In an English Country Garden

We knew our first 'Father's Day' without Dad wouldn't be easy, so my next-in-line sister Fiona and I, decided to face it with our chins firmly up, just as Dad would have expected of his girls. 

Simon, Fo's other half, came up with a plan to bundle us into his truck with Bugsy the German Shepherd, then drive us to Goddington Place an impressive manor house with beautiful gardens, open to the public on Sundays.

 

 I absolutely loved the formal English gardens, so perfectly planted, with each delightful garden leading through to another.

 

I wish I could share the scent of the lavendar here with you today, but instead you'll have to breathe deeply and imagine it filling the air ...

You know me, I can't leave a flower unphotographed ... and these glorious gardens were so bloomin' beautiful, my little point 'n shoot camera was working overtime!

We packed cagoules and it was as well we had, as every time the sun burst cheerfully through, more heavy clouds rolled in soon after.  It was as if April had arrived in June!

Fortunately, the quintessentially English tea-room, prettily decked out in green and white gingham, was on standby to provide coffee and handmade Victoria Sponge cake ... oh yum!

Fo enjoying a rather large slice of Victoria Sponge heaven!

We walked through rock gardens, past sheltered pools, along green paths lined with imposing yew hedges, we sat on the lawn in warm sunshine with Bugsy, enjoying a falconry display, we gazed at the countryside vista beyond weathered garden walls and finally, moments before the heavens opened, discovered hidden treasure at the end of a wonderful woodland walk ...

For Fiona and me, finding these woodland foxgloves on Father's Day was treasure enough ... Dad, a keen gardener, was so delighted with his own display of these stately bells last summer, it was impossible not to smile when we stumbled across some yesterday.

Foxgloves weren't the only secret this lovely garden had to offer though!  But I'm not going to spoil the fun of discovering Doddington Place's secrets, so if you have an hour or two spare on a Summer's Sunday afternoon, why not visit and discover them for yourself!

 Fo, Simon and Bugsy

Thanks for yesterday you three, I'm so glad we were able to share Father's Day together x

Father's Day.

No words today.

The colours of a rainbow

I was delighted to find an envelope on my doormat this morning, containing these little beauties! 

 

Pure wool felt by Sue Eggen of Giant Dwarf

 

Many thanks to Joanne Livingston of Desert Mountain Bears Blog for kindly sharing the name of Giant Dwarf an Etsy seller of handmade, eco-friendly goods.  I just love the colours of this pure wool felt - they are so cheerful and will be perfect for my clown bears!

Show Shopping

You didn't think I'd go to a bear show and come home empty handed did you? Heaven forbid! I didn't buy a bear, but I did treat myself to some lovely new mohair from Bear Basics ...

 And although I like to knit for my bears myself, these cute little waistcoats on Elanor's (Shantock Bears) stand (which was positioned conveniently next to mine!) were just too good to ignore.  Elanor's mum is a whizz with her knitting needles and knits the outfits for Elanor's gorgeous little mice and bears ... luckily for me, she still has time to design and knit bear clothing for sale at shows too!

My final Stratford show purchase (if you don't count a rather large slab of lemon drizzle cake ... ahem!) was this super wooden chair from
Christopher's Chairs 

The chair has a hand carved, sculpted seat, designed for bears with a 'wider than average bottom'!  I couldn't resist bringing it home for dear old Bobby Bear, a 1940's Chiltern Hugmee from my personal collection.  As you can see, it's as if it was made to measure, especially for him!

Nice weather for ducks!

The heavens opened when we reached Stratford on Saturday and as we strolled along the River Avon after unloading our car, we were every bit as wet as the ducks.  Not even torrential rain could dampen our mood though ... we were determined to make the most of our weekend away in Shakespeare's beautiful home town!

The Falcon Hotel

We've stayed in the Falcon Hotel previously, but not had the pleasure of staying in the original 16th Century part of the hotel, which is a very different experience from the modern end of the building.  This year our room had a lovely little lounge attached, which looked onto an archaelogical dig taking place at 'Nash's House' (Shakespeare's last residence) opposite.  There were Tudor beams galore, not to mention a wonderfully quirky floor, which tipped everything, bed included, towards the centre of the room - not necessarily the most comfortable night's sleep we've ever had, but atmospheric and great fun! And on Sunday morning the hotel's restaurant provided us with an excellent 'Full English' breakfast, which let's face it, is the perfect start to a busy show day!

Stuart checking out the Bard's monument in the pouring rain.

View towards Holy Trinity Church

We walked along the Riverbank in the direction of the Holy Trinity Church (where Shakespeare was christened) and from time to time the sun made a half hearted effort to shine through the clouds.

We even saw a rainbow, just as Stuart did his Mary Poppins routine!

The Holy Trinity Church across the Avon

It became clear the rain wasn't likely to ease for long enough for us to sit on the grass with a pint or two like we did last year, so we decided to take the sensible option and instead walked back through the town in search of a cosy pub!

The Guild Chapel and the Grammar School where Shakespeare was educated

Needless to say, I kept my little point 'n' shoot camera handy as we walked ... after all, there are so many picturesque sights in Stratford, it would have been a shame to miss an opportunity to snap away!  

And before long we spotted The 'Windmill Inn', which has been a designated public house for an impressive 400 years ... perfect!

"Oi, will you stop fiddling with that camera and let's get inside!"

We guzzled our beer and as the warmth of the pub gradually dried our soggy feet, decided we were hungry, so wandered towards the 14th Century 'Garrick Inn,' in search of further sustenance.

We enjoyed a tasty meal, topped off with Irish coffees in the Garrick.  All in all, a very pleasant way to spend an evening.

Sunday's 'Teddy Bear Artist Event show took place in the Civic Hall across the road from the magnficent Clock Tower.

The Clock Tower

Luckily for the exhibitors, the heavy rain didn't scare away our hardy collectors and this lovely show was a terrific success!  I spent the entire day chatting and finding new homes for my show bears. 

Having a natter with lovely Pam Howells

Eager collectors and yes, there's Gregory Gyllenship too!

I'm afraid not many of the show pics I took came out well enough to share here with you ... but don't let that stop you from visiting Stratford and the Teddy Bear Artist Event next year will you?!  I highly recommend a weekend in Stratford, whatever the weather!

'Felicity and her bun'

The icing on my Stratford cake was that my competition entry 'Felicity and her bun' won the 'Organiser's Award' at the show, which means I have been given a free stand at next year's show ... and of course, that gives me a great excuse for another weekend in lovely Stratford Upon Avon.  Now that's what I call a result!

A duck for Dad x

If you enjoyed reading this post, you might also enjoy the following:

http://allbear.blogspot.com/2008/06/summing-up-stratford-upon-avon.html

and

http://allbear.blogspot.com/2010/06/show-time-in-stratford.html

All Present and Correct!

How I did it, I'm not quite sure, but today I can announce my 'Teddy Bear Artist Event' show bears are at last, all present and correct in time for their big day out in Stratford Upon Avon ... phew!

My 2011 Stratford Collection!

  I feel as though I've done a full workout this morning ... who would have thought clambering around the lounge taking photographs could be such strenuous work?!

If you would like to join us all and meet the bears in person on Sunday, please visit http://www.teddybearartistevent.co.uk/ for full details of this very special artist bear show.

Well, the bears are made, they've had their official photo shoot, my http://www.allbear.co.uk/ website has been updated with pics ... time for a rest?  If only!  There is still much to do before Sunday's show - pricing, tagging and packing to name but a few of the remaining tasks ...

But first lunch!  All this work has given me an appetite and as the sun is shining, I'm looking forward to taking a breather while I eat an egg and tomato sandwich out in my garden ... I reckon I've earned it!

The 'Normous Nineties!

Back in the 'Normous Nineties, a magnificent decade of significant statement bears, this bearmaker was truly excited by the possibility of creating bears big enough for proper hugs; so she worked hard designing 'Big 'Uns' - bears big enough to stand out in any crowd! 

27" 'Glisten' - 1995

27" 'Timeless' - 1996

27" 'Only' - 1997

32" 'Himself' - 1998

The nineties was definitely a bear-crafting decade for celebration!  Back then there were no cries of 'I don't have room for big bears', instead collectors relished their bold proportions and more often than not, bigger really was better!

26" Black Magic - 2006

I still absolutely adore big bears, but like so many other big bear makers, have had to gradually scale down sizes to accommodate collectors' needs over the years. In fact, from memory, I think the largest bear I made during the past decade, was 'Black Magic' and he was a mere 26"!

8" 'Titch' - 2011

And last week, something I never imagined could happen, did actually happen ... I found myself sewing a little 8" bear!

23" Nat - my largest bear so far in 2011

The magnificent big guys of the nineties will always be dear to my heart and there's no way I'll ever completely let them go - after all, once a big bear maker, always a big bear maker!  But it is fun to try new things and of course, unless you are lucky enough to own a mansion, collecting space in homes does fill up pretty fast, so I guess a few little 'uns, mixed in with slightly less enormous 'Big 'Uns', will hopefully be a positive step forward for this bearmaker in 2011!

A Century of the Teddy Bear

Any teddy bear designer worth their salt will tell you how important it is to understand the history of the teddy bear and his part in our lives.  So although it isn't a bear crafting manual, I would like to recommend a beautiful history of the teddy bear book, first published in hardback in 1997.

'A Century of the Teddy Bear' by Constance King

I think 'A Century of the Teddy Bear" by Constance King is a very special book indeed.  As the flyleaf says, it "gives us a fascinating insight into the world of Teddy Bears, linked with social history, wartime, royalty and individual owners."  This book not only contains wonderful photographs of bears throughout the decades, it also covers their history incisively and in my humble opinion, is an absolutely fascinating historical insight into the hertitage of our much loved teddy bears!

If you would like a copy of your own, you may strike luck with Amazon.com ... I checked today and there are still a few second hand copies available at reasonable prices.  Having said that, the 'new' copies advertised are very expensive indeed!

False modesty? Not me!

Okay, I won't hide behind false modesty ... I confess it is impossible not to feel a little thrill of pride upon opening a teddy publication, flicking through and finding my work included in a featured entitled 'Leaders of the pack'! 

'The Teddy Bear Annual' is a classy magazine, lovingly edited by Kathy Martin, authoress, editor and our leading UK expert on all things teddy bear.

The Teddy Bear Annual 2011 Spring/Summer edition

If you haven't purchased your copy yet, you really are missing a treat!  This mag is bursting with 74 pages of beautiful bears and fascinating, well-written articles covering all aspects of teddy bear collecting.

 

To see a preview of this lovely publication, please visit: http://www.collectors-club-of-great-britain.co.uk/magazines/default.asp?magazine=5

The Teddy Bear Annual' is priced at only £5.95 with free delivery in the UK. Go on, treat yourself, you know you want to!

By the way, if it makes it easier for you, the magazine is also available to order through Amazon.

Too little too late?

I must admit to feeling a little bogged down this week.  The Stratford show is looming large on the 12th June and as my next shop order has been pulled forward at short notice too, it doesn't feel as though I'm doing justice to anything right now.  Hopefully by the middle of next week, my basket of bits will magically have become lovely new bears and I will be able to relax a bit!

Ah well, at least I do have a few new bears ready for the show ...

21" Hector

21" Ophelia

16" Toby

23" Felicity

And although I haven't photographed him yet, I also finished a little bear yesterday ... mind you, at only 8" he's not exactly going to help fill my table is he?!