Puddle's first snow!

Still, at least the snow gave me a good excuse for staying warm inside and indulging myself with the chocolate eggs my children and Stuart gave me. A moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips, don't they say? Ah well! Those delicious eggs were gorgeous dark chocolate and believe me, any forthcoming excess pounds will have been well worth it! Mmmn!

My Easter catkins

Because of the decorating (after all, it wouldn't be Easter without a spot of decorating would it?!) I've been all at sixes and sevens this week, which is why it's taken me until today to update my blog. I hadn't even had so much as half a chance to start work on my 'hush hush' bear plans until this afternoon and to be honest, I can't even use the excuse that I've been doing all the decorating because I only lifted a paintbrush briefly! (I know, shame on me!) I'm such a klutz with a paintbrush, I do like to try but I'm never happy with the results and I always seem to end up wearing more than I put onto the walls.

Work in progress!

Stuart has worked so hard to finish the lounge this week (after painting all the dark wood white at my request, I think he'll be more than happy if he never sees another pot of white paint as long as he lives!) and I'm really pleased with how it has come together; at last it's feeling like home. Once our new mirror and another light fitting have arrived and been put in place, we'll be done with all the titivating. Hopefully by tomorrow we should be able to put the furniture back in place for the last time and actually start relaxing in our new surroundings.

I left Stuart to the painting and crept up to my workroom today with the intention of setting to work on my new secret bear design ... (secret so if it all goes wonky I won't have to tell anyone and look a fool!) Suffice it to say, I have a new style of ted head cut for this design and I was raring to get to my sewing machine, but unfortunately the power went off for hours this afternoon and I couldn't use my machine after all, very frustrating!

Instead of working on the 'sssshhhh' head, I cut out a little elephant; this tiddly trumpet blower will be an extension of my earlier elephant pattern (the one I made for my new baby niece) with the three piece body shaping. I've decided to develop him just a tiny bit and this time incorporate a head joint, which hopefully should give him a wee bit more character. I don't know if anyone will want him when he's finished because after all, I'm not known for my elephants; still, when all's said and done, what will be, will be!

Compatibility

'Simeon' 16"

What a testing week it has been! My old computer had been groaning every time I tried to do any work on it for quite some time and so I had to face facts, the poor old thing was past its sell by date. Naively, I decided to buy a new desktop pc. It arrived by courier and my son and I soon had the hardware set up, plugging all the right cables into all the right holes ... "job's a doddle," I recklessly thought. However, when I enthusiastically pressed the pretty blue button to fire it up, I wasn't at all prepared for the nasty non-compatible nightmare which greeted me.

I won't bore you with the details, but one awful migraine and two entirely frustrating days later, I finally managed to establish how to make the wretched, sneaky thing work. Oh and in case you are wondering, no I am not a complete computer dunderhead! I'm no whizz kid either, but I can usually get where I want to go without too much trouble. Anyway, to cut a long and painful story short, I ended up having to upgrade my modem, upgrade drivers for all my hardware, upgrade to AOL 9.0VR, work out how to migrate my website and accept the fact that my Microsoft Outlook files aren't ... yep, you guessed it, compatible! GRRRRRR!!!! One thing's for sure, by this point I wasn't feeling particularly compatible either!

'Simeon' 16"

I've spent today installing the new wireless modem, networking the family's pcs' and re-establishing contact with the outside world and at last we are up and running. There was a brief moment when I almost threw a blue fit because I thought my lovely Canon digicam wouldn't work with the new system, but in the nick of time I discovered that if I use the card reader, rather than the usb cable, it works perfectly. Phew ... (and breathe Paula!) In fact, now that I've just about finished fighting with my new 'Vista' system, I suppose I should be honest and tell you, we're actually bonding quite nicely. It's an absolute whizz at opening files, even my juicy photo graphics and it has the most enormous hard drive ... ah, surely you can't blame a girl for having her head so easily turned?!

Baby Erin's pink cardigan finished at last!

Enough of my trials and tribulations, at least I can report one or two things that actually went okay this week! I managed to finish the 16" bear 'Simeon' above, especially for my little knitted vest top and after an hour in the armchair clacking away, Erin Rose can at last wear her new pink cardigan ... no bumble bee buttons though, they didn't match perfectly enough, so I've settled for pretty pink flowers instead. Hopefully my sister will send me a pic of Erin wearing her new cardi soon! Laura, are you out there in the ether listening? Fingers crossed Erin hasn't grown too quickly and this cardi still fits her! ;o)

Oh before I go, I should mention the mohair! Simeon bear is made from some fabric I last used quite a few years ago. I remember making a Christmas bear called 'Yule' from this fabric ... hmmn, I wonder where he is now? (Hunts determinedly through files and bingo! Finds a pic especially for you ...)

'Yule' 20" 1999/2000 ish

Anyway, as I was saying, I haven't seen this particular fabric on sale for a very long time. I do know it was used by Steiff and used to be available in black, white, gold and chocolate. I had this piece of chocolate left over and have kept it ever since, ready to use again when I had an ideally sized pattern designed for it. Well, after all this time, the day finally came!

By the way, the name 'Simeon' flowed as follows ... Easter, hot cross buns, chocolate eggs, Simnel cake .... Simeon! And that dear pop pickers, is how my head works. Worrying eh?!

Dusty jackets

'Bears and how to make them' by Margaret Hutchings - first published 1964

I saw this book on Ebay recently and thought it would make a great addition to my workroom book shelf. 'Bears and how to make them' by Margaret Hutchings was published in 1964 and as a child of the sixties, of course I couldn't resist the opportunity to discover what was being taught about bear-making back then! The term 'teddy bear artist' wasn't coined until the mid 1970's and yet, this book proves the art of teddy bear making was being referenced in detailed publication more than forty years ago! It really is a fascinating book and is still completely relevant today. In fact, if you look at the examples of trapunto feet for realistic bears in the picture below, it would seem that little should ever be classed as completely new in terms of teddy bear design!

I also found another of Margaret Hutching's wonderful books for a few pounds while I was auction shopping and it arrived in the post a couple of days ago. 'Modern Soft Toy Making' was first published in 1959 and is a veritible goldmine of soft toy making information.

'Modern Soft Toy Making' by Margaret Hutchings - first published 1959

Don't be put off by the term 'soft toy making' by the way, many of the techniques featured in this vintage book are still used in modern bear artistry today. In fact, if you have an urge to begin designing your own teddy bears, I think it's entirely useful to study as many toy making and crafting books, past and present, as possible, in order to fully understand how best to develop your potential. I've been designing my own range of bears for about fifteen years and I am still discovering new skills, which for me, is a major part of keeping the process fresh and exciting.

'The Splendid Soft Toy Book' - first published 1981

I remember reading a recommendation for 'The complete book of stuffed work' by Toni Scott on a forum several years ago, so I hunted for a copy and eventually tracked one down in the US. I had it shipped over and although it doesn't have much to say about bear making specifically, it does contain a wealth of information relating to all things soft sculpture, much of which can be interpreted in terms of bear design, by a creative mind.

'Complete book of stuffed work' by Toni Scott - first published 1978

And then of course, there are recent bear-making manuals aplenty; these are the three I would class as teddy bear artist bibles and no self-respecting bear art shelf should be without them!

'101 bears to make' by Nancy Tillberg, 'Constructing teddy and his friends' by Jennifer Laing and 'A bear of my own' by Rotraud Illisch

Aside from crafting publications, you can also enhance your bear design knowledge greatly by studying many other teddy bear related books. I'm thinking of reference books featuring vintage/antique bears, auction house catalogues, specialist collectors'magazines etc ... I'll share some of my favourites with you another day!

In the meantime, do keep your eyes peeled for some of the rarer vintage gems - they can often be found in second hand bookstores, or on internet sites. Don't be put off by tatty dust covers, because often you'll find a treasure trove of relevant bear-making information inside those faded covers and all for only a few pounds!

Patient Porcini

'Porcini' 20"

Here he is, finished at last! This is 20" 'Porcini', the mohair and silk bear I was working on in my last post. I love the quality of this new fabric, it has such a wonderful sheen, unlike any other mohair I've used previously. The shade is so subtle too, really pretty. If you would like more pics and details, please pop over to my website, where Porcini is now waiting patiently in the hope he will soon meet his special someone!