SEEING RED!!!

I have been working with some very rich looking, red fur this week, and it has drove me crazy! How can such a lovely looking fabric create so much of a mess, that I have been finding red hairs everywhere. When I moved away from where I was working I left a red trail behind me, to be fair though it has been worth finding red bits in my drinks...yuk!!! as I have managed to make a 10 inch Toy-Box Treasure Elephant called Festivity and a 20 inch traditional style bear with a large hump called Ebenezer.

Tomorrow I am going to finish off a very large Grog, I am looking forward to that.

It looks like we are due a little snow this weekend, so that will make a nice change from all the rain we have been having :-)

NEW BEAR - SOMERFORD

I would like to show you my latest bear Somerford who is a large 23 inch traditional style bear. After many years of making bears from real fur and numerous commissions, I decided to dabble with some beautiful imitation furs. Somerford is the first bear to be made, and I am so pleased with how he has turned out. I must say it is far nicer to work with imitation fur than it is to work with the real thing, because it was such a horrible product to work with both Darren and I decided quite sometime ago to stop making bears from real fur. However we are still having numerous collectors asking us if we would still make them a bear from real fur, so because of this I have found a superior quality imitation fur and have started to make the bears again. I do hope you will like Somerford, my next one will be a Red Fox Bear.

Somerford is now on his way to Belgium to live with a very nice collector who will certainly make him feel at home.

PINKY & BEANIE

Well the weather here has been just terrible, rain, rain and more rain, ideal bear making weather though!

As I write this post these two Kats are on their way to sunnier shores, with a few traveling companions. They are called Pinky no prizes for guessing which one this is and the other is Beanie, both are 14 inches tall and made from hand dyed mohair. Pinky and Beanie will be available for adoption from Doug's Bears in San Francisco, if you have a spare moment his website is well worth a visit.

Well its back to the drawing board for me, as I have just had a large delivery of beautiful faux fur and have plenty of new designs to be working on.

FIRST GROG DOG called YARDLEY

This is Yardley my very first Grog Dog. I have really enjoyed making Yardley, especially doing his nose, which is needle felted. I have used really soft merino wool which has been supplied to me by one of our local farmers. His nose is 2 inches wide and over 1 inch thick so his nose is really huge. Yardley is a very chubby, large dog, standing 17 inches tall. As I have had so much fun making Yardley I have decided to make some puppy Grog dogs with big noses. I am itching to get started making these but have orders to be getting on with so better keep my head down.

I have just finished watching a TV programme called Collision. It has been on for 5 nights. I must say if you get a chance to watch this programme its a must, very clever writing by Anthony Horowitz and what an ending!!!

Yardley has found a loving home in California!

ATWELL

I just love to make black bears, but they are such a nightmare to photograph. After numerous attempts I have managed to get a few reasonable pictures. Its a good job we have digital cameras as I could not imagine how much my bill would be for developing film when photographing the black bears.

Well this is the little guy who has caused me so much trouble. Atwell who is one of my Toy-Box Treasures, this little bear is 13 inches tall and has been created with the 1912 Titanic Bear in mind. His eyes are black but have red felt behind, they certainly look as if he is watching you.

I am in the process of designing two very large bears for a shop display, one in particular I am looking forward to making, its a beautiful red one...something a bit more cheery than black:-)

Atwell is off to live in New Jersey with many of his friends, and also has a traveling companion called Amos who has been made by my husband Darren.

HAPPY SATURDAY!!

Well thats Bonfire Night over and done with for another year! Christmas starts here!!!:-( well according to the television! It is a bit weird really watching fireworks and munching on a mince pie :-) and in London they are singing Christmas carols and turning on the Christmas lights. Have I missed something or is it turning out to be like Groundhog Day!!

Inbetween the activities I have managed to make a little 6 inch miniature wacky bear called Jimble. This is the smallest size of bear I make, it was quite strange making him as the bear I had just previously finished was 31 inches, so I felt like I was all fingers and thumbs going to work on this little guy. Jimble is going to live in Illinios with his friend Harry.

Today I am making a couple of 10 inch Toy-Box Treasure bears which I am looking forward to doing.

Hope you have a happy Saturday!

Toni&Guy Hair Shoot by my Son Adam and modelling by my Daughter Bethany

If you have a spare moment please take a look at the video at the bottom of my blog. This is a presentation by Toni& Guy Macclesfield, it was a Hair & Fashion show my son Adam organised in aid of the East Cheshire Hospice. Adam is an Art Director at Toni&Guy Macclesfield, this video shows you some of his hairstyles. He needed a younger model for the show so decided to ask his sister Bethany who is 12 to help, she is the one wearing the red Beatles T. Shirt and grey short skirt, must not forget to mention her hair is by Adam and colour by Holly :-). It was an excellent evening, well attended and lots of money raised for the Hospice. Everyone loved the pumpkins....well what can I say to this except we could have made enough pumpkin pies to feed an army :-) Signed a Very Proud Mum!

SWEETIE PIE SIXPENCE

I hope you have had a great weekend and not too frightening Halloween. It's Monday again and the start of a very wet and windy week, ideal weather for staying indoors and bear making.

I have just finished a new little 8 inch Urchin called Sweetie Pie, who I have made from one of the mohairs I sell called Wanda. Sweetie Pie is on my website and might make an appearance on Etsy later. Still learning about how Etsy works, it is nice to try something different for a change other than using eBay.

I am off to play with some new mohair dyes I have just purchased, these are a bit different as the dye sets with steam...interesting!!!!

I hope your Monday will be a happy one.