28 December 2011

For all sorts of reasons, I could not make it to the Toy Collectors' Fair at the NEC in Birmingham on 27 December, but I do hope to go to one of the Barry Potter fairs next year.
For the time being though, I am off to do some skiing in Georgia (one in the Caucasus, not one in the USA), so it's goodbye from me for now, and have a very Happy New Year to all of you out there!

25 December

No more original teddies this year, but I was quite busy these last few days making replicas. 

One project was a follow-up to the success story that was Miles, or rather his second copy, eventually christened Tedward. 

Miles' (and now Tedward's) teddy-loving owner asked me to make her a copy of another lovely bear, a much smaller one, called Hewie. 

In the end I made two - the first (the white one, called Noel) was just to try out the pattern and see the result, and the second (chocolate-coloured Gunter) was, I believe, a much closer match. 

They have both now travelled north to Yorkshire, together with Hewie himself, to be with their new family in time for Christmas.

The other project was a replica of one of my recently adoped teddies, but since it was a top secret assignment, I am afraid I cannot reveal the identity of the teddy or his adoptive family :) 

Suffice to say that the teddy in question was a Christmas present which, I am led to believe, made someone very happy.
Merry Christmas to you all!

11 December

I spent the day at the Christmas Teddy Bear Fair at Brighton Racecourse , where I made new friends and said goodbye to Raymond and Laurence, as well as as a few felted bears and some Funny Bunnies. Alas, after taking quite a few pictures at the fair, I discovered that the card in my camera was faulty, and they were all gone :( Thankfully, my new friends Andy and Barbara from Norbeary Fabrics and Barbara-Ann Bears took photos too, and they sent me one featuring my stall, for which I am most grateful! The fair was really very nice and Christmasy, so a big thank you to the organizers, Leslie and Andrew from Brewins' Bruins... ...and of course to my friend Natasha for heroically navigating me back to Reading at the end of the long day, in total darkness and driving rain, my satnav having packed up along the way....

10 December

I had a very important visitor today. His name is Syd, and he is not yet three years old, I believe. He brought his father along to choose a teddy as a Christmas present for his Mum. He did not leave empty-handed :)

7 December

The latest addition to my host of teddies is Barry the Intrepid, kitted out with a woolen scarf to keep him warm this winter.

3 December

Please welcome another new teddy. He is called Percy, and he is a real toff :)

29 November

24 November

23 November

21 November

He appears to be even closer to the original than Milo.

   

18 November

11 November

I took some bears, bunnies and hats with me to the Christmas Retail Evening at the Hill Primary School here in Caversham. My daughter and her best friend went along to model the hats and have a bit of fun :) It was not a great commercial success for us, but we did have a good time. It is always nice to meet some new people! My thanks to Lisa, who organized this excellent event.

5 November

I greatly enjoyed the Traditional Craft Fair at the Museum of English Rural Life in Reading. There were so many visitors throughout the day genuinely interested in crafts and particularly teddy bears! I met good friends who had been to last year's fair and came again to see me. My teddies were very pleased to befriend lots of young visitors who I think are the strictest judges of my  work. All this truly inspires me to go on creating new teddies.

I said good-bye to Dylan, Ernest, Gary, Gerald, Martin and four felted bears; they are all going to very good homes, so I have no worries about their future.

A big thank-you to MERL curator Isabel Hughes and all the organizers and helpers!

31 October

Earlier this month I received a slightly unusual order: to make a copy of a well-loved teddy in his late twenties called Miles. He arrived in the post and my teddies did their best to make him feel comfortable. Miles showed a great deal of patience as I repeatedly measured and re-measured him. As a result, he now has a younger brother, who I think is called Milo. He is not an exact copy but has the same kindly expression and the same funny toes :).

25 October

I made another four teddies over the past three weeks - in preparation for all the upcoming fairs and Christmas markets. The furry ones on the left are Dylan and Eric. They are both the sporty type and like playing together. On the right photo you can see Benedict and Timothy, who prefer quieter pastimes.

6 October

The latest addition to my Bear family is Raymond, the melancholy autumnal teddy.

2 October 2011

Alongside all the teddies, I have also been making more funny bunnies. The latest ones seem to be even wackier than those that came before...