Karens Bears...

First for the Year..

2012-01-28T11:23:00.003+11:00

.... First for the year on Bearpile that is! I've listed these two little cuties sitting in a vintage beaded handbag on my Bearpile page. Bearpile listings will be a bit thin on the ground while I work madly for the upcoming shows and start back at 'school', and I've even done some orders! Hopefully I can keep it up all year!:-D

Jumping for Joy!

2012-01-20T09:51:00.002+11:00

Well, this year I had decided not to enter the Teddy Bear and Friends magazines TOBY awards... The deadline was looming and I had orders, and Christmas was looming- and for once I knuckled down and did my orders... then came the email from the TBF editor... deadline extended! Hmm... time for a rethink... and I am glad I did, because my little girl who I called "Sweet Dreams" has won a TOBY Industry's Choice award! What a thrill!

I can't wait to see photos of all the other winners, always a treat to see what people have dreamed up.

Now, nose back to the grindstone... :-D

A New Year..

2012-01-16T09:42:00.003+11:00

Oh my gosh, where does time go?!? It's already halfway through January, all my ideas of posting Christmas cards and such went out the window, Christmas seems a distant memory, and even New Years is fading.... after having an few easy days, I am back into things.

Having a good end to 2011, working on some orders (which I am first to admit, I am NOT good at! hehe) and going well on Bearpile, I am looking forward to 2012. Just as well huh, because it's going to happen whether I am ready or not!:D

My first show for the year is looming- Hugglets Winter Bearfest in London! I was going to take a year out from Hugglets and apply for February 2012, but circumstances have made it possible for me to go this year. I am so excited, and so lucky! Of course that means more mad bearmaking- or should I say bearmaking at a mad rate- some would say I'm always mad bearmaking hehe... One of the reasons I wanted to try the Winter Hugglets show was to combine it with the Teddybear-Welt show in Wiesbaden, Germany... so yes, that's my second show of the year! Doubly exciting.... just a couple of weeks after Hugglets, it's great to be able to combine two shows for the one plane ticket:D

Then, as you can see, I have been accepted into the Teddies Worldwide March online show, "Teddybears Tea Party". Right up my alley! It's going to be fun thinking up Tea Party themed bears, and again, Daphne, Teddies Worldwide 'head honcho' has a 'under $100" section, which is also a fun challenge to rise to.

On top of this, I have decided to go 'back to school' and learn a new skill- Floristry! I've had an interest in floristry for the longest time ( since a teenager) and took a one day class at a famous Florist's school when I was away for Hugglets last September, which I really enjoyed, so the bug was planted. Late last year, I decided there wasn't going to be a better time, so I signed myself up! It's such a shock to the system going back and getting assignments and being the student.

My last two Saturdays were spent at the wonderful Bear Essence in Tooradin, teaching my ballerina girls sitting in a ballet slipper. Two fun days were had by all, I think it's safe to say. Even though it felt like we were all in holiday mode, the bears were finished on time- early even- *and* we managed to have a lovely time. Another class is scheduled to be running in April at Bear Essence.

So, there's the beginning of the year all lined up! Boy that turned into a long post didn't it lol... I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Years, and that we all have a great New Year ahead of us.. heres to health, friends, family, and lots of wonderful creations- either made or collected- or perhaps even both!

Bearpile again

2011-12-12T13:28:00.002+11:00

Two new pieces added to Bearpile...

Woof!

2011-12-07T11:25:00.001+11:00

I thought I'd share some of my recent work with you now he's reached his new home in England. Little Cookie is made in Japanese Silk plush, filled with wool and fine glass beads. I love the Japanese silk plush fabrics, the pile is so soft. I want to experiment with dying some more colours, but the pile really soaks in the dye fast, so I'll need a time when I'm not doing more than one thing at once or risk some very brightly coloured bears!

A few inspirational colours for dying perhaps?

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New on Bearpile

2011-11-30T15:10:00.000+11:00

I've been busy putting some new faces up on Bearpile today...

Back to Paris...

2011-11-26T13:25:00.002+11:00

....in bear form only unfortunately!:) I don't know about others, but when I get ideas for bears, sometimes it takes quite a while for them to 'gel' and finally come together- and sometimes I get straight to it and I can't rest until it's done... Well, after I had my first Macaron experience a bit over 2 years ago, I knew I wanted to make something that brought to mind Macarons, in some way. Just the colours were right up my alley! So the vague idea had sat in the back of my mind.. waiting waiting... til not long before I left for Hugglets at the end of August.

Now I can't honestly say what sparked the final idea, whether it was my Mum making some small boxes that were printed out on the computer or something else entirely, but before I knew it I just *had* to have her make me a tiny replica of a Laduree bag, and a Laduree box which I filled with tiny handmade macarons- (I spent an entire day making over 100 macarons when I needed 8! lol) And luckily, after Hugglets I was also able to scour the souvenir shops in Paris itself for the little Eiffel Tower to finish it off.... I call the set "Mon Petit Macaron" and they have just been listed on Bearpile, along with my little Robin.

Of course, knowing me, I bought more than one little Eiffel Tower- some silver, some gold, some with rhinestones, one with pink rhinestones, one with red, white and blue rhinestones- so there will no doubt be more little Parisian themed sets coming along- when I figure out *just what* to do with them!:)

Thank You

2011-11-22T10:40:00.003+11:00

Well what a wonderful show! All but two of my pieces were adopted, and according to Daphne the show organiser, it was the most successful yet! How could it not have been though, with all the wonderful pieces there to drool over.

I hope you enjoyed looking, the creativity was really amazing. I often find it tricky to do Christmas-themed pieces, maybe its my aversion to red and green, or that when its time to make Christmas pieces it's usually warm and sunny here! It's wonderful to see the different ideas so many artists had for the show.

I can't imagine the hard work done by Daphne and her clever Dad in putting together the show pages and listing pages for us. I hope Daphne has time for a few relaxing days as a reward for all those hours.

Now, time to take a breather, work on a couple of orders and start planning new pieces for the New Year... I already have cut out and sewn the head of a new design which I think might be a bit different to my usual shape, but probably won't be as different as I was hoping for hehe.

Of course I shall snap some photos as she's done...

Time is running out...

2011-11-20T22:24:00.001+11:00

-

Only a few hours to go before the curtain closes on the Christmas Treasures Online show! At 4pm New York time (9pm in London or 8am here on the East Coast of Australia) the show will close and your opportunity to adopt one of the fabulous pieces will be gone.
There is still lots of wonderful pieces available, and of course you can still drool over the sold ones as well- I know I have been!

Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Tick Tick Tick.....

2011-11-17T11:09:00.003+11:00

I hope you've been and voted for your favourite bear at the Christmas Treasures preview! Time is running out- voting closes very very soon. The upside to this? It's almost time for the show!

It opens at 4pm Friday Eastern US time, which is 8am Saturday here on the East Coast of Australia.... I'm looking forward to the curtain raising and getting a peek at everyone's creations.

http://www.teddiesworldwide.com

Be there or be square!

A Week to Go...

2011-11-12T17:01:00.001+11:00

Hard at work here with lots of new faces on the workbench.... The Teddies Worldwide Christmas Treasures online show starts next weekend.
If you haven't already, hop on over to www.teddiesworldwide.com and check out the wonderful preview bears. You can even vote for your favourites!
Here's my little preview girl Cookie, my little gingerbread girl, holding her very own gingerbread man. I hope you like her and I can't wait to upload the rest of my creations.
See you next weekend!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Back to the Grindstone!

2011-10-17T13:22:00.001+11:00

Well, back from a wonderful trip to Hugglets! It was wonderful to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. Seems like forever ago we were waking early to drive into London for the big day!
While I was away I was lucky enough to visit Buckingham Palace and see the special exhibition of Kate's wedding dress, tiara, cake, shoes, as well as the State Rooms of the Palace. Sadly, no photos were allowed inside, but it was a fabulous experience that I will remember for a long time.
A special treat was Afternoon Tea at Fortnum and Masons also in London. I felt like royalty, sitting back in their plush sofa and being treated to cakes and perfect sandwiches on pretty china. Spoiled!

A pretty vintage rhinestone buckle I found at an antique market near my friend Susan's house.

After Hugglets it was across the Channel in the Eurostar- or should that be under the Channel? Up to Brussels and then onto Ghent for another show. It's so interesting to visit shows in other countries! Here I mostly purchased mohairs... Beautiful hand- dyed colours! I was hoping to find lace, but most pieces, while lovely, weren't what I was after.
Then a short trip down to Paris on the Thalys train for a week.. I stayed in a beautiful wonderful apartment on the Left Bank not far from Notre Dame.. In fact I could see Notre Dame from my windows, and hear the bells. I also ventured to my first Paris flea markets! One, Porte des Vanves, is on every weekend. Here I bought laces, old flowers, old postcards and some tiny fluted metal tart tins to use with the bears.. Just HOW I am going to use them I am not sure yet! But I just had to buy them, I'll figure the practicalities out later! So many interesting things to look at, tho sadly many items were just too big to fit in my already bulging suitcase.
The other flea market I found out about accidentally, and it was less than five minutes walk away. Here the lace was much more reasonably priced and I stocked up, of course! I don't speak much French, but it's amazing how much you can understand when you have your eye on something!

Tiny pointe shoes I found at the Opèra Garnier in Paris, somehow I will use these with a bear!

The lace was a beautiful scarf I found at the nearby flea market in Paris, with a Macaron box from the best Macaron maker in the world ( in my humble opinion of course!) -Ladurée. I have researched the Macaron extensively so I feel I can say that with some authority...:) of course, the research continues... Hehe

Another Macaron gift box, too beautiful to leave behind! Have yet to figure out a use for this too, but I will! Inside is metallic gold...

Beautiful lace and another view of the Macaron box.. How 'Marie Antoinette' is that box! Ladurée made all the sweets and cakes for the 2006 movie version of Marie Antoinette, and each of their cakes is definitely something out of a royal banquet. They don't taste too bad either!

Tiny vintage metal tartlet cases... What to do with these....

Beautiful vintage flowers from Porte des Vanves market..

I'm probably going to keep these for a while before I can bring myself to use them!

Pretty cherry blossoms from a fabulous shop in London, V.V Rouleaux. A MUST visit if you love ribbons and trims!
Now, it's back to the grindstone to get ready for Woodend and the Christmas Treasures online show.... Dreaming of Macarons, elderflower pressé ( a new discovery for me, delicious! I wonder if we can get it in Australia?) and yummy French baguettes!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Hugglets, almost here!

2011-09-10T15:57:00.001+10:00

Firstly, apologies for the photo. It was taken with my phone so isn't the most spectacular quality! I'm worried tho that if I don't post this one I won't get to post a pre Hugglets pic at all... Only one more sleep before this wonderful show. The bears are all ready, freed from their postage boxes at last, waiting patiently for the trip into town in the morning....these two little panda ballerinas sitting in a tiny pointe shoe are ready to go and see what all the fuss is about.. Hope to see you there!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Exciting..

2011-08-08T11:43:00.003+10:00

Thought I best also post that the weekend after Hugglets I have the pleasure of participating in a Doll and Bear show in Ghent, Belgium. I am not sure whether I am more excited about participating in the show as an exhibitor, or being able to shop at all the wonderful stalls there for new and exciting bits and pieces to use with my bears, or meeting collectors and artists in a whole new country... I am sure there are going to be lots of hand motions and giggles when there is communication difficulty, but I am pretty confident the international language of Bears and Smiles will carry us through!

2011-08-08T11:24:00.005+10:00

Just done uploading Lily's details onto Bearpile (for link see sidebar).. most of my smaller bears are on their way to England for Hugglets, so I will be putting a few larger bears onto Bearpile for the near future. Maybe it will get me back into making some bigger bears....

You may also have noticed the new banner at the bottom of the page and the badge in the sidebar.. I've been accepted for the Christmas Treasures Teddies Worldwide online show, and am already planning my "Christmas Treasures" for the big wekend. When I found out the theme ideas started forming in my head, snowy white, sparkles and jewels, little ribboned boxes with pretty treats inside.... I'm glad I now have reason to bring them to life! A special section of the show will be gift items which will bring out the creativity in the participating artists I am sure... The preview starts on the 4th of November, which sounds forever away at the moment but no doubt the time between now and then will fly!

Shows all over..

2011-07-16T16:39:00.001+10:00

I hope you've had time to check out the Teddies Worldwide 'Bears on Parade' show already. If you haven't, there's still plenty of time to check it out before the Parade is over... Most of my bears have been snapped up, but little Cleo above is still waiting for a new home.
I do hope you stop by and visit with all the lovely pieces created specially for this event. Just click on the badge to the right --->
So while the Parade has been on, I've been attending a show in New Zealand organised by my lovely friend Annetta Flaunty. Craft Out West has a fabulous variety of arts and crafts for all budgets and tastes. From yummy cupcakes and fudges to handcrafted rocking horses to beautiful Pacific Island crafts like Flax weaving. On the off chance you happen to be in Auckland tomorrow, it is well worth checking out!

Up To my Ears in it!

2011-07-02T11:26:00.001+10:00

Full steam ahead here in the workroom, finishing off critters for Bears on Parade, the lovely Daphne's online show coming- well looming actually, looming menacingly! lol.... Also 'on the workbench' bears for my trip to New Zealand and Sydney..
Unfortunately I can't show you my Parade bears yet, top secret til the big day, aside from the preview which starts today. For a sneak peek at all 75 fabulous parade pieces, click the badge at the side of the page.
Because I don't have anything new- thats finished!- to show you, maybe you'll join me in a delicious snack of Macarons... I'm afraid you'll have to have the Pistachio one, as the Rose is my favourite:)
Now back to work for me...

Little Treasures...

2011-06-24T15:15:00.001+10:00

There are many reasons I love going to Doll and Bear shows. One is it's a great chance to catch up with artist and collector friends, and another is it's a great place to stock up on little finds that inspire *more* bears or dolls...
At the last bear show here in Melbourne, I managed to nab these little satin shoes... So tiny, they look to me like they were made for a flowergirl. A bunch of vintage milliners Roses.. A necklace of tiny pearls... What will happen with them who knows? For now they are resting on a cupcake stand here in my studio, where I admire them every time I walk past:) It's fun to imagine the story behind little bits and prices like these... Who bought them? Who wore them? When? Where? Wouldn't it be wonderful to know?

Adventures..

2011-06-21T09:15:00.001+10:00

Home again from wonderful Queensland for the Gold Coast Teddybear Fair and a couple of days of classes at Gerry's. It was lovely to catch up with everyone up there again. The plan was to enjoy some nice warm weather, but mother nature was not cooperating this year! Cold ( for Queensland!) temperatures, not to mention the ash from the Chilean volcano messing with everyone's travel plans.
While I was lucky enough to escape a cancelled flight, it was still a worry for several days, with all flights to Melbourne by several airlines cancelled. Waiting to see if the cloud would dissipate or move on was nail biting!
Now onto preparations for the Bears on Parade online show... Banner *will* be posted soon! I need to fire up the laptop, I've become so addicted to my iPad the poor thing hardly gets any use these days, but unfortunately there are some things I can't do on the iPad:(

Busy day..

2011-06-09T08:56:00.001+10:00

Well today will be a very busy one. Setting off tomorrow for the fabulous Gold Coast, so I have lots of things to finish up and get packed.. Last night I finished off sewing the hats for the new bears who are coming along, using some of the hand- dyed hat straws in the photo above. While they make many pretty colours in the straw, I decided one day ( again, just before a show) I was a bit bored with the colours I had, so I got out the dye pots and set to work... I was rather pleased with the pretty pinks beiges and lavenders I managed to come up with...
So now today will be spent trimming the hats and dresses, going over the bears for a final check, tagging pricing and packing... I like to finish all my new bears at once, because I make such a mess when I'm trimming.. I need to have lots of boxes down off the shelves so I have plenty of flowers and ribbons to choose from.. Perhaps it would be a quicker job if I restricted myself more? I'm not sure.....
Well, better get to it!

Full Steam Ahead!

2011-06-05T09:59:00.001+10:00

Things are busy here with preparations for the Gold Coast Bear Fair coming up next weekend. Teddy lovers from all over Australia and as far afield as New Zealand and maybe even Europe converging on the hopefully sunny Gold Coast for one of the highlights of the calendar here in Australia. I always look forward to this show, even if it does usually involve a bumpy flight with a scary bumpy landing in Coolangatta:)
Along with my preparations for the show, I've also been busy designing new patterns for Gerrys... Little Dandy the Lion here is a bit of a sneak peek. Of the four on the CD, not one is a bear...I hope people will find them interesting projects though.... After I've sent them off to Lyn at Gerrys, I'll unveil the rest.. In the meantime I hope you like Dandy...I'm rather pleased with him.. Though he has to be the least scary lion ever!

Ta daaaa!

2011-05-30T15:38:00.001+10:00

..... And here is Sarsaparilla! Sadly I wasn't able to capture the true cherry red of Sarsaparilla's body fabric... But I hope you enjoyed watching him come to life, from first pattern sketch to finished product.
Don't forget if you'd like to try making a Sarsaparilla of your own, the pattern will be in the next 'Bear Tales' book, coming out soon. Just get in touch with Kim or Josey at Bear Essence (link in sidebar) and they will be sure to help you out! A whole year of lovely bear patterns designed exclusively for Bear Tales by artists from all over.

2011-05-30T15:33:00.001+10:00

Ahh that's better, now we have a nose and a mouth.... Almost done!

Almost there..

2011-05-30T15:32:00.001+10:00

Now we can see..... Lovely sparkling glass eyes...... Now where's that nose thread...

Together at last....here

2011-05-30T15:31:00.001+10:00

Here we are, all put together... Waiting patiently for eyes and nose.....

Writing a Bear Tale.. Part 4

2011-05-30T15:22:00.001+10:00

Here we go, all stitched and stuffed.. Ready to assemble... What an exciting stage this is when it's a new design!

2011-05-21T11:00:00.001+10:00

All ready to begin sewing on the Bear Tales project! I love this mohair. It can be hard to find nice mohairs for making small bears...... This fur has wonderful texture, a great easy to work with backing AND it comes in lots of fab colours! Perfect all around.
I'll update you with more pics once I upload them from my camera... The project is due by the end of the month so I don't have a whole lot more time:)

Location:Ready to go....

A Bear Tale, part two....

2011-05-14T09:30:00.001+10:00

........and here we have the finished pattern 'assembled' on my workbench.. This is a time for making fine adjustments, shortening legs or arms, making ears smaller, or heaven forbid starting over if something is too small! Hehe... The gusset is missing from this photo, as I didn't get a good photo of the whole thing!
Next step, tracing onto the fabric, and sewing!

Writing a Bear Tale..

2011-05-14T09:27:00.001+10:00

I'm always struggling to come up with things to blog about... Some bloggers seem to be able to post every day with interesting things.. I don't seem to be one of them!:)
Recently, I was asked by Kim, the lovely owner of Bear Essence here in Melbourne to do a project for the next issue of her pattern magazine "Bear Tales" so I thought hmmm maybe I could blog the progress as I go.. So here I am! I thought you might find the process interesting...
Like many bear artists, I have more than a few sketchbooks filled with ideas for new bears waiting to be be brought to life- sometimes I refer to those when I want to make a new bear. Then again there's the fabric inspired bear, which is what this bear is going to be.. I bought a small piece of lovely cherry red coloured short knotty mohair from Kim at the end of last year, and as you'd know, cherry red isn't exactly a colour I use very often! So it had been sitting with the rest of my mohair stash waiting patiently. I thought this would be the perfect time to bring it out... So my brain started working.....how about a little clown?
Kim posted me a piece in matching light tan and I was away! Here, you see the first stage of my pattern development ( that makes it sound so technical! lol) I start with sketching the head, imagining the snout lengthwise only, not allowing for the width of the gusset. Next I sketch the body.. You can see here my dilemma if how long the body should be?
Then I sketch in a rough idea of the arms and legs.... The feet are really just a guide, as once I establish a basic ' look' for the bear, I will then sketch the footpad the size I like, and adjust the foot on the leg to fit the footpad.
Not shown here, I then think about the head gusset, if the bear is going to have one. I fold my paper in half and sketch the gusset out, concentrating mainly on one side, using the fold crease as the centre line, as I will fold the paper in half again and cut the gusset on the fold so it is identical on both sides.
For the snout, I go by eye from the sketched head side for the snout length, then add the width I want. Now, I'll cut out the head, allowing extra length on the snout for the gusset width ( remember, I didn't allow for this in the first place) then the head gusset and body. Measuring carefully, I compare the gusset and head sides making adjustment for fit, and finalise the shape.
Next I'll redraw the arm and leg, drawing the foot to fit the footpad I've already drawn and cut out ( again on the fold)....

Back on Bearpile...

2011-05-12T15:43:00.000+10:00

After a short break, I've just listed some more bears on Bearpile.. I do hope you pop by and take a peek.

My workbench is busy hopping with new pattern designs and new bears for upcoming shows- the fabulous Gold Coast show and a local Doll and Bear show here in Melbourne.... Right now, Melbourne is having a cold snap which even includes snow and sleet not too far away, so its a lovely time to be indoors working with the soft fluffy furs. It's making the sunny Gold Coast look very enticing!

A wonderful Day...

2011-05-02T09:06:00.001+10:00

Well yesterday was the big day- the Melbourne Teddy Bear Fair! As always Melissa did a fabulous job organising, and it was wonderful to be back in Berwick... So nice and close to home:)
It was great to see the line of early bird ticket holders outside the door at 10 am! As always I was running late and wasn't able to get much of. Look around before it started, though I did manage to grab a few bits of lace and some old flowers from my lovely friend Di, and later on a lovely pair of pointe shoes from another lovely friend Adella. I love picking little things up at shows and feeling the ideas brewing to use them!
Another lovely part of shows is catching up with people, artists and visitors,
Judging by the many shopping bags being carried around, more than a few bears found new homes- I know I had quite a bit less to pack for the trip home. Now the dreaded unpacking! Specially since the white stands I use usually do duty in my studio to hold little bits and pieces such as beaded handbags, flowers, shoes etc.... Not to mention the tidying up that's waiting for me in said studio lol..... Ah well, better get to it!
special thanks to the lovely Carol for the above photo.. As usual I fell down on the job with show photos- thank you for snapping the pics for me Carol!

Another countdown!

2011-04-22T21:14:00.001+10:00

I've been reminded this evening that I haven't written a blog post in quite a while.. So here we go!:) Another show is looming- this time nice and close to home.. The Melbourne Teddybear Fair, May 1st in Berwick.
Of course, it's a mad rush to get new pieces done for the big day- if I ever said it wasn't a mad rush who would believe me? Everyone knows me better than that!
I've been working on new 4-piece head designs, which I'm finding lots of fun. While they are simpler to sew without a head gusset, they require a bit of extra care in stuffing to get the just-right look to the little nose. I'm enjoying the new shape and having fun experimenting with them.
In the photo is two of my newer designs, Zinnia the Zebra, and Geranium the Giraffe. They will be coming along to the fair.. I hope you will be too! See you there....

Counting down.....

2011-03-12T15:57:00.001+11:00

Don't forget, the Blooming Bears show hosted by Teddies Worldwide starts soon. 8am US eastern time... Which happens to be midnight here in my part of Australia, so it may be a late night for me!
75 fabulous artists are contributing their work, I do hope by and take a look... Maybe you will even find a creation you just cant live without..
Just click on the Blooming Bears show banner on this page and you'll be taken straight to it... See you there!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Working Away!

2011-02-24T17:40:00.003+11:00

Well, I've managed yet again to end up in a frantic rush, getting things finished for the first show of the year, the Sydney Teddy Bear Fair on the 6th of March. Yes... it's very close! Not to mention designing 4 new patterns for Gerrys- yep thats them up above. The four new pieces are an elephant, a panda baby, a swan and a standing bear. It took forever to stuff that big round head of the Panda Baby! Reminded me why I really prefer to make smaller bears hehe.

Back to the grindstone again.... lots of noses to embroider, then airbrushing, hats, trimming..... etc etc etc......

A sigh of relief.....

2011-02-15T10:10:00.003+11:00

Well, I had a small panic yesterday.. I was working on my laptop, booking a plane ticket for the Sydney show. Mind you I SHOULD have done this weeks ago! So here I am, going from window to window, tab to tab, comparing prices and times etc etc, being that it's Sydney-Melbourne there was so many choices! Then, all of a sudden.... the dreaded blue screen.... then the incomprehensible words flashing across something about boot something something unable to find something something, hard drive something something.... press this press that- I am sure you all know the story! hehe... Well it looked bad, it refused to restart again- twice- so I thought my poor baby had bitten the dust.

Fortunately my trusty Computer Technician (also known as Mum lol) was able to take a look at it yesterday afternoon, and of course it started perfectly for her, and there was no sign of anything wrong....... I think the worst thing (aside from thinking of spending the money on a new laptop lol) was worrying about all the photos I might have lost if the hard drive was gone... so now, my laptop is backed up on an external hard drive and I am crossing my fingers it was just a glitch.....

Yes, I am also doing some work, frantically trying to finish new bears for the Sydney Teddy Bear Fair on March 6th, as well as a couple of new patterns. These will mostly be critters other than bears, which was very exciting. More to come on that soon!

Photo- just a few little girlies on hand... for some reason I don't think a post is complete without a photo... maybe thats just me, who likes looking at pretty pictures hehe...

Bye for now!

Exciting start to today...

2011-01-19T22:50:00.002+11:00

I made time again this year to have another try at entering the Teddy Bear and Friends magazine TOBY awards, after giving last year a miss. I was thrilled this morning to wake up and see my little "BonBon" got an Industry's Choice award in the Miniature category. What a nice start to the day! Of course, it's forever until the People's choice is announced, but I'm just happy to have her get this far!

So now I have to decide if I will enter the Golden Teddies and the Bear Creations competition, and whether I enter the same pieces? Ahhh, I am so bad with decisions!:)

New Listings on Bearpile..

2011-01-15T17:20:00.003+11:00

Well, after days and days of rain, the sun finally came out today..... of course though we have been so lucky compared to the poor people in Queensland, not to mention northern NSW and even parts of Victoria... hard to fathom that usually at this time of year, bushfires are on our mind!

I took some time today to list a couple more little ones on Bearpile, a tiny mini- and a slightly larger miniature. I hope you like them!

I also wanted to share the photo of a lovely sunset we had here recently.... I guess that must have been our last sunset before the deluge! Love the colours.....

Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T12:33:00.003+11:00

Well here it is already, another New Year... where on earth did 2010 go? I've started off the year by getting back onto Bearpile. The two little ones above are listed along with a few others, please feel free to stop by and take a peek!

Again this year I am hoping to head over to Hugglets in London next September and hopefully another show in Germany. September seems so far away now but I guess 2011 will fly by as fast as 2010 did so it will be here before I know it! I also plan on attending shows in Sydney and Queensland, and a trip to fabulous New Zealand to teach at the lovely Annetta's studio just outside Auckland. I had so much fun last time I was there, I can't wait!

To everyone, I hope 2011 brings you just about everything you wish for!

A few Photos...

2010-12-10T20:43:00.004+11:00

I've spent a lot of time in the last few days taking photos of various bears I have on hand at the moment, and the evenings spent cropping and resizing in Photoshop... phew, computer work can be tiring!

I thought I'd share a couple of the photos with you....

2010-12-08T10:09:00.002+11:00

Well here it is December already, where did the year go?? After the last Online show, and my last class, I was feeling like I could sort of relax.... but then I realised that it's not really ALL that long until the first show of the year..... and I have a special project I wanted to work on *last* Christmas/New Years that I didn't get to start, except plan in my head... Well, fingers crossed I get a chance to start it this year.

Also have a special project to work on for a workshop next year... this will be a high stress project because she has been designed on paper with input from a wonderful student, and people have seen the sketch.... so people other than me have a visual of what she is supposed to look like! I usually don't worry too much if something doesn't turn out looking like the idea I had in my head or in my sketchbook, because nobody else knows what it was *supposed* to look like!:)

So hopefully come February I will have some new designs, my special long term project and special class project done, or at least started:)

I'm also planning to list some new bears on Bearpile soon... the two girls above will most likely be listed very soon..... hmmmm, sounds like I better get this posted and get to work! :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

2010-11-20T20:31:00.003+11:00

... except for the Chinese hackers! My apologies to anyone who was spammed inadvertently by me this week- Someone in China hacked into my gmail account and sent out spam to absolutely everyone in my address book... soooo embarassing! I am always so careful but I guess they are just such sneaky so-and-so's! Google even kindly showed me a log of the IPs of who had logged into my account!

So instead of finalising my Teddies Worldwide show page today, I spent most of the day making sure my laptop was virus/trojan free and changing passwords. Not fun!

Don't forget everyone, that the Teddies Worldwide Holiday Bear show starts tonight at 1am Sydney (Australia) time- which also happens to be 9am Saturday New York time, or 2pm London time.... if you're not in any of those places, I will leave it to you to figure the rest out:) I hope you stop by and take a peek at the bears, 75 wonderful artists are contributing, so there's sure to be something to catch your fancy... http://www.teddiesworldwide.com or follow the link on the top right hand side...

I'll leave you with a full view of little Daisy who is also attending the show dressed in her "Australian Summer Christmas Day best":) ... I hope you stop by my page and visit the other 5 bears I have for sale.

I've outdone myself this time!

2010-11-16T17:46:00.003+11:00

Hmm maybe I *shouldn't* draw attention to how long it's been since my last blog post.... hehe.... I've had lots of shows to get ready for but I really didn't think it had been so long since I last wrote.

June saw a trip to the wonderful show run by Kympatti on the Gold Coast, July was a trip to Sydney, August was preparing for Hugglets in London and Euro Teddy in Essen, Germany.. and finally, the show closest to home for the whole year, Woodend, on the other side of Melbourne.

Now just one show left to go, a new online show run by Daphne of Backroad Events in the US... of course being an online show everyone can attend! My page is all ready to go on Saturday morning, New York time. Mind you, I am not sure *I* will be so ready to go at 9am New York time- as that is 1am Sunday, eastern Australian Summer time.... will be interesting!:)

Since I am not sure I am clever enough to put the banner in here, I will add the link to the show in the column to the right....... -->

The little gal in the photo is a preview of my show bears... little "Daisy"... I do hope you pop by and check out the show. It looks like it will be a wonderful event, with 75 artists from all over the world.

Bye for now,

New Bears on Bearpile

2010-05-04T15:34:00.003+10:00

Well, Autumn seems to be upon us here at last... some cooler days and chilly nights.... soon no doubt we will be wishing Spring was here!:) But this is a good time for Bearmaking... which is just as well because there is lots of work ahead for all those shows!

I've just spent some time this afternoon uploading some new faces onto my Bearpile page, if you'd like to take a look the link is just over on the right there--->

Hope you enjoy taking a look!

NBR (not bear related)

2010-04-27T11:55:00.003+10:00

A few days ago I was browsing on Flickr and came across some wonderful photos of dewdrops on grass..... the photos stuck in my mind, then yesterday morning I looked out the window and noticed the sun sparkling on the grass outside. Quick as a flash I ran to get my camera, popped on my macro lens and snapped away. I hope you don't mind me taking time out from the bear pics to share them with you!

2010-04-19T12:37:00.003+10:00

Just working on finishing off some new patterns that will be available exclusively from Gerrys Teddy and Craft Designs soon... the four designs will be on one CD, all ready for you to pop into your computer and print out as you need, or individual paper patterns. I'll also be teaching two days of classes for these guys just before the fabulous Gold Coast show in June... the classes are just about full, so it will be a busy couple of days!

The patterns for Primrose, Peony, Pansy and Poppy will be available soon...

In Print, Rosebud

2010-04-11T11:54:00.004+10:00

A little while back I was thrilled to be contacted by the Editor of Teddy Bear Review magazine and asked if I would consider designing a project for their magazine. How could I say no?? It was a little scary knowing not only did I have to design the pattern, do the instructions and the model, but also do the photos..... what a challenge.

Anyhow I made it just under the deadline (yay! hehe) and just last week the magazine has been printed and the final result is out there for all to see:) I am not sure if the subscription copies are out yet but the electronic issue is available (thank you for the heads up Sarah!:) ). Fingers crossed she came out looking well and I missed nothing too major in the instructions! It's amazing how tricky it can be to put everything step by step in writing and photos, regardless of how many times you have done it before. It will be so exciting to see it on paper when my copies of the magazine arrive!

On another note, it feels like Autumn is setting in here finally, things are cooling down, daylight savings ended last weekend and days are getting shorter. Winter is on it's way! Hard to believe we are already in the 4th month of the year!

2010-03-19T16:44:00.002+11:00

Well yet again I didn't get the chance to give a preview of the bears I was taking to the Sydney bear fair! The show was great as always, wonderful to catch up with all the Artists and people attending the show. A special treat was meeting a collector visitor from Singapore who I had chatted to on email recently, what a nice surprise that was!

As always Melissa put on a great day, I don't know how she manages to get it done.

I had forgotten how humid it can get in Sydney in Summer... ok I guess it wasn't technically Summer anymore, but it was close enough to it for me!:) So sticky and humid you would have thought you were in the tropics. ONE thing I don't miss about Sydney!

Also big thanks to Valma and her lovely ladies that came to the classes I gave in the couple of days prior to the show. As always lots of fun, and wonderful to see the new little faces coming alive.

So back again and into work, classes at Bear Essence and more booked in for June... after the Gold Coast show... already looking forward to that one!

The bears in the photos have just been listed on Bearpile... hoping to list regularly there during the year.

Back to work for me..

2010-02-15T15:37:00.002+11:00

Well I have been working on new pieces for the Sydney Teddy Bear Fair early next month, and a couple of other things that I can't really post pics of at the moment. I rarely have new pieces finished until they are going into the box for the trip to the show, so I don't have any new bears to show you just now...

So I thought I would share these lovely flowers that I just noticed the other day. They are Hoya flowers, I think also called "Wax Flowers". The centres look just like the wax flowers in old Bridal headpieces, and the petals are all velvety. Very unique and lovely- I wish I could get faux ones to trim the bears with!

Hopefully I will get to post some bears before the show.......

I did it again...

2010-01-11T10:00:00.002+11:00

Ok, how does so much time disappear inbetween me posting? hehe... I don't know how that happens... Maybe I should make a new year's resolution to post more? Hmmm, I guess if I did even that would be 10 days late hehe.... Christmas has come and gone, and now it's 2010.. I just can't get used to that twenty-ten thing...
Well I haven't done all I planned on so far, but I have done a few new designs, at least two of which will be new patterns ( I am sure you will have figured out that's the ones above) and actually learned some new things with Photoshop, with much Googling and a little help from my friends hehe. Why is it that even the "Photoshop for Dummies" is a bit advanced for me??:)
Anyhow, above are Cookie (the dog) and Rosie... Rosie stands about 14cm (5 1/2") tall and Cookie is quite a bit smaller sitting at 6cm ( 2 1/2") These new little guys will be on the "menu" for the classes at Teddy's Bits in Sydney in the days before the Sydney Teddy Bear fair in early March. Boy that's going to be here before we know it! Working on some more new things for the show, hopefully I will get some teasers up before then.......
I hope the New Year is wonderful for us all....

Finally.......

2009-11-19T16:29:00.003+11:00

Well, I don't know how long it's taken me (and I don't want to figure it out! lol) but I finally got round to opening a Bearpile 'shop' today! I have six bears listed at the moment and when I get time I will list a few more. Next up is listing on Etsy, where I will also be offering our patterns and maybe the occaisional kit.
http://www.bearpile.com/artist.cgi?id=1300 should get you to my page if you would like to check the bears out.

I've been busy designing a couple of new patterns, hopefully I will be able to finish them off and photograph them soon. Summer has hit us early with today being the first Total Fire Ban for the season, and it's not technically Summer til the 1st of December.
Saturday I am off to Tooradin to teach another Magnolia class at Bear Essence, which will be another fun day with lots of chat and giggles.. and hopefully some bear making as well!

It feels like January..

2009-11-05T12:06:00.001+11:00

Well, the last show of the year is done and I almost feel like it's my "New Year". It's a few months before my next show so I am hoping to start a few new projects and design some new patterns.
The show deadlines are good for getting me focused but make it hard to act on ideas- either new or old- so to not have any looming feels wonderful!
So I've been making a list of things I want to focus on- fingers crossed I can get some things crossed off.
I didn't have any new bear pics as yet but I thought I would post this one instead- one of the most fabulous places I went to when I was away, Versailles- and this view down the Grand Canal. Standing there looking at that view was one of the most breathtaking moments I can remember. Pictures don't do it justice. How wonderful it must have been back in Marie Antoinette's day!

Oh, so long...

2009-10-10T10:16:00.005+11:00

Yes, I can't even look at how long it is since I made my last post... ahh what can I say? It's been a super busy time and things have been going on, lots of shows to get ready for!
July shortly after the last post, was a trip to Sydney for the Doll Collectors Club show, which went well. Lots of bears and a few dolls went home with new owners, which is always lovely. You might be thinking well yes of course- it's money- but its always more than that. It's so wonderful when something you create brings a smile to somebody's face, even if they don't decide to take it home with them.
A couple of weeks after Sydney I was off to Adelaide for the wonderful show put on by Margaret and Kylie. They always do a wonderful job, and even though the show was moved this year it went off fabulously well. I have always enjoyed going to Adelaide, and the people there are so wonderful. So nice to catch up with them. After the show I had a couple of days with my wonderful friend Sarah and her Mum and Sister. We had a great time chatting about bears, sewing bears and even a little trip to the wineries in the Barossa Valley where I did my first wine tasting and we took a little tour of a winery. Lots of fun!
Once I got home it was time to prepare for Hugglets! I have been looking forward to this since I was accepted in early May, it seems to be the pinnacle of the Teddy Bear calendar these days:) Lots and lots of work before I headed off to London in early September. What a fabulous time! After the show my wonderful friend Susan had myself and two Kiwi artists, Tracey and Laraine, as houseguests, and made sure we saw lots of fabulous things. Day trips to Bath, the Cotswolds and Brighton, a weekend in Bruges and a few days in Paris. Not to mention lots of trips into London. What a fabulous time! If I give too much detail the post will read like a book! hehe.
One of the things I wanted to do when I was there was find some antique/old laces, as I love these for my bears and dolls, and they are not always easy to come by. Well, I found antique lace galore! The Sunday morning we were in Bruges there was a huge antique market, where most of the above pictures were taken, stalls full of lace and one even had millinery supplies- I got a shopping bag full of vintage flowers- anyone who knows me knows I was in heaven:) As you can see there was some lovely old dolls ( in their original clothes in original boxes no less!) and adorable old bears. Don't you love that grumpy one there? Or the big boofy-shouldered one? So much to see......
The other photos are of lovely Bruges, the statue is a Michelangelo sculpture in one of the churches ( I can't remember which church offhand) I don't think you can capture the skill and beauty of something like this in a picture.. imagine sculpting something like this from Marble, no mistakes and adding bits on here like you can with clay! And of course Bruges was filled with the things it's famous for- chocolate and lace! Just about heaven for me:)
I somehow managed to stumble across wonderful things to buy for my bears and dolls (and me!!) almost everywhere- I happened to be in London and wandered to Covent Garden on a Monday which happens to be the day they have an Antiques market- more lace:) Then a trip to Camden Passage Market where guess what- more lace! hehe There is also a tiny hole in the wall old Doll and Bear shop here that looked fascinating. So tiny in fact if there was a customer in there, there wasn't enough room for another one:) Well worth searching out if you are in London and like old Dolls and bears though.
Well I will sign off for now.. I could go on and on but this post will be way too long!:) I am back home slowly adjusting to the time change... settling down to work to try and get a nice stock up for the Woodend show at the end of the month. Oh, I just realised I didn't say much about Hugglets show! hehe.... It was a wonderful eye opening experience, so many great artists, lots of lovely new and old bears ( I came home with a lovely girl I will probably show off in a later post) and to top it off, I managed to sell almost all my little creations. I hope I can get back again soon!
Bye for now

A Change of Scenery...

2009-07-13T08:22:00.005+10:00

Since getting back from Brisbane I have been at work preparing for the next show, in Sydney. Last year when we went I didn't take any dolls at all, but this time I decided to do some new pieces. Of course neither of them are finished yet! I expect they will be about 24" tall, two different faces that will use the same arms and legs, and each will be finished differently, different hair/eye combos, different outfits. Making bears spoils me, not having to do multiples in an Edition and getting them exactly the same, where as with dolls, if you do an edition you have to make sure you get them as identical as possible.
While that is easier than with a bear ( for instance, stuffing doesn't change the shape of a face, or the nose embroidery doesn't change the expression) doing editions of dolls has its frustrations. For instance, ensuring you have enough of a fabric lace trim or flower to finish the number of dolls in the edition... you can bet sure as anything, if you choose something and don't have enough to finish all the dolls before you even start making them, the colour fabric or style of lace you use will be discontinued before you even finish the first one!:)
Or maybe thats just me and my bad luck!:)
So, madly working away on dolls *and* bears, and a new miniature bear pattern for the upcoming show, as well as planning out what to take to Hugglets. Phew a busy time!

Heading North For the Winter

2009-06-09T10:15:00.002+10:00

Well, I'm off this weekend to hopefully sunny Queensland! Brisbane specifically, for the Winter Wonderland show ( http://www.winter-wonderland.com.au ) The weather has turned decidely wintery down south in the last few days- not surprisingly since it is Winter after all!:) - so I will be crossing my fingers for some nice sunny days up there. I always look forward to going to shows I haven't been to before, or like this time, one I haven't been to in a while, because it's fun to see new things to admire and buy:)
The photos above are a little sneak peak of Victoria's handsome groom, Albert- well at least I think he's handsome, but maybe I am a little biased! As with Victoria (featured in an earlier blog post) , he was designed specially for Bear Essence's Bear Tales pattern 'magazine'. If you make bears (or critters!) this is a wonderful deal, a whole year of pattern booklets posted to you- and Kim gets some wonderful pieces for you to make! Well worth checking out.
Back to work for me, lots of bears to finish off before I fly off on Friday afternoon!

testing...

2009-05-26T19:45:00.000+10:00

Some people will attest to my lack of Photoshop skills (Sarah?? lol)... even "Photoshop for Dummies" is a bit over my head! lol. I've just been trying to add a blurred border to my pics to make them more interesting, my trusty book mentioned above was no help:( Google searching tutorials, the same. Poor Mum came to the rescue, and voila! So here is two posts in one day, because I might forget how to do it again, and I want evidence that yes, I did do it once upon a time:)
This is one of my little bears perched on a Mushroom in the front yard. It was a bit smaller than the one I took with Sarah's bear. These mushrooms were so magical looking, I think all up there was 5 or 6 of them over a couple of weeks. Sadly they are all gone now, hopefully they will be back again next year!
Now, off to practice mly newfound skill on more photos!

Time Flies..

2009-05-26T17:39:00.000+10:00

I don't know where the time goes between posts.... I always think I am doing well at keeping up then when I see the date on my previous post I know different!:)
Getting ready for a show this weekend, close by here in Melbourne, and teaching classes at Bear Essence. We also lined up next term's classes already! We are doing Babycakes, kind of a large bear for me, and also doing a separate hat class- no bear, just hats, small hats:). I will update the Class section in the sidebar with dates.
As usual, classes were a nice mix of familiar faces and new- one of the students had not finished a bear before. It was a nice reminder of how exciting it is to finish that first face:) Thanks all for coming along!
Working on some new patterns, and I will probably make them my next blog post:)
For now, here's Babycakes, for the next class at Bear Essence....

More Exciting News....

2009-05-06T09:23:00.001+10:00

Not going to IDEX or Toy Fair in January/February this year with a whole swag of new dolls and bears gave me the time and chance to do something I have wanted to do for a few years now- enter the US Magazine contests. Thanks to the staggered deadlines I was able to enter both the TOBY awards from Teddy Bear and Friends, as well as the Golden Teddies run by Teddy Bear Review magazine. After what seemed like an eternity of waiting, the Golden Teddies nominees were announced last week and I was absolutely beyond thrilled to have found out both my entries were nominated in their categories!
Bella (top) in the Small, Dressed category and Pirouette (below) in the Miniature, Dressed category. As with the TOBYs, the public's choice vote will follow later in the year.. and as with the TOBYs just having got this far is thrilling and such an honour!

New Bears, New Shows!

2009-05-06T08:30:00.000+10:00

Well, even though I didn't manage to post a sneak preview of some bears *before* the show on the weekend, I am quite pleased with myself that I managed to actually snap a few pics of my new teeny tiny Panda. Mind you this is mostly because of a certain person (thanks Sarah! lol) asking me to!:) This little girl reminds me of a Liquorice Allsort, and only measures about 2" overall. I was pleased that the little ones I made from this pattern were snapped up quickly at the show on the weekend, so I have a few more on the drawing board for the next show!
Speaking of the show.... while it *was* a little smaller than before, it was pretty successful for those who did attend. I know I wasn't able to leave my table until after 1pm and by then there was quite a few tables with empty spaces! Kim McDonalds bears were just about wiped out when I managed to go take a look, only two little cuties left.... I was disappointed as I love to admire Kim's work.
On other show news, I have signed up for three more shows! eek! Next up for us now is another local show here in Melbourne (will update the show listing when I have the exact address) at the end of May. Then it's off to Brisbane in June for Winter Wonderland- which is kind of amusing to us Southerners since it's hardly Wintery in Brisbane in June, compared to what it will be like in Melbourne!:) Then............... in September... I have been lucky enough to have been accepted into Hugglets show in London! You can imagine how excited I was when I got *that* email! I can't wait!

Wonders will never cease....

2009-04-22T13:36:00.001+10:00

If you've visited my blog before, you may notice it looks a little different- I finally learned how to fancy it up a bit with a cute background. And I have to say- it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be! Not sure if it will stay this way just yet but at the moment I am quite pleased with myself, even if it was just a matter of copying and pasting codes from the page of a very talented designer:)
As for the pics, they are some new patterns we have done. The little Elephant girl is "Eloise" and the bottom two are "Lolly" Both are smaller than my previous patterns, but judging by the response from the show in Sydney, more and more people are getting brave and are coming to the dark side of making tiny bears!

Cheri, a new Ballerina

2009-04-21T08:44:00.000+10:00

Cheri will be my next class at Bear Essence here in Melbourne. There's two one day classes, either Wednesday May 20th, or Saturday May 23rd. Coming up on May 3rd we have the Melbourne Teddy show, of course I am working madly towards this to have some new things finished! I would love to have some preview pics of a couple of new things I have planned- so lets see if I actually manage to get pictures posted before the show;)

2009-03-31T09:31:00.000+11:00

Well back from the Sydney Teddy bear Fair and what a wonderful show Melissa put on- as usual! I always enjoy going to shows, to catch up with the familiar faces, both visitors and traders, and be inspired by all the wonderful work everyone's doing. It spurs me on to come up with something different for next time. Seeing Merilyn Pursell's fabulous sculpted faces, and her use of colour, and Debbie Gunnions new little creations ( Her little ducks were so cute!) not to mention seeing Louise Peer's fabulously perfect work in person, among many.
I was also teaching a few days of classes which is fun, again catching up with old friends, meeting new people, learning new things and maybe even teaching someone something they didn't know!:) Seriously though, I am just as likely to learn as the students, which I love. Theres always a new technique or a wonderful talent each person has to share.
Sooo you are probably wondering who that is in the picture... Victoria is a new piece I designed for Kim at Bear Essence's fabulous "Bear Tales" pattern 'magazine'. My 'brief' was to make a Bride and Groom pair, so naturally, me being me, I started on the easiest of the two! Next up on my drawing board will be Victoria's Groom, who I think I shall call Albert... ahh naming bears, so hard! The thought of making his jacket is making me jittery already.......:)

Smoky Morning

2009-03-16T23:32:00.000+11:00

As many people would know, specially here in Australia, we have had a bad time recently with bushfires. I took this photo about 8am one morning during the worst of it, the red sun and smoke haze was eerie... One of the fires started just over the ridge in this photo, though fortunately for us the wind was in our favour and kept the fire from our town. Thanks so much to all the firefighters who were there day and night for a month, doing their best to keep us all safe!

Off to Sydney

2009-03-16T22:55:00.000+11:00

Well my first show for the year is rapidly approaching... I had brilliant ideas of having some of my new pieces photographed and previewed here, but as usual, I am running behind and frantically trying to get finished in time.... I guess at least I am consistent!:)
I admire those Bear creators who are organised ahead of time, who have all their pieces photographed a week before the show.

I do have one piece photographed.. tho I am tossing up whether I want to sell it or not... I finished this set as a TOBY entry, and I was determined to keep it even though it missed out on a nomination. The three little bears are nestled into a pale Aqua Blue Edwardian ladies leather shoe, and I used lots of my prettiest vintage flowers to finish it off- I had this shoe for about three years just waiting to find the right project to use it with... sometimes it can be so hard to use and then part with special pieces you buy! So I am thinking now I will take it and see what fate decides for me... will I get to keep them or will they find a new home?

Something exciting to start the year...

2009-03-03T09:03:00.000+11:00

Well, I needed some pushing to actually make my first blog post- I 'started' this blog months ago but was finding it hard to think of something to write about! Hopefully the first is the hardest and it gets easier from here...
So onto my exciting news... finally, after several years of telling myself I would enter the TOBY and Golden Teddy contests, I did it! And even more exciting, I actually won a TOBY Industry's Choice award in the Miniature Dressed Category.
So here's my little girl, Eloise.... she's made from vintage long pile Velvet, with a little lace dress and of course, one of my handmade hats.
The competition is very stiff for the Peoples Choice vote, so I am not too hopeful there, but I can honestly say it's thrilling to get this far!