Its Sneak Peek Time

With only a few days left until the Teddy Bears and Critters on line show I thought it was time to give you a little peek at my new bears and a critter!

I have to say I had no idea how to create this photo but once again Sandi came to the rescue. Many thanks Sandi. Don't forget to visit the Dare to Dream show this Saturday starting at 10am.

Teddy Bears and Critters Spring Challenge

Meet Freya - she is my entrant for the Teddy Bears and Critters Spring Challenge. You can view the entrants here http://www.teddybearsandcritters.com/springchallenge.htm

The flowers in the scene are created by my sister-in- law Jennifer Findlay , glass artist http://www.jenniferfindlay.com/

Beautiful one day perfect the next.....

This was what we used to say when we first moved to Queensland back in 1982 and we still seem to say it. Yesterday it was the most perfect day. Relies are holidaying at Maroochydore so we took them to Noosa for the day. We did the walk through Noosa National Park which follows the coastline. The weather was perfect and the sea crystal clear and that beautiful aqua colour - magic! It has to be one of the best places in Australia. We saw a turtle swimming, goanna sunbaking,bush turkey running along the sand and heard lots of birds singing.

Granite Bay from Noosa National Park

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree......


Goanna basking in the sun

New Sydney Doll Show

I spent Saturday and Sunday at the Doll show at Blacktown Leisure Centre in Sydney. My friend Judy accompanied me on Saturday. There were few bear traders there and the only ones I knew were Claire and Norm Newell from Claire Bears. There were lots of dolls, some collectables ,miniatures and lots of bits and pieces that you often only find at doll shows .There was a steady stream of people through all day and while there were none of the familiar collectors faces I usually see at bear shows I did sell patterns and kits to some new bear makers.

Claire and Norm Newell

Sunday was much like all two day shows - very quiet, which is disastrous as you always find something to spend your profits on.

How does your garden grow?.......

Well, if you live in Maleny it grows at a great rate as do the weeds. When we moved here two and a half years ago everyone told us to be careful what we planted as things grow to about 3 times the size here. Well its true. Just look at the lemon I picked today - its huge and if its like all the others it will be full of juice.I made a lemon meringue pie which called for the juice of two lemons - it was so sour we could hardly eat it!! Juice of half a lemon would have been enough.

I have had little success growing carrots - they just don't seem to germinate . I put this down to insects and birds having a feed on the seeds, until I pulled out what I thought was one big carrot, but it was a whole lot joined together. All the seeds must have washed in together. I'm not the best gardener!

This week I also managed to do a revamp of my website. It was something I'd been wanting to do for sometime and even though I should have been madly sewing for the Sydney Doll Show next weekend,the computer kept getting in the way. Anyway its finished for the time being.

I did finish a 5"/13cm tall bear named Rachel. Rachel is made from a short pile golden mohair with matching ultrasuede paw pads. I knitted her some cute stripey overalls. And now back to work!!

Beginings....

I'm often asked how I started into the wonderful world of bear making..... so here's my story.
I was walking through the Riverside markets in Brisbane one Sunday morning with my daughter, Emily and we came across a lady selling bears. They looked so gorgeous that I thought then that I would have to find out how to make one. When I questioned the seller about where to buy fabric she was totally unhelpful and wasn't going to divulge her secrets!! The following week I was collecting the fees from one of the YMCA playgroups ( I used to work for the Y) and the playgroup leader knowing that I was into all sorts of crafts asked me if I knew of anyone who taught bear making. She then told me about a good book she'ds seen ( The art Of Teddy Bear Making by Jennifer Laing) and where I could buy some supplies. So on the way home I picked up the book got some fur - Synthetic and plastic joints - and that weekend my world into bears started. I went to the craft fair to buy eyes and there I bumped into Gerry's stand. A visit the following week to Gerry's ( she used to work from a very small room off her house at Rosewood) and I was never to be the same again. I just had to keep making bear after bear. Everyone (friends and family) thought I'd completely lost the plot! That was in 1993 and in 1995 I was made redundant from the YMCA and so bears became full time and I also started working for Gerry in her new shop which opened in Brisbane Arcade.

But my bear making goes back many years before when I was about 7 or 8 yrs old. I grew up in England and at primary school we used to spend some time learning a variety of crafts. I remember sewing dolls clothes and I made a little bear then with glass eyes - more like a koala. He sits in one of my cabinets along with Sooty the first bear I made in1993.

Sooty and my first bear