Miss Tally again ...

Miss Tally has been adopted and will be leaving for her new home tonight. However, her new mum prefers her without the dress .... and so do I. Good luck Miss Tally - bon voyage.

Miss Tally

Miss Tally joined the hug of Southern Bears this weekend. She is 4 1/2" standing and wears a coat of Schulte mohair. I knitted her a little dress, and added tiny roses and pink ribbons from my new stash. Miss Tally is a very sweet natured young lady and the other bears love her!

Goodie bag

My friend Linda, from Houston, was here in SA for a visit and brought me a fabulous bag of goodies. Ribbons and roses and lillies and buttons and hats for bears and a sweet cardigan with a fur collar for a bear and books and things and it was like Christmas in March!! What a beautiful lady she is! This is my friend who did the painting of Georgia and I, which I showed in a previous post.

Wonderful pieces of vintage fabric - one piece dates back to 1977 - a blouse made for a party!

Vintage Bunnies

No, these are not Easter Bunnies. Here's the story ....

When my first daughter was born in 1976 my mother knitted the pink little bunny on the lefthand side and gave it to me with flowers, the day she was born. Six years later, on the arrival of my second daughter, my mother knitted the white bunny and gave it to me with flowers. These little creatures sit in my work basket in my studio and are a very warm and constant reminder of my mother and my daughters. From time to time they get a bath and new ribbons.

Lee-Ling

Please meet the latest addition to my bear family - Lee-Ling. He is 6" sitting and he wears a coat of Schulte Alpaca Mohair. His paw and foot pads are ultra-suede and he is five way jointed. I added weight to his feet to enable him to stand on his own. He wears a red ribbon and a key and lock around his neck. Lee-Ling is a very happy and placid little fellow.

Alex, the biker bear

My husband is a dedicated Harley Davidson fanatic and would have his HARLEY in the bedroom with us if he could get it in up the stairs! Now little Alex here was the second bear I ever made and he is very sweet so I thought I would dress him up in the biker's kit and give him to my hubby who is terribly supportive of my bears and often helps me to assemble them. I know Alex will be a very happy little chappy to spend time with the hubby. Besides, they are also both Sharks fans! So goodbye little boy - safe biking.

And my last bit for the day ...

I have spent hours and hours looking at the bear artists' creations - in magazines, on-line, etc and have reached the conclusion that I love the traditional teddy bear. All the variations are very creative and very beautiful but the old-fashioned Ted, for me, is still the best!!
And I'm at my happiest when I am making or buying a conventional bear.

Jesse

Hi Jesse, I love you sooooo much my sweetie. I wish I could use these ribbons to tie up my love and send it to you.

Pammy

Georgia, my darling I found your dolly, Pammy. Do you remember her? I am going to give her a new hairstyle and a new outfit so that she looks grand when you come for a visit at the end of the year. And if you want to you can take her home with you to meet Cookie and Candy!

This and that

I have a friend who has a "thing" for buttons. Well, friend, I bought these yesterday and immediately thought of you. Aren't they gorgeous? Buttons remind me of an old South African novel "Story of an African Farm" where the little girl always wants to play with the box of buttons and wants them for herself but she cannot have them. Eventually she gets the box of buttons but she had to wait too long and the sweetness was gone. How often this happens in life.

Pincushions

The smaller bear that I am currently working on, can only be handstitched in daylight so I thought I would try my hand at my newest craze - pincushions! Please note that this is only a crazy phase not an obsession like my bears!

Update : Poppet will be going to live with the lovely lady of the fairies and kitties.

Poppet

This is Poppet, a little girly "anime", made of Schulte mohair. I had such fun with her and will certainly add a few more to my collection! AND .... soon there will be another Southerner arriving.

New babe on the block

I'm pleased to announce the arrival of my new Southern Bear ... Sonny!

Sonny is a 45cm boy and his coat is luxurious Schulte Alpaca Mohair. He is as black as the ace of Spades and very difficult to photograph. And I would very much like to say a big thank you to Di of Teddytech for encouraging me to create this boy.

My little annies: ANNIE QUILT GIVAWAY!!

My little annies: ANNIE QUILT GIVAWAY!!

Just a peek

The best Southern Bear yet! He should be ready to meet you all on Monday. This one will be my all time favourite.

Art

My dearest friend in Houston painted this portrait of me and my eldest grandchild, Georgia and the painting won first prize in an exhibition! When I opened the parcel and saw it, I cried - it was so real. I gave the painting to Georgia's mother but when they emmigrated to Australia I kept it with me - I cannot remember the reason - but now it is the centre of a dispute. To solve the problem I will give the painting to Georgia when she is older. It is rightfully hers.

I took a break from bear making on Sunday and made this little heart as a trial for my easter gifts. I was quite pleased with the result. I was given a piece of Taiwanese silk for mini bear making and I used this as a backing for the heart. the fabric is very delicate and is lovely for an uncomplicated heart pattern!

Dusty

This little girl was completed on Sunday. Her name is Dusty and she is 45 cm. She will soon be travelling to Australia to her new home.

Balloon Ride

Jesse, here are the pictures I promised you. The top picture is of my hand, we were just above te tree tops. I could touch the leaves. The second picture is of the balloon just after take-off and the last picture is one of the balloon being "blown up". Georgia you have not yet seen these pics either.
I love you both very much. xxx

Tea cosies

I read an artist profile in a SA magazine "Stitches 'n Bears" featuring Loani Prior, aka Queen of the tea cosies. When asked where she lives, this was her comment, "A bloke and a cat keep me company on two and a half acres in the hills about fifteen minutes from Noosa. It is Friday afternoon and the rainbow lorikeets are making a racket over the seed in the feeder on the varandah. We might escape them in an hour and go to Hastings Street for a little apperitif. It's a hard life. Noosa is a well loved tourist spot on the Sunshine Coast less than a two-hour frive North of Brisbane. It is hardly a knitting sort of climate but I'm not complaining."

Ms Prior knits tea cosies - weird and wonderful and colourful tea cosies and is totally obsessed with this activity.

And then when the interviewer asked her to give an account of her "stash" (of wool that is!) this is what she had to say "the Stash is an enviable one. It oozes out of its colour coded containment into the lounge room. It has a particular fondness for the large coffee table, the dining table, my office desk. It has on occasion been known to take up residence on the kitchen bench. Only the threat of guests can coax it back into organised bliss. All that gathering and sorting is done to bring on the design ideas all in a rush and the very next day the oozing starts all over again. The cat is trained within an inch of its life to ignore it and the bloke has the "can't see it unless it is under my nose" gene so all is well. Who'd a thought that would ever be a desireable trait?"

Any girl who lives with a Stash will identify with this immediately!

I found this article so delightful. The Queen of the Tea Cosies has a very special style of writing. Her Wild Tea Cosies, is now a best selling book.