EPHRAIM A FURGOTTEN BEAR

I thought you might like to see Darren's latest Furgotten Bear called Ephraim. Darren is not happy unless he is making a perfectly good piece of mohair look like it has seen better days :-) This poor little bear looks as if he has been well and truly loved, and even perhaps left un-noticed in the corner of an attic somewhere. Ephraim has been in the wars with one boot button eye and the other is an old black button, but as you can see from the pictures he can still manage a slight little smile! I must remember not to leave Darren alone for too long with any of my mohair...goodness knows what I will come back too :-) If you would like to see Ephraims details please click onto my website JAC-Q-LYN BEARS and visit the Furgotten page. I must get back to my own sewing now as I have a sweet little girl bear waiting to be photographed.

300 PLUS 2!

It has been a little while since I last made an Urchin, and never did I think when I first put pencil to paper that Urchins would take me to the other side of the world., and a TV appearance. Its nearly been 16 months since I produced the first Urchin, well 300 later! I have this last week made another 2. One called Joey and the other called Hermione both found a home within minutes of their release. Early last year I added a larger variation to the Urchin range at 16 inches one was an Elephant and one a Hippo, these are named after musical instruments, I must admit I think the smaller 8/9 inch ones are far sweeter, as they are just the right size to sit in the palm of your hand. I bet my Mum did not think 302 bears later she would still be making little outfits for the Urchins, she has worn her needles to fine points...NO JOKE!!! :-)

In the next few months I hope to develop the Urchins a stage further, which is something I am looking forward to doing, and I will especially enjoy dressing them up in their new clothes.

ECCLES A BEAR WITH A SWEET NAME

As promised the answer to the question, where did I get my latest bears name "Eccles" from?

Its the CAKES!!! and I thought you might like a bit of history behind the cake.....

Although traditionally made in the Lancashire town from where they get their name, Eccles cakes are now famous throughout the world.

As early as 1818 they were said to be sold "at all the markets and fairs around and are even exported to America and the West Indies". Whatever the origins of the cakes, James Birch was certainly the first person credited with selling them on a commercial basis. They were sold from a shop at the corner of Vicarage Road and St Mary’s Road (now known as Church Street) in Eccles. Eccles Cakes are sometimes, though always with affection, referred to as 'dead fly pies'

This is a good recipe for Traditional Eccles Cakes.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes Pre-heat oven to 220°C

Ingredients:

• 500g flaky pastry
• 25g melted butter
• Nutmeg
• 50g candied peel
• 100g sugar
• 200g currants

Method:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar and butter and cook over a medium heat until melted
2. Off the heat, add currants, candied peel, nutmeg and allspice
3. On a lightly-floured surface, roll the pastry thinly and cut into rounds of about 0.5cm thickness and 10cm diameter
4. Place a small spoonful of filling onto centre of each pastry circle
5. Dampen the edges of the pastry and draw the edges together over the fruit and pinch to seal
6. Turn over, then press gently with a rolling pin to flatten the cakes
7. Flatten and snip a V in the top with scissors. Place on a baking tray
8. Brush with water and sprinkle with a little extra sugar
9. Bake in a hot oven for 20 minutes (220°C) or until lightly browned round the edges
10. Place on a wire rack and allow to cool.
11. Try not to eat them all at once!

A TOWN OR A CAKE or MAYBE A GOON!

I would like to show you my latest Open Edition bear, called Eccles. Well the question is, was he named after a Lancashire town, or the famous character in the Goons played by Spike Milligan or maybe the famous cake named and made in the Lancashire town. Well if you know me or have followed my bear creations over the years you will know the answer to this question (and for those of you who do not, I will put the answer hidden in tomorrows post, so keep an eye open ;-) )

Eccles is designed to be a free standing bear and has been made from a lovely, long pile Kodiac imitation fur, but with him being such a dark looking bear, he was so terribly hard to photograph.....its a pink bear from me next, thank goodness they are better to photograph!

Introducing RIDLEY by Darren

Well it is not just me who has been a busy bee since Christmas, Darren has been working his fingers to the bone creating new bears to add to his Furgotten Range. He sits there quietly ageing and wearing his sad little bears, its a good job they do not complain :-)

This is Ridley a 14 inch bear with a lovely hump, I liked this bear so much that Darren has promised to make me one similar, I even know what I am going to call mine, so he better get cracking:-) If you would like to take a peep at some of Darrens creations please visit JAC-Q-LYN BEARS website and go to the Furgotten Page.

As you might have guessed I am now fixated on the weather if you have read my previous posts heehee! so I thought you might like an update, it looks as if I spoke too soon as we are due for some more snow again tomorrow, the poor old sun must be having a holiday!

p.s. Ridley has found a loving home in Denmark.

New TOY BOX TREASURE

Well the thaw has finally come! YIPEE!! It is the first time in a month I have seen some green grass.

I have been very busy these last couple of weeks, and this is a 16 inch Toy-Box Treasure I have managed to squeeze in called Gilbert, who is made from a lovely antique style German mohair.

It looks as if I better get a move on as Hugglets is only a month away, gosh it does not seem like 5 minutes ago I did the last one :-) I have been working on new designs so fingers crossed they will be ready to go to London.

Introducing PRESTBURY

It is Wednesday already, where is the time going? I have been busy beavering away, well keeping warm really by making bears :-) as we cannot seem to shake off this snowy weather. I am beginning to wonder what green grass looks like. Anyway this is Prestbury (named after one of our local villages) a big hunk of a bear who is 23 inches tall and one of my new Open Edition bears. Prestbury has been made from a marvelous looking immitation sable fur, and I must not forget that he has a very loud, deep sounding growler in his tummy.

As Valentines Day is only around the corner I am just putting the finishing touches to a huge Grog called Valentine... you have guessed right he is RED!!

Hope you are having a great Wednesday.

MOLLY MAE

This is little Molly Mae one of my new Open Edition bears, who is a sweet little girl bear who is 13 inches tall and ready for plenty of cuddles.

Molly has been made from a vanilla ice-cream coloured, super soft, faux fur and is wearing a lovely hand knitted, frilled jacket in shades of turquoise, sage green and indigo, which is ideal for this cold spell we are having at the moment.

I have also completed a big 23 inch bear called Prestbury who has been made from an imitation sable fur, which is beautiful to work with. I will pop along tomorrow to show him to you.

MORE TO COME!

Well its been another chilly day today, and again more snow with more on the way. These pictures are from the front of my house. It is lovely scenery for the walkers who have ventured out to come into Marton to see the 675 year old half timbered church, and then you see them wading through the snow aiming for the village pub and its open fire and good food.

Hopefully the lane will be cleared soon and the schools can be re opened in the local town and we get back to normal very quickly.

I have been keeping very busy with new Open Edition bears and new designs for this new year, but unfortunately due to the bad weather and closed roads we have been unable to get into Leek to open our teddy shop, I hope the bears are behaving and not partying :-)

THE START OF A NEW YEAR IN MARTON, ENGLAND.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

It has been a very chilly start to 2010 here in our little village outside Macclesfield, Cheshire. The pictures were taken mid afternoon from my garden. Later on the weather turned so bad that cars were abandoned entering into the village. As I am writing this little note the weather has not improved at all but has become a lot colder, last night the temperature dropped to -10 and at 11.30 this morning had not got much better at -8 with the prospect of even colder temperatures all week and more snow. I must say it is beautiful weather for taking pictures.

In a previous post I mentioned about Christmas beginning on Halloween, with Christmas decorations being put up everywhere, well I can go one better now !! the day before New Years Eve I visited my local supermarket to find shelves had been emptied to make way for all the chocolate Easter Eggs, it is making me wonder if the big retailers would like us to have all the holidays on one day... I am a little worried that on Good Friday the retailers might put out the goods for Halloween :-)

Well its a New Year and a new venture for me as I am launching a new OPEN EDITION range . Keep checking back for further updates.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Jacqui